Think tank organisations of the member countries of Islamic Conference Organisation (ICO) gathered in Turkey within the main theme of “Peace Civilization and Cooperation”. Türkish Asian Center for Strategic Studies TASAM arranged the meeting of “Think Tank Organisations Forum of Islamic Countries” between the dates of 28-30 January 2010.
The “Think Tank Organisations Forum of Islamic Countries” planned to have the theme of “Peace Civilization and Cooperation” by the Islamic Countries Institute of TASAM was held in the Istanbul Grand Cevahir Hotel and Congress Center in Istanbul by the participation of Secretary General of OIC Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, President of EU Harmonisation Commission of TGNA Yaşar Yakış, Chairman of TASAM Süleyman Şensoy and representatives of more than forty think tank organisations.

Chairman of TASAM Süleyman Şensoy made an opening statement at the Forum and welcomed all the participants in the name of TASAM and Turkish attendants and mentioned about how September 11 has been a milestone for the transformation of the World and how the ten years following the Cold War have been passed by some countries’ serious efforts to develop the equipments, technologies and human resources of themselves.

SÜLEYMAN ŞENSOY; THE PROCESS STARTING WITH THE SEPTEMBER 11 WAS THE BIRTH PAIN OF A MULTIPOLAR WORLD
After Şensoy declared that September 11 was the birth pain of a multipolar world, he mentioned that “even though Western Europe, NATO and the USA still continue to exist, Asian countries –including even Brasil and Mexico- have started to come to the front”. Şensoy continued to say that “Counting these power balances with all their parameters is not done academically. However in the next ten years, it seems that there will be a power systematic in the world with at least 5 polars. And this means that there had never been a period like this in the modern history of humanity, in which this number of powers, having similar equipments, technologies and human power, competes with each other. As a result, this situation is both a great opportunity and a big threat for us, for the Islamic world or for every country. Some countries, that had been the member of ICO until the Cold War took part in the Western Blog while the others stayed in the Soviet Union Blog. Since every country had to generate policies in accordance with the blog they were a part of, there have never been created a “union and a culture for acting together” as was desired. This new period is also one that provides big opportunities both for the Islamic world and ICO. Because, this multipolarity brings the obligation to follow a multidimensional policy for everyone. However, if we are to self criticize ourselves, as Islamic countries with Turkey being in the first place, we have some mental thresholds retaining from the Cold War period. We have to get over these social, cultural and economical thresholds and act with the understanding of an ideal governance and follow policies with common sense and intelligence. 

A process which is a multidimensional policy monitoring obligation in which an alternative for one country or region versus another one shall never be proposed among Islamic countries or Turkey, in which perceiving the addressees as black or white, or good or bad shall never be led and in which you will be able to explain your current situation, policy and point of view to all of your adressees in detail has been developed recently.
The quicker Islamic countries realise this situation and the earlier they complete their institutionalization within this sense, the more share they will get from the power balances that will be deployed in ten or fifteen years. Because, when we consider the fact that nearly all of the resources that provides the world the chance to complete its development, improvement and prosperity are present in the Islamic world, we will see that the time has already been gone for overcoming these mental thresholds.

If we are to continue to keep up with our old habits and lose time, we must be aware that we will not be able to have word in the newly shaped multipolar world system for the next fifty or one hundred years ahead. It is useful studying what the positions of big powers that will rise in the East will be within ten years and what the policies that will be followed by them mean for Turkey and Islamic countries as well as investigating the positions of traditional Western powers. What do we do within this multidimensional competition? What does this meeting mean?

This multidimensional competition which is getting more explicit has enourmously increased the importance of the concept of public diplomacy in the last ten years. The roles of governments in the implementation of domestic and foreign policies in international relations is being diminished. However their significance remains. Governments have the position of decision makers and managers. But the fundamental parameter for the implementation of the decisions taken, the agreements signed in assemblies and social, political, cultural and economical policies that are followed is now the public diplomacy institutions that operate both in domestic and foreign policies. We have to see that clearly. Because in a country which you want to increase the volume of trade or exportation of, the more active your businessmen work, the bigger rate of trade you will get. The role of governments cannot go beyond of a moderator. In public democracy; civil society organizations, universities, schools, sports or cultural institutions, businessmen and organizations founded by them have to be more active and the people managing these institutions have to be quite aware of this situation.

We think that the importance and power of public diplomacy have to be explained to governments by setting pressure within the framework of democratic laws and rules, the public administrators have to see the importance and power of public diplomacy devices, and these institutions have to be encouraged, their current activities and contexts have to be empowered.

