Dialogue Culture Develops at Fast Breaking Dinners
The Turkish Journalist's and Author's Foundation's 10th annual iftar - the fast breaking dinner during the holy month of Ramadan - at the Lutfi Kirdar Congress Hall the other evening created great interest among the guests. The event's themes of "a dialogue between different segments" and "the culture of cohabitation" echoed the Foundation's principles.
The Foundation's identity of "the culture of living together" brought together spiritual leaders, politicians, members of the media, artists, business circles and civil society organizations from Istanbul and throughout Turkey.
Huseyin Gulerce, who heads the Foundation's Board of Trustees, said that this iftar was remarkable because over the past ten years, and despite many differences and difficulties, the people who formed this tolerance and dialogue process still stand beside one another today. "This stand up breaks the games of those who wanted to frustrate this tolerance and dialogue process", said Gulerce.
For Gulerce, the 10th annual fast breaking dinner was also a message for the European Union (EU), which expects pluralism and respect toward different opinions. Gulerce asserted that Turkey was more developed than many European states because of its cultural mosaic and history of cohabitation. "This picture negates the ones from those who want to create tension and an artificial agenda. In fact, this [the Foundation's picture] is the real picture of Turkey." (Zafer Ozcan)
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