The Retired Admiral Yüksel Önel participated the Conference Titled “The Roles of Politicians in Changing World: The Waves of Change in the Mediterranean” organized by The New Policy Forum under the presidency of H.E. Mikhail Gorbachev, hosted by Governership of Languedoc-Rosillon Region in Montpellier, France as a guest speaker in behalf of Marmara Group Foundation on November 24-25, 2011.
Except openning and closing sessions, the conference has 4 sessions and continued 2 days. The international conference aimed to understand and probe the reasons of so-called Arab Spring. The member of the MGF’s Academic Council, Retired Admiral Önel who had a speech in the first session titled “Rejecting the Past, Defining the Future” firstly talked about the struggle for her existence and outlines of her political philosophy. After that he mentioned that rejecting the past would can not be prerequisite for defining the future. He added that, it was impossible to set forth the future of Arab countries without understanding the dimensions of struggle to establish Turkish Republic, the diffuculties in overcoming the obstacles to democratic transition, the role of the Turkish identity in this protracted and difficult process and outstanding leadership qualities of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.