Dear Valuable Members,

Turkey Communication Between Youth Platform (TUGAP), interviewed Gulberenk Values Education Association president and founder, educator- writer Neslihan Nur Turk. Below we share it with you:

1. Who is Neslihan Nur Turk?
She is a writer of several books, many poems and songs. The student of one single teacher, while being a teacher of many students. Driver of Istanbul. The mother of her son. The lady of her husband. The maid of her house. President and founder of Gulberenk Values Education Association. Genuinely puzzled by many evidents. A human being among all the people with her deficiencies and superior sides; but most importantly, the servant of Allah. And an individual in the Ummah of the beloved Prophet Muhammad Mustafa sallallahu aleyhi wa sallam, and she is always a foreigner to the outside World.

2. Where did the need to establish the Gulberenk Values Education Association come from?

First of all, we must state: Rose, the most beautiful example, is the remembrance symbol of our beloved Prophet. The color is the representation of His colorful Ummah. Gulberenk has been established to remind us of the blessed values that humanity has started to forget and to lose day by day, its patience, compassion, mercy, generosity, altruism, hard work and many other beauties.

By gathering the team services that we have already been doing for years under the roof of an association, we have expressed both the seriousness of the intention in our works and our determination to continue in a language and mode that people can understand better. Thus, we wanted to be understood better and better by everyone at the point of our identity, what we do, our purpose and our determination.

Gulberenk Values Education Association was born with the intention of preventing the severe contagion in the national and spiritual values of our country and the world. Within this context, we continue to work with a very intense pace with the feeling that the new generation is our responsibility. Therefore, we have been determined to be part of constitution.

3. What kind of services do you offer in Gulberenk Values Education Association?

We prepare educational stage and radio programs for children, conference and concert programs for young people and adults (female). In Turkey, we reach millions of people while doing some tours in collaboration with various foundations and associations.
We also work on the education of educators, one of which is our Musical Values Education Courses. We have realized that theatrical and rhythmic styles are much more effective in teaching. Therefore, we started lessons based on how to realize theatrical and rhythmic performances and now we organize them in seven provinces in Turkey. These courses are aimed at female teachers serving in the scope of Religious Affairs (Ministry) and the Ministry of Education and also all volunteering educators who works as honorary.

Until today, prominently in Istanbul, we have organized programs in almost 40 provinces in cooperation with various associations or foundations that provide services in those provinces.

Our first charity service abroad was in Tanzania. In cooperation with the Kutahya Golden Child Association we work hard for the orphans there. Our project that aims the English translations of our children’s songs continues for the sake our orphans in Tanzania.

The books which we have already written and will write in the future with the aim of understanding and keeping our values alive, meet many readers in Turkey and abroad through Erkam Publishing. The preparations for the album of five children’s songs, which focus on our values, continue. Apart from these, we are still working on radio programs based on our values as five albums. We are very excited about these projects that we will be offering soon.

4. Most of your service area is made up of children, what is the reason for you special focus towards children?

Children are without walls, without prejudice, away from all kinds of selfish knowledge, they are ready to take everything. Children are high quality peoples. Moreover, they will be the executives of the time zone we call “future”. They will build their future with different roles. Therefore, as Gulberenk, we believe that the education of children is an incarnation of the future and that every effort we give them will surely give a great response. For this reason, even while giving lectures to young people and ladies, our hidden goal is still children. As these children are educated by those sisters, mothers, teachers, aunts, aunts.

5. What are the benefits of your services in Gulberenk? What kind of gains do you receive?

Our services in Gulberenk are our real estate investment. Therefore, we are not in the expectation of a return or gain in the classical sense. Being an association or foundation employee often requires self-sacrifice. Especially if you are the founding head in that institution, you must be more sacrificing than anyone. Moreover, the work we are doing is not an extra thing, it is the work that we owe as Muslims in reality.

As a result, if we can contribute to create the beauties in the World and in our country with Gulberenk services, we may then contribute to our children’s, youth’s and adults joy in both worlds. Our biggest profit and gain is when every individual complies with what we do and is satisfied with our services.

