In the panel questions such as which countries in the region will be directly influenced by the developments in Tunisia and Egypt; whether Iran will be influenced by the transformation storms in the Middle East or not; whether Yemen will be divided or not; how the power vacuum in Lebanon will be filled; how Syria will elude these fluctuations; what kind of a repercussion the opposition voices seeming to have a lower volume and booming; how Israel will be influenced by all these developments in the region; how the US Middle East policies will be shaped; what kind of a future will be constructed in Tunisia and Egypt.

    

 

 

Akif Kireşçi who took the floor first focused on the continuum before and after the overthrowing of Mubarek.

 

Kireşçi, indicating that the fire of freedom was first set in Tunisia stated that after Tunisia this fire spread to Egypt and then it spread to Yemen, Jordan, Lebanon, Bahrain and United Arab Emirates. 

 

Kireşçi stating his hopes regarding the transformation in the region claimed that he could not stand asking a few questions regarding these movements such as:

 

-          Will these movements be successful?

-          Why now?

-          Is there an organized structure behind these movements?

 

While focusing particularly on the timing of the movements Kireçci underlined the fact that Mubarek, the internet and American Universities were in Egypt for decades. In other words, Mubarek’s dictatorship was not a recent case and although Egyptians had access to internet and American Universities for years, nobody organized any similar movement against the dictator beforehand. Hence, there must be something going beyond the influence of Internet or American Universities behind these movements.    

 

 

Kireçci described Egypt in terms of its population, agriculture and economy and focused on its strategic significance. Touching upon the fact that Egypt was also the cultural center of Arab World Kireşçi indicated that Egyptian intellectuals are quite influential in the world. Kireşçi claimed that the US was quite influential in Egypt and thus the peaceful relations with Israel maintained the security of the south fronts of Israel.

 

Kireşçi concluded his presentation stating “If this movement in Egypt is revolution this revolution is not accomplished yet. The first goal was to overthrow Mubarek it was accomplished.

 

 

Prof. Birol Akgün, IST Coordinator of Program of International Relations taking the floor after Kireçci indicated that the post Cold War US oriented Middle Eastern states maintained the interests of the West in the region cheaply, but the 9/11 brought about the arguments regarding the way of transformation or change in the region. Akgün stated that six of the actors realizing the 9/11 attacks were from Egypt and Saudi Arabia, two prominent allies of the USA in the Middle East. Thus this fact brought about the question “why do they hate us?” Pointing at the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq Akgün claimed that as a result the West understood that it was not possible for a hegemonic power to control the world by use of force. What Is more, he claimed that the cases in Afghanistan and Iraq smeared the notions of democracy, human rights and freedom. Akgün concluded saying “it will be really unfair for the 8 million people, if we claim that everything has been planed and performed by the US while evaluating the movements in Tunisia and Egypt.

 

After the presentation of Akgün, Assoc. Dr. Ahmet Uysal elaborated particularly on Egypt in the context of the recent events in the region. Uysal focused on the role of visual media such as Internet and Al-Jazzera and the significance of Ikhwan in these movements. Uysal also focused on the consideration of Turkey as a model country.

 

IST Expert Kaan Dilek speaking after Uysal handled Iranian politics in the context of the movements going on in the Middle East. Dilek stating “in order to understand the events in Iran we have to focus on the Shi’a theology” described the notion of Velayet-i Fakih (Providence of Jurists).

 

Dilek indicated that the events in Iran do not have any relationship with those in Egypt and Tunisia because the movement in Iran began with the election of Khatemi for presidency in 1996 using the “transformation” slogan.

 

The panel ended with the question answer section.