ABOUT US
In line with the final decisions of the 1st International Muslim Youth Cultural Cooperation Meeting held in 2005, IYFO was established as a non-governmental organization for society to live in peace and harmony; to contribute to the development of psychological and physical well-being of young people in a decent environment; to raise high-skilled youth who are faithful to the national and spiritual values, abide by the law, are respectful to the fundamental human rights, possess national, spiritual, moral and universal values, strive for the good, right, beautiful, beneficial, and just to be prevailed, and embrace peace instead of war, dialogue instead of conflict, justice instead of double standards, collaboration instead of exploitation, and consider human rights as their basis instead of arrogance.
The International Youth Forum (IYFO) is an international non-governmental organization established in line with the final decisions of the 1st International Muslim Youth Cultural Cooperation Meeting held in Bursa in 2005[YZ2] . It aims to increase cooperation between youth and student organizations operating in Turkic Republics, cognate and related countries, and friendly Islamic Countries, benefit from experiences, ensure cohesion, research encountered problems, conduce to produce common solutions, and to work voluntarily with visiting students who come from different geographies of the world to our country to pursue a university education.
IYFO works for the establishment of peace and solidarity all over the world; aiming at the construction of a New World in which the good, the truth, the beautiful, the beneficial and the just prevail; ensuring the acquaintance and integration among youth and student organizations who endeavour for the correction of corruption on earth, and taking necessary steps to struggle against the encountered problems together, also aims to introduce our country to students from different parts of the world, to meet and cohere cultures, and to contribute to the development of ties between our country and the other countries.
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Prof. Dr. Necmettin Erbakan
Our Founder
Erbakan was born on October 29, 1926, in Sinop. He graduated from Istanbul High School in 1943 by achieving first place in the school. He started his higher education directly from the second year at the Faculty of Mechanical of Istanbul Technical University. He started as an assistant at the chair in engines of the Faculty of Mechanical of ITU in 1948. In 1951, he was sent to Aachen Technical University in Germany to conduct scientific research by Istanbul Technical University.
He founded the Silver Motor Factory in 1956, and the factory began mass production in March 1960. He was elected as the President of the Union of Chambers in 1969 but was removed from this post by the order of the Ankara Governor's Office. In the same year, he became an independent member of the Turkish parliament from Konya in the elections held on October 12.
He founded the Milli GörüÅŸ movement’s first party, the Milli Nizam Party (MNP) on January 24, 1970. After the 12 March Memorandum, the MNP was closed on the allegation that it "conducted anti-secular activities". Following the closure of the MNP, Erbakan founded the Milli Selamet Party (MSP) on October 11, 1972. He served as the Deputy Prime Minister in the coalition governments formed in 1974-1978. He spearheaded the Cyprus Peace Operation and Turkey’s Heavy Industry Initiative.
He was imprisoned for 9 months after the September 12, 1980 coup d’état. The Refah Party (RP) was founded on 19 July 1983 and Erbakan became the Chairman of the RP on October 11, 1987. Refah Party, which came to power in local governments, especially in Istanbul and Ankara in the 1994 local elections, became the first party in the 1995 general elections and Erbakan entered the parliament as a Konya deputy. In 1996, Erbakan formed the 54th government with the DYP and became prime minister on 28 June. He established D-8s (Developing-8) to bring together developing Muslim countries in foreign policy and to realize the ideal of the Islamic Union.
As a result of the closure case brought against the RP with the post-modern coup of February 28, 1997, the RP was closed, and Erbakan was banned from politics for 5 years. The Fazilet Party (FP), which was founded on December 17, 1997, was closed down in 2001, like the other parties. In July 2001, he founded the Saadet Party (SP), the fifth party of the Milli GörüÅŸ movement. Erbakan became the chairman of the SP for a brief period in May 2003.
He became the chairman of the SP once again on October 17, 2010, and passed away on February 27, 2011, while in office.
Yılmaz Balçın
Executive Director
