turkish-greek civic dialogue - AEGEE Europe

interaction, determined by inconsiderateness, hatred and aggression, instead
of appeasement and peace. Prejudices are always exposed to political
manipulation. In this respect, it is a core element of social and personal
liberation/emancipation and the establishment of peace to identify prejudices
and raise awareness about them. However, it is rather difficult to confront
prejudices and enemy images by general political questioning, stereotypical
calls or conventional attitudes. In this workshop, participants confronted
their prejudices and enemy images, expecting to discover interesting and
new aspects in a secure environment by taking concerns and needs behind
those prejudices and images into account. Brainstorming, role-playing,
Statue Theater, plenary and small group discussions were the methods of the
workshop, which is led by Hülya Üçpınar and Hilal Demir; NGO activists from
War Resisters’ International.
3. (M)ASK YOURSELF
Workshop aimed to find out the masks that we are not aware of through a
sociological way of looking. The workshop participants carried out discussions
on the key concepts as identity, Europe and discourse supported by the digital
audio-visual materials that participants brought with themselves. City, Family,
Campus, Money, Traveling options, Price, Border, Public, Forms, Advertisements,
TV, Goods, Orientalism, Olympics, Modernism, Transportation, Ala Turka,
(Turkish style), Ala Franga (European style). Participants brought their shots
they took prior to the workshop; they watched together and commented on the
movies, they shot new scenes during the event and made a presentation at the
final conference panel session thanks to the guidance of the workshop leader
Aysim Türkmen.
4. THEATRE OF THE OPPRESSED
Workshop participants worked on several games on conflict transformation
and performed a play within the frame of participatory theatre through the
guidance of specialist workshop leaders Vera Maeder and Neslihan Özgüneş.
Workshop leaders used the method Image (Statue) Theatre as the basic
vocabulary of all the various branches of the Theatre of the Oppressed.
Participants were asked to sculpt themselves into a statue representing their
reaction to a given word (Image of the Word) - through to more complex
techniques such as Image of Transition (where the technique studies the
possibilities of change). Image Theatre harnesses the simplest form of selfrepresentation
to arrive at the deepest form of debate. The participants also
Association des Etats Généraux des Etudiants de L’Europe
enjoyed trust-building activities, switching roles and “putting yourself in
the shoes of the other”; as well as reflection and discussion: assumed roles,
structures of thought that hold up the barriers between these roles, the
experience of transcending the roles/ borders.
EMPATHY & SYMPATHY
WORKSHOP
MINORITIES ARE ALWAYS
IN DILEMMA – SOMEWHERE IN
BETWEEN
DISCUSSIONS IN WHICH TURKISH STUDENTS PLACED
THEMSELVES IN GREEKS’ SHOES
? Why had Greek army landed in Izmir?
Emir- Greek army wanted land from the Ottoman Empire, from Anatolia
since they saw it as a good opportunity
Sonay- They wanted to occupy Izmir and the region, since they were
promised the region as a price after the war
Duygu- Due to Izmir’s wealth - Greek land owners were afraid of being
pushed out of their places.
Emir- Greece tried to protect the land owners in Izmir
Sonay- Fear of `Rums`in Izmir who lost their Greek identity
Erdem- Importance of the harbour, richness of the land, historical
background of region.
Sonay- Perfect opportunities of transportation, trade, security of islands
Final Conference
163