In the News

The Rumi Forum, a think tank established by Turks living in Washington, D.C., to foster intercultural dialogue, has presented its traditional Peace and Dialogue Awards.

The 2010 Rumi Peace and Dialogue Awards ceremony was held on Tuesday at the National Press Club's Ballroom in Washington, D.C. The think thank gave awards to extraordinary individuals and organizations who have contributed much of their time, energy, leadership and dedication to the causes of dialogue, understanding, peace and community service.

Read more: Today's Zaman: Rumi Forum Bestows Peace and Dialogue Awards

The American Turkish Friendship Association and the Rumi Forum Thursday night held their second annual Friendship Dinner at the Embassy Suites in Newark.

The theme of the dinner was The Art of Living Together and a number of speakers echoed that theme.

Reciving awards at the event were State Rep. Michael Ramone, R-Newark and outgoing New Castle County Sheriff Michael Walsh. The media award went to Ralph Bush, general manager of the Upper Shore Division for ACM Chesapeake, publisher of the Newark Post.

Read more: Newark Post: An Evening of Friendship

In Washington D.C. the 4th annual Rumi Forum's 2010 Peace and Dialogue Awards drew a crowded supporters dedicated to peace and understading worldwide. This ceremony of excellence honored individuals and organizations who greatly contributed their time, energy, leadership and dedication to the cause of peace.

Read more: Ebru TV's News Item on Rumi Forum's Peace and Dialogue Awards 2010 National Press Club

SAYLORSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA — Here in northeastern Pennsylvania, where fertile farmlands yield suddenly to the hauntingly beautiful foothills of the Pocono Mountains, quietly resides one of the most influential men in Turkey.

And one of the most controversial.

Admirers describe Fethullah Gulen, 69, a soft-spoken Muslim preacher, author and teacher with a huge following, in reverential tones.
John L. Esposito, a Georgetown University professor who has studied Mr. Gulen, said that if he were to compare Mr. Gulen to another public figure it would be the Dalai Lama.

The New York Times

SAYLORSBURG, Pa.—Imam Fethullah Gülen, a controversial and reclusive U.S. resident who is considered Turkey's most influential religious leader, criticized a Turkish-led flotilla for trying to deliver aid without Israel's consent.

Speaking in his first interview with a U.S. news organization, Mr. Gülen spoke of watching news coverage of Monday's deadly confrontation between Israeli commandos and Turkish aid group members as its flotilla approached Israel's sea blockade of Gaza. "What I saw was not pretty," he said. "It was ugly."

The Wall Street Journal.

In the midst of one of the most devastating natural disasters in recent history, organizations and individuals across the world are providing whatever assistance they can to earthquake-ravaged Haiti.

Money, food, clothing and other supplies are making their way en masse to the small country, but Springfield’s Congregation Adat Reyim is making sure that prayers make their way there, too.

Herndon Connection

John Tekman was born in Kayseri, Turkey. He moved to America when his father was commissioned to tile the National Mosque in Washington, D.C.

He is many things, including a Sunni Muslim, but when he came before his neighbors at the Delaware American-Turkish Cultural Education Foundation dinner, he was first and foremost a neighbor.

Capegazette

The University of Kentucky student organization, Interfaith Dialogue Organization (IDO), presented its fourth annual Dialogue Dinner recently at the University of Kentucky.

"The purpose of the dinner is to bring community and university together to promote religious and cultural diversity," said Mehmet Saracoglu, UK graduate student and president of IDO.

University of Kentucky News