On Sunday, September 1, the President of the Vicdan Foundation, Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu, and our foundation's volunteers organized a meaningful conscience meeting event in collaboration with the International Refugee Research Center Association. The event was held in Ankara, in the homes of our Syrian refugee brothers and sisters. This meeting provided an opportunity to share not only our tables, but also our hopes and solidarity.
You can watch the video in our Twitter post for a moment from our table:
We set up bountiful tables together, a reflection of our traditions. We both enjoyed the excellent Syrian food offered by our hosts and enriched our table with desserts we brought. Apart from the delicious food, this sharing helped us overcome the distances between us and create stronger bonds. We experienced once again the power of meeting at a common table and spending time together.
The personal stories of our Syrian brothers and sisters touched us deeply. We listened to the stories of many people, from young people who had to stop their university education due to the start of the civil war and now continue their lives as furniture craftsmen, to successful young people who had to leave their education in Turkey under difficult conditions but started their own businesses by working. These stories once again showed the importance of holding on to life, solidarity and unity despite the difficulties.
During the event, we had the opportunity to talk about the difficulties faced by Syrian refugees. While focusing on fundamental issues such as education, work and housing, we also exchanged ideas on what we can do to solve these problems. In this period when hatred has spread like a disease to all hearts, we all saw that the best way to break the ice in hearts is through happy moments and how great an impact sharing a common table has.
We plan to hold a similar meeting to this one on a larger scale at the Vicdan Foundation Center. Our aim is to increase solidarity between communities and raise awareness by expanding such events with more participants.
We felt once again that this event is much more than just sharing a meal. These steps we take for a future filled with solidarity, conscience and empathy play an important role in uniting societies.
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