Religions will discuss peace in German capital

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç is among the speakers at the planned ‘Muslims, Jews, Christians, Peace is Possible’ event in Berlin. AA photo

The Inter Dialogue Institute is preparing to host representatives from a number of countries, including a Turkish mission headed by Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç, in an event in Berlin titled “Muslims, Jews, Christians, Peace is Possible - Examples for Peaceful Coexistence in Past and Present - Perspectives for the Future.”

Arınç is to visit the German capitol on March 4 with representatives of minority communities in Turkey. Along with religious minority representatives from many counties, ambassadors, journalists and clergymen, representatives of non-governmental organizations will attend the conference.

Forming dialogue platform

Laki Vingas, who is in charge of minority foundations in Turkey’s Foundations Directorate General, will attend the event as a representative of minority communities living in Turkey. Vingas said he was thankful to Arınç for inviting him to the event, adding that he appreciated the efforts to form a platform of dialogue.

Vingas also said the location of the event, Berlin, has symbolic value for this organization. “In a city that experienced the fall of walls, we will give up our prejudices and search for solutions through dialogue. Unfortunately, the struggles have not yet yielded results since theories could not be put into practice. It is necessary to show more effort in practices,” Vingas said.

“It should be underlined that religions and cultures do not conflict with each other, but rather form a parallelism; and educational systems should be formed in consideration of this,” he said. Others who are to join the conference as Arınç’s guests include Istanbul Metropolitan Mor Filüksinos, Yusuf Çetin from the Syriac Orthodox Church and Istanbul’s Syriac Saint Virgin Mary Church Foundation head Sait Susin.

“We gladly welcomed the invitation. Our Metropolitan will also make a speech [during the event]. An atmosphere of dialogue is being established in our country and it is crucial to improve this atmosphere,” Susin said.

Meanwhile, Turkey’s Armenians Acting Patriarch Archbishop Aram Ateşyan said a representative from the Armenian community would not be present at the event.