HASAN FATIH TÜRK, ROME Lawmakers, ambassadors, diplomats, academics and people from different walks of life came together for a friendship dinner in Rome on Thursday where they voiced their appreciation for the Hizmet movement and the values it promotes. The dinner, which brought together more than 200 people from different cultures, countries and professions, was […]
Dr. Ihsan Yilmaz, JAKARTA Scholars and activists from all over the world and from all walks of life gathered in the lovely Indonesian resort city of Bogor to share their experiences on peace and peace-building activities. The 4th World Peace Forum (WPF) was organized in Bogor by the Indonesian Muhammadiyah movement, a loose social organization […]
Levent Koç* November 12, 2012 I heard from some of my clergy friends that they chose to become pastors because they responded to God’s calling. In fact, you may hear from any person God has called to pursue a certain mission; he/she responds to the calling so as to become a good servant of God, […]
MAHİR ZEYNALOV, İSTANBUL The Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV) has largely honored Turkey’s minority groups and oppressed voices with its landmark 4th Coexistence Awards in the hopes of giving a stimulus to those promoting peaceful coexistence with a sustained effort despite scarce resources. The awards ceremony attracted thousands of spectators, including officials, intellectuals and public […]
CUMALI ÖNAL, CAIRO Leading Egyptian Islamic scholar Muhammad Imara has praised Turkey’s Arabic language magazine, Hira, for performing a crucial role in building bridges between the Turkish and Arab world as well as for the humanity. Imara, one of many respected Islamic scholars writing for the Hira Magazine — Turkey’s first and only Arabic magazine […]
Rainer Hermann The Turkish preacher Fethullah Gülen has been living in the United States for 13 years now. A widely branched network of followers developed also there in his name. There is no road sign indicating the exit and the dirt track. It leads you through a foggy broadleaf forest colored in all the shades […]
Imagine … “a world where people are deeply grounded in a moral and ethical tradition, where humility and service are highly valued and where reason, science and technology are fully utilized for the benefit of all.”[1] Does this sound like some sort of utopia that we would like to choose for the human race? A […]
The Anatolia Cultural & Dialog Centre in Hong Kong (ACDC) invited and hosted two delegations from HKU – Centre for Buddhist Studies Alumni Association (CBSAA) during July and August this summer. The ACDC is a non-governmental Turkish cultural organization that promotes cultural & interfaith dialogue exchange to promote understanding between different communities. The Buddhist groups […]
In Niğde, we visited the schools of the Sungurbey Education Foundation, established by a private businessman-donor, Celal Afşar, whom we were privileged to have as our host. He is also a close colleague of Fethullah Gülen and good friend of Fr. Alexei Smith. Mr. Afşar asked Fr. Alexei to write a letter to Mr. Gülen, […]
Paula Doyle Twelve archdiocesan priests are exploring ancient Christian sites and visiting Catholic faith communities in Turkey this week, as part of a trip organized exclusively for Catholic clergy by an organization of Turkish-American Muslims that promotes intercultural and interreligious awareness. Father Alexei Smith, archdiocesan director of ecumenical/interreligious affairs, and Msgr. Thomas Welbers, pastor of […]
Robert Wiener, NJJN Staff Writer For years, Phil Kruger of Montville has been interested in interfaith dialogue. He’s led fellow members of Congregation Agudath Israel in Caldwell in comparative studies of the Koran, the Torah, and the Christian Bible, and led a group of Jews, Christians, and Muslims in regular text study. Now he is […]
Dr. Brian L. Desbiens* As kids, our parents told us: “Two wrongs don’t make a right.” So it is with confusion and sadness that I read about the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi and the death of Ambassador Stevens. The violence was allegedly carried out in reaction to the airing of an American […]
İPEK ÜZÜM, İSTANBUL Representatives of Turkish-run nongovernmental organizations from 80 countries, established by people inspired by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen’s teachings, have shared their experiences of intercultural and interfaith dialogue during a three-day meeting organized by the Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV). İstanbul hosted the “Second* International Experience Sharing Conference of Coexistence,” attended by […]
The Rumi Forum, a nongovernmental organization established in the United States to improve interfaith and intercultural dialogue, gave its traditional Rumi Peace and Dialogue Awards in a ceremony held in Washington on Wednesday. Farah Pandith, US Special Representative to Muslim Communities, Hannah Rosenthal, the US special envoy on anti-Semitism, and Martin O’Malley, the governor of […]