"MANIFESTO FOR UNIVERSAL HUMAN VALUES AND RIGHTS"

We, two academic institutions, representing both Asia and the Turkic World, namely L.N Gumilyov Eurasian National University Astana/Kazakhstan and T.C. Uskudar University, Istanbul/Turkiye, inspired by the life, works and legacy of our great personalities and humanists along the Silk Road, inter alia, Abu Nasr Al Farabi (870 - 950) and Hodja Ahmed Yasawi (1093 - 1166), as well United Nations (UN), UNESCO, Universal Declaration of Human Rights and greatest world thinkers, and we opened manifesto for universal human values and rights for signature.

UN charter defines major goals as follows.

• to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war,
• to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small,
• to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained,
• to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom [1].

Within the scope of international “Living Values Education Program (LVEP)” project supported by UNESCO, living values are prepared by UNICEF education cluster under 12 values as “happiness, honesty, humility, cooperation, freedom, love, peace, respect, responsibility, simplicity, tolerance, and unity” and recognized by UNESCO [2].

UN states that “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.” in article 1 of Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Subsequently, it is stated that “The right to life, the right to a fair trial, the right to equality, the right to liberty, the right to health, the right to asylum, the right to protection from torture, the right to obtain necessities, the right to travel, the right to marry, the right to property, the right to freedom of opinion, conscience, religion and expression, the right to assembly without aggression, the right to social security, the right to work, the right to education and learning, as well as duties and responsibilities towards the community are emphasised."

In article 30, it is stated that “Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein” [3].

Abu Nasr Al-Farabi, world-scale scholar and philosopher from the Turkic World, one of the preeminent thinkers of the Islamic Golden Age, author of metaphysical, psychological, and political theories, Second Teacher of the World, discuses virtues under two tittles as Ethical (I) and Intellectual (II).

Ethical values are defined as;

-Temperance, - Courage, - Generosity, -Justice,

And Intellectual values as;

-Wisdom, - Emotional intelligence, - Social Intelligence [4].

Thus, the most important points of ethics by Al-Farabi: true happiness is the possession of all these 7 virtues. Moreover, virtuous people Al-Farabi calls free in nature, and summarized that “Our Planet Earth will become virtuous and transform into one universal excellent state only when all the nations co-operate and help each other for the purpose of reaching felicity”.

Sayyid Hodja Ahmed Yasawi (Hadrat-i Turkistan, Hazrat Sultan), world-famous theologist, spiritual mentor, religious scholar, educator, Turkic poet, philosopher, the most prominent religious figure in the history of Sufism (a mystic movement in Islam), founder of the first Turkic Sufi Order, in his poems highlights the importance of virtues such as wisdom (1), patience (2), and excellence (3), and how they contribute to genuine dignity (4) and personal growth (5) and emphasizes the virtues of love (6) and trust for/in the human being, Motherland and the Divine (7).

As a scientific reference, Howard Earl Gardner, the developer of the theory of multiple intelligences, places values as 24- character strengths under 6 Virtues [5].

As Uskudar University, we defined 24 golden values as “Justice, honesty, transparency, courage, compassion and mercy, empathy and responsibility, trust, shame, humility, cooperation, halalisation, greeting, sincerity, forgiveness, generosity, altruism, gratitude, pluralism, participation, libertarianism, accountability, reconciliation, innovation, loyalty” in the Higher Human Values Awards [6].

After analysing all the above-mentioned human values and virtues, we realized that following the World War II experienced by our civilization between 1939-1945, and by its results establishing UN in 1945, and publishing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, the attitudes that practise, support and remain silent on widespread, brutal, disproportionate, systematic terror and violence have been increasing.

Humanity hoped that the twenty-first century would herald a new era of global cooperation. At the end of its first quarter this; however, we, unfortunately, witnessed that it turned out to be a mirage. Nationalism and xenophobia, inequalities and horrific violations of human rights are growing speedily. In fundamental ways, the world has gone in reverse and is once again in danger. The risks cannot be underestimated for the threat is a deadly war on a global scale. Because conflicts have deepened, and new dangers have emerged. Global anxieties about nuclear weapons are the highest since the cold war, moreover, climate change is moving vastly and fastly.

On the other hand, 2025, which opens the gate for the 21^st Century’s second quarter, will be a landmark milestone that expresses the momentous stand on the issues of war and peace, security, and development, as well as rule of law and shrinking humanitarian space. In particular, in the event of the failure of the international community to establish totally new pacific, safe, secure and prosperous rhetoric, philosophy, architecture, landscape, geopolitical, geoeconomic space and order for our fragile planet, the threat of apocalypse is noteworthy.

Recently, we have witnessed examples experienced in the Middles East, Central Asia, and Africa. The events in Gaza have been a tragic example. It is noteworthy that the global conscience is disturbed by the terror and violence reaching the level of genocide broadcast live on social media. There is a global questioning including university youth. In his famous quote, Dante (1265-1321) says "The deepest place in hell is reserved for those who remain unresponsive to evil".

After analysing all the above-mentioned human values, serious "human and social inequality" created by the psycho­political events of recent 25 years become a threat to global peace. It is time to turn to ourselves, rather than to the enemies that politics shows us, and make enemies of the hatred, racism, colonialism, discrimination, marginalisation, and silence against evil. However, only together we can define, promote, and implement our universal virtues, settle conflicts, overcome hatred and defend shared universal values.

Today, we want to remind you of the values that have been neglected to make our generous planet more livable, fair, peaceful and sustainable, regardless of race, color, religion, language, belief, culture and country. Based on the events experienced, we, as two universities, predicted that universal concepts and ideas should be reviewed. As N.L. Guliyev National Eurasian University Astana/Kazakhstan and Uskudar University, istanbul/Turkiye, we thought that it was a sin for the University community, which is the environment where human rights and freedom are experienced and discussed in the highest level, to remain silent in such a situation. We wanted to make our voices heard with an institutional understanding rather than an individual reaction and express our thoughts with a manifesto.