Abant Platform to discuss framework of new constitution


Date posted: March 6, 2012

5 March 2012 / TODAY’S ZAMAN, İSTANBUL

The prestigious Abant Platform, which has tackled pressing issues facing Turkey since its establishment in 1998, will aim in its next meeting to contribute to the shaping of Turkey’s new constitution.

The 26th Abant meeting, which will be held from March 9 to 11 in Turkey’s northwestern province of Bolu, will bring together a wide spectrum of intellectuals, lawyers, political leaders and journalists to discuss the problematic areas of, and propose solutions to, the constitutional drafting process. Parliament Speaker Cemil Çiçek will be among those attending the meeting.

Participants will examine the constitutional process through the following subjects — citizenship and identity, mother tongue education, local governments in the balance of a unitary state and autonomy, freedom of religion, religious education and the position of the president in the constitution.

Former head of the Supreme Court of Appeals Sami Selçuk, Turkish-Armenian biweekly Agos Editor Rober Koptaş and academics from various universities and journalists from Turkey’s many dailies will lead the discussions.

As with every Abant meeting, the platform will release a summary declaration arising from the discussions’ conclusions.

The Abant Platform is an independent think tank that takes its name from Lake Abant in the province of Bolu, the location of its first meeting. It is one of the most well-known programs of the Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV).

The GYV was founded in 1994. Its mission and work were inspired by the GYV’s honorary president, Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen.

Source: Today’s Zaman http://www.todayszaman.com/news-273342-abant-platform-to-discuss-framework-of-new-constitution.html

 


Related News

Gülen, Hizmet, the state and the AKP

Gülen has placed much emphasis on education. With a new ijtihad (independent reasoning), he always stated that instead of building a mosque, religious businessmen must establish secular schools that will educate the future’s engineers, doctors, lawyers, journalists and yes, police, prosecutors and judges.

Purges at Turkish Airlines continue after PM’s ‘witch hunt’ remarks

Yılmaz, who has worked for the company for 20 years, is among a group of high-level THY employees who have been reassigned in recent months, most of whom were graduates from Fatih University, an institution linked to the Hizmet movement, inspired by US-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen.

EU, US Have Little Leverage as Turkish Democracy Backslides

“In the big picture, Erdogan knows that the EU needs Turkey and will come back begging for a new agreement on the migrants. That’s why he will play a game of brinksmanship,” said Soner Cagaptay, the director of the Turkish program at The Washington Institute.

Very bad things are happening in Turkey

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, defining it as a parallel state, gravely insults the Hizmet movement and Fethullah Gülen. It is our right to expect some decency in his style given that he is the prime minister of all in this country. We feel sorry because this attitude is not embracive, this attitude is not fair and this attitude is not legal.

3 taken into custody for asking Minister Ala questions

Three people were taken into custody by security forces on Monday for asking Interior Minister Efkan Ala questions about Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen and the settlement process to end the Kurdish issue.

Erdoğan distorts Gülen’s NYT op-ed, says it is about Bank Asya operation

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has presented a distorted interpretation of an op-ed written by Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen that was published in The New York Times, claiming the op-ed is about the takeover of the board of Islamic lender Bank Asya by Turkey’s banking watchdog.

Latest News

Sacramento leaders gather for Iftar dinner in celebration of Ramadan

Turkish inmate jailed over alleged Gülen links dies of heart attack in prison

Message of Condemnation and Condolences for Mass Shooting at Bondi Beach, Sydney

Media executive Hidayet Karaca marks 11th year in prison over alleged links to Gülen movement

ECtHR faults Turkey for convictions of 2,420 applicants over Gülen links in follow-up to 2023 judgment

New Book Exposes Erdoğan’s “Civil Death Project” Targeting the Hizmet Movement

European Human Rights Treaty Faces Legal And Political Tests

ECtHR rejects Turkey’s appeal, clearing path for retrials in Gülen-linked cases

Erdoğan’s Civil Death Project’ : The ‘politicide’ spanning more than a decade

In Case You Missed It

Turkey calls on parents to report Erdogan critics at German schools

Erdoğan, Gülen among 10 Turkish figures in Foreign Policy 500 List

Gülen, the most important figure of tolerance and dialogue

The Hizmet movement and politics

Diverging points between AKP and Hizmet movement: Kurdish question

Al Gore’s daughter fasted for the first time for Peace Islands Institute’s iftar dinner

TUSKON awarded damages, to build orphanage in Uganda

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News