July 20, 2013

Only the people of the land can create a spring, Yeşil says

Mustafa Yeşil, the chairman of the Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV), said that if there is going to be a springtime and a fresh beginning soon in the region, it will only be accomplished at the hands of the people of this land, while speaking at an iftar dinner -- a special meal held to observe breaking the daily fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan -- hosted in the southeastern province of Van for journalists and other guests by the East Anatolian Civil Society Association (DASİDER) under the theme of “living together and tolerance.”

Yeşil said, “We believe that the Alevis, Kurds and Circassians of these lands belong with us. The notion of ‘we' is sufficient to describe all of us. It is always possible to grow together and to share every opportunity, based on justice and human rights.”


Many journalists, deputies, provincial district governors, representatives of non-governmental organizations, opinion leaders, institutional directors and businessmen were among the attendees at the iftar dinner, a tradition organized by the association every year.

DASİDER Chairman Ahmet Öner emphasized in his speech that discrepancies among members of society are a reality of human life and are part of the richness of God's reflection in the universe.

Writer and journalist Mehmet Altan was also among the guests who gave a message of unity and tolerance, saying, “Turkey reached a point of forgetting the basics of being a human where just the sub- properties stand out, which led us to fight with each other. When you look at life as a human being and adopt a natural stance of not finding someone that is simply different to be strange, then we can overcome Turkey's problems.”

Published on Today's Zaman, 18 July 2013, Thursday

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