He is many things, including a Sunni Muslim, but when he came before his neighbors at the Delaware American-Turkish Cultural Education Foundation dinner, he was first and foremost a neighbor.

“We’re all just family people, working people,” Tekmen said. “We have the same values as many faiths do.”

Tekman hosted the dinner at the Atlantic Sands in Rehoboth Beach Wednesday, Nov. 11. The Swann Ballroom filled with friends, acquaintances and residents, as well as the region’s contingent of Turkish-Americans. This was the dinner’s fourth year.

“It’s a small population, but it’s growing,” he said. “We’re mostly business people – hotel owners, restaurant owners.” Tekman owns the Quality Inn & Suites in Dewey Beach, a hotel his father bought decades ago. He lives in Rehoboth Beach with his wife, Semra, and their two sons, Kubilay and Volkan.

“We think this is the best place to be with our families,” he said. “We want to be here.”

Tekman said the Delaware American-Turkish Cultural Education Foundation (DATCEF), located on Route 9 in Harbeson, is dedicated both to community outreach and cultural preservation.

Diners were treated to presentations on Turkish culture and Ebru painting, which uses water and oil to spread hues and form patterns.

“Kids tend to lose a part of their heritage,” Tekman said. “It’s a difficult position to be in.” He said the foundation provides a place for Turkish-Americans to meet, pray and reconnect with their heritage.

Emir Celik, president of Rumi Forum, addressed the audience, broadcasting his founation’s message of peace and interfaith dialogue. The Rev. Jeffery Ross of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Lewes also gave a speech.

Tekman said he recognizes the tension between Muslim Americans and mainstream America was worsened by the Thursday, Nov. 6 massacre of 13 soldiers at Fort Hood in Texas by Army Maj. Nadal Melik Hassan, a Muslim.

“We condemn the acts. I condemn it to the highest degree,” Tekmen said. “It is a sin. He deserves to be punished.”

Islam is a religion of peace, Tekman said, and coexistence is far from fantasy.

He related a story from a recent trip to Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city.

Taking a ferry across the Bosporus Strait, Tekman said he could hear simultaneously the chiming of church bells, the Muslim call to prayer and an announcement in Hebrew from synagogue loudspeakers.

“You have leaders with agendas – they skew religion to meet their needs,” Tekman said. “Religion isn’t the problem.”