Europeans understood us and our importance far better than Washington, D.C. In 2002, as the EU Ambassador in Ankara—who trusted me with everything—was preparing to depart, she mentioned that she had extra funds from another country she had been assigned to allocate. She wanted our movement to receive the majority of her EU funds, which was a golden opportunity for us. We received 600,000 euros over three years, and by 2003, the movement’s budget had reached one million dollars. This was astonishing to me, considering we started from zero in 1993.
We celebrated our 10th anniversary in June 2004, where I told everyone who attended that we were well-positioned for the future. I predicted that by 2014, our movement would be ready to transform Turkish politics—and it would have done so. I felt certain of this, as the first ten years had shown me a clear path forward. I believed the journey would be easier from that point on because we had everything necessary for success. We had ideas, we had debate, and we had the brightest young minds in Turkey, whom I was empowering across the country.
We were also ahead technologically. By 1994, all our members had email, and we were already discussing our issues through topic-based e-groups. This allowed everyone to join the debate whenever they had time and energy. By debating a wide range of topics extensively, we had built a solid intellectual foundation. This put us in a strong position to leverage social media and the rapid changes that came after 2005, including Twitter. We would have been the most formidable political movement on social media, able to spread our ideas easily.
For years, we had organized exchange programs, and our members were building international networks. The young members were eager to travel and learn about other countries, especially the USA. In 1999, if I remember correctly, Tim Pawlenty visited Turkey through ACYPL, a non-partisan exchange institute based in Washington. Tim, who was from Minnesota and later became Governor, was shortlisted as a vice-presidential candidate for John McCain in 2008. If he had been selected instead of Sarah Palin, the outcome might have been different, though I can’t be sure. I personally hosted Tim, taking him across Turkey and even arranging a special meeting with President Demirel at the Presidential Palace—a highlight for the whole delegation.
As a result, Minnesota became one of our major exchange partners, with everyone from Minnesota wanting to come to Turkey because of Tim’s references, and vice versa. Trips to Minnesota from Turkey became unique experiences. In Europe, I met Solomon Passy on an exchange program; he later became Bulgaria’s Foreign Minister and led the country’s EU membership negotiations in 2004. So, within a decade, we had already established relationships with rising young politicians worldwide who were ready to engage with us on various levels.
With this foundation, I developed a plan to make these connections permanent by sending 40 to 50 of our top young members around the world each year. They would go to various institutes, think tanks in D.C. and Europe, and German foundations we partnered with in Turkey. These organizations would host our exchange members for 6 to 12 months, where they would gain valuable experience and make real contributions. All we needed was to fund their travel and provide a modest living stipend. Offices and unprecedented opportunities to engage in international politics and learning would be available to them.
These exchange programs would have been transformative, preparing members to impact Turkey in meaningful ways. Gaining admission to this elite group would have been highly competitive, improving with each year of experience. However, when I shared this vision with various foundations and business groups in Turkey, they struggled to grasp how I would accomplish it. I knew it could be done easily as long as we had funding, yet I could not secure any. Our previous funders were starting to withdraw, and attracting new sponsors was becoming extremely difficult.