When we take this Forum as an example, ı guess the support of ICO and General Secretariat for the Project is very important in terms of understanding this need and requirement. Because I believe that we have a resource problem as the Islamic world. Turkey has gone through many problems for the last twenty-twenty five years. Despite all of these problems, I think that the main resource problem is the human resource deficiency which provide good governance. Because all the Islamic countries try to maintain a development with a balance of 80 % of finance and 20 % of human resources. The main point that has to be reached is the situation that keeps developed countries alive in the current conjuncture, which means 80 % of human resources and 20 % of finance. I would like to focus on the importance of think tank organizations’ efforts that will be organized for the benefit of decision makers. I also think that public authorities have to save some time for the activities of think tank organizations and work in close cooperation and support with these institutions.

<<>>

Another significant problem of the Islamic world is the competition environment in itself. When we look at the history; we will see the competitions between the Persians and Turks, Persians and Arabs, Arabs and Turks… I find these competitions as natural conclusions. Because even individuals belonging to a same parent sometimes have different points of view. One of them may be a step further and the other may be in the back. One of them may be better in some certain areas and the other may be unsuccessful. In the end, a competition that is constructive, not destructive, or one that is not manipulated by others is for the benefit of all countries and Islamic countries. The current competitions that are taking place at the moment shall not be destructive or abrasive, they should not be open to be manipulated by others, they should carry an understanding that is rich, beneficial and they should aim to provide good services all the time. The recent developments also show this fact. If we, as think tank organizations, had done our full share of work, would hundreds of dollars be wasted for luxurious housing projects in the Gulf? Finally, the facts that there is a civilization depression at the point that our world has come to and the balance between power and justice has always been against the Islamic world are too much thought provoking. This balance had already been broken but this period is one that is much more unbalanced than before. Especially the policies that USA has been following after the September 11 have mostly targeted the lands of Islamic countries, intentionally or unintentionally. Everyone of sound mind can easily see that there is a subsidence of ground in terms of macro balances of the world. In our international meetings, we declare that power that has been achieved by legal ways for the reshaping of the macro balances of the world and its disposal with justice can be re-achieved by efforts to intensify the base of power and justice. Otherwise the distribution of these power balances can give birth to some serious conclusions for the world, humanity and our country. The things we experienced in the World War I and II, all the pains that our world has gone through and big losses have always been the results of this re-distribution of power balances of the world. Because, the competition environment was too cruel that no one had the grace to say that “you deserved, you did what had to be done, you carried your country to a level, as a result I am giving you the chair that I am sitting on”. We believe that UN, ICO and EU mechanisms, which have become good examples for the whole world with their values and which Turkey is also on the way to become a member of, shall carry out serious works within this context for the reshaping of the abraded civilization values and the political legitimacy of the world. Our goal is to take your contributions, opinions and approvals and start a powerful institutionalization that will carry on with an understanding that takes the establishment target and principles of ICO and its fundamental diplomatic roof as a base for itself”.

WILL THE “ISLAMIC PEACE FORCE” BE ESTABLISHED?
Answering the questions of press members in the Forum, General Secretary of ICO Ekmelettin İhsanoğlu reported that there were some arrangements for the establishment of “Islamic Peace Force” which was first taken into consideration by experts in the foreign ministers meeting of ICO member countries.  Declaring that this subject was taken into agenda for the first time, Ihsanoğlu continued as “There are different evaluations between countries but they are not like disagreements. Neither UN nor African Union was established in one day. This is something newly spoken about. All of the governments have found this as a positive development. The problems are now being discussed”.  
Upon the question of how he found the policies of the President of USA, Barack Obama, Ihsanoğlu gave the answer that “For the first in history, a President of the USA has made an amicable speech and offered a hand of friendship, and ever since that day we have been in contact with Americans and the political process in the Middle East has been continuing. We actually want USA to have more word in the resolution of the Middle East issue.”

İHSANOĞLU; THE WORLD IS GOING THROUGH A COMPLICATED PERIOD
Giving a speech at the beginning of the Islamic Countries Think Tank Organizations Forum, Ihsanoğlu stated that the diversity of Islamic countries could be displayed by these kind of organizations much better. According to him the world is now going through a complicated period and the difference between Western world and Islamic countries is getting even bigger. And this situation could bring about some negative conclusions such as “excessiveness”.
He continued his speech by mentioning about the problems of some of the member countries of ICO and stated that “there is an urgent need for more expansions for finding a solution, and the solution ways of different problems can only be found by these kind of organizations”. Ihsanoğlu also referred to the obligation to put the problems of Islamic countries on the table and the needs for analysis and political recommendations.
Stating that these organizations will be held by various foundations such as think tank organizations, Ihsanoğlu continued as “In the summit held in Mecca in December 2005, we held a brainstorming with almost 100 scientists and determined the targets of the next 10 years”. 
According to him, ICO is one of the organizations that represents the Islamic population of 1,5 billion people and one of the actors that contribute to the international arena and it works in close relation, not only with Islamic countries, but also with Western countries as well. He stated that initiatives to fight against terrorism has rushed up excessiveness and terrorism and this was caused by lack of communication, and these problems could be solved by different points of view and intellectual discussions. To him, the gathering of civil society organizations is very important in terms of bringing correct mechanisms to correct positions. 

