Tom Christian Lauren

I think the most interesting thing for me in Turkey was being able to get such a deep and close up insight into the History of Turkey and the Ottoman Empire, when I was a child I always wanted to be an archaeologist, so history and lost empires has a deep interest for me. Unforgettable experience? Probably the whole trip, but especially the bus trips, seeing the real Turkey, seeing the Turkish people as they all live, oh, and your aunty in Istanbul! I think the Turkish people as a whole are the most friendly and warm people you could ever has the pleasure of being hosted by. I did not feel it changed my feeling of interfaith dialogue much, only to say I see how willing the Turks are to be part of it. If anything more willing than the Christians in some cases. I loved Turkish Islam, and the way it is lived there as part of everyday life, if only we could have the same integration of it here in our lives but unfortunately we may never see that, I'm referring to the mosques and Azan being called out, but Islam there is very real, and I felt it penetrate my being, in some ways its sad to come back to western life. As far as Fethullah Gulen is concerned, I had heard of him, and had read some of his works, but I had no idea how wide spread his movement was and what a deep impact it has had on people, I think it is a very worthy movement, and one that can bring a lot of good to the world.