Today’s Zaman, Turkey

17.09.2007

Religious leaders send out vital messages at iftar
gathering

Representatives of different religious groups in
Turkey gathered for a fast-breaking evening meal at an
Ýstanbul hotel on Saturday evening, where they
highlighted Islam’s understanding of tolerance and
solidarity with the advent of the holy Muslim month of
Ramadan.

Ýstanbul Mufti Mustafa Çaðrýcý, Armenian Patriarch
Mesrob Mutafyan, Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew,
Director of Religious Affairs Ali Bardakoðlu, Ýstanbul
Governor Muammer Güler and Turkish Assyrian Catholic
representative Yusuf Sað attended the iftar.
The iftar meal was organized by the Religious Affairs
Directorate at the President Hotel and started with a
recitation from the Koran. Ýstanbul Mufti Mustafa
Çaðrýcý, who made a speech following the
fast-breaking, stressed that Islam supported people
helping each other no matter which religion they
follow. Armenian Patriarch Mesrob Mutafyan started his
speech saying, "May God accept your fasts" and spoke
about how the month of Ramadan is a month of
forgiveness and compassion. Fener Greek Patriarch
Bartholomew started his speech congratulating the new
government and the new president, Abdullah Gül. In his
speech, Bartholomew dwelled on the threat of global
warming, which has started to hit the entire world
more severely and praised a recent decision that
carried the global warming issue into the course
books.
Director of Religious Affairs Ali Bardakoðlu started
his speech saying he shared Bartholomew’s concerns
about the threat of global warming but pointed at the
unseen aspect of the global warming. "That is true.
There is global warming. But along with it there is a
global moral decay," Bardakoðlu said, particularly
pointing to young people’s gradual alienation from
moral values. He called on religious leaders to take
action against the moral degeneration, "As the leaders
of religions, we should raise our voices."

Ýstanbul Governor Muammer Güler, also present at the
iftar, described the gathering of different religious
leaders around an iftar table as an example of the
unity, solidarity and tolerance that has prevailed
among different religions in these territories for
centuries. Güler stressed the importance of people’s
joining forces, no matter which religion they follow,
to tackle global problems.

17.09.2007

Today’s Zaman Ýstanbul