Welcome to the 9th Istanbul Security Conference (2023), organized by the TASAM National Defense and Security Institute with global participation under the main theme of "Strategic Transformation in the Ecosystem: Climate, Nourishment, Demography, Meritocracy, Economy, Health, Education, Employment, Family-Youth and City Security," on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Türkiye. We are honored by your presence.
We are very glad to be together at the 9th Istanbul Security Conference and its co-events, which we have continued without any disruption until today. We extend our gratitude to all our guests, both domestic and international. Following this opening session, conference activities and other sub-forums and events will continue with 127 speakers, 30 moderators and approximately 150 active participants and negotiators in three different halls for the next 2 days. As the chairman of the institution, I have to express some thanks. First of all, I would like to express our gratitude to the relevant authority Ministries, TÜBİTAK, ASELSAN, KOBIL, BMC and İnce Shipping and all other contributing stakeholders for their institutional support.
We are grateful for the hospitality, partnership, and collaboration of Istanbul Kent University. We extend our sincere thanks to our esteemed Rector, Prof. Dr. Necmettin ATSÜ, and the wonderful individual coordinating the efforts, distinguished personality Prof. Dr. Hasret ÇOMAK. Istanbul Kent University is an institution pioneered and led by the late Prime Minister Mesut YILMAZ and his family. In this sense, we remember the Prime Minister and his precious child with mercy. We also present our respects to Ms. Berna YILMAZ. Especially if you are looking for qualifications, such activities are very tiring work that requires great coordination and patience skills. In this regard, under the coordination of our Vice President, Retired General Prof. Dr. Fahri ERENEL, and the team leadership of Attorney Verda ŞENSOY KARAGÖZ, we extend our sincere thanks to all colleagues, contributors, and professors, including Yusuf AYDEMİR, Büşra BÜYÜK, Beyza BEYENAL, Mustafa Onat MENDİL – I will inevitably forget some, please forgive me all.
When we started the Istanbul Security Conference and even when we established the National Defense and Security Institute - which goes back 10-12 years - what was generally talked about was that there was not much civilian work in the field of security. Because the security bureaucracy dominated to a certain extent. There was also some professional jealousy and an attitude that this was not a job that civilians would understand. Therefore, there was very little work in the field of security, very few names. Türkiye has come a long way in the last 10-15 years. However, we need much more and greater capacity and infrastructure in terms of future needs. In this sense, I would like to underline once again that both the National Defense and Security Institute, the Istanbul Security Conference and its co-events are a conscious contribution to this capacity, and that the priority is not popularity. Now I have a short presentation of 3 slides. I will talk about what we are looking for and what we want to do in this conference and co-events. Certainly, our seasoned and expert professors, as well as our participants, will fill this with much more depth. However, for the sake of providing an overview, I've divided my speaking notes into three sections/slides on behalf of the institution. I'll try to go through them as swiftly as possible;
A.
Financial and Real Resource (Production Centralization) Competition
Theology, Science, Metaphysics and the New Era of Post-Reality
Red-apple: Common Values for Humanity and Moral Revolution
B.
Decentralized Central | Mental and Generational health | Technology Management
Soft areas
Climate, Nourishment, Demography, Meritocracy, Economy,
Health, Education, Employment, Family-Youth and City Security
Micro- Nationalism, Integration and Unpredictability
C.
Pax Britannica, Pax Americana, Pax Sinica , Arab Century and Turkish Century
Failure in Accomplishment
Strategic Transformation
Building Circular Security Infrastructure in Meritocracy, and New Skills
Chaos Math | Reverse Math | Emotional Math | Neuro Special Abilities etc.
TASAM Projects | TASAM Projects
How does the world address us on a global scale? Who are the key players in this context? What lessons are there for countries?
