Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

The opening speech of the meeting held at the Provincial House in Gölbaşı was given by Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu. Davutoğlu emphasized importance of humanity’s ability to acquire knowledge, to reason and to produce science and technology as one of the main factors in creating civilizations.

Davutoğlu stated that the concept of civilization revolves around the paradigm of being, knowledge and value, “Every change is a new ontology, a new epistemology, a new system of values; a transition to a new level in human history.”

- The use of knowledge in the rise of states

Stating that humanity has undergone three important paradigm shifts in the past, Davutoğlu said, “Socities able to produce information and lead in this field get ahead in the new era. Those unable to follow these developments are left behind, prisoners to the information, values and technology produced by the forerunners. In our history this can be seen in the Ottoman Empire; its rise from tribe to state to a political structure determining world order beginning with the conquest of İstanbul.”