For three days I will be away from Turkey's increasingly suffocating internal politics. For this reason alone I am grateful to the Journalists and Writers Foundation, organizer of the Abant Platform on Africa. I think this three-day event will, among other things, show us, Turks, that there is a huge world outside Turkey and that we need to be humble about our country. Our Turkey-centric approach and our obsession with internal politics -- which pave the way for ignorance of the outside world -- will be challenged in this and similar meetings. The meeting will have five sessions: One, "Africa: Images and Realities"; two, "Contribution of African Values to Universal Coexistence"; three, "Education in Africa: Challenges and Opportunities"; four, "Health in Africa: Challenges and Opportunities"; and five, "Economic Development of Africa: Different Approaches to Sustainable Growth." I want to specifically focus on the first and second sessions. The decision to have sessions on "Africa: Images and Realities" and "The Contribution of African Values to Universal Coexistence" reminds me of the Hizmet movement's worldview. This worldview first and foremost rests on humility. Second, it does not see itself as having a "civilizing mission" but a mission to build bridges between different individuals, nations, groups, countries, religions and civilizations so that they will know each other better, accept each other as they are and cooperate for a better world. The first session's title implies that we must be humble about our knowledge of Africa. Second, it suggests that it is wrong to project our constructions, myths and imaginings onto Africa. Third, we must make an effort to have an interactive dialogue with Africans, instead of speaking and making decisions on their behalf. These three themes are also suggested by the title of the second session. The title "Contribution of African Values to Universal Coexistence" has more to tell us. It is...