Foreign students hail Turkey’s cultural richness

</p> <p>By Mehmet Kara</p> <p>ISTANBUL (AA) – Foreign doctoral students visiting Turkey are building bridges of culture and brotherhood while reexamining their preconceived notions of the country.</p> <p>Coming to Istanbul to attend a series of conferences on &quot;Abrahamic Reflections on Philosophy, Science and Religion&quot; held by Bahcesehir University, they highlighted Turkey’s rich cosmopolitan culture.</p> <p>“My first impression was that Turkey is a real European state,” American Samuel Murray, a doctoral student in philosophy at Notre Dame University, told Anadolu Agency, adding this is his first visit to Istanbul.</p> <p>Murray said he was nervous before coming to Turkey due to reports in the U.S. media which portray it as a dangerous country.</p> <p>“We thought there was a war in Turkey too, as the ongoing war in Syria is so close [to Turkey],” he added.</p> <p>Murray said he saw that Turkey enjoys a cultural richness which is a rich mixture of East and West.</p> <p>He said Istanbul is a modern city along with its historical features. </p> <p>“I can say that my ideas have really changed after coming to Turkey.”</p> <p>Murray said he was conducting research on Islamic philosophy and added that he understood what it means to be a practicing Muslim in Turkey.</p> <p>Philip Neri Reese, another American doctoral student in philosophy, said he was impressed by Turkish culture the most.</p> <p>Noting there has been a rise in the number of studies on Islamic philosophy in the U.S., Reese added that occasional tensions between Washington and Ankara have increased some Americans’ interest in Turkey.</p> <p>“As a Christian, I feel more comfortable in Turkey than I am in London,” Reese said.</p> <p> “When I first came to Istanbul as a British Muslim, everything was new and different,” said Abbas Ahsan from Birmingham University.</p> <p>Ahsan said Turkey is a country beyond what is depicted by the foreign media.</p> <p>Recalling an earlier visit to Istanbul, Ahsan said he went to the historic Blue Mosque in the city and stayed there for hours, where he found peace.</p> <p>“The thing I liked the most while visiting Istanbul is hearing the adhan [call to prayer],” he said, noting only Muslims living in a country where the adhan is not called could understand it.</p> <p>*Writing by Sena Guler