From Moscow to Erzurum…
The ninth meeting of the Abant Platform will be held in Erzurum on July 1-3 this year. The Abant meetings, after six years, became internationalized last year and were held in Washington in April and in Brussels in December. The issue of "New Researches in Education, on the verge of a new era," will be dealt with in a Turkish city other than Bolu for the first time, that is, in Erzurum, dubbed the most favorite city in the East.
Professor Mithat Melen, Professor Kenan Gursoy, Professor Eser Karakas, Professor Niyazi Oktem and Professor Mehmet Altan are the scientific coordinators of this year's meeting, that will be held at the Polat Renaissance Hotel in Palandoken, Erzurum. The three study groups will discuss new education researches in philosophy, economy and sociology during the meeting.
The Journalists and Writers' Foundation has three platforms. These are the Abant Platform headed by Professor Mete Tuncay, the Dialogue Eurasia Platform headed by Professor Ilber Ortayli, and the Dialogue among Cultures Platform headed by Professor Niyazi Oktem.
While the Abant Platform will be meeting in Erzurum, the Dialogue Eurasia Platform will be organizing a joint international meeting entitled, "From Terrorism to Universal Ethics: Religions and Peace," with the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow, on June 7-8. Answers to two important issues will be sought during that meeting:
1. Will different religions and cultures be able to co-exist in a globalizing world by showing tolerance and sympathy towards one another?
2. Will religions be represented by those who indulge in terrorist acts and incite hatred under the name of holy faith or by those who support love and tolerance under the name of faith?
While visiting Aziziye Tabyas in Erzurum with Mr. Melen the other day, reading the Fatiha Sura at the grave of Nene Hatun, I also thought about what these two meetings mean to us. Education, dialogue among cultures, love and tolerance set the basic agenda of humanity in the new millennium not wars.
We were in Erzurum at the beginning of the week with Abant Platform Secretary-General Salih Yaylaci and Mr. Melen. Giving information about the Erzurum Abant to Esteemed Governor Celalettin Guvenc, Esteemed Ataturk University Rector Yasar Sutbeyaz and Esteemed Mayor Ahmet Kucukler, we conveyed our heartfelt thanks and appreciation to them as hosts of the upcoming meeting. Esteemed Health Minister Recep Akdag and Esteemed Education Minister Huseyin Celik, we had already met before, told us that they will participate in the Erzurum Abant meeting. We were filled with joy to see that the Abant enthusiasm was already in the Erzurum locals.
Erzurum, whose founding dates back to 4000 BC is a Turkish city that has been the cradle of many civilizations. Erzurum, the city that received [founder of modern Turkey Mustafa Kemal] Ataturk with open arms at the Congress that was held on July 23, 1919, ignited the independence torch and laid the foundation of the republic, and is today the forerunner to the East with a university that has 42,000 students, academics it has sent to all nooks and corners of the country and the effort it is putting into science and civilization.
We hope the Abant meeting in Erzurum becomes a milestone for this effort.
ZAMAN
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