Religious Leaders Meet in Mardin for Peace

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Religious Leaders Meet in Mardin for Peace

Organized by JWF’s Intercultural Dialogue Platform, the second International Symposium of Religions and Peace in the Light of the Common Ancestor Abraham (also known as the Harran Meetings) begins in Mardin today.

Topics such as ‘Peace in Abraham’s Message,’ ‘Peace in the Abrahamic Tradition,’ ‘Heroes of Peace in the Three Heavenly Religions,’ and ‘The Place of the Abrahamic Message in the Future World’ will be discussed over four sessions.

Overview of the symposium’s program

The conference, which is supported by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, the Governorship of Mardin, and the Mardin Education Foundation (MAREV), will be held in the Qasimiye (Qasimiyya) Madrasa. Topics such as “Peace in Abraham’s Message,” “Peace in the Abrahamic Tradition,” “Heroes of Peace in the Three Heavenly Religions,” and “The Place of the Abrahamic Message in the Future World” will be discussed over four sessions. Twenty-eight academics and eleven religious leaders from Germany, the US, Sweden, England, Italy, France, and Turkey will participate in the symposium.

After an opening ceremony at 9:30 by the Intercultural Dialogue Platform, symposium participants will visit the Kirklar Church, Mardin Ulu Mosque, Hatuniye Madrasa (which features the footprint of the Prophet Muhammad), and the tombs of Sitti Radviye and her son Qutbettin Ilgazi.

The Deyrulzaferan Monastery, and the monasteries of Mor Gabriel in the Midyat district and Mor Yaqub in the Nusaybin district as well as Hasankeyf will also be visited. The program in Mardin will conclude with a visit to the tomb and mosque of Zeynel Abidin. The participants will then come to Istanbul to complete the symposium.

Coordinated by Dr. Bekir Karliga, the symposium’s participants are expected to include Vice-Director of Religious Affairs Muhammet Sevki Aydin, Istanbul Mufti Dr. Mustafa Cagrici, Istanbul Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomeos, Turkish Armenians’ Patriarch Mesrob II, Turkey’s Jewish Chief Rabbi Rav. Ishak Haleva, Roman Catholic Apostolic Vicar in Istanbul Monsignor Georges Marovitch, Latin Catholic Congregation Spiritual Leader Monsignor Louis Pelatre, Assyrian Orthodox Community Metropolit Filksinos Yusuf Cetin, and Assyrian Catholic Community Patriarchal Vicar Chorbishop Yusuf Sag.

The first of the International Symposia of Religions and Peace in the Light of the Common Ancestor Abraham was held on April 13-16, 2000, in the Harran district of Sanliurfa, the birthplace of the Prophet Abraham. Forty-four theologians, academics, and journalists joined the symposium.

Mustafa Ozge, Zaman

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