The conference titled “Transformation of Sovereignty from the Ottoman Empire to the Republic with Prof. Dr. Oktay Uygun”, organized by Istanbul Medeniyet University Faculty of Law and Gelişim Law Student Club, was held on 28 November 2023 at Istanbul Medeniyet University Ziraat Bank Library Conference Hall. The conference, which was open to external participation, attracted great interest from academics and students from various universities.
Prof. Dr. Oktay UYGUN discussed the concept of sovereignty in his speech. UYGUN evaluated the meanings attributed to the concept of sovereignty according to periods, society‘s approach to sovereignty and expectations from sovereignty.
UYGUN stated that the liberalism, democratization and constitutionalism movements that emerged with the development of the classical understanding of sovereignty over time significantly limited the government sovereignty and that the principles of the rule of law, human rights and separation of powers that emerged in this direction set limits to the state authority. As a result of the overcoming of the classical understanding of sovereignty, human rights ceased to be a national issue and became a fundamental element of international law; however, globalization and military interventions of states have had negative consequences on many rights, especially social rights. Finally, UYGUN said that without securing social rights, it is not possible for everyone to fully and equally benefit from human rights, in which case unemployment, poverty, deep social inequalities and socio-economic inequalities are inevitable.
After the speech, the conference continued with a question and answer session. Participants expressed their understanding of sovereignty and their ideas on the ideal theory of sovereignty.