We are experiencing a significant global resource crisis as a world. This has become even more apparent since 2008. I describe this as a competition between accumulation and Concentration, using a somewhat archaic Turkish expression. By accumulation, I mean those who accumulate wealth, particularly referring to financial and economic power. After the 70s, there is a globally magnified financial system, especially in the Western world, due to certain financial changes, the exaggerated expansion of derivative markets, and a focus on accumulation. On the other hand, by concentration I mean those who accumulate more production power. We can talk about a counter bloc that accumulates more production power, starting from Asia and China. Therefore, at the point where the world economy and especially the financial system are in the debt - money - debt spiral; We entered into a great competition as Asia began to rapidly return to the world system with production after 250 years. We have seen that the international system, which was built on the great sufferings of the World War II, began to crack and that if the current rules are adhered to, the current rulers will lose their sovereignty after a while. Therefore, we started to experience very new turbulences. This has been reflected in all areas of life, especially technology, and we, as the world public, are watching these developments at an increasing pace, open to surprises.
The second fundamental indicator is an area that I've titled 'Theology, Science, Metaphysics, and the Supernatural New Era,' encompassing a realm that I have defined. However, especially in the last 200 years, we are transitioning into a supernatural era where the understanding that science has almost replaced religion is reversing. This is a period where conventional habits and what people have learned are not enough to explain events, and sacred paradigms are gaining prominence. Especially the recent Israeli-Palestinian crisis has escalated this further and made it more visible. In this sense, this current post-reality has many products. For example, there are some issues such as deepfake and artificial intelligence. We are entering a highly sophisticated era, perhaps in 3-5 years –and even today– where distinguishing between what is real and what is not becomes challenging. When talking about the future, people's basic habits are to always perceive it as if it will happen 40, 50, 100 centuries later, but we all see that future has come now.
This resource crisis and post-truth, we need a red apple, a moral revolution and a new international order that concerns all people. Our President Erdoğan said this: “The world is bigger than 5.“ It is called as, and in many countries he says that the international system should be reformed. But II. It seems that those who are on the profitable side of the international system, which was established with the lessons learned from the suffering at the end of World War II - the first and second interconnected world wars - will not show modesty in terms of giving up these privileges and giving up some of them. Therefore, it will not be easy to build a new international system, especially in terms of security. I hope that at the point humanity has reached, with the wisdom and equipment it has accumulated, a transition to a new just order can be achieved without causing great suffering. However, we can see that there are serious question marks and serious reasons to be pessimistic about this issue.
Now let's look at who the players are in such a global arena. There is an area that I have defined as the "decentralized center", especially in recent years. These are also the subject of many different conspiracy theories. Reference is made to an elite that influences certain policies and holds sway in the governance of the world. However, this is not a describable place because, lacking accountability, I refer to it as a decentralized center. I call it a decentralized center. It is not an authority you can go to in case of any problem, not a Central Bank, not a state, not an army. Therefore, if you pay attention, all of these, especially crypto currencies and blockchain, are decentralized. So, if you were to lose one trillion dollars in crypto currencies, there is no entity you can go to ask or hold accountable. Because this decentralized center does not have any substantial mass that could position itself as a counterpart or a target in any way against the existing nation-states. But in terms of its power of influence, we see that this decentralized center does not target any of the areas where states have worked and developed capacity so far. Large armies and large arms stocks are not the target, they have become more visible in this pandemic experience. But especially, there is a pressure of a decentralized center towards the softer areas emphasized in the main themes of this Conference, which call for strategic transformation in the ecosystem. These appear as areas where states need to develop new capacity in soft areas such as climate, food, demography, meritocracy, economy, education, health, employment, family, youth and city security, and many more that can be added, and it is not easy to organize in these areas Because these areas cannot be concretized, brought into military definitions, and results cannot be achieved with very little force. It needs to be managed with a security approach that requires mass participation and requires the participation of the whole country from time to time. For example, there is such a thing as hidden hunger - I am the distributor of this expression in Turkey, I say this as a wit - 2 billion people in the world currently suffer from this, and this is not an issue of sabotage or provocation. It is an innocent topic, but in this innocent sense; due to fast consumption, excessive use of chemicals, and rapid production, the content of crops grown in the world has weakened significantly. So, to get what you used to get from an apple 40 years ago, you now need to eat 16 apples. Therefore, this concept of hidden hunger is the main problem of the whole world right now, and there are groups working to overcome this, especially on soil enrichment. I have not heard anything about such studies being carried out in our country yet. Even if there is, let them forgive my statement. So I just gave this as an example.
