"Türkiye's Problems" Discussed at the School of Politics

In the 2nd week of the School of Politics organized by the School of Government and Leadership (HLO), Türkiye's current problems were assessed from different perspectives.

The first session began with Liberal Democratic Party Chair Cem Toker's session on "A Liberal Perspective on Türkiye's Problems". Stating that liberalism is a philosophy of thought, Toker emphasized that it is also a free system of government and a philosophy of freedom. He noted that the stages of liberal democracy are fundamental rights and freedoms, the free market, limited government, justice and individualism. Referring to the problems of liberalism, Toker noted that young people in our country are either leftist, nationalist or conservative, and that the same is true of the press. He emphasized that for a democracy to be liberal, there must be rights such as the right to vote, the right to access information and the right to organize. He stated that freedoms cannot be given up and that no country in the world has become rich by giving up freedoms.

The second session featured Member of Parliament and Justice and Development Party Deputy Chair Mahir Ünal assessing "Vision, Experience" . He began by describing the definition and functions of the role of deputy group chair. He explained how legislative processes in parliament work and emphasized the importance of being informed about these processes. He also argued that sovereignty should be a value belonging to the nation, and stated that despite its mistakes and shortcomings, the republican regime is a very successful project. Also assessing the Gezi process in his speech, he stated that as a party they had worked intensively to analyze the process correctly and pursued policies accordingly.

 “The third session was held with journalist, author and academic Nur Batur, who spoke on "An Overview of Turkish Foreign Policy" . She stated that it is necessary to look at the past to understand how the concept of "precious loneliness" emerged and what consequences it will have. Dividing Turkish Foreign Policy into various sub-periods, she listed the general characteristics of these periods. Referring in particular to the innovations and openings brought by the AKP period after 2002, Batur stated that these lost their effect in the period after 2007.

In the fourth session, "The New Türkiye and the Constitution" was assessed by Eskişehir Member of Parliament Prof. Dr. Süheyl Batum. He stated that one must have a conscience when engaging in politics. He noted that it is necessary to examine how constitutions are made around the world and to determine how this can be adapted to our country, emphasizing that scientific methods should be used in making a constitution. He added that a new constitution cannot be made unless the legislature and the executive are discussed.

The final session featured the assessments of retired Colonel and researcher-author Erdal Sarızeybek on "Where Is Türkiye Heading?". He stated that to understand the world and the Middle East, one must first understand Anatolia, emphasizing that losing power in this region is a major problem. Assessing the historical process, he stated that losing power in Anatolia would lead to being erased from history. Sarızeybek also added that for terrorism to be resolved in Türkiye, the process must be analyzed well.