...It seems that politicians, being politicians, will continue to act as they always have and will focus on their electoral victories. It is futile to expect them to act like Platonic wise rulers who take into account the happiness of society as a whole. They will not give up their divisive aggressive rhetoric. The burden lies on the shoulders of civil society.
We are now in Abant participating in the Abant Platform. What we are re-witnessing once again is the Abant spirit: people from all walks of life freely discussing their thoughts on sensitive issues. Every Abant Platform meeting successfully ends with a declaration that is shared by almost every participant. You may call these declarations mini Abant constitutions. Civil society initiatives like the Abant Platform are a good example of dialogue. Civil society leaders and groups must pressure politicians to stay away from divisive issues in the new constitution and take into account concerns by all sorts of minorities. This may sound like a mission impossible, but an EU-friendly and human-rights focused constitution that demilitarizes our fragile democracy but does not make big systemic changes as long as they are not against democratic principles must be our priority.
Excerpted from Dr. Yilmaz's column appeared on Today's Zaman, 08 February 2013, Friday
Related Articles:
