Friday, October 13, 2006

Konya to be seminar topic in US

Elif Özmenek - New York- Turkish Daily News/Referans
Thursday, March 30, 2006

The University of Utah is hosting a seminar on Konya to study its model of local governance. The mayor of Konya will explain his city to American audiences, adding a taste of whirling dervishes and Sufism to his speech

The Central Anatolian city of Konya, after being listed among the 14 cities in the world that the Financial Times ranked as qualified for direct investment, is now being studied as a role model by an American university. The University of Utah is organizing a seminar titled “Understanding Globalization in Turkish Periphery: The Spirit of Konya” March 29-30.

From the effects of Sufism on urbanization to the role of whirling dervishes in globalization, diverse themes from Konya are to be discussed at the seminar. Konya Mayor Tahir Akyürek is among 25 speakers invited for the event.

The seminar is aimed at discussing the question of how the Islamic world will adapt to the globalization process in general from a “conservative” model such as Konya. The main reason Konya was selected as a role model is the city's financing of its development model through its own resources. In other words, Konya is being studied because it has succeeded in developing without loans; it has almost no bank debt; 70 percent of its budget is secured for investment; and it has been listed as the top city in intercity performance ratings for producing its own non-Treasury resources.

In 2005 Konya's whirling dervish ceremony was selected for the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) cultural heritage list. 2007 has also been declared the “Year of Mevlana.”

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Friday, October 13, 2006

Konya to be seminar topic in US
Elif Özmenek - New York- Turkish Daily News/Referans
Thursday, March 30, 2006

The University of Utah is hosting a seminar on Konya to study its model of local governance. The mayor of Konya will explain his city to American audiences, adding a taste of whirling dervishes and Sufism to his speech

The Central Anatolian city of Konya, after being listed among the 14 cities in the world that the Financial Times ranked as qualified for direct investment, is now being studied as a role model by an American university. The University of Utah is organizing a seminar titled “Understanding Globalization in Turkish Periphery: The Spirit of Konya” March 29-30.

From the effects of Sufism on urbanization to the role of whirling dervishes in globalization, diverse themes from Konya are to be discussed at the seminar. Konya Mayor Tahir Akyürek is among 25 speakers invited for the event.

The seminar is aimed at discussing the question of how the Islamic world will adapt to the globalization process in general from a “conservative” model such as Konya. The main reason Konya was selected as a role model is the city's financing of its development model through its own resources. In other words, Konya is being studied because it has succeeded in developing without loans; it has almost no bank debt; 70 percent of its budget is secured for investment; and it has been listed as the top city in intercity performance ratings for producing its own non-Treasury resources.

In 2005 Konya's whirling dervish ceremony was selected for the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) cultural heritage list. 2007 has also been declared the “Year of Mevlana.”

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