YAŞAR YAKIŞ; WE COULD NOT EXPRESS OURSELVES ENOUGH
After the short greeting speech of Foreign Affairs Director of State Planning Organization Ferruh Tığlı, the Former Minister of Foreign Affairs and  President of EU Harmonisation Commission of TGNA Yaşar Yakış made a speech in which he mentioned about how people try to put Islam and terrorism in the same place. He continued as “I have served for four years in different Middle East countries as a diplomat. This kind of an organization was my dream. I am quite pleased to be in here. There were great connection between the think tank organizations of the countries that I had worked for, they were operating pretty good. However we could not express ourselves enough against the problems such as the bad image of Islam in the world. For instance, terrorism. What comes into the minds of people after they hear of a terrorist activity is Islam unfortunately. We cannot deny this conception. Terrorism and Islam are tried to be put into a same plate. Only think tank organizations can ruin this image. We can have more affect in the public opinion as long as we provide a cooperation”.

NIKOLAENKO: THE RELATIONS BETWEEN TÜRKEY AND RUSSIA ARE IN THE BEST PERIOD EVER
Former Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister of Russia Valery Dmitrievich Nikolaenko has also gave a speech at the beginning of the Forum and in his speech, he attracted the attention to the reality of Turkey, whose effectiveness for the world has been increasing gradually, and the Islamic world. According to him the importance of Islamic world has also increased for Russia. He continued his speech as “Even now, 20 % of Russia is Müslim. The Islamic world has been gaining importance day by day. These kind f programs are useful for the public diplomacy. The world is now too disturbed. There conflict everywhere and the numbers of these conflicts are increasing. The world problems are tried to solved by power, not diplomacy. As Russia, we want to develop good relations with the Islamic world in terms of politics, economics and culture. We have to establish peace, not conflicts. The significance and effectiveness of Turkey is also getting improved within this sense. We have always been competitors with Turkey in the Blacksea region, however, it is now time to come together and act together”.

<<>>

 

 

In the first day of the Islamic Countries Think Tank Organizations Forum, a photograph exhibition which displayed the development aids of TIKA, brought to different parts of the world was held. The opening of the exhibition was done by the General Secretary of ICO Ekmeleddin Ihsanoğlu (in the middle), the President of EU Harmonisation Commission of TGNA Yaşar Yakış (on the right) and Chairman of the Education, Culture and Social Cooperation Department of TIKA Dr. Mehmet Yılmaz.

 

In the first session of the Islamic Countries Think Tank Organizations Forum; the General Secretary of ICO Ekmeleddin Ihsanoğlu (on the right), the Former President of TRNC and the Chairman of Eastern Mediterranean University Strategic Research Center Hakkı Atun (in the middle) and Dr. Sarawut Aree from Center of Muslim Studies-Thailand.

 

Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Ministry Strategic Research Center Bülent Karadeniz (on the lefy), H.E. Mr. Jalal Kalantari and Dr. Mustafa Dolatyar from the Center for Asia and Pacific Studies (IPIS)-Iran.

In the seven sessions of the first two days of the Forum; the sub-titles of “Peace Civilization and Islamic Conference Organization’s New Vision”, “Security Problems in Islamic Countries, Common Security Policies and Perspectives”, “Islamophobia and Islamic World after September 11 – Western Relations”, “Conflict Resolution in the Islamic World and Peace Building Process”, “Democracy, Good Governance, Human Resources and New Security Approaches in ICO Member Countries” and “Cooperation and Institutionalization Between Think Tank Organizations of Islamic Countries within the Perspective of Public Diplomacy” were discussed.
In the third day of the Forum, the guests were taken to trips around Topkapı Palace, Istanbul 1453 Panoramic Museum and the Museum of Istanbul of the History of Science and Technology in Islam.

CLICK HERE for the Final Declaration.

CLICK HERE for the picture gallery.

CLICK HERE for more detailed information.

< Prev		Next >