6. Does your university education contribute to your service? Why didn’t you pursue an academic career?

In our years at our university, we would often have psychological attacks. Since we were wearing headscarves, we would be questioned and asked to write interesting articles like writing defense papers, on the class list we would be noted as absent, were not able to get internships. Therefore, for us, the university turned into a battlefield where we asked ourselves, “Who am I?” rather than focusing on an academic training. University was a place where we were forced to identify our identity and had to choose our façade. And when we got graduated we thought “Thank Allah we are saved”, in such a place one would naturally distance herself from any academic career.

I believe that career is a process of development. In my opinion, anyone who knows and cares about Allah, and not the dignity and the status of institutions, can have a career. And I think that if doing a career is specialization, success and artifacts, I guess I have already reached that point to a great extent. In addition to the university graduation thesis, I have nine books published, two albums, thousands of students trained, established an association, all the ongoing services and projects that are to be completed. In fact, I think that such services are not related to any university degree but to the feeling of responsibility towards the humanity and its welfare. This is not a classic schooling I mean.

7. What kind of a school do you mention about?

It is a much more qualified school(ing), much more educational. It is a challenging school where you cannot get a diploma in just four years. I am talking about Fatih Sultan Mehmed, Aziz Mahmud Hüdayi, Yunus Emre, Mevlânâ and the metaphoric school that taught them. Unless one knows what is created for man, unless he/she recognizes the orders and prohibitions of the Creator and leads a life according to Him, she/he cannot see much of the benefit of other schools and degrees.

For example, a doctor who has graduated from medical school will become a doctor, but what really makes her/him a doctor is kindness and compassion people will receive from her/him. The career of someone who has graduated from civil engineering is also possible with the knowledge of haram and halal. Who would benefit from a lawyer who does not respect human rights?

Here, there are subjects that are not included in the curricula of other schools. There are virtues that teachers cannot earn easily. Not being taught in any other schools; here are truths to be taught that are based on spiritual schooling. For this reason, I wish that Allah makes everyone’s way to these precious schools. One should search for these schools entitled, “Servitude to Allah” and become a student of them to do a real career.

8. What are your ongoing and future projects?

The first of our ongoing projects is Gulberenk Educational Children’s Programs which entered the fifth year. In Turkey, one team will be trained as forerunners in each province, while also we hope to reach the world’s children. Secondly, we continue our conference programs with the determination to reach a wider audience. Our other projects, which continue are the Contemplation Concerts, 60 Minutes as a Child and Smiling Meetings.

Thereby, the first project to be realized soon is the radio programs for children, in which we will emphasize on our national and spiritual values. We strongly believe that these programs, which we collect in one album and which we intend to turn into foreign languages, will be a solid work that travel forth in many years and will reach the hearts of countless children.

Our Children’s Songs Albums will be available soon, we hope. The preparations for five separate albums, three of which will consist of good morals, and children’s songs, both of which deal with worship issues, are about to be completed.

In addition, we prepare the text files of Gulberenk Children’s Programs and prepare to publish books. There is also a three-book series on empathy to be published soon.

We are concentrated on the moments. Will we have more projects to happen in the future? If Allah gives life and the chances, well why not, we will see together.

9. What are your advice to young people?

If they want to smell like roses, they should get around the roses. If they want to pursue a career, let them work for Allah in accordance with Allah’s approval. The earth is the masjid of Muslims. So they should not forget that faith is not about “this institution” or “that building”, and they had better remember that they can serve everywhere after having a solid faith in them. For a better service, if necessary, let them create their own institutions.

They should think big. In fact, not even big, let them think in gigantic way! Because they have the Supreme Allah on their sides who is not limited to time and space, and possesses all the treasures. So their dreams should be immaculated and unlimited. Serving can be conducted with tags and money. The service we mean is carried out merely with sincerity and sacrifice. And the education of these values are given in the schools of spirituality and religion.

Regardless of which school they graduate, they must register at a religious school. Good faith, innocence and effort can open a myriad doors. These are like keys. If they are wise, they should add sacrifice and assistance to these three keys. Assistance is like a friend of the positive energy coming from Allah. And in terms of assistance one needs a religious leader to lead her/him. If they have any shares, they will only be grateful with their language and behaviours until they die. Whatever dies, it means Allah has killed it. One should try to understand this fact.

If to give advice to young people; But I feel myself just like a newborn baby. No matter how old they get, they should not kill the baby inside themselves. No matter how rich they are, they should remember that they are in need. If it appears in their hearts, I would be happy to have them pray for us. As we all are peoples in need of help and support coming from Allah. Vassalam.