The anticipation of new pandemics in health; we have experienced approximately 3 years of lockdowns in various stages, and the global debt ratio has increased by about 2 times. We do not know whether the world has the resources to manage a second pandemic trauma in terms of both household and government debts. Therefore, we will look at the importance of capacity building in these soft areas at the Conference.
Until now, security was reserved for people interested in international relations and its sub-branches. With the transition to these soft areas, actually all sectors have become a part of the security issue. That's why you will listen to many different presentations and speeches from many different names.
Another fundamental instrument promoted by this decentralized center - we have been sharing this since 2008, especially in the 2023 and 2053 meetings - is the promotion of micro-nationalism, unpredictability and integration. This is also something that states should analyze in terms of each country's own risks. It is an international system with 400-800-1600 members, consisting of many small states. Managing this from a single center is currently mostly done through integrations. However, the transformation of these integrations into a single-centered structure over time is also among the goals. But most importantly, the risk of micro-nationalism is different for each country. As I often say, this does not just mean ethnicity. It means all kinds of conflictable differences.
Who are the other sides of this struggle other than the decentralized center? This is an area that I specifically define as world peace competition. We have been living together in a Pax - Americana since the World War II. “Pax Britannica already existed, but it had withdrawn a bit. With World War II, it has now returned as “Global Britain“. Pax Sinica, meaning a Chinese peace project, is ongoing, with numerous instruments, particularly the Belt and Road Initiative. For example, last year, about eighty percent of the loans given by the World Bank were provided to countries by just China. Therefore, there are significant changes in parameters and distribution centers. There is also what we define as the Turkish Century, which is defined as Türkiye Century by Turkey, and another new peace project, the Arab Century initiative led by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, who leads Saudi Arabia.. The Arab and Turkish centuries can be considered more regional, but the others, that is, the initiatives pioneered by China, England and the United States, are more global initiatives. The competition between them is often unmanageable. Because the world has never experienced such an experience.
This situation very quickly creates the risk of failure in success. You have a goal and you reach it, but as soon as you reach it, that success turns into failure for you. This will happen very often from now on. Therefore, we say that decision-making mechanisms and institutional infrastructures must undergo a strategic transformation in terms of the nation state and international order. The Conference will contribute to this quest. There is a lot to be done, especially in meritocracy, in terms of building circular security infrastructure and gaining new skills. We are in a period where security is very risky even for countries with good existing capacities. As you know, meritocracy does not mean bureaucracy, it covers all layers of society and means that everything and everyone is in the right place. I would like to say that the cyclical security approach of meritocracy needs to undergo a strategic transformation, and this Conference, along with other planned activities, is poised to contribute to that.
I'm going to go a little off topic, but I think that the formula for being successful or less unsuccessful in today's system is in new searches. One of these is mathematics. It is more effective in advancing theories and industrial dimensions. But I think it should also be used a lot in international relations and security theories, and we are also looking for people who are really competent in this field, people with whom we can sit and talk. Countries that can engage in analyses, especially in chaos mathematics, reverse mathematics, and the mathematics of emotions, and build capacity in these areas seem to be able to manage the competition effectively. For example, we published a new report in TASAM. Employing people with neurological differences in security and intelligence work. I think we need to act with a vision that will reach the capacity of people with special talents - of course, a flexible mechanism to manage them is needed - employ them, and consider including them in this system.
Within the framework of all these, the 9th Istanbul Security Conference and its associated events, including the 7th Turkey-Gulf Defense and Security Forum with the main theme "New Discoveries in the Turkish-Arab Security Ecosystem," the 6th Turkey-Africa Defense, Security, and Space Forum with the main theme "Turkish Military Presence in Africa and New Horizons," the 5th Maritime and Maritime Security Forum with the main theme "21st Century Maritime Geo-economics and Turkey," and the 2nd Istanbul Cyber-Security Forum with the main theme "New Cyber Economy and Turkish Products" will be carried out simultaneously. Through these gatherings, we will strive to build economic, social, political, and strategic capacity in friendly and brotherly regions and countries, contributing to the common literature of humanity. I express my gratitude again to all contributors and participants.
