turkish-greek civic dialogue - AEGEE Europe

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It is a European programme. Bilateral, but European. It underlines the
orientation of Turkey towards Europe and Greece is the first –among her E.U.
partners- to welcome and support such an orientation.
We live in the era of international co-operation. Not only between countries, not
only between institutions, but also between citizens. The big challenges of our
times, the tackling of problems such as unemployment, inflation, protection of
the environment, development of international transport, tourism, sustainable
development in general are fields that can only be addressed by more countries
working together.
In this framework, the development of civil society has to be stressed. All our
common efforts tend towards the creation of an open society, of a society
of information and knowledge shared by all its members, of a society where
politics serve the citizen and not vice versa. But we are at the beginning of this
effort in the era of globalisation and there is still a lot of work to be done. In this
respect, AEGEE, in the measure of its capabilities, has demonstrated its best
self and has offered a lot. With its many and various workshops and with the
core event of the project, the Kayaköy (Karmylassos, an ancient Greek village
in Fethiye) Youth and Culture Festival last summer, AEGEE has contributed to
the civic dialogue between our two nations in the student world and promoted
the idea of a unified Europe. Such activities help foster democracy, human
rights and tolerance, by encouraging the co-operation and interaction of young
people.
The fact that this programme is addressed to the youth is of outmost importance.
The new generation is the world’s future. That is why the European Commission
always supports and co-ordinates these programmes. It is thanks to this coordination
and support that so much has been achieved in the framework of
the Civic Dialogue projects. I cannot but warmly congratulate the European
Commission on its choices.
Turkish and Greek youth together, working hand in hand for a better relationship
between our two neighbouring countries. What a challenge! What an honor
for the participants to spearhead these efforts! Change the stereotypes, set
the examples, “teach” your teachers, specially those few who up to this day
continue with their messages of intolerance and division. And you know, you
have to succeed, because Turks and Greeks cooperating does not impress or
surprise anyone anymore. It does not make “news”. Finally, it is considered
normal, usual business!
With these thoughts, I should like to express my deep satisfaction for the
completion of this project, to congratulate once more all the persons who
contributed to its success and to wish them good luck in their future endeavours.
The results of this project make me confident.
PROF. DR. URAL AKBULUT
PRESIDENT OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY
AEGEE-Ankara has been established by a group of
Middle East Technical University (METU) students in
1995 and has currently more than 500 active members
from all universities in Ankara. Their recent project,
Turkish-Greek Civic Dialogue, that took start in 2001,
has been successfully completed, adding one more
cornerstone to the international achievements of this
young, dynamic and active association.
Carried out by AEGEE-Ankara and funded by the Delegation
of the European Commission to Turkey, Turkish-Greek Civic
Dialogue project had set its main goals as to enhance the
dialogue between the youth organisations, to improve
the communication networks and to provide support to
carry out common projects involving the youth of these
two countries. Since the start of the project, several
activities that contributed to the success of the project
have been realised. Among some, KayaFest Youth and
Culture Festival (July 28-August 3, 2003), Population
Exchange Symposium at its 80th Year (November 7-
8, 2003) and Project Final Conference activities (April
2-4, 2004) are worth mentioning. Furthermore, quite
a number of accompanying measures in the form of
institution building, networking and training activities
were realised.
The success of Turkish-Greek Civic Dialogue project lies in the fact that it has
served as a means to bring closer the Turkish and Greek youth organisations,
Greetings Association des Etats Généraux des Etudiants de L’Europe