ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkish President Abdullah Gul on Thursday hosted a dinner at Istanbul's Dolmabahce Palace for the Oxford Islamic Studies Center.
According to a statement published on the web site of the Turkish Presidency, Abdullah Gul expressed pleasure over hosting special dignitaries from the Islamic world, Turkey and Britain.
The Oxford Islamic Studies Center is an important and successful academic center which works on the Islamic culture and civilization, Gul underlined at the dinner.
The center's influence goes beyond the Islamic world, Gul said.
"It is a center which plays a crucial role in facilitating a real understanding of Islam in both the East and the West," Gul stressed.
It has become the first Islamic academic institution in the 800 years old history of Oxford, Gul noted.
By supporting this center, we contribute to the values such as tolerance, harmony and common understanding, Gul also said.
The Oxford Islamic Studies Center and the British government will host a Turkish academician each year as a visiting lecturer as part of the "Abdullah Gul Chevening Scholarship".
The center performs its activities as an independent center within Oxford University.
