Abant Meetings Shift to Washington
The seventh annual meeting of Turkey's Abant Platform which brings prominent intellectuals together, was held for the first time in Washington.
The meeting was organized on April 19-20 by the Journalists and Writers Foundation in cooperation with Washington's prestigious John Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). The of this year's meeting was: "Islam, Democracy, Secularism: The Turkish experience."
"I hope the prominent Turkish and American intellectuals will discuss in the best way whether Turkey has become a secular, democratic, social state respecting the supremacy of law as a country with an overwhelmingly Muslim population and how Turkey's deficiencies on this path could be eliminated. The brain-storming in this international conference will contribute to Turkey's introduction of itself to the world," said Fethullah Gülen, Turkey's high- profile religious scholar and honorary chairman of the Journalists and Writers Foundation, in a message he sent to the conference.
SAIS Vice Dean John Harrington had said prior to the meeting that the school is hosting the Abant Platform because of Turkey's experiences with Islam and secularism, particularly after September 11th.
In addition to a large number of academics and journalists from Turkey and the U.S., Turkish State Ministers Mehmet Aydin and Ali Babacan, opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) deputy Kemal Dervis attended the meeting. Well- known American academic Francis Fukuyama from SAIS and Bilgi University's Mete Tuncay made the opening remarks of the meeting where Turkey's experiences with Islam and secularism and the applicability of those experiences to the Middle East, Central Asia as well as the Caucasus were raised.
'Turkish Islam is more individualistic and modern'
An academic from Boston University Jenny White said, speaking at the conference, that Turkey was a country open to expression of different views, adding, "Turkish Islam is more individualistic and modern." White noted that the "Turkish model" could be re-generated in different places of the world, suggesting Turkey that it could organize discussions for instance with academics from Iran to share its experiences on the issue.
This year's Abant meeting in Washington came at a time when Turkey's position in the U.S. Greater Middle East Initiative has occasionally been debated in the country.
Upon a question concerning whether Turkey could provide a model for the Middle Eastern countries, Minister Aydin said that Turkey was a unique model, adding however for instance Egypt and Iran are also unique models within their own historical and cultural conditions.
Aydin said telling some countries to take Turkey as a model would be tantamount to looking down on these countries, adding, "However we will be making efforts to do our best and share our experiences with our neighbors."
Many officials in Turkey say that democracy should be improved in Middle Eastern countries but underline that this should not be done through an imposition by outside forces but rather be based on countries' own will and efforts.
Dervis attended the meeting
The Abant meeting in Washington drew attention of Turkish media when some CHP deputies reacted to CHP's Kemal Dervis' attending the conference, headed by Fethullah Gülen, perceived by part of the pro-secular elites in Turkey as a threat to the secular republic, gathered harsh criticisms from his party.
The Journalists and Writers Foundation is known for bringing secularist and Islamist intellectuals together in Abant meetings, putting forward the view that no individual or group has a monopoly on interpreting Islam and that secularism does not mean being anti-religious.
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