The opening speech of the meeting, to which people from business and intellectual circles showed great interest, was made by Osman Aksoy, who is a businessman and the General Secretary of SDE Economy and Business Council (EBC). The meeting started with a coctail at 19.30 and continued with the speeches of panelists at 20.30.
Chaired by SDE Board Member Aydın Bolat, the meeting included SDE Chairman Prof. Dr. Yasin Aktay, SDE Specialists Assoc.Prof.Dr. Berat Bekir Özipek and Dr.Murat Yılmaz, and Democratic Jurisdiction Association Co-Chair and the Constitutional Court Reporter Assoc. Prof. Dr. Osman Can as panelists.
Talking about Turkey’s processes until referendum 2010 Moderator Aydın Bolat, said that with the activities organized in 2009 and 2010 and its publications SDE (the Institute of Strategic Thinking) created a public opinion for the constitutional reform and evaluated the role of SDE on the current situation.
SDE Chairman Prof. Dr. Yasin Aktay mentioned the responsibilities of citizens for the constitutional reform as citizen consciousness and a common social agreement. He also reiterated that SDE adopted the issues of “a new constitutional order and democratization” as strategic objectives.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Osman Can made a speech on what we are voting for in referendum, what the constitutional reform package includes, what this package brings, etc. with his distinctive statements.
SDE Specialists Özipek and Yılmaz evaluated the Sept. 12 referendum in terms of its political, social, and historical importance. They also indicated that this process is a milestone for the democratic change in Turkey.
After the speeches of the panelists, the question-answer part started. Because of great interest, the panel aimed to end at 22.30, continued until 23.30. Why the Constitutional Court approves this kind of package is the most asked question.
At the end of the meeting Moderator Bolat stressed the common message of the evalautions at the panel. He stated that we should take referendum 2010 not as a “competition between political parties” but as an important issue in Turkey; we will not vote for a political party on Sept. 12 but for “a constitutional reform package” which affects and will affect our lives; and we should not analyze the political debates, but the content of the reform package before we vote. Bolat emphasized that Sept. 12 is an important step for Turkey’s democratization and the people should make a choice in accordance with this consciousness and responsibility.
Great Interest to the Booklet on “What are We Voting For?”
SDE Specialists prepared a comprehensive booklet on “What are We Voting For?” in regard to Sept.12 referendum. The booklet includes all the current, changed, added, and omitted articles of the new constitutional package. Furthemore, SDE Specialists gave the details of every article changed in the constitutional package. This booklet answers questions such as how is the process, what do the articles mean, what does the reform cause… in a common language which can easily be understood by everyone.
The participants showed great interest to the booklets distributed at the panel on “Sept. 12: This Time Democracy”. Therefore, the preparations for the second edition of the booklet have started. The display of all the changed articles and the plain language which can be understood by everyone caught the attention.
SDE Summer Activities
The first SDE summer activity which is the panel on “Sept. 12: This Time Democracy” was held in Istanbul. SDE will continue its summer activities in different cities.
The various NGOs particularly from Izmir, Ankara, Van, Urfa, and Eskisehir invited SDE for meetings. SDE will make use of these opportunities in the context of its programs until September, 12.
