Academics praise Gülen’s contribution to world peace at symposium in Washington D.C.


Date posted: October 28, 2013

İHSAN DENLİ, WASHINGTON D.C.

Speaking at a conference titled “The Hizmet Movement and Peacebuilding” in Washington, D.C., at the weekend, prominent professors praised peace initiatives inspired by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen as a great contribution to world peace.

During the symposium, organized by Georgetown University, American University, Mount St. Mary’s University and the Rumi Forum, numerous academics and scientists from more than 20 countries on six continents delivered speeches on various topics covering the impact of the Hizmet movement on society and its contributions to it as a whole.

Professor Trudy Conway from Mount St. Mary’s University in Maryland stated that there are some basic elements in the Hizmet movement that enable tolerance and dialogue. What impressed the professor greatly was that women who are members of the Hizmet movement and who studied for their doctorates delivered speeches at the conference. “Women play a great role in this movement,” Conway said, adding that she was very pleased to see that.

A professor from the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas, Martha Ann Kirk, shared her views on the Turkish schools established by the Hizmet movement, saying that it is very pleasant to see that, apart from giving lessons, Turkish teachers have been teaching students humanitarian values for more than 30 years. “Thanks to Turkish schools, children learn to collaborate, respecting each other and abandoning prejudices. This is a great contribution to world peace,” Kirk said.

Dr. Thomas Gage from Humboldt State University in California said that prominent figures such as Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Fethullah Gülen have worked to try and establish a better world.

The Hizmet movement has established hundreds of educational and communal organizations and institutions in more than 140 countries, most of which suffer from internal conflicts and communal divisions, including Afghanistan, Cambodia, Iraq, Kosovo, Nigeria, the Philippines, South Africa, Sudan and Tajikistan. These organizations and institutions engage in various peace-building initiatives that foster inclusiveness and create shared spaces. The symposium assessed the societal impact of these initiatives under thematic and regional categories.

Source: Today's Zaman , 28 October 2013


Related News

Extradite Gülen? Really?

Enter the current coup plot. Erdogan literally has blamed every obstacle, fanciful plot, and malfeasance upon the elderly cleric. He fingered him in last Friday’s attempted coup even before the smoke settled. Increasingly, it seems the Obama administration might actually take the Turkish president seriously.

Leaked emails reveal Erdoğan’s son-in-law’s team fabricated news against Gülen in US

An email included in Wikileaks’ Monday publication of the leaked emails of Berat Albayrak, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s son-in-law and Turkey’s minister of energy, shows that Albayrak fabricated news with pro-government people in the United States in order to defame the Gülen movement in the US media.

Hizmet Symposium: Academics Foster Peacebuilding Advocacy

Hizmet, or service, is one of the largest social movements in the world. The Rumi Forum organized an international symposium called the “Hizmet Movement and Peacebuilding for Global Cases” at the National Press Club Ballroom in Washington D.C. Academics and scientists from more than 20 countries presented topics covering the impact of Hizmet Movement to […]

Chatham United Methodist Church Hosted Abraham Interfaith Lunch

The Chatham United Methodist Church hosted its 6th Annual Abraham Interfaith Lunch on Tuesday, April 30th. The theme of the event was to embrace faiths of all kinds while joining together to help refugees in need.

We must live with principles of peace and love

With Rumi’s words, a roundtable discussion began at the Marriott hotel on Wednesday. The theme of the discussion was ‘Respect Differences and Diversity to Foster Peace and Harmony’ and was organised by the Rumi Forum, a Turkey-based organisation, which aims to bring people of diverse backgrounds together to exchange ideas and opinions and to provide a common platform for education and information exchange.

Pro-gov’t daily claims White House held special session on Gülen

Pro-government Turkish daily Takvim claimed in a Friday report that the White House held a special session on Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who is based in the US, in September 2014.

Latest News

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

University refuses admission to woman jailed over Gülen links

In Case You Missed It

Turkish delegation visits Crimea Simferopol International School

Turks most honest donors to Somalia, says minister

Lessons from Dec. 17: Who is parallel?

Accused by Erdogan of plotting a coup, Hizmet movement fears for freedom in Turkey

More Divisions, More Democracy

“The Blessed” Day of the Pakistani Orphans

Erdogan’s Purge Stretches All The Way To Pakistan

Copyright 2023 Hizmet News