2nd INTERNATIONAL MIDDLE EAST CONGRESS: CHANGE IN THE MIDDLE EAST

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The International Middle East Congress was organized by the Hatay Governorate, Mustafa Kemal University, and with the joint contributions of TASAM (Turkish Asian Center for Strategic Studies), ORSAM (Center for Middle Eastern Strategic Studies) and Marmara University Institute of Middle East Studies on 7-9 December 2011 in Antakya. Statesmen, diplomatic mission representatives, academicians, researchers, and media representatives from Middle Eastern countries, the U.S., and European countries participated in the Congress, under the main theme “Change in the Middle East”. During the congress, the recent developments in the Middle East were handled. Erşat Hürmüzlü, Chief Advisor to the President of Turkey in the Middle Eastern Affairs, full-time participated in the congress, and he delivered the warm messages of the President Abdullah Gül to the participants.   

The congress, which lasted for two days, started with the opening statements of Mehmet Celalettin LEKESİZ, the Governor of Hatay; Erşat Hürmüzlü, Chief Advisor to the President of Turkey in the Middle Eastern Affairs; Prof. Dr. Husnu Salih GUDER, Rector of Mustafa Kemal University; Suleyman SENSOY, Chairman of TASAM; Prof. Dr. Talip Kucukcan, Director of Marmara University Institute of Middle East Studies; and Hasan KANBOLAT, Chairman of ORSAM. Following the opening, the first session entitled, “Historical Background of Transformation in the Middle East” was carried out. In the following sessions, issues such as; “Sociological Foundations of Change in the Middle East”, “The Influences of  International Actors on the Transformation”, and “Change in the Middle East and Turkey” were handled. The congress was concluded with the closing session, during which general evaluations were made. During the Congress, generally, exchange of views took place in order to solve political, social, and economic problems, which the Middle Eastern countries have to overcome.       

At the end of the Congress, in which 70 intellectuals participated at national and international levels, a strong declaration came out. The Congress was ended with the announcement of the final declaration to all of the participants and guests, following the closing session. The “Hatay Declaration”, which was declared as a draft, and whose final form will be declared in the forthcoming days is as follows:     

1 – “The 2nd International Middle East Congress” took place on 7-9 December 2011, in Hatay, in a positive and warm atmosphere.

The International Middle East Congress was organized by the Hatay Governorate, Mustafa Kemal University, and with the joint contributions of TASAM, ORSAM and Marmara University Institute of Middle East Studies on 7-9 December 2011 in Hatay, under the main theme “Change in the Middle East”. Statesmen, diplomatic mission representatives, academicians, researchers, and media representatives from Middle Eastern countries, the U.S., and European countries participated in the Congress, under the main theme “Change in the Middle East”. The recent developments, which have taken place in the Middle East, were analyzed in detail. The full-time participation of Erşat Hürmüzlü, Chief Advisor to the President of Turkey in the Middle Eastern Affairs, in the Congress and his delivering the warm messages of the President Abdullah Gül to the participants was welcomed with a great sympathy.  

Within this framework, issues such as; “Historical Background of Transformation in the Middle East”, “Sociological Foundations of Change in the Middle East”, “The Influences of  International Actors on the Transformation”, and “Change in the Middle East and Turkey” were handled. And views were exchanged in order to solve political, social, and economic problems, which the Middle Eastern countries have to overcome.         

2 – During the Congress, the importance of preferring Hatay as the host city, and the fact that it is possible for different communities with colorful identities to live together in peace with the inspiration of socioeconomic success of this model city were highlighted. It was mentioned that as original actors, the countries in the region have to cooperate in political, economic, cultural and strategic fields for the peace of the region and for the world peace, and it was unanimously approved that this would be drawn to the attention of the relevant decision-makers.

