Defense, Security, and Intelligence Revolution: Technopolitics and Demopolitics

Greetings. We are together once again at the eleventh Istanbul Security Conference and its accompanying events. This annual period has continued without interruption to date. We have continued it under very diverse conditions and at very different times. As we have always stated, without any concern for popularity, we are working, with your unique contributions, to further institutionalize it as a "school."

The first Munich Security Conference was held in 1963, and I recently checked, the next one will be the 61st. It has reached a significant place in terms of global significance. Of course, no conference can be compared exactly; conditions, countries, and political conjunctures are different. However, we hope that if the Istanbul Security Conference continues this persistence and effort, it will continue to fill an important space for both our country and our friendly, brotherly, and allied countries, and will become increasingly stronger.

Undoubtedly, there is a very serious inward-looking trend in our world. There are also serious self-criticisms that we can undertake for Turkey. We are not in an era where thought and critical thinking are held in high esteem. However, the topics we will discuss shortly and the challenges we face can only be overcome through the capacity for "critical thinking," and only in this way can a healthy roadmap be drawn.