PANEL
PROFESSIONS VITAL FOR DEMOCRACY
“Working in challenging times”
Date: Thursday, 30th March 2017
Time: 11:00 – 13:00
Venue: European Parliament,
Room: A5E-2
You are cordially invited to our panel discussion where the challenges of journalists, academicians, judiciary and civil society members will be shared at the European Parliament.
There is no universal consensus for the definition of democracy, but the democratic principles hardly vary throughout the world. Justice, equality, freedom and representation are deemed to be the four pillars of democracy. In fact, these principles act as a litmus test for distinguishing democratic regimes from authoritarian regimes.
Democracy can be applied through various mechanisms such as the rule of law, free market, media, academy, civil society organizations and political parties. Lawyers apply the “justice” principle; educationists and entrepreneurs apply “equality”; media members and academicians apply “freedom” while civil society members and politicians apply “representation”. The challenges these professions face indicate the democratic shortcomings and human rights problems in the country. We, regrettably, observe that the challenges of these professions in Turkey have reached truly worrisome levels in recent years.
Program
10:30 – 11:00 Registration
11:00 – 11:10 Dr. Ugur Tok, Academic Director, Intercultural Dialogue Platform (Moderator)
11:10 – 11:20 Mr. Ricardo Gutierrez, General Secretary of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ)
11:20 – 11:30 Mr. Yavuz Baydar, Journalist. Index on Censorship, Die Süddeutsche Zeitung, The Arab Weekly.
11:30 – 11:40 Ms. Judith Lichtenberg, Lawyers for lawyers
11:40 – 11:50 Ms. Elif Alduman, President of KYM International
11:50 – 12:20 Q&A
12:20 Cocktail
This event is hosted by Sander Loones, MEP.