INTRODUCTION
Distinguished Guests, Dear Young People …
Welcome to Visionary 25, all of you…
What we have been going through for some time makes us ask the question: ‘Is there really an order in the world?’
Because the mould that was taught to us as the world order has today become the main feeder of all the chaos that stands against order.
Just look at the world; we build our security upon the insecurity of others, and our wealth upon the poverty of others. We feed our peace of mind with the helplessness of others.
Perhaps what is called the World Order is in fact nothing but an illusion that was taught to us, packaged so that it would not be questioned, and labelled ‘rules’ on top of it! Perhaps!
But whatever the case, this order has now become a paradox that threatens its own existence!
The world we were taught has collapsed, and the new world has not the slightest respect for the old moulds.
The chaos we are living through today is not a crisis; it is the pain of a birth.
We stand precisely on a threshold where the old rules have lost their function and the new ones have not yet been written.
Are we still going to live by the moulds we were taught, or are we going to build our own order?
There it is! While we are gathered together at Visionary this year, we wanted to take up this question together.
2. CONNECTIVITY – WHY IS IT THIS YEAR'S MAIN THEME?
The main theme of Visionary 25: Connectivity
Let this not be perceived merely as technological devices connecting to one another.
The period we are in is an age in which people, economies, cultures, crises, values and in fact destinies are all connected to one another.
Today, an economic fluctuation experienced by one country can affect a company at the farthest point of the world on the very same day.
A cultural rupture experienced by one society can change the lives of millions of people.
And a single artificial intelligence model can steer the decisions of billions of people.
Nothing stands alone any more...
No problem is isolated...
No solution is unilateral...
For this reason, this year we have placed the word “Connectivity” at the conceptual centre of Visionary.
Because the order of the future will take shape through connections.
And everything we will talk about today is in fact a story of connection.
3. THE ORDER
For long years, humanity moved forward within a certain order.
The rhythm of global trade was clear…
International relations had their roles…
There was a balance among cultures and societies…
While technology advanced, it also preserved predictability.
This order was of course not perfect.
But people had a foresight about life.
Stability in the economy…
Continuity in culture…
Innovative steps in technology…
The rhythm of the world had, as it were, been playing the same melody for a very long time.
4. THE DISORDER
But then… The melody was broken…
In recent years we have been passing through such a period that: uncertainty has become the ordinary state of life.
Economic fluctuations, political crises, climate shocks, geopolitical rivalries… and many more
Everything changes in an instant and is shaken rapidly.
And what is painful is that… in some parts of the world, disorder, which has become the order itself, is not merely a concept; it is also a human tragedy.
The suffering endured by hundreds of thousands of innocent people in Gaza has unfortunately become an order in itself…
A family scattered as a home collapses…
The dust on a child's face in fact sticking to the conscience of a whole century…
Today the map of wars is expanding, but the conscience of humanity is shrinking.
Technology is advancing, economies are growing; but what about mercy?
We connect to one another, but most of the time we cannot connect to suffering at the same speed.
Disorder is a point at which not only the system, but also our values, our habits and our way of making sense of the world have been broken.
5. THE HUMAN BEING IN THE MIDST OF UNCERTAINTY
In the midst of all this confusion, the greatest question is this!
So where exactly does the human being stand in all that is happening?
Economic competition …
Technological breakthroughs …
Geopolitical balances are being discussed…
But what about the human being?
His peace of mind? His security?
His hope and his future?
In a universe that places the human being at the centre of existence, the human being himself is being pushed away from the centre…
We are passing through an age in which the dignity of being human is devalued and quietly left alone…
What is more, all this destruction is being legitimized in the name of the future of the world…
As if it were normal to expend the human being while building the future…
Yet for whom are we building the future?
Is a future without the human being really a future?
6. THE NEW ORDER
But every disorder is at the same time the beginning of a new order.
Today none of us can define the future with definite lines.
Because the future has not yet been written.
The basic clues of the new order, however, are gradually emerging:
- The economy will turn towards resilience.
- Culture will be compelled to build bonds among societies once again.
- And technology will be compelled to advance together with the human being.
The new order will be an order of common reason, common values and common responsibilities.
It has to be! Otherwise the World Will Be Turned Upside Down!
7. WHY ARE WE HERE?
The reason we have come together here today is;
certainly not to explain the world with definite answers...
The real aim is:
To think.
To think together.
To ask questions.
To produce new questions.
And to lay one more brick together for the order of the future.
8. CLOSING
Despite all the darkness of recent years, the strongest characteristic of humanity has always remained the same:
The desire to begin again…
Yes
Order breaks down…
Disorder increases…
But every time, the human being manages to establish a new order.
What we are discussing here today
is this will to begin again…
I invite you all to be part of this will throughout Visionary'25.
I wish you a beautiful day full of inspiration, full of excitement and full of knowledge.
Once again, welcome to you all…