The Wednesday Conferences organized by the Center for Economic and Social Research (ESAM) continue. The guest of the conference held at ESAM Headquarters was Dr. Savaş Şafak Barkçin. Barkçin said, “I can say that our National Education System is even behind the year 1973. We said building, the construction was understood. It's the same word, but human-building, community-building is something different from construction. Therefore, people are not trained by building.”
The traditional Wednesday Conferences organized by the Economic and Social Research Center (ESAM) continue with the intense interest of the citizens. The guest of this week's conference with the title "Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow" is Dr. Savaş Barkçin.
“PEOPLE ARE NOT TRAINED BY CONSTRUCTION”
Barkçin stated that history has been conveyed to future generations incorrectly and said, “Unfortunately, we make our children hate history. Just like many other things. Our National Education System does great miracles in the world. Is there really a system that goes back in the world? I don't know. I graduated from Yıldırım Bayezid School in Yeni Doğan. I started primary school with 66 people in the basement class that was opened by emptying the coal store. It had no windows as it was a coal house. There is a blackboard, no smartboard. Now we put the smart board. It's like the teacher will be smarter once you put it in. So, we have a search for intelligence, we are looking for tools because we do not have it ourselves. That's why the education system goes so far back. I can say that we are even behind the quality of education in 1973. It doesn't happen with tools or buildings, people train people, stones don't train people. We said build, the construction was understood. Look, the two are the same word, but human-building, community-building is something different from construction. Therefore, people are not trained by building.”
“WE SHOULD SAY OTTOMAN REMNANTS LANDS INSTEAD OF THE MIDDLE EAST”
Continuing his words by stating that the perception of time and space are intertwined, Barkçin cited the concept of the Middle East as an example and said, “The name of this region is the Middle East. British diplomat Sykes derived it. In fact, he is the one who invented the flag colors of today's Arab countries. He did it in order not to say Ottoman. The word Middle East was coined by Sykes and the word Near East was coined by the famous American historian and strategist Mahan. So the name of this region is ours? Not. Neither the Near East nor the Middle East is the name of this neighborhood. It means that history is intertwined with today, and space and time are intertwined. If you do not know this prior, you cannot know this alienation. If we try to name this neighborhood with a consistent concept, it is the ‘Ottoman Remnants Lands’. You can't express it otherwise, none of it is consistent, it's incomplete. Well, when we say Ottoman, why do we say 'Ottoman' with a slight trembling, wouldn't it be a shame? But when you put the name of the Englishman in your own neighborhood, you never bother. Today, the European Union is the third of Rome. In other words, it is an effort to build Rome for the third time. It is not a shame for the men to be Roman, why should the Ottomanism be a shame for you?”
“Is it something to be proud of to have the largest courthouse palace?”
Continuing his words, Barkçin said: “This situation of alienation and going crazy started long ago. It goes back to ‘One Party’. Ahmet Hamdi Akseki, Head of Religious Affairs, Why was he wearing a frock coat and a turban in the 1940s? In fact, it is the behavior of a typical Turkish person in our country today. How many men can be real himself? It's a bit difficult, of course. There are too many sentences like ‘Hold a candle to the devil’, ‘who handles honey, licks his fingers (turkish idiom means who has something to do with a big deal will always draw some profit)’. Why so much? It means that there is a truth, that there is a myth. If it had no place in social morality, it would not be said so much. Therefore, our fight with our yesterday continues today. An example of morality in the place. Courthouse in Çağlayan, Istanbul. We boast that it is the largest closed courthouse in Europe. Guys, is having the biggest courthouse something to brag about? What does that mean, there are so many lawsuits. What a painful thing. In a city like Istanbul where traffic is an ordeal, is there any merit in dragging people around, spending their days in a central courthouse, going for miles to seek justice? So, how was it in the Ottoman Empire? The courts of the judges are their own houses. The flat of the Shaykh al-Islam is his own house. Therefore, everything is according to the convenience of the citizen. You go to the judge’s feet, but he is in your own neighborhood.”