28th Abant Meeting “Diverse Perspectives on Turkey” to be held in February 2013
Date posted: December 29, 2012
Turkey’s foremost civil intellectual forum, Abant Platform‘s workshop on “Diverse Perspectives on Turkey,” will be held in February 8-10, 2013 in Abant, Bolu.
The Abant Platform is founded as an intellectual forum by the Journalists and Writers Foundation to promote democratic engagement for expanding social consensus and the coexistence of society’s rich cultural resources within a peaceful environment in Turkey.
Within the Abant Platform’s upcoming meeting, nearly 120 intellectuals, journalists and academics from a variety of countries and diverse backgrounds who are currently residing in Turkey will meet their Turkish counterparts and have free discussion on the following topics in 5 separate workshops:
– Identities, Demands and New Citizenship
– Turkey’s Regional Role and Foreign Policy
– EU Negotiation Process and Current Situation
– Problems and Difficulties for the New Constitution
Turkey’s coup attempt & a more intimate view of the Hizmet Movement
Working towards this vision of the world, the Gulen Movement focus primarily in three areas: creating high achieving educational institutions from elementary schools to universities; establishing interfaith dialogue organizations where leaders from different religions as well as public official come together to find and share common grounds at a local and international level; and providing emergency relief in disaster areas around the world.
Twelve questions Turkey’s journalists can’t ask
Erdoğan was born to a relatively poor family in Rize, along the Black Sea. His father was in the coast guard and worked at sea. Erdoğan at one point even sold snacks on the street to make extra cash. He graduated from a religious school in 1973, and immediately embarked on a political career, eventually becoming first mayor of Istanbul. So here’s the question: How did a man like Erdoğan become a billionaire several times over?
Political raids targeting educational institutions a ‘hate crime’
Samanyolu Education Foundation’s Lawyer Selamet Şen has stated that the measures constitute to nothing more than a hate crime and discrimination, underlining that the institutions are both open for inspections which they have passed with flying colors.
Turkey cooperates with smugglers to catch Gulen sympathizers seeking asylum abroad
A Turkish teacher seeking asylum in Greece claimed that Turkey has been cooperating with smugglers to hunt those fleeing the country.
Why Is Turkey Targeting Hizmet? Questions about Erdoğan’s Post-Coup Crackdown
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The Erdoğan-Did-It Conspiracy
While on its face, the notion that elements in the Turkish military loyal to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan deliberately launched a “fake coup” to justify a crackdown on Erdoğan’s enemies sounds farfetched, the belief is taking hold not only among Turkey’s staunch secularist minority and followers of Pennsylvania-based cleric Fethullah Gülen, but also among those who know the Turkish military well.
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