The “Oscars” of Dialogue

My uncle, Ercivan Özyer, put together some pretty big stuff to write down and sent them to me. And, here I am, presenting it to you now:

The Dialog Forum Foundation presented its “Dialog Awards” to their rightful owners with a magnificent ceremony. The program was organized in Denmark’s famous National Museum (Nationalmusset), and many leading figures from the world of politics, academia, and commerce participated in the event. The Dialog Forum, having been founded in 2002, celebrated its 10th anniversary, and, at the same time, awarded those who had contributed to advance dialog in this period of time.

The program was hosted by Lisbeth Davidsen from TV2 while the President of the Dialog Forum Foundation, Mustafa Gezen, delivered the opening speech. Noting the fact that the foundation, having been founded 10 years ago with the coming together of a couple of young minds, had accomplished many great things in such little time, Mustafa Gezen said, “When we were first trying to set up the foundation we had been inspired by Fethullah Gulen; we said, ‘the first step is the human being’ and we accepted everyone in their own state. We are very happy that there 5 different institutions of dialog throughout the different cities of Denmark today.” Calling attention to the fact that they, as Dialog Forum, are trying to help in rightfully representing Denmark internationally, Gezen shared these words: “After witnessing that Denmark is identified as a racist country while at a meeting we attended in Beirut, we immediately intervened, telling them that this is a misrepresentation of Denmark and correcting the misunderstanding.”

Ali Akçay, who was one of the leading figures in the founding of the Dialog Forum and who currently lives in Switzerland, was presented his award by Asst. Prof. Mehmet Ümit Necef from the University of Southern Denmark. Ali Akçay expressed how happy he was to be back together with the friends that he has known for such a long time and also thanked those who supported the activities of the foundation.

Anna Mee Allerslev, City Manager in charge of integration in Copenhagen, presented the award to one of Denmark’s most famous poets, Benny Andersen. Andersen said that in the environment of Denmark where everyone is classified according to their identity, belief and language, the fact that the Dialog Forum Foundation officials are saying ‘the first step is the human being’ impressed him greatly.

Prof. Dr. Henning Bech from the University of Copenhagen received his award from Ebbe Forsberg who is not only the Principal of the Copenhagen Private High School founded by Turkish entrepreneurs but also the Secretary General for the Denmark Private Schools Union. As Bech received his award he expressed how happy he was to have deemed worthy of an award by the Dialog Forum with whom he has been working closely for 10 years. A prominent figure of politics in Denmark who also hosted the 2009 iftar dinner of the Dialog Forum Foundation at the Parliament, Klaus Haekkerup, presented the President of the foundation, Mustafa Gezen, with his award. Haekkerup drew attention to the importance of dialogue in today’s world where migration between countries has greatly increased and said, “We must promote mutual understanding and dialog in order to prevent conflicts.”

Uffe Ellemann-Jensen, who served as leader of the Liberal Party and minister of foreign relations for many years, received his award from Vice President of Assembly Bertel Haarder from the Liberal Party. Ellemann-Jensen said that in his 54 years in politics he found the opportunity to see many different places of the world but that he realized that the most important value of all was wisdom and dialog. His words were applauded for a long time.

Asst. Prof. Mehmet Ümit Necef from the University of Southern Denmark received his award from Dr. Klas Grinell from Göteborg. Necef noted that in an atmosphere where the Turkish society living in Denmark had turned their complete attention to Turkey, he had been impressed by the fact that a group of young people had made an effort to establish dialog with the Danish community.

The award presented to Lissi Rasmussen, representing the Center for Research on Islam & Christianity, was given by Roskilde Bishop Peter Fischer Möller. Lissi underlined that 10 years ago when the Dialog Forum Foundation was first established they had been located on the same street and had accomplished many great organizations together.

Feelings of sentiment and emotion filled the room when the late editor for Politiken newspaper Töger Seidenfaden’s name was mentioned, who died of cancer last year. Publishing manager for Zaman Scandinavia Kamil Subaşı presented Seidenfaden’s award to his sons Emil and Lucas.

Islamic history specialist from the Universtiy of Copenhagen, Prof. Dr. Jörgen Baek Simonsen’s award was presented to him by Asmat Müceddidi, President of the Muslim Union Council. Simonsen expressed that seeing people of different thoughts and beliefs coming together around dialog made him very happy. Crilles Bacher, Principal of Copenhagen Private High School, presented the award to the President of Fatih University, Prof. Dr. Şerif Ali Tekalan. Noting that he lived his life amidst activities of dialog, he said that receiving an award of dialog in Denmark had made him very happy.

Margrethe Vestager, Minister of Economics and leader of the Radical Party, received her award from Prof. Dr. Şerif Ali Tekalan. Stating that what politicians understand from dialog is monolog, Vestager said, “What politicians want is for them to always be talking and the ones across from them to always listen. However, that is not dialog. The Dialog Forum Foundation’s awarding of politicians shows us that we have started to truly understand what dialog is.”

Published on [in Turkish] on Zaman Online, 29 May 2013, wednesday