ORSAM, IN THE PROJECT of THE CENTER for ALTERNATIVE POLICIES

4 minute reading time

Ankara hosted the young, representing the polyphony through the Center for Alternative Policies. As a representative for ORSAM, Assistant Expert Nazlı Ayhan participated in the project called, “Ben de Varım” which was hosted by the Center for Alternative Policies. From 26 regions, 52 young people took place in the project organized in Ankara Hilton Doupletree between December 5-11, 2010. Thus a platform, where the young who are undergrad or grad coming from many regions of the country shared their opinions and where policies related to the political system of the country were discussed, was held. Within the scope of the project mostly the participation of the youth in political, social and cultural activities; the democracy perception, the development of the democracy and the creation of the mechanisms that all the social layers would express themselves in the democratic processes, the development of the current mechanisms, the roles of the political, ethical, philosophical and non-governmental organizations in democratization and civilization processes, were discussed. Representing the polyphony, the young put forward new projects on detection of the elements essentially preventing the democratic participation of the youth, and on eliminating new and current obstacles. And the alternative solutions and suggestions, put forward by the young, were presented to the political parties and the leaders carrying out their activities under the roof of Parliament for the direct implementation. In that way, for the evaluation of the issues come up for discussion by the young within the political decision taking process, concrete steps were taken.              

The non-governmental organizations' adopting the working draft project that was created by Salim Ezer, was the first starting point of the project. Making the opening speech on the first day of the project that lasted a week Mahmut Koçak, President of Center for Alternative Policies stated their objectives as ensuring the participation of the youth in the political processes. On the first day of the project, the participants availed themselves of the presentation on political and business world  carried out by Faruk Nafiz Özak, Minister of Youth and Sports; and Businessman Saadettin Saran. On the second day of the project, the participant young made a conclave with AKP Vice Chairman Hüseyin Çelik. The agenda item of the meeting was the participation of the youth in political processes, and the fact that most of the questions were about the approach of the security forces towards the student actions drew attention. Furthermore the young, who participated in the project, took the opportunity of holding a meeting with Abdullah Abdulkadiroğlu, Erkan Tan and Yılmaz Tuncu from the media world as well. In the meetings, where the positions of the youth in the business world, and the relations between the youth and the business world were discussed, the role of the youth in media was another item of agenda.               

Within the framework of the opinions of the young on the participatory democracy development, which constitutes the main subject of the project, a series of meetings were held and the negotiations were carried out both with the party in power and the opposition party. While in the meetings made with the  AKP executives, the relationship between the democracy and the security policies critically came to the forefront; MHP Group Deputy Chairman Oktay Vural participated in the meetings made with MHP, on behalf of the Party. The young, who took place in the project discussed especially on the relationships of MHP with the Southeastern electors. In the meeting made with Kerem Yıldırım from the CHP Youth Branch, CHP's policies for the youth were discussed in detail.           

As a result, within the scope of the Project in which 52 students chosen from 26 regions Turkey-wide participated, the fact that the young actively participated in the political and social processes, and that they expressed themselves in a democratic environment were the significant outcomes of the project. Although each of the young who participated in the project from different cities represented different voices, the fact that they showed synergy, solidarity and tolerance that would serve as a model for many political leaders, became a factor which increased the prevalent effect of the project.

* Prepared by: ORSAM Assistant Expert Nazlı AYHAN