On Friday evening, October 25, 2013, the Turkic American Alliance welcomed panelists and guests of the International Symposium on the Hizmet Movement and Peacebuilding to its office headquarters. Guests mingled before dinner was served, taking in the rich cultural mosaic of the seven Turkic countries’ cultural artifacts showcased throughout TAA’s lobby.
Over the first course of dinner, Dr. Faruk Taban, President of the Turkic American Alliance, presented an introductory PowerPoint on the missions and goals of TAA, as well as its past accomplishments. Dr. Taban also played for guests a short video of the 2013 Turkic American Convention, which highlighted U.S. Members of Congress and Turkic Parliamentarians, Turkic Ambassadors, and other dignitaries who all came together in the spirit of the Convention’s theme of Energy, Trade and Development.
After the main course was served, Jena Luedtke, Director of the Center for Interfaith and Intercultural Dialogue at Rumi Forum, introduced the evening’s three keynote speakers: Dr. Jochen Thies, Dr. Kazuko Shiojiri and Dr. Sophia Pandya.
Dr. Thies, who recently published a book on Germany’s Gülen-inspired schools, entitled Wir sind Teil dieser Gesellschaft, described the schools as the “lighthouses of education” in Germany. Dr. Thies also described the Hizmet community in Germany as the “new Prussians of Germany.”
Dr. Shiojiri, Professor Emeritus at the University of Tsukuba and Director of the Institute of International Exchange at Tokyo International University, quoted from Qur’anic scripture: “If anyone saves a life, it would be as if he had saved all of humanity.” (Surah Al-Ma’idah 32).
Dr. Pandya, Associate Professor California State University, Long Beach, United States, brought great joy and laughter to the crowd. Most memorably, Dr. Pandya described Turkish-style tea as her “drug of choice.”
Mrs. Leudtke closed the evening with a beautifully inspiring quote by Mawlana Jalal ad-Din Rumi: “It is Love that holds everything together, and it is the everything also.”