3 – For the time being, the most important instability for the Region is the fact that an agenda has not been set for the post-regime changes. None of the countries, which has gone through transformation, has completed this process yet. In the face of pressures, coming from the people of the region and the Western countries, the decision-makers should act carefully, they  should avoid sudden reactive acts, they should also act in accordance with government and develop permanent, long-term solution for stability and prosperity. Disproportionate force use, degradation of legitimacy and reliability on government especially as an institution, and thus  leaving government organizations non-functional should not be allowed. After the civil commotions, the organizational structures of governments become extremely fragile. When relationship and patronage based old regimes disappear, state apparatus also loses its effectiveness to a great extent. Government organization's losing its functionality became clear as one of the most important threats that the countries in the region should cope with.         

4 – The lack of leadership and democratic experience establish a convenient environment for new authoritarian structures. Therefore, a positive interaction should be provided between political formations based on local communities and government structures, and tensions should be eliminated. The honor and dignity of regimes depend on honor and dignity of the peoples. The gaps between regimes and peoples should be eliminated. The power sharing and distribution should be based on legal grounds in a way that will make the stability of the Region permanent. The source of legitimacy of the regimes should primarily be local elements. Although socioeconomic reforms are important, good governance and citizen dignity should be prioritized.

5 – The current borders in the Middle Eastern Region were determined with the Sykes-Picot Agreement, in accordance with the interests of the Western powers of the period UK and France, over the ethnical, sectarian and religious lines. Although the civil commotions in the region seem to be united within the framework of certain idealist concepts such as freedom, prosperity, and dignity; the possibility of revival of the aforesaid separations got stronger. Therefore, the change and transformation of the Region should be determined according to the freewill of the local communities, not according to the strategic interests and insulting  impositions of external powers. Diplomatic, political, economic and social relations between the countries and communities in the region should be developed in order to evaluate the potential of the peoples, coming from different ethnical origins, religions and sects, living the region; and the interaction should be brought to the best level possible; and ethnical, religious, sectarian, and regional separations should not be allowed. Increasing mutual dependences in economic terms comes first among the instruments, which could be used to settle the possible tensions at this point and to decrease the possibility of conflict.       

6 – The history of the region shows that in fact the peoples in the region have the culture of living together in peace. Ethnical and sectarian separations in the region got deeper upon the fact that the West got involved in the Region. It will be possible to relaunch a peaceful process, which could be accepted by everyone, between different ethnical, religious and sectarian groups, by underlining original values such as justice and philantrophy.  

7 – The rise of social media within the last ten years has brought peoples' access to information and inter-communal interaction to an unprecedented level. Therefore, it became extremely difficult for the regimes, which do not have capacity to meet the demands of  communities that could be met, to continue their existences in the forthcoming period. On the other hand, the communities became more open to manipulations through social media. Thus, necessary steps should be taken both in order to raise awareness of the communities on this subject, and also in order for the regimes to take precautions for adaptation to the new situation.     

8 – Exterritorial factors should stop supporting authoritarian regimes on the grounds of preventing the radical movements from coming into power. The local communities have seen that they could put the regimes into difficult positions by persistently controlling the street. Therefore, as from this point, the external interventions could make the current situation much worse. It is true that civil society and opposition parties in the region are weak, and that the business world is entirely dependent on governments. However, the external interventions cannot contribute a lot to improve this situation. The solution can be provided by establishing a healthy balance between societies and regimes.   

9 – Considering all the events, which take place in the region, only as extensions of the policies of the Western countries is evading the responsibilities, and it leads to degradation of the self-esteems of the regional elements. The responsibility of what happens in the region firstly belongs to the regional elements, thus regional elements should make a move for the solution of these problems themselves.    

10 – Turkey is neither Trojan horse of the Western countries in the region, nor is she in search of being a model for the change in the Region. Turkey is in search of being source of inspiration based on her historical experience and responsibilities, and also she is in search of  reaching the transformation in the region for the interests of the peoples in a peaceful way as soon as possible. 

11 – The integrities of the countries in the region are closely related with each others. Disintegration or disturbance in one of these countries has the capacity of affecting others. Therefore, an initiative should be launched and the efforts should be united in the same direction, in order to detect the direction of the current change in Middle East and take the necessary precautions. In order to define right road maps for the interests of the local communities and the countries in the region to develop economic and political relations, to assess investment possibilities, and to emphasize common values, a real council should be created by the countries in the region, and this council should be supported by virtual teams.