I apologize if there was any slip of the tongue.
We are very glad to be together at the 9th Istanbul Security Conference and its co-events, which we have continued without any disruption until today. We extend our gratitude to all our guests, both domestic and international. Following this opening session, conference activities and other sub-forums and events will continue with 127 speakers, 30 moderators and approximately 150 active participants and negotiators in three different halls for the next 2 days. As the chairman of the institution, I have to express some thanks. First of all, I would like to express our gratitude to the relevant authority Ministries, TÜBİTAK, ASELSAN, KOBIL, BMC and İnce Shipping and all other contributing stakeholders for their institutional support.
We are grateful for the hospitality, partnership, and collaboration of Istanbul Kent University. We extend our sincere thanks to our esteemed Rector, Prof. Dr. Necmettin ATSÜ, and the wonderful individual coordinating the efforts, distinguished personality Prof. Dr. Hasret ÇOMAK. Istanbul Kent University is an institution pioneered and led by the late Prime Minister Mesut YILMAZ and his family. In this sense, we remember the Prime Minister and his precious child with mercy. We also present our respects to Ms. Berna YILMAZ. Especially if you are looking for qualifications, such activities are very tiring work that requires great coordination and patience skills. In this regard, under the coordination of our Vice President, Retired General Prof. Dr. Fahri ERENEL, and the team leadership of Attorney Verda ŞENSOY KARAGÖZ, we extend our sincere thanks to all colleagues, contributors, and professors, including Yusuf AYDEMİR, Büşra BÜYÜK, Beyza BEYENAL, Mustafa Onat MENDİL – I will inevitably forget some, please forgive me all.
When we started the Istanbul Security Conference and even when we established the National Defense and Security Institute - which goes back 10-12 years - what was generally talked about was that there was not much civilian work in the field of security. Because the security bureaucracy dominated to a certain extent. There was also some professional jealousy and an attitude that this was not a job that civilians would understand. Therefore, there was very little work in the field of security, very few names. Türkiye has come a long way in the last 10-15 years. However, we need much more and greater capacity and infrastructure in terms of future needs. In this sense, I would like to underline once again that both the National Defense and Security Institute, the Istanbul Security Conference and its co-events are a conscious contribution to this capacity, and that the priority is not popularity. Now I have a short presentation of 3 slides. I will talk about what we are looking for and what we want to do in this conference and co-events. Certainly, our seasoned and expert professors, as well as our participants, will fill this with much more depth. However, for the sake of providing an overview, I've divided my speaking notes into three sections/slides on behalf of the institution. I'll try to go through them as swiftly as possible;
A.
Financial and Real Resource (Production Centralization) Competition
Theology, Science, Metaphysics and the New Era of Post-Reality
Red-apple: Common Values for Humanity and Moral Revolution
B.
Decentralized Central | Mental and Generational health | Technology Management
Soft areas
Climate, Nourishment, Demography, Meritocracy, Economy,
Health, Education, Employment, Family-Youth and City Security
Micro- Nationalism, Integration and Unpredictability
C.
Pax Britannica, Pax Americana, Pax Sinica , Arab Century and Turkish Century
Failure in Accomplishment
Strategic Transformation
Building Circular Security Infrastructure in Meritocracy, and New Skills
Chaos Math | Reverse Math | Emotional Math | Neuro Special Abilities etc.
TASAM Projects | TASAM Projects
How does the world address us on a global scale? Who are the key players in this context? What lessons are there for countries?
We are experiencing a significant global resource crisis as a world. This has become even more apparent since 2008. I describe this as a competition between accumulation and Concentration, using a somewhat archaic Turkish expression. By accumulation, I mean those who accumulate wealth, particularly referring to financial and economic power. After the 70s, there is a globally magnified financial system, especially in the Western world, due to certain financial changes, the exaggerated expansion of derivative markets, and a focus on accumulation. On the other hand, by concentration I mean those who accumulate more production power. We can talk about a counter bloc that accumulates more production power, starting from Asia and China. Therefore, at the point where the world economy and especially the financial system are in the debt - money - debt spiral; We entered into a great competition as Asia began to rapidly return to the world system with production after 250 years. We have seen that the international system, which was built on the great sufferings of the World War II, began to crack and that if the current rules are adhered to, the current rulers will lose their sovereignty after a while. Therefore, we started to experience very new turbulences. This has been reflected in all areas of life, especially technology, and we, as the world public, are watching these developments at an increasing pace, open to surprises.
