Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has been presented with a prestigious peace award in recognition of his “life-long dedication to promoting peace and human rights” at Atlanta’s Morehouse College, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s alma mater.
Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel at Morehouse College awarded its prestigious 2015 Gandhi King Ikeda Peace Award to Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen in recognition of his life-long dedication to promoting peace and human rights.
Alamo Plaza was alive with music and food, Saturday, for the annual Turkish Festival. The free event celebrated different aspects of the Turkish culture including folk dance, the performing arts and authentic cuisine. This year’s theme was San Antonio Goes Turkish.
I appreciate that he’s [Fethullah Gulen] an Islamic thinker who spoke out after the attacks on September 11, immediately. In our country, for years after September 11 people kept saying, ‘why aren’t the Muslims speaking up’, and he did speak up but he wasn’t broadcast. He didn’t have the microphone in his mouth, so to speak. And I always regretted that because he was one who did.
Peace Islands Institute, the Journalists and Writers Foundation, Global Businesswomen Association and the Institute for Economics and Peace held a panel discussion titled “Economic Empowerment of Women to Achieve Sustainable Development Goals” during the UN CSW 59th Commission on the Status of Women.
“I’m deeply honored to have been selected to receive this recognition from the Peace Island Institute, an organization that is committed to protecting children, safeguarding the environment, and promoting peaceful coexistence,” Fleischmann said in a statement.
Peace Islands Institute and Kimse Yok Mu held a panel discussion on “Micro-Finance and Vocational Training For Empowerment of Women” on the occasion of the 59th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. Mehmet Kilic, Director of Peace Islands Institute’s Center for Global Affairs, served as moderator for a panel of speakers from diverse backgrounds and experience in humanitarian relief, pharmaceutical, and politics.
“The Hizmet Movement and what Mr. Gulen is inspiring is uniting people around spiritual ideals. And I like the idea in your schools that you don’t really teach religion directly; you teach ethics. I think that’s another hopeful sign that out of this spiritual movement you’re bringing people together of different religious-cultural backgrounds, but they’re uniting around a certain ethical principle of love and care for humanity and service of humanity.
The English-born Archbishop Michael Louis Fitzgerald, one of the Catholic Church’s main experts on Islam and Christian-Muslim relations, has said that Fethullah Gülen has inspired many Muslims to engage in interfaith dialogue, and that this is a good thing.
I believe, certainly in the United States as I’m experiencing the Hizmet Movement, I’m experiencing extraordinary hospitality, a great warmth of people, a genuine spirit, an openness, a compassionate style.