GYV gathers prominent figures at iftar dinner
Many distinguished figures, including Turkey’s religious leaders, politicians, artists, diplomats, businessmen and journalists, came together at the same iftar (fast-breaking dinner) table in İstanbul’s Conrad Hotel on Wednesday night at an event held by the Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV).
GYV Honorary President Fethullah Gülen greeted the guests with a message he had written especially for the evening. Gülen expressed his regret at not being able to attend the event and said he hoped the holy month of Ramadan would bring prosperity to the whole of humanity.
“Regardless of our beliefs, we are the descendants of those who maintained their own distinctive lives and had respect and compassion for others and knew to share their happiness. However, it is with regret that we can observe that the arbitrary flow of events at such a high speed makes it difficult to correctly understand others, and this has led to an erosion of the ethical and moral values I mentioned above. I think that national and international peace can be attained by reviving these manners and values,” Gülen said in his message.
He went on to say that those who adopt these ethical values and good manners love and embrace everybody, magnanimously ignore the mistakes of others, forgive others even when they lose their tempers, get on well with even the most bad-tempered people and smile at everyone, including those who bear a grudge against them.
Among the guests at the foundation’s 18th annual iftar event were İstanbul Governor Hüseyin Avni Mutlu, İstanbul Mayor Kadir Topbaş, Chief Rabbi of Turkey İsak Haleva, Acting Armenian Patriarch Aram Ateşyan, Syrian Orthodox Archbishop Yusuf Çetin, Editor-in-Chief of the Zaman daily Ekrem Dumanlı and Today’s Zaman Editor-in-Chief Bülent Keneş.
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