Local Election Results Assessed at the School of Politics

In the 12th week of the School of Politics organized by the School of Government and Leadership (HLO), Türkiye's agenda following the Local Elections was assessed.

The first session began with A&G Research Company Chair Adil Gürspeaking on "Post-Local Election Assessment". Stating that Türkiye had gone through an exciting and exhausting election process, Gür emphasized the view that "Türkiye is not going through a local election but a general election." He noted that people were curious about how these results would affect the presidential election. Stating that many factors had influenced the election results, Gür listed them as the MİT issue, the 17 December process, the Gezi events and Uludere, and emphasized that the stances taken in these events also affected the election. Referring to the post-election debates, he added that fraud is not possible in Türkiye's electoral system.

 “"The Role of Women in Decision-Making Mechanisms" was assessed in the second session with the participation of Bahçeşehir University Head of the Department of Sociology Prof. Dr. Nilüfer Narlı. Assessing the journey of women's role in decision-making mechanisms dating back to the Ottoman period, Narlı stated that before the Tanzimat period women were not even considered citizens, and that a modernization for women began after the Tanzimat period. Discussing women's participation in political processes, she emphasized that this participation stands at 14 percent today.

The third session featured Net Holding Board Member and General Coordinator Ceyhun Yağlıcıoğluassessing "Türkiye and the Turkish Economy after the 2014 Local Elections". Assessing the post-election period, Yağlıcıoğlu stated that the business world had expected changes with the election result, but the result did not change. He noted that the local election took place in the atmosphere of a general election and that Turkish democracy is at a crossroads. He also emphasized that still debating the integrity of elections in the 21st century is meaningless.

 “ "Politics and Leadership" was assessed in the fourth session with the participation of former Mayor of İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality and Leader of the Turkuaz Movement Ali Müfit Gürtuna. He stated that politics is the science and art of governing a society and a country, and emphasized that in Türkiye the science aspect is not valued, while the art aspect has turned into a craft. He emphasized the importance of creating visions for the future and conducting future-oriented work, especially on issues such as population growth, energy and food security, and stated that only by using management and leadership skills can the country compete with the world on these issues.

In the final session, Kültür University faculty member, author and Euronews İstanbul Correspondent Dr. Bora Bayraktar assessed "  “Shifting Balances in the Middle East and Türkiye". Stating that he had worked in many places in the Middle East, Bayraktar noted that in the 1990s there was US hegemony in the Middle East and an Israeli-Palestinian peace process. He emphasized that Türkiye was fighting the PKK in those years and that conducting foreign policy was difficult in that period. He added, however, that the situation in the region has recently begun to change and that this has also affected foreign policy.