Interesting Writing from IMN Representative in Turkey...

Dr.Ulviyya Aydin
Project Manager

İMN Representative in Turkey

Living Together Should Not Be So Difficult....

What will happen in the next periods of twenty-first century - it is difficult to predict. But it is certain that the first decades will be remembered with one of the biggest migration in the history of mankind. The most intensive migration of the 2000s occurred in the post-modern era due to political and economic instabilities particularly in the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia. Thousands of people from mentioned regions have moved to the countries where they feel themselves more confident. However, it is not true to explain current human mobilities only with the political and economic instabilities. 

As known, the most important feature of human – innovativeness instinct is constantly motivating the technological advances. As a result, the distances on earth has shortened, borders between countries have become transparent, regional trade and economic integration has reshaped the world.Morever, the end of bipolar system and the Cold War was followed by a new process called “globalization”. As a natural consequence of the global capital, global economy and global production, the people also live their lifes under a global umbrella.

 This mobility experienced with the economic and political dynamics strongly affects the cultural values of the countries. Namely, the number of communities where people of different cultures live together is increasing.This lead stothe highlighting of "multiculturalism" concept more than before. Despite the increase in the number of multicultural societies in recent years due to the above mentioned reasons, multiculturalism and cultural diversity of states remains as a matter of debates still.Infact, “multiculturalism” is not something new. Nearly , its history is as old as the history of mankind. Initself, each person is different. However, no person can survive alone. Structually, each person is a part of any community. 

Therefore, a community is an environment which hosts a number of different individuals. Here the most important point is common habits and features of that different individuals that we call “culture”, gained by long years. This culture has shaped by family members who had lived before them and will pass to the  next ones from them. During the transformation proceses of societies it was observed that the people with common cultures has clustered in particular geographical areas – that we call “nation-states”.

However, within the borders of nation states the communities with different cultures also exist besides dominant cultures. An intercultural clashes on religious, traditional or ethnic base appear between dominant and minority communities. However, the most common feature of different cultures is “tolerance”. All religions also emphasize on “tolerance”. All art works of different cultures underline “tolerance”. Considering that all moral and traditional values of different cultures have established on “tolerance”, so why it is so difficult to live together with others or tolerate differents? Have you ever thought, why multinational companies, foreign investment, foreign capital is so attactive for the economy or for the people of any country while multicultural society or a different culture is undesired? We are not aware of that all of us like diversities. Individually some of us like different musics, some of us like different tastes, some of us like different folk dances. But why we are strained for living all of these diversities together?

It is clear that societies strive under hard conditions to survive because of avoidable and unavoidable reasons in the ever-aging world. Therefore, it is not logic to make more difficult the life, otherizing the people who differ from us, turning the diversities into a problem in an intolerent society. Thus, don’t we provide convenience for ourselves by showing a tolerance for differents actually?