25.12.2025 14:44
The Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the İlim Yayma Foundation, Bilal Erdoğan, stated, "We have a serious need for the rise of a new intellectual class that is respected by society, trusted in their words, and is also local and national."
The 'Turkic World Academy' training, implemented by the Young Memur-Sen in collaboration with the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) and the Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB), has concluded.
A closing program and award ceremony were held at the Memur-Sen General Center due to the completion of the training aimed at increasing the historical, political, cultural, and geopolitical awareness of young people regarding the Turkic world. The program was attended by many guests, including Bilal Erdoğan, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Ilim Yayma Foundation, TIKA President Abdullah Eren, YTB President Hadi Turus, Memur-Sen General President Ali Yalçın, and Young Memur-Sen President Mesut Emre Balcı.
"YOU CANNOT DEVELOP IN TECHNOLOGY JUST BECAUSE YOU WORE THE CLOTHES" Bilal Erdoğan, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Ilim Yayma Foundation, stated that the main motivation behind his work is to ensure that identity and culture are revived and passed on to new generations in a healthy way, saying, "Before our lands were occupied, the minds of our intellectuals were almost occupied. With an inferiority complex against the West, we thought, 'We can no longer do it, we have lost, but we can reach somewhere by resembling the West'; we clearly understand that we cannot achieve development just by resembling from the outside. You cannot develop in technology just because you wore the clothes. We experienced a period of over 200 years trying to only take the appearance of modernity. At this point, that intellectual class has been liquidated, but a new class of intellectuals has not emerged. We seriously need the rise of a new class of intellectuals that is respected by society, whose words are trusted, and that is also indigenous and national," he said.
"THESE ARE THE INFRASTRUCTURE WORKS OF THE CENTURY OF TURKEY" Bilal Erdoğan stated, "In 1991, when the Turkic world was freed from the Soviet yoke, Turkey was a country with a population of 55-60 million and an economy of 200 billion dollars. At that time, the dreams were very big. We said, 'We will reunite with the Turkic world, we will be a great whole with the Turkic world, this will bring us peace, prosperity, and we will become stronger,' but we can say that we spent about 10 years in vain because the country's resources were limited. Today, Turkey is now an 8 times larger economy than it was then, with a GDP of 1.6 trillion dollars, ranking 11th in the world according to purchasing power. Accordingly, we have the influence of our words, and we have the power to do what we want to do. When the Organization of Turkic States was established, and when the Turkish World Directorate was established within our Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we can see that TIKA is now doing work in very different dimensions, and YTB has been able to develop much more sophisticated services. Young people, these are all the infrastructure works of the Century of Turkey that you will build," he said.