THE HAGUE, 04/10/08 - The Christian democrats (CDA) are presenting a book on Saturday with 32 meditation texts. It is a collection of spiritual reflections that are not only Christian in nature but also Islamic.

"It is a common CDA tradition to open meetings with a meditation. But we noticed that branches sometimes found it difficult to find an appropriate text," as not all CDA members are Christian. "That is why we put together the collection," says CDA spokesman Jo-Annes de Bat.

The book, called "Reflections for political meetings," will be distributed among the CDA regional branches. The meditations were written by a variety of CDA members: Roman Catholics, Protestants, one Jew and two Muslims: MP Ceskun Coruz and ex-candidate MP Ayhan Tonca.

For his contribution to the book, Tonca has drawn on poetry of the 14th century Turkish poet Yunus Emre: "Allah praising and extolling, for his qualities so unique, with godly reflection time after time, shall I call on you, Lord, O Lord!" is in his contemplation.

In 2006, Tonca was a CDA candidate for the Lower House, but failure to recognise the Armenian genocide by Turkey (1915-1917) led to his withdrawal. The Turkish parliament then awarded Tonca the distinction of 'honorary parliamentarians.'

Tonca also chaired the Muslims and Government Consultative Body (CMO). In this function, he termed the meanwhile world-famous Danish Mohammed cartoons "unacceptable".

Another contribution to the book comes from Henk Hagoort. As well as being a CDA member, he is chairman of the Dutch public broadcasters' umbrella organisation. Other authors are former Premier Ruud Lubbers, Defence State Secretary Jack de Vries and MPs Schinkelshoek, Sterk and Ferrier.

"As CDA, the Bible is our guide, and as members, we find each other in core values such as justice. But one council member derives inspiration from the Bible and another from the Koran. We wanted to give this scope to the authors of the meditations," says De Bat.

Tonca does not find the initiative surprising. "It would rather have been odd if there was no meditation from a Muslim in it. We want to create a society as the Creator intended. On that point, Muslims and Christians can find each other within the CDA."