Exchange of Faiths

Cultural exchange trip to Turkey gives Muslims, Jews and Christians a chance to interact positively

by Christie Lovvorn
Press-Register
Mobile County Neighbors
June 28, 2006

It was a case of Christians, Muslims and Jews doing something together.

In May, a group of Mobilians traveled to Turkey as part of a cultural exchange program, sponsored by the intercultural Dialogue Association at the University of South Alabama and its sister organization, The Istanbul Center of Culture and Dialogue in Atlanta.

The group spent about 10 days in Turkey, visiting cities such as Istanbul, Izmire (Ephesus), Antalya, Kayseri, Konya, Neveshir and Capedocia.

Abdullah Ficici, assistant professor in the University of South Alabama College of Education, is a native of Turkey and the faculty adviser for IDA.

Ficici said he and some students “got the idea from other universities that had similar programs in the past and had very good results. We try to do the same thing in Mobile. A couple of students founded IDA. This is our second year, our fourth or fifth semester.”

Ficici said IDA has about 20 students, mostly Turkish-Americans, who participate in various activities including collecting money for Hurricane Katrina victims and serving dinner to the homeless at Fifteen Place.

“We had an interfaith dinner last October, and got close to 150 people (to attend),” said ficici. “We got a very good response from the Muslim, Jewish and Christian communities.”

Ficici said Mary and Paul Filben, co-founders and facilitators of the 30-year-old Mobile Area Christian-Jewish Dialogue, attended the function.

The Filbens shared with IDA the names of persons they felt might be interested in an intercultural exchange trip to Turkey, and many on the list signed up to go.

The Istanbul Cultural Center paid for all expenses except each traveler’s airfare, according to Ficici.

“One of the reasons we organized the trip is to show people how interfaith dialogue is going on in Turkey,” said Ficici. “Turkey is the birthplace of Abraham. All three religions are considered Abrahamic. For more than six or seven centuries, the Turkish people have been living together in harmony, Jews, Christians, Muslims.”

“I think I was really intrigued by the idea of traveling to a Muslim country and being able to see what it was like and see if there were indeed any similarities,” said Reenie Aldes who, along with her husband, Lenny, attends the Spring Hill Avenue Temple.

Lenny Aldes said as an undergraduate he studied ancient civilizations. “I knew about the Assyrians, the Hittites, Asia Minor. Muslims came later with the Ottoman Empire. I was curious to see how Muslims coming late to that country coupled with the western half being so exposed to Western civilization would affect it. I was pleasantly surprised.

“Turkey is a secular democracy. It’s a 98 percent Muslim country bordering Arab countries. It seemed the experiment of some form of democracy in the Middle East can work.”

Reza Ghavamian also wanted to learn more firsthand about the Turkish culture. Ghavamian, a Muslim who was born and reared in Iran, had never traveled to Turkey before May.

“I wanted to go to see how different they are from my country as far as their culture goes or how much they have improved over the last 10 to 20 years,” said Ghavamian. “I was impressed by the people, that they come and ask you questions in a very friendly manner. I think they have improved regarding their relations with other people.”

“As far as their religion goes, it was freedom of religion. If you wanted to be covered top to toe or we saw Western style of dressing. Nobody was looking at you or staring at you. It was a free society. I don’t think this is the case in Iran. I haven’t been to Iran in the last 12 years, but they were very restrictive and enforced the rules.”

Mary Filben said the trip was “a wonderful opportunity to go to a country we had not been to and meet the people and learn more about them.”

Members of the exchange said they were impressed by Turkish hospitality.

“We were given every kind of consideration above and beyond what we expected,” said Paul Filben. “Everywhere we went they bent over backwards. The kids, hosts, and hostesses all had gifts for us. They laid out a beautiful dinner. When we were delayed, the families would wait sometimes from six o’clock til 9:30 p.m. to serve us.”

Reza Ghavamian said, “The food was excellent. The hospitality was great. I was very impressed.”

“It was unbelievable,” said Mahin Ghavamian, Reza’s wife, also a native Iranian. “It was beyond my expectations. It was overwhelming what they did, what they went through to show us their history and culture. Their history was amazing as we went deep into the country.”

She said she “loved all the monuments, especially in Ephesus where the Roman influence can be seen. Turkey calls itself the bridge between Europe and Asia. That’s what they want to emphasize that they’re a friendly bridge between the two continents.”

In addition to visiting ruins in ancient cities, the group went to museums, libraries, schools, universities and religious sites.

Reenie Aldes said, “My favorite thing was interacting with the people. We had a lot of opportunities to do that.”

She said the group had dinner with Turkish families in their homes and that the experience provided them the opportunity to ask their hosts questions about all subjects including religion.

“They were so friendly, so eager to show us the positive things about Turkey,” said Aldes. “They are very proud of the fact Turkey is a secular democracy. That’s something I didn't’t have a real good appreciation for never having traveled in a Muslim country.”

“They were very kind and generous people,” said Paul Filben. “I learned a lot about the Turkish people, their openness.”

Some of the travelers said they had significant spiritual experiences during the trip.

Lenny Aldes said, “Another thing that really stuck out in my mind was we had multiple opportunities to go into mosques during different prayer times. We also went into a couple of churches and Reenie and I had the opportunity to visit one of the synagogues in Istanbul. Hearing the imam chanting in the mosque and hearing the cantor in the synagogue, if I closed my eyes, they sounded pretty much the same to me. The big concepts were very similar to what was being said in the other (service).”

Reenie Aldes commented, “The biggest impact for me is that Judaism is such an accepting religion that it allowed me to listen to things about other faiths and observe them with an open mind. I think I came out of this thinking more about the similarities between the three religions than the differences.”

The experience taught Mahin Ghavamian more about Sufism, a mystic sect of Islam which she said wa brought to Konya, Turkey in the 13th century by Movlana (Jalaledin Rumi), a Sufi philosopher.

“It brought back some of my culture and my beliefs. It opened my memory of that again,” said Ghavamian.

Mary Filben said, “It’s my impression Turkey thinks they have a pattern for peace and they want to show that to the world.”

“I left there a whole lot more optimistic than I went there,” said Reenie Aldes. “Sometimes I get disillusioned watching the news and hearing about all the strife in the world, terrorist attacks, everybody hating everyone else. I tended to not look at things on a person to person level. By going and meeting individuals, I learned they want the same thing I want. They want to live peacefully and raise children in a safe environment. There are other people in other countries thinking in a similar fashion.”

Reza Ghavamian said he thinks a cultural exchange like this “Opens up people’s minds about other religions. In our group, we didn’t know each other, but at the end, we had become friends and everybody exchanged phone numbers and e-mails. It made us closer together regardless of different religions.”

“It’s so important for all of us to understand we are equally the same,” said Mahin Ghavamian. “Number one: We’re human beings and it’s so important to share our cultures, to talk about it, to keep the bridge open between us with dialogues.”

Ficici said IDA is trying to establish its own local organization like The Istanbul Center for Culture and Dialogue in Atlanta.

He said the group plans to sponsor another trip to Turkey in the fall.