Turkish Cultural Center New Hampshire Turkish Cultural Center New Hampshire
The Turkish Cultural Center New Hampshire and the Peace Islands Institute’s jointly sponsored Second Annual Friendship Dinner & Award Ceremony was held at the Radisson Hotel Manchester on October 15, 2013.
More than 100 distinguished guests attended the event including numerous elected officials, academics, media representatives and community leaders.
Speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives Terie Norelli, Representative Lenette Peterson who’s already enjoyed two visits to Turkey, Consul Derya Kara, attending on behalf of the Republic of Turkey’s Consulate General in Boston, and Dr. Jon Pahl were among the notable speakers featured at the event.
The keynote speech was delivered by the guest of honor His Grace Bishop Demetrios of Mokissos, representing the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. Bishop Demetrios’ insightful intercultural and interfaith speech brought guests to their feet in a standing ovation which lasted several minutes.
The Bishop made special mention of Sultan Mehmet II, the conqueror of Istanbul (in 1453 when it was known as Constantinople) and his tolerance toward the Greek Orthodox Patriarch and other non-Islamic religious officials of his day. He noted that this tolerance is echoed today by the Gulen movement’s contemporary efforts to promote interfaith dialogue.
Bishop Demetrios added that the movement’s leader, Turkish Muslim scholar Fethullah Gulen has continued to pursue much-needed dialogue opportunities with other faiths in spite of many hardships and criticism. He pointed out that these efforts have led to the successful creation of a worldwide volunteer-driven movement.
In the second part of the program, the Peace Islands Institute awards were presented; PII promotes education, friendship and harmony between people of all ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds.
Following a video presentation highlighting memorable moments of the 2012 PII award ceremony, this year’s Media award was presented to Joseph McQuaid, publisher of the New Hampshire Union Leader newspaper which has served the greater Manchester community for 150 years.
In his acceptance speech, Mr. McQuaid called attention to what a privilege it’s been for three generations of his family to manage the Union Leader over the course of the past 150 years. He pointed out that the TCC New Hampshire is not only contributing a new voice and richness to the social and cultural life of the state but to the Union Leader as well.
The Network for Educational Opportunity, which provides educational scholarship opportunities for children in need, was seen worthy of this year’s Education award. NEO Executive Director Kate Baker received her award from U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen’s husband, former U.S. attorney of New Hampshire, William Shaheen. Baker was full of emotion as she related how her organization has provided hundreds of kids with educational opportunities as part of its nonprofit efforts.
Following some group photos of the guests, the ceremony came to a close.
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