The second fundamental indicator is an area that I've titled 'Theology, Science, Metaphysics, and the Supernatural New Era,' encompassing a realm that I have defined. However, especially in the last 200 years, we are transitioning into a supernatural era where the understanding that science has almost replaced religion is reversing. This is a period where conventional habits and what people have learned are not enough to explain events, and sacred paradigms are gaining prominence. Especially the recent Israeli-Palestinian crisis has escalated this further and made it more visible. In this sense, this current post-reality has many products. For example, there are some issues such as deepfake and artificial intelligence. We are entering a highly sophisticated era, perhaps in 3-5 years –and even today– where distinguishing between what is real and what is not becomes challenging. When talking about the future, people's basic habits are to always perceive it as if it will happen 40, 50, 100 centuries later, but we all see that future has come now.
This resource crisis and post-truth, we need a red apple, a moral revolution and a new international order that concerns all people. Our President Erdoğan said this: “The world is bigger than 5.“ It is called as, and in many countries he says that the international system should be reformed. But II. It seems that those who are on the profitable side of the international system, which was established with the lessons learned from the suffering at the end of World War II - the first and second interconnected world wars - will not show modesty in terms of giving up these privileges and giving up some of them. Therefore, it will not be easy to build a new international system, especially in terms of security. I hope that at the point humanity has reached, with the wisdom and equipment it has accumulated, a transition to a new just order can be achieved without causing great suffering. However, we can see that there are serious question marks and serious reasons to be pessimistic about this issue.
Now let's look at who the players are in such a global arena. There is an area that I have defined as the "decentralized center", especially in recent years. These are also the subject of many different conspiracy theories. Reference is made to an elite that influences certain policies and holds sway in the governance of the world. However, this is not a describable place because, lacking accountability, I refer to it as a decentralized center. I call it a decentralized center. It is not an authority you can go to in case of any problem, not a Central Bank, not a state, not an army. Therefore, if you pay attention, all of these, especially crypto currencies and blockchain, are decentralized. So, if you were to lose one trillion dollars in crypto currencies, there is no entity you can go to ask or hold accountable. Because this decentralized center does not have any substantial mass that could position itself as a counterpart or a target in any way against the existing nation-states. But in terms of its power of influence, we see that this decentralized center does not target any of the areas where states have worked and developed capacity so far. Large armies and large arms stocks are not the target, they have become more visible in this pandemic experience. But especially, there is a pressure of a decentralized center towards the softer areas emphasized in the main themes of this Conference, which call for strategic transformation in the ecosystem. These appear as areas where states need to develop new capacity in soft areas such as climate, food, demography, meritocracy, economy, education, health, employment, family, youth and city security, and many more that can be added, and it is not easy to organize in these areas Because these areas cannot be concretized, brought into military definitions, and results cannot be achieved with very little force. It needs to be managed with a security approach that requires mass participation and requires the participation of the whole country from time to time. For example, there is such a thing as hidden hunger - I am the distributor of this expression in Turkey, I say this as a wit - 2 billion people in the world currently suffer from this, and this is not an issue of sabotage or provocation. It is an innocent topic, but in this innocent sense; due to fast consumption, excessive use of chemicals, and rapid production, the content of crops grown in the world has weakened significantly. So, to get what you used to get from an apple 40 years ago, you now need to eat 16 apples. Therefore, this concept of hidden hunger is the main problem of the whole world right now, and there are groups working to overcome this, especially on soil enrichment. I have not heard anything about such studies being carried out in our country yet. Even if there is, let them forgive my statement. So I just gave this as an example.
