Business World on the School of Politics Agenda

 

In the ninth week of the 8th School of Politics program organized by the Bahçeşehir University School of Government and Leadership, with the participation of Fatih Mayor Mustafa Demir, MHP Deputy Group Chair Mehmet Şandır, CHP Deputy Chair Nihad Matkap, Bahçeşehir University faculty member Mehmet Çelik and Istanbul Member of Parliament Süleyman Çelebi, the topics of the city information system, a different perspective on the constitution and the work being done, politics and the business world, Türkiye's adventure of Westernization, and working life and trade unions were discussed.

In summary, the participants said the following:

MUSTAFA DEMİR:

"If you are running a city, you must be the person who knows that city best. The City Information System serves exactly this purpose; it is the city transferred to a digital environment, both economically and administratively. Thanks to this web-based system, we can access all the municipal information we need about a person who applies to us using only their national ID number. Thanks to this system, citizens no longer have to wait for days and get an immediate response to their requests. The City Information System, the product of 2 years of work, contains all the information needed for service, from title deeds filling 600,000 folders and correspondence between property owners and the municipality to the social activities of property owners."

MEHMET ŞANDIR:

"The main reason we see a new constitution as essential is that we believe Türkiye cannot become a leading country meeting the 21st century by constantly tinkering with the constitution. If there is hunger on one side and luxury on the other, this cannot be called a social state. We envision a social state governed by the rule of law. The indisputability of our official language and our flag is our common ground. The integrity of the territory and the unity of the nation are our priorities. With these principles, we as the MHP say yes to making a new constitution in 2012 in order to achieve social consensus.Constitutions are not sacred texts; there is no such thing as 'it can never be changed.' They can change according to needs. Constitutions are not made by majority vote or by a show of hands; they are made by unanimity."

NİHAD MATKAP:

"If Türkiye has become more conservative, which it has recently, this means that the risk of asylum has decreased. Due to developments in the world, the likelihood of asylum has also decreased. If we talk about developments in the Middle East: if a democratic understanding has begun to take hold in Egypt and Libya, if parties have begun to be founded and these parties are coming to power, and if a culture of rebellion has arrived, democracy will surely come wherever it takes root. You must embrace secularism; it is needed to make democracy work."

MEHMET ÇELİK:

"Even the most conservative people must change and develop in order to preserve what they have. In a round world, the concepts of West and East are relative, and they can change depending on whether we take ourselves as the center and where we see ourselves. The West's tendency to see itself as the center began in Rome; in the Hellenistic period, the West's assumptions were overturned because it began to see what was happening in Iran, and the West's curiosity about the East grew to the point that it later reached the dimension of colonialism. Throughout the Middle Ages, the West lagged far behind Eastern Civilization, and eventually Orientalism was born. With the logic of 'how can we catch up with them,' the West began to study the cultural, religious and literary works of the East. Being civilized is a state, not an ideology. The future lies as much in the roots as in the skies."

SÜLEYMAN ÇELEBİ:

"When we say trade union, a struggle whose scope is drawn only economically comes to mind, but in our view it is also a pressure element that wages a democratic struggle. In Europe in particular, the union struggle dates back much further. In Türkiye, there is a belief that rights came from above, but that is not how it happened; very heavy prices were paid. 12 September is a turning point. A system based on globalization, which we call the new world order, has arrived. A union movement placed under blockade and an unorganized society are the main problems. If there were an organized society, Türkiye could not be designed so easily. If you ask what the most fundamental problem is: there is no rule of law and no justice in Türkiye. Where there is rule of law, we can solve all of these. I believe we must wage a struggle for the rule of law from where the sun sets to where the sun rises. If the subjects of rights have been eliminated, everything else is a detail."