New Horizons for Eurasia
We took part in two dialogue conferences, in two different parts of the world, in two consecutive weeks. The week before last, we discussed "Republic, Cultural Pluralism and Europe" with French intellectuals at the third Abant Platform abroad.
It was the role of the media we discussed at the 7th plenary meeting of the Dialogue Eurasia Platform in Antalya last week. To pull Turkey from a vicious circle into a virtuous one again, to live together in peace despite different tendencies towards potential conflicts, which could be be described as bearing witness to history, are entirely different sentiments... What is it like to transmit from a web of dialogue efforts with the West to another with the East? I asked Professor Suleyman Seyfi Ogun for the answer to that question on Sunday during a program that was broadcast live on Samanyolu TV from Antalya. "It is like going from cold to heat," said Mr. Ogun. In fact, the climate was exactly like that. We had moved from the cold weather in Paris to the hot weather in Antalya. What Ogun implied was actually our changing from a system that looked down upon us, viewed integration as a form of assimilation (implicitly it may be so) to another system that gave us the opportunity to regard each other as equal -- and we all agreed to abide by this.
The Dialogue Eurasia Platform is actually organized by the Journalists and Writers Association, jointly with another program, called Abant, on efforts to set up dialogue among different cultures. It was decided that it takes shape as a different program when Istanbul hosted the 2nd meeting of Eurasian journalists and writers on May 5 to 7. Among its members are Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, the Republic of Tatarstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Turkey and Ukraine. Belarus, Mongolia and Uzbekistan were also admitted at the last meeting.
Dialogue Eurasia (da) is a publication in both Turkish and Russian, designed to promote this program. The 7th Antalya plenary assembly hosted a significant exchange of opinions over the gradual translation of projects into substantial actions as an excellent response to humiliating comments made on efforts to create a communication channel.
A youth program, Dialogue Eurasia Youth Platform, will be launched in each member country. The program will be like a legacy left behind to future generations...
The Dialogue Eurasia Platform will be institutionalized as an official civil organization. It will have representatives at the United Nations as well as European Union levels.
A new news agency will be established under the name, Eurasia News Agency. The Cihan News Agency will assist in supplying know-how, technical communication and experience to the Eurasia News Agency. Both Eurasia and Cihan will work towards the creation of a set of shared press principles in order to establish a web of dialogue among different cultures and religions.
Efforts will be exerted to end prejudices in the news media against cultural and traditional codes of behavior and thought in different regions. Particular attention will be paid to the preservation of moral values and individual rights. Attempts will made to create a future free from terrorist threats and not allowing any room for the existence of terrorism in the future. (Particular emphasis was placed on the need to report terror incidents in a way that would not cause panic-related apprehension among the masses).
Let's explain the importance of the Eurasia dialogue program with Russian Ambassador Petr Stegniy's opening speech:
"Our Turkish friends have succeeded where we failed in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union. They have been able to bring intellectuals from all over Eurasia under a single roof. Because they set out with the magic word, dialogue, they succeeded in establishing a real nongovernmental organization."
ZAMAN
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