The Queens Turkish Cultural Center, organized the 10th annual Ramadan Tent to serve free food at the time of iftar
Olsan Turan, Turkish Cultural Center, Queens: “Just we would like to share our traditions. Each day we’re expecting more than 1,000 people.”
A cleric from the local community gave a heartfelt message to the invitees.
The hosts opened the event to followers of all faiths, including Jews, Hindus and Christians.
Sufi music, authentic Turkish food and good company. The guests couldn’t ask for more.
Olsan Turan, Turkish Cultural Center, Queens: “And it just opened my heart, just completely. I can’t be thankful enough. It was wonderful.”
Over the past decade, the center has committed its resources to strengthening ties in the community. Residents in Queens told me they’re pleased to come to an event where they enjoyed a delicious dinner and made new friends.
That’s hizmet: freedom from fear, secure in the ultimate mercy and grace of a compassionate God, yet freedom to serve: recognizing the needs and suffering of one’s neighbors, and the strength and joy found in solidarity and community. That’s hizmet. And yet it is also the path to a meaningful, rich life — rich in the things that matter, the things that endure, the things that aren’t things.
Deporting Gülen would undercut NATO
Sacrificing Gülen, however, will not bring Turkey in from the cold. While the pretext might have been rooting out Gülen’s followers, the reality is that Erdogan has used the purge to target secularists, liberals, and those officers whose training and experience in NATO he believes make them prone to oppose his vision and goals for Turkey.
Kurdish paper Rudaw’s interview with Fethullah Gulen
The Gülen movement’s stance toward the Kurdish issue has become ever more questioned since the Turkish government’s recent targeting of the Hizmet movement. A close analysis, however, suggests a complex picture.
US law professor: Erdoğan’s talk of Gülen extradition ‘foolishness’
Jim Harrington, a US human rights attorney and University of Texas professor, has said that any talk of asking the United States to extradite Turkish-Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen to Turkey is “foolish, absurd and self-serving.”
Turkey Is No Longer a Reliable Ally
The U.S. and Turkey have faced difficult days before, such as after Turkey’s 1974 invasion of Cyprus and the 2003 American invasion of Iraq, yet American and Turkish leaders managed to find their way back. This time will be different. The failed coup was a clarifying moment. Ankara and Washington don’t share values or interests.
U.S. Not Persuaded to Extradite Fethullah Gulen Over Turkey Coup
Officials aren’t convinced by evidence against Fethullah Gulen, Pennsylvania-based imam who Turkey says masterminded the failed putsch. U.S. officials don’t expect to extradite an imam Turkey blames for masterminding a failed coup because they aren’t convinced by the evidence Ankara has presented so far and are troubled by threatening public statements from Turkish officials, according to people familiar with the discussions.
Latest News
Turkish inmate jailed over alleged Gülen links dies of heart attack in prison
Message of Condemnation and Condolences for Mass Shooting at Bondi Beach, Sydney
Media executive Hidayet Karaca marks 11th year in prison over alleged links to Gülen movement
ECtHR faults Turkey for convictions of 2,420 applicants over Gülen links in follow-up to 2023 judgment
New Book Exposes Erdoğan’s “Civil Death Project” Targeting the Hizmet Movement
European Human Rights Treaty Faces Legal And Political Tests
ECtHR rejects Turkey’s appeal, clearing path for retrials in Gülen-linked cases
Erdoğan’s Civil Death Project’ : The ‘politicide’ spanning more than a decade
Fethullah Gülen’s Vision and the Purpose of Hizmet
In Case You Missed It
Gulen inspired organizations honor world youth in Washington D.C.
Media’s test with politics: this is utterly disgraceful
