RELIGIOUS LEADERS COME TOGETHER FOR TOURISM
By Aslihan Aydin, Ankara

Zaman Online, Turkey
May 1 2006

“Faith Tourism Days III” jointly organized by Turkey’s Department
of Religious Affairs and Travel Agencies Association (TURSAB) will
bring religious leaders together for a three day meeting chaired by
the Director of Religious Affairs Professor, Ali Bardakoglu.

Leaders of different religious communities in Turkey including
Turkish-Armenian Patriarch Mesrob Mutafyan, Turkish Jews Chief Rabbi
Isak Haleva, Istanbul Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomeos, and
Syriac Catholic Community Patriarchal Vicar Bishop Yusuf Sag will
come together for this meeting.

The organization will be held in the Anatolia Auditorium at the
Istanbul Lutfi Kirdar International Congress Center on March 12-13-14.

The Third Faith Tourism Days meeting is perceived as the “meeting of
religions” for the spiritual leaders, while travel agencies see it is
an important step to developing an alternative to sea-sand-sun tourism.

Ali Bardakoglu will chair the first session titled, “Concept of
traveling and visitors in religions.”

The panel titles of the second days are: “Istanbul: Intersection of
Civilizations,” “Leaders and evidence of organized religions in the
Balkans,” “Religious tourist sites in Istanbul and its surrounding
neighborhood,” and “The past, present and future of living in Istanbul,
an example of multiculturalism.”

Tourist traders will make speeches on the last day of the meeting
as part of the discussion titled, “The past, present and future of
faith tourism.”

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress