The chairman of the Institute Mr. Aktay started his speech with his search about Mormon’s women in Utah University and he mentioned the similarities and differences of women in Turkish society and the mormon society. Later a mutual question answer stage took place about Turkey’s agenda. The academics were willing to know the constitutional amendments in upcoming referendum and their effects over the judicial system. Mr. Aktay gave detailed information about the duties of the Constitutional Court and its power of examining the articles not in terms of their content but their form. The academics also wished to know the predictions about the referendum result.
The next title was of the article about the “children throwing stones to the police” and their accusation with the new law by committing the crime only. Mr. Aktay said that “Before they were being arrested for being a terrorist militant owing to throw stones to the police. But with the changing law they will be arrested only if they commit a crime.”
Secularism took a major place within the meeting. Academics evaluated their way of secularism and their country’s understanding of the term. The basic question for both countries’ academics was if the secularism means “freedom of religion” or “the freedom from the religion”
The last title was the facilities of Fethullah Gulen community all over the world. Academics have discussed his facilities under subtitles as education, employment, development. According to Mr. Aktay, Gulen has persuades the idea of zero-sum play therefore; everybody wins. And according to the academics from the U.S. he invests a great deal of money for the Turkish culture and its way of spread around.
The meeting lasted in 2 hours with mutual gladness of sharing opinions between the two countries.