Justice is the most important value for Turks: Survey

ISTANBUL

Justice is a value Turks from all walks of life and different ideologies have been longing for, according to a survey initiated by the Common Values Movement.

“Justice, morality, family, tolerance, honesty and respect are the values Turks identify themselves with the most,” Bekir Ağırdır from the polling firm Konda, which conducted the survey, said on Dec. 3 at an event of the Common Values Movement.

But when those surveyed were asked what they saw as the most threatening, terrorism topped the list, followed by unemployment, ignorance, crime and violence.

“What was surprising was that justice stood out as the number one value Turks gave priority to, independent of their political views,” he said, as justice topped the list for voters of all political parties in the Turkish parliament. The result was the same for students, housewives and shopkeepers.

“The youth want justice in governance, Kurds want justice for existential reasons, and the poor want justice in income distribution,” added Ağırdır.

“On paper we are polarized, but in practice, in our daily lives, we don’t act like that,” said Ağırdır, echoing Begümhan Doğan Faralyalı, the head of the Common Values Movement and chairwoman of Doğan Holding.

“I saw that the polarization we see on the surface is actually nonexistent when we look deeper,” said Doğan Faralyalı, adding that she conducted house visits incognito to see whether the values she grew up with in Anatolia were truly eroding as many claimed.

Doğan Faralyalı said that advises from her father, Doğan Group Founder and Honorary Chairman Aydın Doğan, to prioritize those values had guided her in her professional life.

“When I came to Turkey after spending 20 years abroad I had the ambition to make Doğan Group one of the world’s top three media groups,” she said, while adding that one month after her return the group was unjustly fined for taxes nearly as big as the whole group’s entire worth. Her ambitions had turned into a survival strategy, but the values had played an important role for survival.

“As an individual, if your values become your anchor, you don’t get affected by stormy weather; those values make you stronger and resistant,” she said, stressing that making these values business values makes companies stronger.

The conference was also attended by Vuslat Doğan Sabancı, board member of Hürriyet newspaper, and continued with a panel where Ümit Boyner, board member of Boyner Group, Mustafa Küçük, CEO of LC Waikiki, Ali Bardakoğlu, former head of Turkey’s Religious Affairs Directorate, actor Halit Ergenç and psychologist Selçuk Şirin shared their views.