Congressional Quarterly
CQ Transcriptions
September 28, 2005 Wednesday
KAREN HUGHES PARTICIPATES IN AN INTERFAITH DIALOGUE WITH RELIGIOUS
LEADERS AT TOPKAPI PALACE
SPEAKER:
KAREN HUGHES, UNDERSECRETARY OF STATE FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY AND PUBLIC
AFFAIRS
LOCATION: ISTANBUL, TURKEY
UNDERSECRETARY HUGHES PARTICIPATES IN AN INTERFAITH
DIALOGUE WITH RELIGIOUS LEADERS AT TOPKAPI PALACE,
AS RELEASED BY THE STATE DEPARTMENT
SEPTEMBER 28, 2005
SPEAKERS: KAREN HUGHES, UNDERSECRETARY OF STATE
FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS
DINA POWELL, ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE
FOR EDUCATION AND CULTURAL AFFAIRS
ILBER ORTAYLI, DIRECTOR OF TOPKAPI PALACE
ORTAYLI: Mrs. Undersecretary, Your Highness, Your Eminence, ladies
and gentlemen, this is not the first time that the spiritual heads of
the communities came to this palace and won’t be the last. We are
very happy to have you here, madam, and leave you for your meeting.
Thank you for coming.
HUGHES: Thank you so much. The tour was wonderful. Thank you. What a
fabulous setting. It’s beautiful. Well, it’s an honor and great
pleasure to be with you here this afternoon at this beautiful Topkapi
Palace. It’s just a gorgeous place. We’ve just had a wonderful quick
tour, a little too quick. I’ll have to come back when I can spend
more time. But I’m so glad that you are here, and I want to thank the
Government of Turkey for helping to make it available to us.
My brief tour helped bring some of Istanbul’s remarkable history to
life for me, and I sincerely want to thank all the palace staff. I
want to thank also each of you personally for joining this meeting. I
understand there is an important interfaith meeting under way right
now in Hatay. Some of you came from there and changed your schedules
to be here with me. I really, really appreciate that and look forward
to learning more about the meeting that you had there.
I’m here on my first trip abroad, really to listen and to learn. One
of the things that President Bush, my boss, told me as I began this
job was to take the time to reach out and meet with religious leaders
— because faith is such an important part of life for so many
Americans and so many people across the world and, I think, to build
better bridges of understanding and mutual respect it’s very
important to work with members of the faith community. In fact, I
have to say that you can probably blame President Bush for this
meeting, because he met with many of the same group when he was here.
He said that it was one of the most important and interesting and
fascinating meetings of his presidency because there is such a rich
mosaic here — not only of the history of Turkey but the history of
so many important faith traditions. So, one of the things I’ve
learned just during my very short time here in Turkey already, just
today, is that the people of Turkey and the people of America share a
language, I think, of the heart. This is a very warm and welcoming
and hospitable place and that language of caring and concern is also
very apparent in the wonderful outpouring of generosity that we
experienced not only from the Government of Turkey, but also from the
people of Turkey in the aftermath of the staggering natural disaster
that we faced with Hurricane Katrina. I want to take this opportunity
to express the gratitude of the American people to each and every
person here in Turkey who brought a dollar or came by with a donation
to our American Embassy. It meant so much to the people of my
country.
We also share many values between the people of America and the
people of Turkey: family, democracy, a belief in human rights and the
importance of interfaith understanding and tolerance. And so I’m
really here to listen to each of you, and I very much look forward to
our discussion together. Thank you all for your time and for joining
me here today.
Would each of you like to say a few words? One thing — when you have
a meeting of religious leaders, they are all so nice and tolerant
that everyone defers to everyone else. (Laughter). But please.
MUSTAFA CAGRICI, MUFTI OF ISTANBUL: (Translated text) First of all, I
would like to thank you very much for coming here and for inviting us
here. I would also like to thank the distinguished religious leaders
who have given me the first word. Especially democracy, family and
interfaith relations are some common points that Turkey and the U.S.
share, and you emphasize this. Now, I find this very meaningful, and
I think these are very important points. Indeed, in the Western world
— and, of course, everywhere in the Western world in line with the
rise of democracy — family and interfaith relations did not develop
at the same pace and with the same sound foundation, unfortunately.
But I think that the United States has an important place and has
some unique features. Turkey and the U.S. also share the fact that
they attach importance to the family and to faith and to tolerance.
So, I agree with what you have said and congratulate you on this very
perceptive remark. And I will happy to say a few more words when it
is my turn. Thank you very much.
