E1-B3 Symposium
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INTERNATIONAL SYMOSIUM ON THE EFFECTS OF COMMON VALUES ON EUROPEAN PEACE This project carried out by European Ministry of Turkey and Center of European Union Education and Youth Programs (National Agency http://www.ua.gov.tr ) under Erasmus + Strategic Partnership for Adult Education Program and expenditures donated by European Commission. However, National Agency and European Commission cannot be hold responsible of the opinions. 25 -26 MARCH 2017 ANKARA Turkey - Spain – Bulgaria Germany Czech Republic Turkey 1 SYMOSIUM COMMITTEES Honorary committee : Prof. Dr. Mehmet AYDIN (Ex State Minister) Prof. Dr. İsmail Hakkı ÜNAL (Dean, Ankara University Faculty of Theology) Organizing Committee : Prof. Dr. Ahmet BİLGİN (Turkey) Prof. Dr. Alparslan AÇIKGENÇ (Turkey) Prof. Dr. Osman AYDINLI (Turkey) Ahmet GÜL (Turkey) Salih ALTUNTAŞ (Turkey) Süleyman ASLAN (Turkey) Hana ERLEBACHOVA (Czech Republic) Sophia BICKHARDT (Germany) Krasimira BAKARZDHIEVA (Bulgaria) Pedro Jose Leiva PADILLA (Spain) Scientiic Committee : Prof. Dr. Ahmet BİLGİN (Turkey) Prof. Dr. Alparslan AÇIKGENÇ (Turkey) Prof. Dr. Şaban Ali DÜZGÜN (Turkey) Prof. Dr. Mehmet AKKUŞ (Turkey) Prof. Dr. Osman AYDINLI (Turkey) Prof. Dr. Ali DERE (Turkey) Prof.Dr. Ernest Wolf GAZO (Egypt) Prof. Dr. Erdal TOPRAKYARAN (Germany) Prof. Dr. Cemal TOSUN (Turkey) Doç. Dr. İhsan ÇAPCIOĞLU (Turkey) Yrd. Doç. Dr. Yusuf SUİÇMEZ (T.R.N.C.) Dr. Viola GODAMANN (Germany) Dr. Ulrich PAFFRATH (Germany) Pedro Jose Leiva PADILLA (Spain) Jitka Panek JURKOVA (Czech Republic) Kostadinka TODOROVA (Bulgaria) Secretariat : Yunus İBRAHİMOĞLU (Ankara University Faculty of Theology History of Islamic Missions Research Assistant) Ertuğrul KAZANCI(Ufuk University Faculty of Medicine Emergency Medicine Research Assistant) Gülden KAZANCI (Ufuk University Faculty of Medicine Emergency Medicine Research Assistant) Mehmet ÇELİK (Turkey Formal And Non-Formal education Foundation) Turkey - Spain – Bulgaria Germany Czech Republic Turkey 2 Symposium Keynote Address Mr. Rector, Mr. Dean, session chairpersons, distinguished guests, dear students, I greet you all with respect. Praises may put people into a dificult situation. Sometimes one may feel responsible. This is the third time I came to this faculty. My physicians advise against my participation in such programs. But the fact that I have been born and raised to maturity in this faculty changes everything. Such institutions are really needed. Even, if we delve into this topic and organize a new program, the topic we will discuss will be the importance of religious education. To what extent does our religious education and training provide information, and offer possibility of information, taking into consideration international values? This is very important. Indeed, a considerable portion of the problems we today experience around the world can be attributable to religious education. If you go to the US, you can see it in the attitudes of those Protestants around Washington. And focusing on our region and Islam-centered efforts, we can discern serious problems in religious education. This is a point I disclose to my colleagues. Prof. Dr. Mehmet AYDIN As a person who taught at this faculty, I must admit that (Former State Minister) there were shortcomings at my time and there still are. Allow me note one of them. “How many professors are there at the faculty?” I asked our Dean. He said there were 60 professors. So I conclude that this faculty should produce 20-30 books a year. This is not restricted to this faculty only. It applied to all faculties in Turkey. I did my doctorate in the UK. The department had one professor and three associate professors. It would deinitely publish a book every year. Sometimes, two books would be published. Despite these shortcomings of ours, the people who received religious education in Turkey do not kill other people in the name of Islam. There is no such thing in Turkey. This still indicates that we are on the right track. I say it because it was reported in the press. Our model for imam hatip schools and theology faculties has been requested by Pakistan, Afghanistan and some Middle Eastern countries. I have personally dedicated a signiicant portion of my life to this topic. Turkey seeks to join the European Union. Negotiations should start. We have been part of this project since 1960s. However, we are not where we should be for some reason. Since early 2003, we have invested great efforts in this bid. The intention was to take the process to its completion. In three years, I have paid visits 170 locations. These points were located abroad. Some 50 or 60 of them were in the big and central countries like France, Germany and the Netherlands. What was our purpose? Our purpose was this: if you like it, let me tell