The Turkish Cultural Center of Long Island celebrated its 8th annual Friendship Dinner Wednesday night at the Sheraton Long Island Hotel in Hauppauge.
The dinner is held every year to promote peace and a better understanding between Turkish and American culture. Guests included Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano and members of Long Island human rights group Common Ground.
The event featured homemade Turkish food that was prepared by members of the TCCL. There was also Turkish soda and nuts on hand, and photos of Turkey’s buildings and landscapes decorated both inside and outside of the ballroom.
Reverend Joann Barrett, the Senior Officiant and founder of Gathering of Light Multifaith Spiritual Fellowship in Dix Hills, served as master of ceremonies.
“All civilizations have gone through Turkey,” she said. This year Barrett was among those who went on the organization’s yearly trip to Turkey. The trips are made to introduce Turkish culture firsthand to Americans in an effort to embrace other cultures and traditions.
As important as the yearly trips abroad are to the mission of the organization, their main focus is embracing diversity in a peaceful way here on Long Island.
“Today humanity is going in a bad direction with extremism and terrorism,” TCC of New York Vice President Mehmet Kilic said. “We have to work not only on Islamophobia, but other forms of extremism as well.”
