Towards the 100th Anniversary of the Republic of Turkey: “Human Rights Symposium from Local to Global”, jointly organized by BDU International Union of Businessmen and Diplomats and the Global Equality and Inclusion Network, was successfully held on December 10 with high participation. The symposium was hosted by Bakırköy Municipality.
BDU President Musa Karademir, who made the first opening speech of the symposium, said: “The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted on December 10, 1948, but the intervening 74 years have shown us that we have failed to protect human dignity, including the right to life. Today, December 10 and human rights day, we are talking about wars, migrations, hunger, poverty, international terrorism, global climate change, violence against women and children, economic crises and infectious diseases in our world. We see that the over-increasing world population, the sustainable neoworld ecosystem, is drifting towards extinction.”
Ayşe Kaşıkırık, President of the Global Equality and Inclusion Network, who made the second opening speech, said: “The role of women in the development of human rights is very important. Human rights start locally, they start in the family. Today we are experiencing very surprising human rights violations. In particular, women’s rights should be expanded and global gender equality should be achieved.”
Title of the first session: Inclusion in Local and Global
Speakers:
Ozden Yerlikaya, Member of the Council of Bakırköy Municipality,
Rasim Sisman, Secretary General of the Istanbul City Council,
Nurgul Ozturk Ipek, Global Equality and Inclusion Network Member Atty.
Cigdem Ozkan, Head of the Istanbul Sultangazi Cumhuriyet District,
Mehmet Kızıltas, Founder of Barrier-Free Kariyer.com and Social Entrepreneur.
In the first session: The historical process of human rights in the world, local human rights, human rights of local governments and city councils, women, children and the rights of disadvantaged groups were discussed.
Title of the Second Session: Pragmatism of Civil Diplomacy in the Context of International Relations
Speakers:
Assoc. Prof. Erdal Sen, Fenerbahçe University Faculty Member,
Assoc. Prof. Hakki Hakan Erkiner, Marmara University Faculty of Law,
Ayhan Koc, Political Scientist Dr. Ayhan Koc,
Lecturer Ercan Tutar, Istanbul Kent University,
Doktorant Mehmet Nuri Kaynar, Education Director.
In the second session: Human rights violations, migration, terrorism, violence, democracy, equality, human dignity, the right to life, the new definition of human rights after digitalism, the importance of human rights courses in the educational process, the Russia-Ukraine War and the rights violations of war, and the effects of the global crisis on unemployment were discussed.
At the end of the symposium, all speakers were given a “Certificate of Appreciation”. In addition, in memory of the Symposium, a sapling donation was made to Kilis Gülbaba Memorial Forest to TEMA Foundation separately for each speaker. The symposium ended with a cocktail in honor of the guests in the evening.