Frequent participants of these dinners were heads of the Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, Jewish and Syrian Orthodox communities and churches in Turkey. The Catholic Church is represented by Msgr. George Marovitch in these dinners.Sunday evening, the foundation had its 15th traditional fast-breaking dinner in İstanbul. Old and new friends of the foundation were all there. A former papal nuncio to Turkey, Msgr. Marovitch was among the participants despite the fact that he is bed-ridden because of a train accident that left him badly wounded in 2007. He mentioned his gratitude to the Writers and Journalists Foundation, which covered some of his health-related expenses in Turkey.
As has been the case for the past 12 years, the honorary chairman of the foundation, Fethullah Gülen Hocaefendi was absent and sent a letter to the dinner instead. The short letter showed Gülen's continued support and dedication to interfaith-intercultural dialogue and his willingness to join these dinners.
Gülen's letter also reminded the participants about what to expect from an interfaith dialogue and what not to.
Interfaith activities are fruits of a level of enlightenment. They are natural products of the realization of the fact that man is an enemy of what s/he does not know.
In today's global, postmodern world, interfaith is the norm. Attendance at an interfaith dinner does not need an explanation, absence does.
Certain participants of interfaith dialogue activities may have hoped that through their participation they may solve their problems with the regime, the law and municipalities. That hope is antagonistic to the soul of interfaith dialogue. It is true that we can solve our problems only through dialogue, but that is true only if we do not take that as the reason for dialogue.
A good example at hand is the Halki Seminary issue. The seminary was closed by Turkish authorities in 1971. Almost all the participants of interfaith activities in Turkey are supportive of the idea that the seminary be reopened. As a participant of these activities at various levels, I can say that our support does not rely on the fact that the Greek Orthodox Church is an active party to these activities. We see this as a natural right that needs to be respected and not a right granted by the authorities. But I can also say that the support for the opening of the Halki Seminary would not be as strong as it is now had Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I not joined several interfaith activities, among them the fast-breaking dinners organized by the Writers and Journalists Foundation.
Support for the opening of the seminary is growing, but the seminary remains closed. This is so because the civil society that supports the opening and the deep state that keeps the seminary closed are two distinct things. Through dialogue, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate has managed to eliminate the skepticism of the Turkish public about the intentions of the patriarchate. Even the elected government is supportive of the idea of reopening the seminary. But the deep state, skeptical of all non-Turkish and non-Muslim elements in this country, is also exclusive of civil society and the people who support interfaith dialogue. Non-Muslim participants of interfaith dialogue activities should not expect Muslim participants to solve their problems with the deep state as Muslims have their own unsolved problems.
The same is true for the legal battle between the Assyrian Church of Mardin and local villagers over property ownership rights of land adjacent to the historical Assyrian Mor Gabriel Monastery.
The Greek Orthodox Church was not represented by a high-level personality at Sunday's dinner. I am sure the patriarch had his own excuse. I hope the excuse has nothing to do with the fact that dialogue is not yet able to solve their problems.
There are problems that cannot be solved through dialogue alone, but they cannot be solved without dialogue either.
Benzer Haberler 
