Spreading the Word of Freedom and Liberal Democracy in the Region Workshop
4 October 2011
Hotel Grand Oztanik,
Topçu Cad. No: 9-11, Taksim, Istanbul
Program
09:15 – 9.30 Welcome and Opening
Ozlem Caglar Yilmaz,
Association for Liberal Thinking
Linda Whetstone,
Network for a Free Society
9:30 - 11:00 First Session
Islam, Pluralism and Liberal Democracy
Moderator: Prof. Dr. Bahadir Akin, Aksaray University
Speakers:
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bican Sahin, Hacettepe University Politics Department, President of ALT
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bilal Sambur, of Theology, Director of Center for the Studies on Religion and Freedom
Wan Saiful Wan Jan, Chief Executive of the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs, Malaya
11:00 – 11:30 Break
11:30 – 13:00 Second Session
Liberal Democracy in the Middle East and Central Asia: Barriers and Opportunities
Moderator: Dr. Tom Palmer, ATLAS Network
Speakers:
Prof. Dr. Mustafa Acar, Economist, Rector, Aksaray University
Dr. Nouh el Hourmouzi, Minbara-al Hurriya
Prof. Dr. Mohammad Abul Ahrar Ramizpoor, Afghanistan Economic and Legal Studies Organization
Mirsuljan Namazaliev, Central Asian Free Market Institute
13:00 – 14:00 Lunch
14:00 – 15:30 Third Session
The Role of Intellectual Entrepreneurs and Think Tanks
Moderator: Michel Kelly Gagnon, Montreal Economic Institute
Speakers:
Linda Whetstone, Network for a Free Society
Ozlem Caglar Yilmaz, Association for Liberal Thinking
Dr. Tom Palmer, Atlas Network
Sascha Tamm, Director of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation Moscow Office
15:30 – 16:00 Break
16:00 – 17:30 Fourth Session
How Can We Make our Case Sound and Strong? / How can we better Spread the Idea of Freedom
Moderator: Prof. Dr. Atilla Yayla, Association for Liberal Thinking
Speakers:
Lawrence Reed, Foundation for Economic Education
Ali Salman, Alternate Solutions Institute
Elena Leontjeva, Lithuanian Free Market Institute
Prof. Hicham el Moussaoui, Université Sultan Moulay Slimane, Morocco
17:30 Closing Remarks
18.00 – 19.00 Dinner
The organising committee
would like to offer sincere thanks to the following donors for their very generous support,
for the provision of about 100 fellowships
and for this workshop on October 4th.
The Atlas Economic Research Foundation
Aydin & Sonia Senkut
Robert Boyd
The Earhart Foundation
The Friedrich Naumann Foundation
Alan Gibbs
The Liberty Fund
Ron Manners of the Mannkal Economic
Education Foundation
The Mont Pelerin Society
Gerry Ohrstrom
The Ruth & Lovett Peters Foundation
Harry Teasley
Hugo J. van Reijen
Fred Young
The program started with opening remarks of Ozlem Caglar Yilmaz, the general coordinator of ALT and Linda Whetstone the President of Network for Free Society.
In the morning first session was on “Islam, Pluralism and Liberal Democracy”. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bican Sahin, from Hacettepe University, president of ALT talked on “Economic Freedom, Liberal Democracy and Islam”. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bilal Sambur, Director of ALT’s Center for the Study of Religion and Liberty made a comprehensive speech about pluralism and liberty with respect to Islam. Sambur opened consistent perspectives in finding ways to accommodate Islam within a free society. Wan Saiful Jan, chief executive of the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs from Malaysia made some comparisons between Turkey and Malaysia. Prof. Dr. Bahadir Akin of ALT chaired the session. The session was aimed at discussing a consistent liberal perspective for both Muslims and non-Muslims to defend freedom.
In the second session of the morning, “Liberal Democracy in the Middle East and Central Asia: Barriers and Opportunites” was the topic. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Acar, economist and former director of ALT’s Center for the Study of Economic Freedom made a speech to analyze the developments in the Middle East. Unlike the announced program, Cynthia Farahat, political activist from Democratic Dream Foundation, Egypt, manar Rachwani, Syrian journalist from Jordan talked on the developments in the Middle East. Prof. Dr. Mohammad Abul Ahrar Ramizpoor, from Afghanistan Economic and Legal Studies mentioned about human rights and Afghanistan. Mirsuljan Namazaliyev from Central Asian Free Market Institute of Kirghizstan talked about broaderly post-Soviet countries.
In the afternoon, sessions focused on practical issues. Third session was on the Role of Intellectual Entrepreneurs and Think Tanks. Mrs. Linda Whetstone talked about the experience and influence of the Institute of Economic Affairs, Ozlem Caglar Yilmaz, mentioned ALT’s experience and principles. Tom Palmer talked about his international observations from the cooperation of different NGOs. Finally Sacha Tamm made an analytical speech on how to develop better relations between the supporting/donor and partner organizations. The session was chaired by Michel Kelly Gagnon from Canada’s Mont Real Economic Institute.
Final session was on “How we can make our case sound and Strong?” Lawrence Reed of FEE made a very inspiring speech about the importance of character in an organization. Ali Salman of Alternate Solutions Institue from Pakistan, Elena Leontjeva of Lithuanian Free Market Institute and Hicham el Mousseaoui from Morocco talked about their achievements in their organizations to inspire the participants.
All sessions were followed after contributions and questions from the participants.