Vatican
VATICAN
As Marmara Group Foundation, we have given great importance to intercultural dialogue with our civil society identity. This importance we give is very important in terms of peace and service to humanity. Our work has attracted the attention of the Vatican as well as the whole world over the years. The Vatican, which has shown interest in our intercultural dialogue activities in the past years, participated in our Love and Peace Iftar event in Istanbul in October 2006 at the Cardinal level. Therefore, as a result of this work attended by Cardinal Celata, our relations reached a climax.
On 9 November 2006, Pope Benedict XVI received the Marmara Group Foundation at the Vatican. The reception of the Marmara Group Foundation, consisting of Dr. Akkan Suver, Prof. Dr. İlter Turan, Leyla Tavşanoğlu and Cafer Okray, by the Pope at the Vatican was considered a great event in the conditions of that day. Because the Pope's visit to Türkiye was on the agenda during the Vatican visit. During the visit, Dr Akkan Suver told the Pope that ‘the Republic of Türkiye and the Turkish nation are waiting for you’. After listening to the information given by Dr Suver, the Pope asked a question:‘I would like to learn something from you. What is something that the Turkish nation will love as a whole?’
Dr Akkan Suver said, ‘If you visit Atatürk in Anıtkabir, the Turkish nation would be very happy’. At the end of the meeting, the Pope sent the following meaningful message to the Turkish nation through Suver: ‘Take my greetings to Atatürk's Türkiye.
Then the Pope arrived in Türkiye, went to Anıtkabir and visited Atatürk.
The Pope's visit to Atatürk was watched by billions of people all over the world on television.
During his visit to Türkiye, Pope Benedict XVI received Dr Akkan Suver and Müjgan Suver in Istanbul. Then again in 2011, Pope Benedictus received the Marmara Group Foundation Delegation consisting of Dr Akkan Suver, Dr Fatih Saraçoğlu, Necdet Timur and Aykut Eken for the third time. The Pope stated that he did not see the Marmara Group Foundation as a bridge for dialogue between Islam and Christianity, on the contrary, he appreciated the high cultural efforts in the preservation of riches such as Chaldeanism and Assyrianism, which are among the diminishing values, and that he was a follower of our efforts to keep these cultures alive. In the meantime, as Marmara Group Foundation, we would like to state with our civil society identity that two important clergymen have a special place in our relations. We would like to mention the deceased Monsignor George Marovitch and Monsignor Yusuf Sag as an act of charity. The Marmara Group Foundation is grateful to Monsignor George Marovitch and Monsignor Yusuf Sag for their high and sincere efforts in the civil society relations between the Vatican and us.