The anticipation of new pandemics in health; we have experienced approximately 3 years of lockdowns in various stages, and the global debt ratio has increased by about 2 times. We do not know whether the world has the resources to manage a second pandemic trauma in terms of both household and government debts. Therefore, we will look at the importance of capacity building in these soft areas at the Conference.
Until now, security was reserved for people interested in international relations and its sub-branches. With the transition to these soft areas, actually all sectors have become a part of the security issue. That's why you will listen to many different presentations and speeches from many different names.
Another fundamental instrument promoted by this decentralized center - we have been sharing this since 2008, especially in the 2023 and 2053 meetings - is the promotion of micro-nationalism, unpredictability and integration. This is also something that states should analyze in terms of each country's own risks. It is an international system with 400-800-1600 members, consisting of many small states. Managing this from a single center is currently mostly done through integrations. However, the transformation of these integrations into a single-centered structure over time is also among the goals. But most importantly, the risk of micro-nationalism is different for each country. As I often say, this does not just mean ethnicity. It means all kinds of conflictable differences.
Who are the other sides of this struggle other than the decentralized center? This is an area that I specifically define as world peace competition. We have been living together in a Pax - Americana since the World War II. “Pax Britannica already existed, but it had withdrawn a bit. With World War II, it has now returned as “Global Britain“. Pax Sinica, meaning a Chinese peace project, is ongoing, with numerous instruments, particularly the Belt and Road Initiative. For example, last year, about eighty percent of the loans given by the World Bank were provided to countries by just China. Therefore, there are significant changes in parameters and distribution centers. There is also what we define as the Turkish Century, which is defined as Türkiye Century by Turkey, and another new peace project, the Arab Century initiative led by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, who leads Saudi Arabia.. The Arab and Turkish centuries can be considered more regional, but the others, that is, the initiatives pioneered by China, England and the United States, are more global initiatives. The competition between them is often unmanageable. Because the world has never experienced such an experience.
This situation very quickly creates the risk of failure in success. You have a goal and you reach it, but as soon as you reach it, that success turns into failure for you. This will happen very often from now on. Therefore, we say that decision-making mechanisms and institutional infrastructures must undergo a strategic transformation in terms of the nation state and international order. The Conference will contribute to this quest. There is a lot to be done, especially in meritocracy, in terms of building circular security infrastructure and gaining new skills. We are in a period where security is very risky even for countries with good existing capacities. As you know, meritocracy does not mean bureaucracy, it covers all layers of society and means that everything and everyone is in the right place. I would like to say that the cyclical security approach of meritocracy needs to undergo a strategic transformation, and this Conference, along with other planned activities, is poised to contribute to that.
I'm going to go a little off topic, but I think that the formula for being successful or less unsuccessful in today's system is in new searches. One of these is mathematics. It is more effective in advancing theories and industrial dimensions. But I think it should also be used a lot in international relations and security theories, and we are also looking for people who are really competent in this field, people with whom we can sit and talk. Countries that can engage in analyses, especially in chaos mathematics, reverse mathematics, and the mathematics of emotions, and build capacity in these areas seem to be able to manage the competition effectively. For example, we published a new report in TASAM. Employing people with neurological differences in security and intelligence work. I think we need to act with a vision that will reach the capacity of people with special talents - of course, a flexible mechanism to manage them is needed - employ them, and consider including them in this system.
Within the framework of all these, the 9th Istanbul Security Conference and its associated events, including the 7th Turkey-Gulf Defense and Security Forum with the main theme "New Discoveries in the Turkish-Arab Security Ecosystem," the 6th Turkey-Africa Defense, Security, and Space Forum with the main theme "Turkish Military Presence in Africa and New Horizons," the 5th Maritime and Maritime Security Forum with the main theme "21st Century Maritime Geo-economics and Turkey," and the 2nd Istanbul Cyber-Security Forum with the main theme "New Cyber Economy and Turkish Products" will be carried out simultaneously. Through these gatherings, we will strive to build economic, social, political, and strategic capacity in friendly and brotherly regions and countries, contributing to the common literature of humanity. I express my gratitude again to all contributors and participants.
I apologize if there was any slip of the tongue.
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