The 3rd Arab–Turkish Social Sciences Congress

"Are we looking for a strong society or a just society? Are we looking for a strong state or a just state? In fact, both of these questions have a simple answer that has always been confirmed throughout history. Neither a state nor a society that is not just can be strong. Even if it looks strong, let us have no doubt that behind that appearance there is in fact a rotten structure."

Deputy Prime Minister Prof. Dr. Beşir Atalay, who opened the Arab-Turkish Social Sciences Congress (ATCOSS), expressed in the best way with these sentences the quest concerning the balance of "state, society and justice", which forms the main theme of the congress. Close to 200 Arab and Turkish academics are taking part with their papers in the congress, which has been going on for three days at Istanbul University's Congress Culture Centre in Beyazıt. ATCOSS, whose first meeting took place in Ankara only a week before 17 December 2010, the day Bouazizi set himself on fire in Tunisia, held its second meeting last March in Cairo. The congress has become, more with each passing day, a closely watched and eagerly awaited platform of thought and science where Arab and Turkish academics bring together and discuss their academic work.

When we began to form the idea of ATCOSS 4 years ago, the starting point was the observation that, while the world was increasingly fusing together, while the process called globalisation, which brings the distant near, was bringing the world closer together at full speed, this rapprochement was not taking place at the same pace in the Islamic world, particularly among academics.

Muslim academics were not in contact with one another at a pace parallel to the developing global world, and still are not sufficiently so. A great many new things are developing in the world, and many Muslim academics working on their own all over the world give reactions to all that is going on from within their individual or narrow-group worlds, some of which can at times be considered quite brilliant. But these reactions do not form a certain accumulation, because each of them remains at the individual level, remaining at atomised levels that are disconnected from one another and do not nourish one another.

Many brilliant theses on many subjects are being made by many Muslim thinkers, and many brilliant ideas are emerging, but because this probably happens without awareness of other Muslim academics working on similar subjects, these works do not add up. When they do not add up, each of them can enjoy its own brilliance for a short while and then fade away.

Yet when there is a stronger bond between them, these academics can make their work more productive. This disconnection of Muslim academics from one another was in serious contradiction with many features of the process called globalisation.

The deficiency existing particularly between the Arab and Turkish worlds had far graver dimensions as well. The nationalist propaganda to which both peoples had been exposed in their own countries for years caused them to look at one another with prejudice. Approaches that instilled in Arabs a view of Turks as colonialist imperialists and in Turks a view of Arabs as "traitors who stab in the back" were decisive.

These approaches had nothing to do with reality, but often neither side even knew that the other had such a perception of it. These viewpoints perhaps caused a coldness, but were never sat down and discussed.

The Arab Spring was in fact also a revolt against precisely those nationalist viewpoints that tore Muslim peoples apart from one another. To be frank, the problem was not only between Turks and Arabs; unfortunately, the Arab peoples too did not have a very positive outlook toward one another. For perhaps the most important function of the dictators at their head was to prevent solidarity, cooperation and fusion among these countries. That is why meaningless problems between the peoples of many neighbouring countries were enough to keep relations severed. Yet the Arab Spring, to some extent, enabled Muslim peoples to meet one another, to interact, and to render the borders between them meaningless.

Today the Islamic world is truly advancing rapidly, with each passing day, toward truly becoming the "Islamic World". To be frank, until now this "world" had only the name. The Arab awakening is an important stage on the way to the Islamic world becoming a reality today.

The third ATCOSS is seeking answers to precisely the better understanding of governance and justice that this world now longs for. Mr. Atalay's answer to this question given above is in itself a separate indication of where we should look for justice. It is evident that the Muslim world has an asymmetric power at the international level. And also that this loss of power is the result of an international order that is itself a violation of justice. But the age is no longer one for justifying ourselves by railing against imperialism. We have no time to spend sitting and weeping over this unjust world.

It is necessary to make a move to change it. ATCOSS seems to fulfil a function that both questions and conceives the role of social scientists in this change. Or were philosophers or social scientists to be occupied only with interpreting the world?