A get-together and certificate program was held for the project “Unity for the Future in Our Civilization Geography”, carried out under the leadership of the Association of Defenders of Justice Strategic Research Center and the Association of Defenders of Justice, with the support of Üsküdar University. Speaking at the program attended by project executives, Üsküdar University Founding Rector Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan emphasized that if we want unity in our civilization geography, we should use the internet not for self-gratification, displaying egos, or self-promotion, but for explaining our causes. Tarhan, who is the namesake of the project, noted that with ‘Unity for the Future in Our Civilization Geography’, they essentially aimed to return to the true roots of our civilization.
Project executives participated physically and online in the program held in the Nermin Tarhan Conference Hall, moderated by Project Coordinator Nurullah Yusuf Ergür.
Nurullah Yusuf Ergür: “Our project was accepted as successful by receiving ninety-eight points out of one hundred”
Project Coordinator Nurullah Yusuf Ergür, talking about the project's purpose and development process, said: “I call it a get-together program because even though we started our project activities months ago, this will be our first face-to-face activity. Under pandemic conditions, we designed all our projects online in 2020. I thank Üsküdar University for hosting. Our project was accepted as successful with 98 points out of 100. Our application category was projects aimed at increasing personal development and interpersonal communication skills.”
Nebiye Yaşar: “The youngest of three hundred coordinators is part of this project”
Project Consultant and also 'Project Culture and Entrepreneurship' course instructor Dr. Nebiye Yaşar mentioned that they particularly prioritized young people in these three projects they implemented. Yaşar said: “In 2020, three of our projects were submitted to the Ministry of Youth, and all three were approved. One of them was about therapeutic brain mapping and had no previous project experience. We helped them secure their first project, and it received a very high score. It was the 'My Support is With You' project, and this project was carried out in collaboration with Darülaceze. It was selected as a model project by the Ministry. In December, all of us, along with our Professor Nevzat, will present this project to the President. Our second project is the project of the Association of Defenders of Justice Strategic Research Center, which is very important to me because it is the center's first ministry project. I would even like to say that six thousand projects are submitted to the Ministry of Youth, and three hundred projects were approved. What's even more gratifying about this project is that it received a very high score, but the youngest of the three hundred coordinators is part of this project, Yusuf. This is much more valuable to me. Our other project is the 'Reading University Reading High School' project within the 'Come Hold My Hand' association, where our professor is also the president. In this project, we were together with wonderful young people nationally and internationally. I was very happy to know and meet them.”
Ersan Ergür: “Its name was the biggest factor in its acceptance”
Deputy Center President Ersan Ergür, referring to the goals of the Association of Defenders of Justice Strategic Research Center and the significant impact of the project's name, said: “I would like to state that the biggest factor in our project's acceptance was its name. Our esteemed Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan personally named our project. In our meeting with the department head, they said, 'the moment we saw the project's name, we predicted that its content would be substantial. After reading it, we realized we weren't wrong in our assumption.'”
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan: “No one can object to digital transformation”
In the program attended by Üsküdar University Founding Rector Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, Tarhan spoke about the need to use the internet correctly if unity is desired in the civilization geography. Tarhan said: “Hariri objected, saying we are heading towards global dictatorship, we are now the last free generation. They will dominate the whole world with digital platforms. A digital monopoly is forming. There, they say, 'Artificial intelligence is the New God,' and the headlines that day were 'Our brains can be hacked.' Their aim was to use digital transformation and create a monopoly to dominate the entire world, just like the Titanic, but fate disrupted the game. Covid emerged. When Covid came, even individuals and societies who were against the internet now faced mandatory digitalization worldwide. I used to tell people, 'Explain the truth, the facts on social media.' Religious people would say, 'We will be corrupted if we go there.' This is a war, a struggle. If you don't corrupt your intention, why would you be corrupted? Don't corrupt your intention. If you don't corrupt your heart, Allah will help. I was trying to say this. My voice was weak, but now no one can object to digital transformation. If we want unity in the civilization geography, they should use the internet not for self-gratification, not for displaying their egos, not for self-promotion, not for sharing what they eat or this or that, but for explaining their causes. Let them make it a tool for their causes.”
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan: “They cannot be the subject of civilization, they become its object”
Referring to innovation and entrepreneurship being stated as an official policy for the last three to five years, Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan said: “The biggest mistake on July 15th was that people who followed him saw him as an innocent imam and thought there was wisdom in every one of his actions. We still have that illness today. People follow the wrong individuals without filtering them through reason. Yet, we are responsible for this. We are in such a period. Someone who is closed to innovation cannot be the subject of civilization, but rather its object. They produce, and you use. You become a consumer, a market. However, we need to be leaders, not a market. We need to be rulers, not the ruled. In our minds, not just those engaged in natural sciences, but Turkey, the World, and the Islamic World need a mental transformation that also embraces religious sciences and philosophy. For this reason, when we say 'Unity for the Future in Our Civilization Geography,' it essentially means returning to the true roots of our civilization.”
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan: “The only literature is not Western literature”
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan continued: “We will learn lessons from history. My young friends, rest assured that Western literature is not the only literature. We need to see our own culture, our own values, our own resources, and this geography is not just the geography of the Ottoman Empire, not just of Turkey. It's a vast geography. Think about Central Asia, China – there are Muslims everywhere. It's the same in the West. A unity across this entire geography. This is our civilization geography. This civilization is actually a civilization of love. It did not engage in colonialism. It did not establish a Ministry of Colonialism, but the British, the French, all had Ministries of Colonialism. There was no such ministry in the Ottoman Empire. Therefore, in this geography, we have common and different aspects. We have dissimilar aspects. It could be in terms of life philosophy, sect, perspective, or practice, but we have so many common points, eighty, ninety common points. We have ten, twenty contradictory points. Focusing on the contradictory points is sedition.”
Some students who completed the 'Project Culture and Entrepreneurship' course also had the opportunity to present their project drafts prepared for the course at the program.
Çiğdem Özden: “We are beautiful with our differences”
Çiğdem Özden, speaking about wanting to touch the beautiful hearts that have lost their way, said: “Perhaps we are the descendants of people of different religions, languages, and races who owned a life designed in the light of Islam in an atmosphere of peace. We are beautiful with our differences. We are a nation that knows that everyone's faith belongs to themselves, and that there is only one owner of the Day of Judgment. It is our duty to pass this truth from generation to generation. May Allah grant us to be hidden heroes in many services without even a speck of hypocrisy or ostentation. I want a beautiful future for my daughters and, of course, for all our children. For this, when the time comes, I want to reach out to lonely, lost, beautiful hearts with the 'Association of Value-Adders to Life'. I humbly want to remind once again that there are many heroes who work diligently for this country and even for this world, far from the selfishness that modernism tries to instill.”
Hakan Şimşek: “I extend my gratitude to the entire team”
Hakan Şimşek, who participated in the program online, said: “Actually, I had planned to be with you from the beginning today. I wanted to make a heartfelt presentation and have a heartfelt meeting with you, but due to reasons beyond our control, we unfortunately had the opportunity to present online. Therefore, I extend my gratitude to the entire team, especially our coordinator Mr. Yusuf Ergün, for providing us with this infrastructure and technical facilities.”
The event concluded after the certificate presentation ceremony and the taking of souvenir photos.