you another reference: with our then Prime Minister and current President, we visited the Netherlands for support purposes. With then Dutch Prime Minister, the Dutch minister, our then Prime Minister, and our Ambassador, we met at a room in our Embassy. There was no one else in the room. The Minister said: - There are visible obstacles to Turkey’s being given a starting date for negotiations. There are also invisible obstacles. The issues we need to discuss are the current, strong problems. That is, the claim is that Turkey has not gone through the Renaissance. It has not gone through the Enlightenment. It was natural that it has not gone through the Renaissance as it was related to the religion. Turkey is in Europe, but it is not European. Is Europe, then, a geography? Or is it a world of values? If it is the geography that matters, how has Cyprus become part of Europe? It is impossible for Turks to Turkey - Spain – Bulgaria Germany Czech Republic Turkey 3 adopt these values. They would bring other articles. They have been here since 1960s, but they have never been like us. They want to be modern, but they offer the European personality. However, Christianity is part of the European personality. The Judeo-Christian tradition is part of it. Therefore, I kick off an activity for these values. I will organize a very high-level academic symposium. Please help us in this matter. And our Prime Minister said: - This is our colleague who deals with these matters. He is with us. He replied politely: - I know him personally. But the proposal should come from you in your capacity as a prime minister. These symposiums were held in seven or eight European capitals. In one of these conferences, former French president and I delivered keynote speeches. In his speech, the former French president would frequently refer to European values. And I said to him: - Mr. President, you repeatedly talk about European values. Can we tell me some of these values? He was surprised. He talked about justice. Justice is a fundamental moral term. Individuals start by being fair to themselves. Individuals must be fair to themselves. “We have followed the footsteps of our carnal selves and wronged ourselves,” is what Prophet Adam and Eve said in times of trouble. “Wronging oneself” is a very interesting concept. This concept is widespread mainly in our geography. Injustice is refusal to give someone his/her due. It is addressed within the context of relationships. Yet, there is the I/me inside us and there is a way inside us. As Yunus Emre put it, there is the I/me inside me, and if I did not kill it, it would question me about the talk here at night. “You didn’t tell the truth,” I may say. But if I refuse to listen to it over and over, the disease will stay there. Then, my personality will be different in the day and at night. This was what I said there. Then, whenever we came across to each other at other meetings, he would refer to European values, but he would change it to shared values seeing me. Every culture has values. Europe has so far been more successful in implementing the values. If we compare the Occident and the Orient, the Occident has been more successful. The Copenhagen criteria are among these values. When we declared our intention to join the European Union, they told to us to do certain things. We have passed 14 packages in four years. Each package contained 14 articles. Our laws and practices concerning these values were behind the level they were implemented in the European Union. We are talking about values. Let me list some of them: 1. Respect for human dignity, 2. Rule of law, state governed by rule of law, 3. Justice, 4. Accountability. You will call to account for and those in charge will answer. This is a value. This is a sine qua non element of democracy. 5. Transparency. It means that we have to see ourselves. We will be fair and will not be unfair. We do not perform well in terms of transparency. Central European countries are more advanced than us in this regard. This is because accountability has been well established in those countries; people have received the accountability training; they know how to call those in charge to account for their actions. In Belgium, people discussed the changing of a corner for causing many trafic accidents. I was working at a university there. The discussions lasted for one or two months. That is, they refrain from doing something before persuading the community about it. We need to see the majority. Suppose we have seen and known about it. So how will we promote the truth and rectify the wrong practices? This should be done via law and politics. These values are what democracy relies on. Then, politics should be used to implement the obvious sociological observation. This entails tolerance. Tolerance is one of the most important values.