(Video Duration: 4 min 14 secs.)
Assemblyman praises Gulen Movement, offers a proclamation to Fethullah Gulen:
 |
| NY Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz |
Assemblyman Cymbrowitz told the audience that he serves in an area where one of the largest Turkish communities in the United States lived.
He said that he realized that Fethullah Gulen's teachings served as a venue for Turkish people to embrace other religions and cultures.
He praised Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim scholar who leads a social movement that emphasizes interfaith dialogue, and the many schools, hospitals and cultural centers opened around the world by people inspired by him, saying these facilities served as bridges between different cultures and faiths.
He said all the Gulen-inspired institutions that he had seen were striving to live up to and realize Fethullah Gulen's ideals. Cymbrowitz also said the schools had made him aware that one did not need to be a Turk to follow such an "amazing person" and dedicate oneself to charity.
Cymbrowitz praised Fethullah Gulen for having sacrificed himself for the good of humanity and world peace.
He also noted that the Gulen movement was referred to as "Hizmet" (The Service) by its followers, and said Fethullah Gulen's teachings were about promoting tolerance and mutual respect between different peoples and beliefs.
The proclamation was received by TCC on Mr. Gulen's behalf.
Turkish Parliament Speaker Mehmet Ali Şahin, Democratic Senators Robert Casey and Kirsten Gillibrand, Turkish Ambassador to the US Namık Tan, Turkey’s permanent representative to the UN Ertuğrul Apakan, Turkish Consul General to New York Mehmet Samsar, several US congressmen and members of the New York State Assembly, representatives of the New York Police Department and the FBI as well as community figures from civil society, businessmen, diplomats, journalists and religious representatives were among the guests of the event.
