Tosca Bruno-Van Vijfeijken, Director of Transnational NGO Initiative at Maxwell School of Syracuse University inteviewd Dr. Alp Aslandogan, President of the Alliance for Shared Values. This interview took place before Dr. Aslandogan’s lecture at Maxwell School on Hizmet Movement on September 22, 2015.
Mr. Gulen reminds me of other important figures in the 20th and now early 21st century thinkers like Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. who also translate their religious traditions into an idiom that made sense to people who wanted to live peacefully and in harmony with their neighbors and their wider community.
Rumi Forum is inviting eligible individuals on a study fellowship that incorporates trips to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Thailand and Cambodia with the mission of exploring social, economic, cultural, security and political issues in these countries and their wider regions in 2016.
The extradition of U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen was “unofficially” demanded in a civil suit filed last week by lawyers hired by the Turkish government, while a judge who accepted the appeal has given Gülen 21 days to respond to accusations filed against him.
INTERPOL apparently indicated in its decision that it did not recognize the “parallel structure” as a illegal or terrorist organization. In other words, the charges against Gülen appear to have been fabricated based on his political activity. His case is widely viewed as part of a government crackdown on dissidents and political opposition, as described here. U.S. officials have also thus far refused to extradite Gülen back to Turkey.
The Turkish Cultural Center of Westchester is making an effort to collect blankets and coats for refugees who have fled Syria for Turkey due to the violence in Syria. The effort is to help Syrian refugee families in need during the harsh winter weather that will soon be upon them.
A free global and interconnected citizenship might be the pathway to foster a non-violent and peaceful culture within societies. This is the main objective of a grassroots movement that advocates enhancing education, promoting universal values, interfaith dialogue and democracy.