The Importance of Dialogue in Turkey

Introduction

As social beings, people need each other at every moment of their lives. In the twenty-first century, mass media and technology have turned the world into a global village. Globalization underlines and stresses global consciousness and dialogue. In this era, humanity needs to learn the importance of coexistence and the dignity entailed in being human. For this purpose, a significant attempt has been made by Christians to rebuild their relationships with different Christian groups and members of other religions.

Even though dialogue among people of different religious traditions has continued throughout history in the form of individual relationships such as friendships, neighborly relations, or business connections, formal and planned interfaith/interreligious dialogue started and became a worldwide movement in the second half of the twentieth century. The role of the Catholic Church and the World Council of Churches cannot be denied in this movement, along with the help of technology and modernity. Christian scholars’ positive effects on the Christian call for dialogue should not be missed. Remaining freer from institutional barriers, these scholars could take significant steps for theology of religions and dialogue. Among them my doctoral program advisor, Dr. Leonard Swidler, holds a remarkable position. He understands dialogue not only as a theological, philosophical, or practical concept but also as an ontological concept.

By stating a “cosmic dance of the universe,” Swidler is convinced that everything in the universe is naturally in dialogue. In this respect, he stated that “the very essence of our humanity is dialogical, and a fulfilled human life is the highest expression of the cosmic dance of dialogue.”¹ His numerous works and tireless efforts to create an atmosphere of peace at the grassroots and academic levels are significant. The growing global role of the Dialogue Institute at Temple University and the Journal of Ecumenical Studies are among the fruits of his efforts.

In many of our conversations I was able to observe how Swidler is able to witness the historical survey of dialogue, especially the Muslim-Christian dialogue. He was among the scholars who attended the first institutional and organized Muslim-Christian dialogue event in Libya in 1976. Since then, he has been working to teach his Muslim students to have more accurate information regarding members of other religions. I should also note that Swidler’s special stress on the growing role of Turkish Muslims in interreligious dialogue encouraged me to explore the Turkish response to the Christian call for dialogue.

The question of dialogue within the Turkish context is an important question. Without a worldwide religious authority, every Muslim scholar and community has tried to understand and respond to the Christian call for dialogue in their own way. Turkey, as one of the most influential and modern Muslim-majority states, has joined the discussion about interreligious dialogue, especially with Christians, since the 1980’s. Being very diverse in culture, religion, and thought, Turkish scholars’ discussions and critiques of the interreligious dialogue requested by the Christian world have clearly contributed to such dialogue on a global scale in recent decades. In this respect, it will be helpful to show how the issue of interreligious dialogue is significant in the Turkish context.

Given that the Christian population of Turkey is only about 170,000,² in a total population of 76,000,000, one might think the issue of interreligious dialogue is not significant for academic research. However, considering the following points and the ongoing discussions/studies in Turkey, the importance of the study is apparent.

The Importance of Dialogue in the Turkish Context

First of all, the cultural and intellectual heritage of Turkey provides a very broad sense of the issue of dialogue. Turkish, or Anatolian, culture is very rich and composed of many different traditions, ethnicities, and religions. The concept of hospitality is deeply ingrained in the culture and visible in the daily lives of the citizens of the Republic of Turkey, as in other cultures. In respect to dialogue, Anatolian or Turkish intellectual culture encourages people to...