TURKISH GROUP PROMOTES TOLORANCE IN TEXAS

Dallas Morning News has covered Saturday Socials of sister organization Institute of Interfaith Dialog, IID. Article was named 'Turkish group promotes tolerance in Texas'. Please visit website to read full article.

Breaking ekmek - bread - on a Saturday evening with the Institute of Interfaith Dialog is a Turkish delight, a melding of food, learning and fellowship.

Turkish-American families prepare the Saturday Socials' buffet dinners in their own kitchens. A typical recent program featured a rabbi explaining Jewish holidays. The fellowship is boundless.

"Shared concerns about peace in the world help to create a connection among people," says Alp Yaradanakul, the organization's Dallas representative.

The Institute of Interfaith Dialog began in 2002, inspired by the writings of M. Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish scholar and outspoken advocate of tolerance and friendship. Headquartered in Houston, it's grown to more than a dozen branches in Texas and several Southern and Midwestern states. The Dallas branch shares the Richardson facilities of Raindrop Turkevi, a Turkish cultural center operated by the Raindrop Foundation.

Dr. Yaradanakul, 36, earned two engineering degrees in his native Turkey before coming to the U.S. in 1998 as a research assistant at Southern Methodist University. Now a postdoctoral researcher in the physiology department of UT Southwestern Medical Center, he's an avid Interfaith Dialog volunteer, telling its story and organizing activities such as the Saturday Socials.

"IID is based on volunteers," he says. "I am not a paid employee. I consider the time I spend as my contribution to establishing dialogue." He emphasizes that the organization does not accept funds from institutions or any non-U.S. source.

Most of those involved are Turkish-American Muslims devoted to Rumi, the Sufi poet of sacred love; the Institute of Interfaith Dialog was a presenter, along with Raindrop Turkevi, of a recent Whirling Dervishes of Rumi appearance in Dallas.

But Christians of many denominations, Jews, followers of Eastern religions, even atheists take part in a spectrum of its activities, from conferences and seminars to dinners in family homes and "Noah's Pudding," the annual preparation of an age-old sweet dish symbolizing multicultural unity and friendship.

Twice a year, the institute sponsors interfaith visits to Turkey's historic and religious sites - not only well-known ones such as the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, but also Abraham's and Job's caves in Urfa, Beth Israel Synagogue in Izmir, and Antalya's Perge, mentioned in the New Testament as a stopping place of the Apostle Paul.

Last spring, Michael and Jackie Wald, active members of a Conservative Jewish synagogue, traveled with a varied group that included pastors, journalists, civic leaders and educators. Mrs. Wald first learned about the Institute of Interfaith Dialog at Southern Methodist University, where she is a lecturer in Spanish. Her husband declared it "the best trip we ever took," because of its comprehensive intergroup touring. The couple continues to attend many institute functions.

This year, Holly and Andre Guerin of Murphy will be among eight North Texans leaving for Turkey on May 11 with a similar group. Mrs. Guerin, a professor in the University of Texas at Dallas School of Management, was attracted to the institute's activities by a flier posted at school.

She and her husband attended a series of seminars on campus - "an introduction to Islam in a pluralistic, nonproselytizing environment," according to Mr. Guerin. After being guests of several families for Ramadan dinners, they became regulars at the Saturday Socials, "getting to know each other as human beings," according to Mr. Guerin, a professional photographer.

About the upcoming trip, Mrs. Guerin says, "Turkey claims many famous sites of historical significance to all three monotheistic faiths. The Gulen movement is an outstanding model of people reaching out to others without judgment.

Being able to plunge into an environment that expresses these values so strongly is an amazing opportunity.

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