MESROB MUTAFYAN, ARMENIAN PATRIARCH: It is a pleasure to meet you in
Istanbul. We ourselves were just participating, as you mentioned, in
a meeting of civilizations in Antioch, where we discussed the common
problems that we will face worldwide and the role of religion. Not
only in building up civilization, but also as a remedy to many of the
problems that we live through today — particularly living in the
Near East or at the tip of Europe. We are particularly concerned
about this West and East — the blocs and the way that especially
some thinkers are trying to promote a clash between civilizations.
This is one of the main points that we discuss in these meetings —
and how to solve issues of this sort in terms of culture and religion
especially. And how religious ministers could lead opinions which
affect public opinion. So, it is particularly important for us in
that sense that you are interested in bringing together the various
religions and traditions in this country as you visit. We are
grateful for this interest. Thank you.
ISAK HALEVA, CHIEF RABBI: (Translated text) First of all, let me say
“welcome” before everything else. You have honored us with your
presence and your smiling face gives us a lot of energy. Of course,
between Turkey and the U.S. there have been wonderful relations in
the past that will continue in the future — because both the U.S.
and Turkey have some common points with respect to faith, to
cultures, to family. These are the things the two countries share.
So, thank you very much for developing this nice atmosphere further.
I believe that today, all around the world, religions can live in
peace. This will certainly eliminate many problems in the world,
because religions in the past did cause some conflicts. But today,
there are other reasons apart from religion to fight. So, maybe
religions can go back to their essential duty of promoting peace and
love. Thank you very much for showing sensitivity and interest. I am
sure you will succeed in your task. We are very hopeful about this.
Thank you very much. May God be with you and be with us.
HUGHES: Thank you so much.
YUSUF CETIN, SYRIAN METROPOLITAN: I would like to bid you a warm
welcome to Istanbul. Last June, we had the chance to be present
during the visit of Mr. Bush. We had a wonderful atmosphere a very
useful meeting then and I am sure that today’s meeting will also be
very beneficial for everyone. Religious leaders and religious
officers must pray to contribute to world peace. You, the
politicians, I think can emphasize peace more. I think that for world
peace, religious leaders and politicians are the two parties that
have very big tasks to fulfill, more than ever today. We need to pray
much more for world peace, and politicians need to work much more
seriously for world peace. Religious leaders, of course, are not
politicians, but for world peace we are ready to discuss any topic,
we are ready to be present at any gathering so long as it calls for
peace to reign all over the world — because we have the tears and
screams of war. These make all countries in the world very troubled.
We believe that when there are good intentions in a meeting like
this, God will hear our voice, respond to our goodwill and hopefully
will show us good days in the future. Thank you.
HUGHES: Thank you so much.
Let me introduce Dina Powell. Dina, would you like to speak? Dina is
my deputy and our Assistant Secretary for Education and Cultural
Affairs. One of the things I have asked her to do as she leads
America’s exchange programs is to really look at people who influence
young people. People like all of you in this room. As you know, faith
leaders, clerics, religious leaders have enormous influence, and I’ve
asked her to consider exchange programs that would help foster
interfaith dialogue and a spirit of tolerance and understanding and
so.
POWELL: Thank you. It is a great honor for me to be here, to meet
with all of you, and I want to second everything that Karen just
said. You are not only amazing leaders of faith, but like you said,
you really are leaders of people and of societies. And yes, two days
ago, when we were in Cairo, we had the privilege of meeting the Grand
Sheik Tantawi of Al-Azar University, and then we met with His
Holiness Pope Shenouda. They, like you, are amazing examples. And so
I really hope that we can invite you to come to the United States and
share how wonderful it is to be men of faith who respect each other’s
faith — because, of course, the God of all of us believes in
tolerance and love, and I know you are living it every single day. We
really are so honored to use you as amazing role models and are
looking forward to working with you. Thank you very much.
HUGHES: Professor, would you like to say a few words?
AKIF AYDIN, ISLAMIC RESEARCH CENTER PRESIDENT: (Translated Text) I
would like to say welcome to all of you. One thing I would like to
add to what has been said so far is that people of different
religions and different cultures can live together. I think one of
the best places to discuss the problems of such coexistence is this
very city, because in this city, in this geography — for at least
six centuries, people of different cultural and religious backgrounds
have lived together. We have a lot of experience in this field. And I
hope that this experience will serve the population of the whole
world. Thank you very much and welcome once more.
