SPEECH BY H.E. DAMLA YEŞİM SAY, AMBASSADOR OF TURKEY,
AT THE DINNER HOSTED BY FIANZ (23 May 2015)

Mr President,
Dear Sisters and Brothers,

I am very happy to be here with you today on this special occasion. Let me convey my sincere thanks for the kind invitation extended to us.

- Fist of all, I wish to congratulate the new President of the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand, Mr. Mustafa Farouk / Mr. Hazim Arafai. I am sure, under his leadership, FIANZ will even further its support to and coordination with Muslims all around the country. We are also grateful to our dear friend and brother, Mr. Anvar Ghani, for his diligent and hard work during his presidency.

As some of you may recall, His Excellency Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, visited this Center and the Masjid on Friday, 14th of November last year during his official visit to New Zealand. Let me express before this distinguish audience once again, our appreciation for hosting our Minister here.

Minister Çavuşoğlu was delighted to come together with you. He was impressed by the services that FIANZ has been carrying out for the Muslim community and its outreach activities towards the New Zealand society.

During this visit, Minister Çavuşoğlu promised to send Holy Qor’an to the Kilbirnie Masjid.

Today I have the privilege to present two copies of the Holy Qor’an, together with two prayer rugs and two Qor’an reading desks which were sent from Turkey.

I hope they will be useful for your Qor’an teaching courses that you provide for the people from different ethnic backgrounds and from all walks of life, and especially for the young generation.

Today, thanks to the hard work of FIANZ members, the Muslims in New Zealand have developed a strong and committed community, and established an exemplary and good image within their own societies.

I am grateful for your close cooperation with our Embassy. We are always here with you in your endeavours to help our sisters and brothers in New Zealand.

Before concluding let me express my sincere wishes to you all for the holy three months that we are in now, and for the upcoming holy month of Ramadan that will start in June. May Allah accept your prayers for a better and peaceful future for Muslims all around the world, and for the whole humanity. Thank you.