ARI ASSOCIATION FOR INTELLECTUAL AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT has consensus and complete confidence in a collective effort to achieve these objectives.

At the turn of the 21st century, Turkey is a country that imports technology. ARI Movement  believes that; despite the regional economic and social differences and a political system that does not foster social development; the insufficiency of the resources allocated to research and development and per capita spending on education; the scarcity of patents; strong central government and lack of civil initiative; and difficulties in determining social priorities, Turkey has still not missed the transformation that the world is undergoing today.

Research and development, innovation and technology development are based on the creation of value from information. Concepts like information society, new economy, knowledge management, intellectual capital are coined because of the value of information. Today, information is not only a commercial entity, just like products or services, but also a part of the capital itself.

The young population of Turkey can be a great asset in this transformation. There are 17 million people between the ages of 17-25 today. On the other hand, Europe has an aging population. The average age of professors in Europe is 53 while in 2008, one third of European professors will be retired. 50,000 highly educated Europeans have moved to the US. In addition, Europe and the US have an increasing need for skilled labor. Presently, India is meeting this need for highly competent labor, but in fact, Turkey has significant resources and the potential to become an important player in this arena. Moreover, Turkey's location as a hub between Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East makes it a very convenient place for the production and distribution of information technology products.

If Turkey is to become an important player in the global economy, information society and its elements must become a priority item on the Turkish agenda and Turkey must establish common and challenging social targets. An effective communication network between the government, private sector, non-governmental organisations, universities and media is a key for such a development.

ETHICS

ARI Movement recognizes corruption in Turkey as our most important problem and the root cause of a number of other problems, including terrorism, unemployment, radical movements and political instability.

In fighting with corruption and erosion in ethical values, enactment and amendment of new laws are necessary. However even more important is the participation of each member of the society to the development of “total ethics”. Each individual and all NGOs, which are the most important civic communication and action platforms, should take their role in emphasizing ethics in Turkey.

ARI Movement has been underlining the importance of concentrating on ethics in its activities of the last three years. ARI Association for Intellectual and Social Development prepared a “Total Morality” project in 1999. This project was aimed at drawing attention to the “pollution” in moral values and the increasing levels of corruption witnessed in Turkey in recent years. The project consisted of 4 booklets with the following topics: business and professional morality, political morality, social responsibility and total morality management. An international conference specifically devoted to this topic was also held in Istanbul on December 3-5, 1999.

ARI Movement believes that many of the major problems experienced in Turkey are encouraged and sustained by the fact that

·         there is a lack of commonly accepted or valued standards in terms of morality and ethics

·         and that there is a tremendous erosion in the traditional ethical values of society.

ARI Movement has always placed ethics in the forefront of the Turkish agenda as one of the most important problems because progress in ethics is a pre-condition for overcoming many of the problems faced by Turkey.

ARI Movement plans to keep the "ethics" issue a priority in the Turkish agenda in 2001, by organizing several events. Most events will be organized with different institutions and NGOs, as part of our belief that "Total Ethics" movement necessitates the involvement of all members of society.

First of these events will be radio discussion programs where experts will address various questions related to topics of interest on ethics. Some of the selected topics are  "Ethics vs. Moral Values", "Politics and Economy", "Media".
 

Information Society and ARI Movement

Information society and activities to advance the information society agenda are among the objectives of ARI Movement, whose mission is to foster the creation of participatory and information based global politics in Turkey. The ARI Information Society Committee established in year 2000 aims to contribute to the development of information society in Turkey in order to transform Turkey into a society that invests in innovation and exports value creating technology.

The interpretation of what "information society" means may reflect varying levels of emphasis on information technologies, research and development or the new economy. For ARI Movement, information society begins with the individual who bases his/her decision-making on information, as well as a society whose value creation is based on information.

In this broad definition, components of the information society include;

- participating individuals who seek information and answers

- transfer of information and skills

- effective conversion of data into information

- communication, storage and analysis of information (information and R& D)

- sharing of information (transparency)

- managing information (intellectual capital)

- using information for value creation (new economy)

Initial findings on this subject in Turkey indicate that the efforts and projects on information society are not coordinated and not communicated sufficiently. Seeking to facilitate communication between the government, civil society, universities and private sector in this subject, the ARI Information Society Committee has created an electronic platform where information may be shared. ARI Movement is seeking to co-operate with opinion leaders and leading institutions in Turkey and around the world in paving the way for a society that is a part of the information society.

Bridging NGOs

Throughout accession negotiations between the EU and Turkey, civil society organizations will have a vital role in fostering intercultural dialogue.  Intercultural dialogue and integration between societies are essential for Turkey’s successful political integration in the European Union.  During the last ten years, NGOs in Turkey have progressed substantially to the extent that they have a key role in political decision-making.  However while economic interest groups have integrated successfully with their European counterparts, other Turkish NGOs working on an issue base have not managed to do so.  Even more, it is impossible to talk about an integration process for many Turkish institutions regarding themselves as civil society representatives.  The vitality of the issue lies in the gathering of civil society organizations working on similar topics and incorporation of Turkish NGOs in the European NGO network. This will be fundamental for a mutual understanding between societies, cooperation and thus for a full social and cultural integration.  The misperceptions and prejudices between Europeans and Turks constitute the major barriers to cultural and social integration.  These barriers can only be eradicated through the work of civil society.

Turkish NGOs working on specific areas are unaware of the operations of their European counterparts and are not involved in the European network of civil society organizations.  This is due to lack of necessary information and awareness as well as inability to access Brussels and other European capitals.  In this context, there rises a need for parties who will bridge Turkish and European institutions and act as a middle agent for cooperation.  Thus, a mechanism of mediation instead of representation should be created.  Three different bridges can be created through this mediation mechanism.

1. Bring together Turkish NGOs with NGOs and other encompassing/ umbrella institutions, which functions in Brussels and work on the issue of the EU.
2. Bring together Turkish NGOs with their counterparts working in the EU Member States.
3. European NGO visits to Istanbul and Anatolia to meet Turkish NGOs to define areas for possible cooperation both in Turkey and Europe.

As the ARI Movement, we have worked extensively on these three bridging functions.  We have organized many European NGO visits to Turkey and introduced them to Turkish civil society organizations.  Furthermore, we have helped many Turkish NGOS reach their European counterparts.  The upcoming ten years will demand that efforts for social integration and intercultural dialogue be organized and information-based.  Creating bridges of this kind during Turkey’s quest for full membership, a benchmark in the history of European integration will contribute to the political, economic and social transformation of Europe and will bring positive results for both sides. 

ARI Movement is planning to take the necessary steps to create the mediation mechanisms through its Istanbul, Ankara and Brussels offices.  Both influential Turkish and European NGOs will be contacted and brought together.  Furthermore, ARI Movement will continue on its efforts to plan European NGOs’ visits to Turkey.  ARI’s activities such as conferences, fairs and fact finding visits both in Turkey and Brussels will be influential in bridging European and Turkish NGOs.  Creating micro project funds in order to encourage cooperation will be important in the process of social integration and intercultural dialogue.