Arab World ready for democracy, Media Forum highlights

Recent revolutions in the Arab world are a potent indicator that Arab nations are ready for democracy, Ibrahim Kalin said yesterday, speaking at the Turkish-Arab Media Forum, an event bringing together journalists from Turkish and Arab media outlets being held in Turkey. The first day's meeting of the forum, hosted by the Prime Ministry's Directorate General of Press and Information (BYEGM), was held at Istanbul's Conrad Hotel yesterday. The first session saw a round table discussion on the Turkish and Arab media's approaches toward regional and global developments. Kalin, a chief consultant and public diplomacy coordinator at the Prime Ministry, who moderated the session said, "The world has been wondering whether the Arab world is ready for democracy for years. The Arab revolutions have shown that Arab nations are giving an enthusiastic ‘yes' as the answer to that question." Kalin said the crucial question that needed to be asked was whether "Western countries are ready for democracy in the Arab World?" Akif Beki, who chaired the session, agreed, saying that Turkish and Arab media did not follow each other directly. Beki said Turkish and Arab media organs should be able to follow each other's stories directly, not through third parties such as the British, French or US media. He said many Arabs were now on Twitter, noting that using the social media could help fill the gap. Ghani Oukazi from Algeria's Le Quotidien d'Oran, said the entire world was watching Turkey with eyes wide open, saying, "The West is persistently denying the fact that Turkey is a democratic and very liberal country." Okuazi criticized both Turkish and Arab media organs, saying they did not pay enough attention to events in other parts of the world. Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc, who listened to the discussions in the forum, presented the participants with a plaque.