SETA PANEL Chair: Talip Küçükcan SETA Participants: Dr. Bashir Ansari Afghan intellectual and writer Prof. M. Nazif Shahrani Chair, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures & Central Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Indiana University, United States Date: August 13, 2009 Time: 11.00 Venue: SETA Foundation, Ankara
Event Summary: The U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in the aftermath of September 11 attacks placed Afghanistan into a central place in international politics. After the removal of Taliban rule, the Bonn meeting of various Afghan groups under the auspices of international community set the rules and structures of a new administrative system in Afghanistan in 2001. Hamid Karzai was elected as President of the country and has occupied this position since 2002. Karzai administration undertook the responsibility of reconstruction of Afghanistan and providing stability and security. Although Karzai administration has been successful in a number of projects, there is a strong criticism toward his performance and also an opposition to his rule.
It is up to the Afghan people to decide whether they continue with Karzai or will elect a new president. This will be their second vote for electing their president since 2001. Elections are important for stability and security of Afghanistan with implications for regional and international security. It is important to have a free and fair election in Afghanistan to make sure that people’s choice and support will be reflected to the administration. Afghanistan’s central election committee declared 40 presidential candidates in the approaching 2009 Presidential Elections. Karzai will be challenged by former a Foreign Minister Abdulla Abdulla, former State Ministers Esref Gani and Enver-ul Hak, among others.
Turkey contributed to the reconstruction of Afghanistan through civilian and military means. Ankara is ready for further assistance to state building, stability and economic development of Afghanistan in coming years. The approaching elections are important since Turkey is in favor stability and security in Afghanistan to solve the chronic problems and pave way for better condition for the peoples of Afghanistan. SETA organizes a panel on the 2009 Afghanistan Elections with two prominent Afghan speakers under the moderation of SETA experts on 13 August 2009 to inform Turkish public opinion, researchers, media, bureaucrats, politicians and other interested parties.Bashir Ahmad Ansari was born and received his primary education in Kabul. In 1988, he was granted a scholarship from the Omdurman Islamic University in Omdurman, Sudan. In 1992 he graduated from the department of law. After the graduation, he enrolled in the Khartoum International Institute for Arabic and earned his masters in the field of teaching Arabic to non Arabs. After graduation from Khartoum International Institute, he was appointed as first secretary of Afghanistan embassy in Khartoum. After one year of his service he was sent to Afghanistan embassy in Libya as the Charge d'affair of Afghanistan. Later he left government service by his own will and enrolled in the department of Political Science of San Francisco State University and completed master program in 2006. His books and articles were written in Persian, Arabic and English. Some of his books were translated to other languages too. He has also authored the following books: Afghanistan in the blaze of Oil: untold facts, Tyranny: The main illness of our political society, Tribal mentality, Women in the scale of Islamic political theory, Who are we? (Discourse on culture and identity), Political legitimacy in the octopus of force, fils and falsehood, Teaching Arabic in Islamic schools in the United States: Problems & proposed solutions, Cultural Obstacles to Democracy in Afghanistan. For more information check ht
