Atat\u00fcrk: In His Words<\/em>”
\nat the New York Turkish Center, 2010.<\/p>\nIn\u00a02011, Prof.\u00a0Halman\u2019s\u00a0eleven books were published right around his 80th\u00a0birthday. We were communicating at one point in hope that we could organize an event to launch his translation from the contemporary Turkish poetry in English, which titled \u201cA Brave New World\u201d in New York! Further, he had already promised to speak about, at the next conference on \u201cMillennium Development Goals (MDGs) & Ataturk.\u201d \u00a0Although we have missed that opportunity forever, Prof.\u00a0Halman\u00a0was generous enough to share his book\u2019s e-version with the organization titled “Atat\u00fcrk Alive: In his Words,” which has become a historical source for the organization.<\/p>\n
Now, let us imagine Prof.\u00a0Halman\u00a0citing the below stanza:
\n
\n“When love arrives, all needs and flaws are gone –
\nI love you beyond the depths of my soul –
\nI was born with divine love –
\nDeath is for beasts, it is not the Lover’s destiny –
\nI love you, so the hand of death can never touch me.”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n– Yunus Emre: Contemporary of Rumi (2008)
\nFor each public event of the LM with Prof. Halman, \u00a0the organization did in collaborated with three different institutions for each time such as New York Turkish Center (2004), Stevens Institute of Technology (SIT) and Columbia University, New York (2008).<\/p>\n
In that regard, in 2005, the organization had collaborated with Professor Edward Foster, College of Arts and Letters at SIT in Hoboken, New Jersey, who had then already knew Prof. Halman very well for a long-period of time. Prof. Foster;\u00a0who is also a publisher and editor of the Talisman and both Prof. Halman\u2019s and the LM’s long-term collaborator and friend as well as an Advisory Board Member, shared his sincere thoughts on Prof. Halman with us. “Talat Halman showed that it was possible to be a gentleman, an intellectual, an educator, an administrator, a statesman, a friend, a translator, a historian, an editor, an essayist, a scholar, a poet, and, above all, a man of exceptional kindness whose great ambition and achievement was to serve others and to leave the world a better place than he had found it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stephen Kinzer,\u00a0the very first New York Times foreign correspondent for Turkey and Iran (1996-2000), Professor at Brown University \u2013 International Studies, and former Advisory Board member of the LM stated the following: \u201cTalat\u00a0Bey\u00a0was a humanist deeply convinced that knowledge can make the human spirit soar. Bringing the best of world culture to Turkey, and bringing Turkish culture to the world, was the focus of his life. He was never aggressive, partisan, angry, or divisive. This was one of Turkey’s greatest global citizens. We have lost a titan. Turkey’s future depends on whether there are enough Turks with his wisdom and gentle passion.\u201d In Prof. Kinzer\u2019s words, \u201cWe have lost a titan\u201d in which, the organization perceives the term \u201cwe\u201d as a universal loss.<\/p>\n
One of the organization\u2019s former editor\u00a0and supporters, Emily Alp, wrote in her article, titled \u201cYunus\u00a0Emre: “The visit to a heart is best of all<\/em>…”\u00a0based\u00a0on\u00a0the\u00a0\u201cYunus\u00a0Emre: Contemporary of Rumi\u201d event (2008) \u201cThe event put on by Light Millennium\u2014in collaboration with Columbia University\u2014served as an appropriate reminder that it is a human impulse to shut people out using religion but a divine aspiration to include them no matter what their faith or other differences may be. Indeed, Emre believed that spiritual perfection could be found when all religions combine.<\/p>\nYunus\u00a0Emre stood fast against fundamentalism and rigidity as practices in the Islamic faith and in general society; according to\u00a0Halman. He promoted the idea of expansion beyond the self through love and service to others. He was indeed a mystic as well as a point of contrast for Europeans wallowing in the dark ages as well as over-zealous enforcers of the Islamic faith throughout his native land of Anatolia and beyond.<\/p>\n
\u2018Pharisee, make the holy pilgrimage if need be a hundred times\u2014but if you ask me, the visit to a heart is best of all,<\/em>\u2019\u00a0Halman\u00a0quoted.\u201d
\nMujgan Hedges; Board Member and Treasurer of The Light Millennium wrote on Prof.\u00a0Halman\u2019s remarkable\u00a0generosity to offer and share his knowledge, translation, time, expertise to whomever approached him from the Turkish-American community in the U.S:
\n\u201cProf. TALAT HALMAN was a great supporter; monetarily and emotionally to many Turkish American Associations. He was only a phone call away when his wisdom and advice was needed.
