Marmara Group Foundation in Sofia
Marmara Group Foundation's delegation consisting of Dr. Akkan Suver, Cafer Okray, Serhat Tabanca, Mahmut Saklı, Erol Altaş and Serdar Eraslan attended the Sofia Meeting of the Vienna Economic Forum.
Dr. Akkan Suver opened the Sofia Meeting, which was attended by the Prime Minister of Bulgaria Dimitar Glavchev, Vienna Economic Forum Secretary General Ambassador Elena Kirtcheva and Director Ambassador Dr. Emil Brix.
The Vienna Economic Forum was attended by a wide range of intellectuals, with Kosovo participating at the level of Prime Minister and Moldova and Romania at the Ministerial level.
.jpg)
.jpg)
Marmara Foundation Delegation at Vienna Economic Forum: Serhat Tabanca, Cafer Okray, Serdar Eraslan, Dr.Akkan Suver, Mahmut Saklı and Erol Altaş
Speech by Dr. Akkan Suver
at the Sofia Meeting of the Vienna Economic Forum
It is a great honor to be here today at the Sofia Meeting of the Vienna Economic Forum.
On behalf of myself and my colleagues, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Secretary General Amb Dr Elena Kirtcheva and the Director Amb Dr Emil Brix for their invitation.
I would also like to express my special thanks to the State of Bulgaria for bringing us together.
I have always said that the Vienna Economic Forum is a bridge of peace and co-operation.
Vienna Economic Forum is a free platform that guides and pioneers the establishment of co-operation between the Balkan geography and Europe.
It is a free platform.
Taking the opportunity of this meeting, I have to say that the Balkans, which include my country Türkiye, is a large hinterland.
Balkans are a commercial and cultural center.
Therefore, Balkan is a permanent term.
Nowadays, we are witnessing the discourse of some people to change this beautiful term to South East Europe.
First of all, I would like to say that it is not practical to express a single word with three words.
South East Europe according to whom? Not according to me.
If the intention is to consider Türkiye outside the Balkan geography, this is also wrong. Türkiye’s population in Europe is 12 million. Again, Turks came to Anatolia from the Balkans.
How accurate is it to consider a population of 12 million, whose culture, tradition and history are intertwined with the Balkans, as outside the Balkans?
Therefore, it is wrong to change their name.
There is no end to it.
Just like changing the name of Macedonia. No one has any intention to change the political geography.
But what difference does it make if it is south or north?
In this case, what is the necessity of this?
As scientists and people of culture, we have to pay attention to this.
We do not have to accept and obey changes in political geography.
As long as we obey the truths, politicians and diplomats are obliged to follow them.
We cannot thank the Vienna Economic Forum enough for its services in implementing and realizing these truths.
Therefore, taking the opportunity of the Sofia Meeting of the Vienna Economic Forum, I wanted to share my views as an intellectual with your delegation.
Once again, I would like to thank Amb Dr Elena Kirtcheva for bringing us together.
Thank you for your attention.