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The Global Crisis of Civilization Discussed at the School of Politics
In the eleventh week of the School of Politics program organized by the Bahçeşehir University School of Government and Leadership, with the valued participation of Republican People's Party Deputy Chair Mustafa Sezgin Tanrıkulu, People's Voice Party Chair Numan Kurtulmuş, Nationalist Movement Party Deputy Chair Faruk Bal, Deputy Minister of Health Agâh Kafkas and Ankara Member of Parliament Ayşe Gülsün Bilgehan, the topics of recent developments and Türkiye's agenda, the global crisis of civilization and ways out, judicial independence, the parliamentary and presidential systems, Türkiye at the start of the 3rd millennium, and women's participation in politics in Türkiye and international representation were addressed.
In summary, the participants said the following:
MUSTAFA SEZGİN TANRIKULU:
"The Kurdish population is approximately 15 million and makes up about 20% of Türkiye's population. Of these citizens, 60–65% live in the Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia regions and 35–40% in our western provinces. In my opinion, making Kurdish an elective course is not enough, but it is a solution that can be considered a start. In Türkiye, not only the brave and those who risk criminal sanctions, but everyone should be able to express their thoughts freely. Whether we accept it or not, a significant portion of our citizens do not feel that they belong to this constitution. There is no need for a definition of citizenship in the Constitution."
PROF. DR. NUMAN KURTULMUŞ:
"Crises continue all over the world. These crises are not one-dimensional; they have cultural, social, societal and historical dimensions. Moreover, these crises are not only about one country and its mistakes. The source of these crises is the modern Western values that have dominated the world for the last three centuries. These crises are the crises of modern Western values. There is no way out of these crises within the existing values. We need new paradigms. The basic paradigm of the political system in Türkiye is absolute Westernism and the narrowing of vision that emerged in the transition from empire to nation-state. Out of security concerns, for example, we said that 'the Turk has no friend but the Turk' and shaped our entire surroundings accordingly."
MHP DEPUTY CHAIR FARUK BAL:
"People reached the rule of law through very hard struggles. They arrived at this concept after fighting for many years over their beliefs and sects. In democratic countries, the judiciary is an institution that works openly. What we call the judiciary is an independent institution. Unfortunately, in Türkiye a process exactly the opposite of what should have happened has taken place. Now its consequences are being felt heavily. The judiciary is becoming monopolized. In the past, when citizens were surveyed and asked what they disliked, they would say the poor state of the economy, education or health, but now this has changed, and 65–70% of people express their discomfort with what is happening in the judiciary. From a universal perspective, the judiciary must be independent and impartial. As in every case, this must be maintained as an indispensable value."
AGÂH KAFKAS:
"We had shortcomings in human rights, but with the latest referendum Türkiye has been liberated and the laws have changed. Significant changes have taken place in Türkiye over the last 10 years. The keys had been handed over to the IMF, loans had been taken and factories had been closed. The main cause of our most serious problems was our energy deficit. Energy production has doubled. Instead of a Türkiye that had problems with everyone, we now have a Türkiye that gets along well with its neighbors. In the world, you have as much of a place as you have economy. I see reaching this point as an opportunity. SSK members used to receive treatment only as far as medicines were available. Drug prices in Türkiye are 80% cheaper than 10 years ago. We have made great progress on chronic diseases, maternal mortality and child mortality, and there are also a significant number of Turkish hospitals abroad."
AYŞE GÜLSÜN BİLGEHAN:
"The understanding of freedom and human rights has changed a great deal compared with 80–100 years ago. Today, apart from Türkiye, there is no other country in the world under the same conditions whose democracy, good or bad, has reached this level. If we take gender equality and human rights as an example, what happened and the steps taken even in the early years of the Republic show how far ahead of the times we started. In 1934, when many EU countries had not yet given their women this right, we already had it.In 1935, women entered parliament for the first time, and Türkiye ranked 2nd in the world in the proportion of women members of parliament, whereas today we rank 88th. We need more women politicians, more young people and more entrepreneurs who will take responsibility and solve this problem together."