\nHe was a unique person and a proud Turk. He will be missed by many.\u00a0May his soul rest in peace.”<\/p>\nThe following poems of\u00a0Yunus\u00a0Emre have been translated by\u00a0Talat\u00a0Halman. Last quatrain of poem reads:<\/p>\n
\u201cTo you, what\u00a0Yunus\u00a0says is clear,
\nIt is meaning is in your heart’s ear:
\nWe should all live the good life here,
\nBecause nobody will live on.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\nFor the concluding of this tribute, through Rumi,\u00a0Prof.\u00a0Halman\u2019s\u00a0says to all of\u00a0us and the world\u00a0\u201cfarewell,”\u00a0in the following Rubaiyat:<\/p>\n
\u201cTHIS IS THE NIGHT OF THE SEMA
\nWHEN WE WHIRL TO ECSTASY.
\nTHERE IS LIGHT NOW,
\nTHERE IS LIGHT, THERE IS LIGHT.
\nTHIS IS TRUE LOVE
\nWHICH MEANS FAREWELL TO THE MIND.
\nTHERE IS FAREWELL TODAY, FAREWELL.\u201d<\/p>\n
– Rumi: Soaring to Ecstasy** (2004)<\/p>\n
![\"Prof.](\"https:\/\/www.lightmillennium.org\/Images\/30\/talat-halman_rumi-audience-2004.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
_ . _<\/p>\n
[*] Detailed biography of Tal\u00e2t Sait Halman: <\/p>\n
Prof.\u00a0Talat\u00a0S.\u00a0Halman\u00a0presentations \u2013\u00a0selected media releases on the
\nLightmillennium.Org:
\n[**] RUMI: SOARING TO ECSTASY\u00a0– 2004
\nhttps:\/\/www.lightmillennium.org\/2005_15th\/thalman_rumi_p1.html
\nhttps:\/\/www.lightmillennium.org\/2005_15th\/thalman_rumi_p2.html<\/p>\n
“YUNUS EMRE: TURKISH MEDIEVAL HUMANIST MYSTIC” – 2005
\nhttps:\/\/www.lightmillennium.org\/2006_17th\/thalman_yemre_p1.html
\nhttps:\/\/www.lightmillennium.org\/2006_17th\/thalman_yemre_pII.html
\nPresented by Prof.\u00a0Halman
\nMedia Release:\u00a0http:\/\/www.lightmillennium.org\/events\/thalman_yemre_mr.html<\/p>\n
YUNUS EMRE: CONTEMPORARY OF RUMI – 2008
\nMedia Release:\u00a0http:\/\/www.lightmillennium.org\/events\/yemre_mr_oct27_08.html
\nhttps:\/\/www.lightmillennium.org\/21st_22nd\/emilyalp_yunusemre.html<\/p>\n
\u201dAtat\u00fcrk Alive: In his Words\u201d\u00a0E-book by Prof.\u00a0Talat\u00a0S.\u00a0Halman
\nhttps:\/\/www.lightmillennium.org\/ataturk\/thalman_book_p1.pdf
\nhttps:\/\/www.lightmillennium.org\/ataturk\/thalman_book_p2.pdf<\/p>\n
City of Cities: Byzantium \u2013 Constantinople \u2013 Istanbul – 2011:
\nhttps:\/\/www.lightmillennium.org\/2011_25th\/thalman_stevens_apr7_11.html.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A TRIBUTE BY THE LIGHT MILLENNIUM TO\u00a0PROFESSOR TALAT SAIT\u00a0HALMAN (7 July 1931 \u2013 5 December 2014): A TRUE GLOBAL MONUMENT FOR\u00a0THE\u00a0CULTURE\u00a0OF PEACE\u00a0– THE WORLD\u00a0HAS LOST A TITAN: PROF. TALAT SAIT HALMAN \u00a0Professor Talat Sait Halman with Defne Halman, presenting Rumi event at New York Turkish Center in 2004. “For those who truly love God and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":782126,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2939],"tags":[4259],"class_list":["post-109315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cultureart","tag-ataturk-features"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109315","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109315"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109315\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/782126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Prof.](\"https:\/\/www.lightmillennium.org\/Images\/30\/talat_halman-w-defne_halman_jeff.jpg\")
![\"talat_halman_ataturk\"](\"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/talat_halman_ataturk.jpg\")
<\/a>