General Evaluation of the 11th Abant Platform Meeting
Abant Platform organized its 11th meeting this year under the of Global Politics and the Middle East.
- Although the meeting convened in a period when hot developments are taking place in the Middle East the subject of this meeting had been determined months before as usual in previous Abant Platform Meetings.
- The region is getting increasingly destabilized. Abant Platform underlines the necessity of acting with moderation and finding the solution in political and diplomatic means.
- While the peoples of the Middle East have lived for centuries in peace the region became the focus of problems occupying the world agenda during the last hundred years. The reasons for this should be investigated. It would be difficult to reach a viable solution without a proper diagnosis.
- The participants have regarded with great sorrow the continuous deaths of many civilians as a result of disproportionate usage of military force.
- The behaviors or violent action of any individual or group cannot be attributed to their religion or nationality.
- The teachings which regard the 'other' with animosity should be excluded from educational syllabi all over the world. In this respect, Turkish Educational system has succeeded in making concrete positive achievements in recent years. Abant Platform invites ministers of education of all countries for similar endeavors.
- The need for radical changes in the region is universally accepted. Historical experiences have shown that social projects emanating from an hegemonic concept are doomed to failure. The conception of a social engineering which ignores historical realities, international law and equity when applied to issues of the region will only complicate problems further.
- Jerusalem, sacred to all three celestial religions, should be a city symbolizing peace where adherents of all religions can freely worship and coexist.
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