For peace we must find ways of living together, says Hürriyet chairwoman

Finding ways to live together is the key to achieving global peace, Hürriyet chairwoman and Aydın Doğan Foundation Vice President Vuslat Doğan Sabancı said on Oct. 20, speaking at a panel on Islamophobia organized by the Doğan Group in Washington.

Doğan Sabancı delivered the opening speech of the panel titled "Islamophobia: Overcoming Myths and Engaging in a Better Conversation," organized in cooperation with the U.S.-based Atlantic Council think tank and the Smithsonian Institution.

"If we want peace, we have to find ways of living together ... For this, we have to put aside our stereotypical opinions and prejudices. We have to lend an ear to the other without fear. We must invite each other to understand and listen to each other. We must listen to all voices and defend our freedom to converse together, which belongs to all of us. One of the best expressions of what I'm trying to say is stated in the 18th verse of the Zumar Surah in Holy Quran: Listen to all voices and choose the best," said Doğan Sabancı.

She referred to U.S. President Barack Obama's remarks at the U.N. General Assembly meeting last month, in which he said the world was too small to "build walls to prevent extremism."

"A threat in one part of the world is never limited to that particular place. It affects the entire world. The outcomes of how that threat is perceived, defined, and struggled with are truly global. And because the threat is global, peace can only be ensured at a global level. People's destinies have become dependent on each other as never before. If even the most developed arms technologies in the world cannot prevent the spread of the threat, we need to stop and think," she added.

Doğan Sabancı said the solution was to...