Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
09-19-06
Turkey Could Prevent Clash of Civilizations
Richard Mansbach, a professor at Iowa State University in the United States,
said Turkey has the potential to prevent a clash among civilizations.
Historical events have positioned Turkey at a critical juncture, said Mansbach,
and praised Turkey for its success in creating a balance between globalization
and tradition, and between modernism and Islam.
Mancbach joined the 1st Social Sciences Congress in Kocaeli, an organization
sponsored by the Kocaeli Municipality, the Turkish Cooperation and
Development Department (TIKA), the Scientific and Technical Research Council
of Turkey (TUBITAK), and Kocaeli University.
Manbach classified Turkey as a country that has acted as a bridge between the
north and the south, between the east and the west, and between Islam and
Christianity.
Selahattin Halilov, a senior official from Azerbaijani State University, said that
Azerbaijan has been interplaying between Turkey and Central Asia.
The issue of having a common version of the Turkish language for use across
Turkish-speaking countries was the subject of focus from Halilova.
Raymond Hopkins, a professor at the University of Swarthmore in the U.S., said
that the social analyses to follow will contribute toward a solution of the regional
problems here.
Iranian University of Islami Azad professor Ali Asghar said that prejudices and
biased opinions are part of human nature, and added that war cannot be a real
solution to any problems.
There is a need for the establishment of a social sciences academy for the
Turkish world
Mehmet Saray, the president of the Ataturk Research Center, an organization
known for it’s studies on the Turkish world, pressed for increasing collaboration
between the Turkish republic and other central Asian Turkish countries.
“There’s a need for establishment of a social sciences academy for the Turkish
world. Efforts ought to go to expansion of a common Turkish alphabet as well as
a common Turkish dictionary. Mutual talks have to be used to get rid of problems
facing businessmen in their investments. Central Asian Turkish countries ought
to organize themselves in terms of Islamic issues within the framework of
secularism.”
Bekir Gunay, an official working for the congress, said that they have plans to
conduct this conference in a different country every year: “One of our ultimate
goals is to have an association for people to study social sciences within the
context of the Turkish world at the level of the United Nations.”
With an emphasis on the lack of coordination between social scientists, Gunay
complained about the lack of focus on subjects of economy, sociology, history
and international relations while philologists, men of literature and cultural
activities are more at the forefront.