A symposium on the Gulen movement was held at Columbia University in New York. Organized by the Turkish Cultural Center and Institute of Turkish Studies, the event was dedicated to examining Islam's role in contemporary Turkiye.

Sessions focused broadly on the role of Islam in the Ottoman Empire, along with Islamic movements that sprung up in the aftermath of its collapse, from the more traditionally based to the well-known Gulen movement.

Other sessions spotlighted the current relationship between Islam and politics, examining both the 2007 elections and the interplay between culture and religion in Turkish politics.

Bekim Agai, an assistant professor for Islamic cities at the University of Bonn lectured on" the educational network around the Fethullah Gulen movement". He said that the movement had been successful because of the followers' strong networking within the community in what led them into the modern world by keeping them within the Islamic core.

Agai also noted that Gulen movement became popular since the network of his discourse reached out to people of different faiths.

Many of those in attendance shared their thoughts about the symposium and expressed interest in what was being discussed.

The Turkish Cultural Center organizes educational and cultural activities such as art exhibits, concerts, trips, children activities, and language courses, placing special emphasis on dialogue peace, and environmental issues.