Abant Platform in Paris Discusses Cultural Pluralism
The 10th annual Abant meeting, Turkey's intellectual platform, will be held in the French capital Paris.
Academics and expert writers in their field will participate in the meeting to be held March 31-April 1 with the cooperation of the International Council of Social Sciences (Conseil International des Sciences Sociales (CISS) and the Human Sciences Research Council (La Maison des Sciences de l'Homme).
The platform will be held under the of "Turkey-France Discussions: Republic, Cultural Pluralism and Europe" this year. Issues regarding the European Union (EU) negotiation process will be handled one by one.
The meeting coordinated by Professor Niyazi Oktem will be made up of five sessions titled "National Identity and the Experience of Europe," "Republic and Cultural Pluralism," "What Europe, Globalism and Liberalism," and "Secularism-Republic and Islam".
The Abant Platform's Secretary-General Salih Yaylaci said they have convened in Turkey for six years, and now aim to carry their accomplishments to the centers Turkey has important relationships with.
"In April 2004, we assembled intellectuals under the of 'Islam, Democracy and Secularism: Turkey's Experience" with the cooperation of Johns Hopkins University in Washington D.C. In December 2004 in Brussels, we realized the meeting titled 'Culture, Identity and Religion in Turkey's EU Accession Process' with the cooperation of the University of Leuven," Yaylaci said.
As for the reasoning behind the Abant Platform meeting being held in France this year, a meeting held annually since 1998, Yaylaci said: "Paris's potential can provide Turkey with new openings. Turkey has a very large accumulation of knowledge in this frame, before and after the republic. I think the Abant Platform will provide a new opening and point of view to the EU in these days where pluralism and democracy in Europe have started to show signs of decrease."
Turkey is one of the two countries primarily responsible for the "Alliance of Civilizations" project put forth by the United Nations, said the secretary general and that the Abant Platform based on a wide scope consensus will produce a strong civilian initiative.
Yaylaci said they will contribute to the Alliance of Civilizations with a dialogue bridge to be established between Turkish and French intellectuals. "The Abant-Paris meeting will enable our country to be an effective actor in this. What we do is already a requirement of the dialogue among civilizations. With the Abant Platform, Turkey will have the chance to be a country that proposes solutions and displays its existence to the EU with a positive and constructive voice," he added.
Renowned figures in their field will take part in the meeting, held annually and closely followed by the public. Figures such as: Associate Professor Sami Selcuk, Etyen Mahcupyan, Ali Bayramoglu, Professor Ahmet Insel, Cengiz Candar, Fehmi Koru, Ali Bulac, Hadi Uluengin, Bulent Kenes, Hirant Dink, Selcuk Gultasli, Alain d'Irlbame, Pierre Nora, Dominique Schnapper, Veronlique Nahoum Grappe, and Jean Francois Bayart.
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