Fethullah Gülen’s message to “Gülen Movement” conference in Senegal


Date posted: February 9, 2013

Dear guests, esteemed organizers, academics, thinkers, and honorable government authorities of Senegal,

I have gratefully received your kind invitation to the conference titled “Diversity and Cohesion in a Globalized World: Contributions of the Gülen Movement.” It is with deep sorrow that I am unable to join you due to my unfavorable health conditions.

Diversity is no doubt a reality of human life, as it is an auspicious and bountiful manifestation of Divine will in the universe. Our encounter with this reality has never been as intimate as it is now, as time and space have shrunk to make us neighbors. Yet, while on the one hand we are being drawn closer to one another, on the other hand, challenges are growing far and wide, with consequences transcending political, historical, and cultural borders. This is where the main theme of your conference, i.e., cohesion, comes into play as an indispensable solution for our pandemic problems of violence, wars, prejudice, lack of character, misguided education, and weakening spirit of neighborliness.

I sincerely hope that this conference will substantially contribute to a global awareness that “there are as many paths leading to God as there are breaths to take.” This awareness starts first in the heart, where we have to subside our inner hatred, our carnal desire for violence and hurt. It is a mission to change the world to become an abode of dialogue. It is a lifetime struggle and caregiving without despair in the face of all the trouble and suffering we are witnessing around us. First and foremost, it is our responsibility, to ourselves, to be who we are expected to be, and second, not to leave any excuses for others who refuse to assume it.

I am very thankful to the organizers, Ebru Magazine, ATSA Foundation, and Cheikh Anta Diop University for their cooperation in bringing this conference together. I wish Ebru Magazine success on their recently started journey of becoming a voice of peace, dialogue, and a source of inspiration for hearts and minds. I wholeheartedly commend the Senegal government, the Senegal Ministry of Education, and the brotherly nation of Senegal for hosting this event and for the peaceful hospitality they have been showering over the teachers and other volunteers of education and dialogue serving at Yavuz Selim schools and ATSA Foundation as they serve to build bridges of friendship across oceans and nations.

Sincerely yours,

M. Fethullah Gülen


Related News

US State Department ‘Can’t Imagine’ Accepting Erdogan Offer to Trade Hostage Pastor for Gulen

“President Erdogan’s suggestion that the U.S. should make a hostage-style prisoner swap for an innocent American imprisoned in Turkey is appalling and will not be taken seriously,” Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) said. Brunson’s is not the first case that has resulted in a Western country accusing Erdogan of hostage diplomacy.

Fethullah Gülen’s initiatives for peace to be discussed in Rotterdam

BASRI DOĞAN A university in the Netherlands will today launch a two-day international conference on peaceful coexistence in modern times. Erasmus University in Rotterdam will host an international conference titled “Peaceful Coexistence: Fethullah Gülen’s initiatives for peace in the contemporary world” on Nov. 22-23. Gülen is an Islamic scholar, peace activist and the mentor of […]

TUSKON awarded damages, to build orphanage in Uganda

The Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON) said it has won compensation in separate cases for the illegal wiretapping of a phone conversation which turned into a smear campaign against the confederation and that this money will be used to build an orphanage in Uganda, the country at the center of the smear campaign.

Turkish festival brings students from 27 countries to Ethiopia

The International Turkish Education Association’s (TÜRKÇEDER) Language and Culture Festival, which brought together 95 students from 27 countries under the motto “Hearts United,” was held in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa over the weekend.

ALDE’s Watson says illiberal state leads to unjust action against Gülen followers

Sir Graham Watson, the outgoing president of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) Party, has said, while citing the consequences of a country’s deviation from liberal values, that the politically motivated moves targeting the followers of Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen are the result of an illiberal state.

The Einstein of the Islamic world

BÜLENT KENEŞ LONDON – Let’s think about a man born into an ordinary family of meager means in a suburban Anatolian town. He sets out on that adventure called life all alone, deprived of a formal education. But he educates and raises himself through unconventional means. Despite this lack of a formal education everything he […]

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

Winds of ‘ijma’ beginning to pick up speed

“1915” by Prof. Ihsan Yilmaz (2)

Why would Gulen choose to attempt a coup that’s contrary to all his views?

Real democrats cannot politicize Islam

Kimse Yok Mu extends helping hand to Syrians in Jordan, Lebanon

Human Rights Watch (HRW) criticizes Cabinet ruling on Kimse Yok Mu

What else should Gülen say?

Copyright 2023 Hizmet News