HUGHES: Thank you so much. Monsignor, would you like —
FATHER DOSITHEOS, REPRESENTATIVE OF ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE:
(Translated text) Most of the important things have been expressed.
Let me tell you another story. Turkey is a very nice country. It is
beautiful, and the evidence that made me think of this is that I
spent 35 years of my life in Germany. I was born in Kadikoy, and I
left this country in 1961, vowing never to come back. But 35 years
later, I came back to Turkey. The nice thing about Turkey is that
Anatolian lands and soils are holy lands and holy soils. As you get
old like me, you understand this. The problems of Turkey are problems
that concern everyone — positive thinking is required, and all kinds
of opinions are positive contributions. Welcome to this very
beautiful country. I have also one sentence to say about the States:
when I was a child, America to me resembled the Statute of Liberty,
and I still believe that. Your presence today opens up the avenues
for liberty. I hope you will assist us in solving our problems
through avenues of liberty and freedom. I would like to greet you
all. Thank you very much.
HUGHES: Thank you. I’m going to call on the Monsignor. But first I
wanted to quickly say that at my last stop here in Istanbul, I
visited a park — a wonderful volunteer program, an after-school
program for young children. One of the young women there who
volunteers — she’s a teenager and she volunteers, working with the
younger children — she asked me, does the Statue of Liberty really
mean anything or is it just a symbol? I told her it really means
something, and someone commented to me that the Statue of Liberty
faces out and says welcome — and we very much in our country want to
face out and say welcome. We want to partner with the people of
Turkey. We want Turkish students and clerics and faith leaders and
teachers and all sorts of citizens to come visit our country. We want
Americans to come visit Turkey and to learn more about Turkey and I
was pleased as I was touring the palace to see a couple of people
from Texas, and a couple from New York. and also a couple from
Bahrain on their honeymoon. This is a wonderful city that welcomes
many, many visitors, and you do have a unique opportunity, I think,
to really focus on the values that we all have in common as human
beings.
MONSIGNOR GEORGES MAROVITCH, CATHOLIC BISHOP: (Translated text) I am
here as the spokesman of the Catholic communities in Turkey. I would
like to welcome you on behalf of all Catholic communities in Turkey.
I know that this great country is going through many problems; please
be assured that we will pray for world peace, and we will support you
through our prayers.
As you know, Turkey has a very important history. For centuries,
people of different ethnic and religious backgrounds have lived
together. In that sense, Turkey is a very experienced country and a
very experienced nation. It can teach others many lessons like we
have this wonderful bunch of flowers. And Turkey is just like this
there are yellow flowers, red flowers, purple flowers. And here, we
are people of different religions, and we will always have our Muslim
brothers respecting us. They have done so in the past they have
treated us with love and respect.
I will give you a small example. I do not know if you have had a
chance to see, but we have a very large institution set up in the
19th century. It is a nursing home called Darulacize. It is for the
elderly and for babies, infants deserted by their parents. In the
19th century, this institution was set up and at that time there was
no other institution in Europe that would open up its doors to people
of different religions. But the Sultan here set up one mosque, one
synagogue and one church in that nursing home, so that everyone could
worship according to their own religion. This can be an example to
the whole world. Turks drew this idea from their holy book, from the
Koran: In the 5-28 verse of the Maide Surah it says, “If God wished
to create you as single nation, he would have done so but he wanted
you to be of different faiths, so that you would raise your beauties
and compete with your beauties.” This competition has been going on
for centuries but sometimes in that competition, some of us stumbled
and some of us made others fall down. We have had some unpleasant
events. But we are now making very big strides. In Antioch, as you
know, we had this big conference for interfaith dialogue regarding
working together for world peace. In Turkey, we have been having
similar events very often, so we are very hopeful about the future.
Turkey should be a model and example for the world.
I would like to conclude here by saying that you should be sure that
there is only one assistant in our work — that is God, Allah.
Muslims pray a lot every day — they pray 5 times — and through
their prayers, Allah, God, protects our world. As you know, the month
of Ramadan is coming. They will be fasting for 30 days, they will be
praying, and these prayers will fall on earth just like raindrops
that will bring good crops. Our great country, Turkey, and the whole
world will benefit from them. Thank you very much.
HUGHES: Thank you so much. We have much to learn from the rich
history and tradition of Turkey, and I’m here to learn. I want to
thank the press for being here, and we look forward to continuing our
meeting in just a minute. Thank you all.
END