turkish-greek civic dialogue - AEGEE Europe

ROAD MAP DECLARATION
We - the young people of Greece and Turkey - gathered in Ankara on the occasion
of the Turkish-Greek Civic Dialogue Project Final Conference, have met each
other and confronted our own stereotypes. As a result of our own learning
experience throughout this Project; we would like to express our vision, ideals
and demands for the future cooperation of Turkish-Greek youth.
We, the young people of Turkey and Greece, believe that a peaceful co-existence
and cooperation between our communities - young people in particular - is of
pivotal importance. While believing in the necessity of such dialogue and peace
projects in the future, our goal should not be solely to talk about similarities
or carry out superficial ice-breaking activities; however we need to go indepth
discussions about our problems and be courageous to pioneer them.
Stereotypes and lack of democratic attitude exist in our countries; however
our ultimate expectation should not be totally getting rid of stereotypes, but
instead making them unnecessary.
Our ideals, meetings, organisations should not be closed boxes and should not
be limited to the same or similar target groups. We should extend ourselves
to different groups including minorities of all ethnicities in Turkey and Greece
also in a wider European and global contexts. We believe that our final goal will
be reached when we stop talking only about Greek-Turkish dialogue, when we
stop stigmatising these two nations all the time, and when we start defining
ourselves as human beings and accept this fact as the main reason why we
cooperate.
We, the young people of Greece and Turkey, believe that these ultimate
ambitious goals can only be achieved in participation with all stakeholders.
First of all, young people, university students and non-governmental organisations
in both countries should develop more effective tools. A youth magazine where
young people of Turkey and Greece write articles on the matters of common
interest would both have a wide publicity and a direct effect. An information
bank easily accessible for all citizens providing information on various matters
should be established by young people.
We find the existing exchange programmes between Greece and Turkey very
useful and support their extension both by the use of the European Union funds
Association des Etats Généraux des Etudiants de L’Europe
BY PARTICIPANTS OF THE TURKISH-GREEK
CIVIC DIALOGUE PROJECT FINAL CONFERENCE, April 2004, Ankara
and governmental support. Still a lot remains to improve in the field of youth
exchanges. We believe that longer term exchanges between two countries
focusing on thematic subjects such as minority support can prove much more
efficiency for the future. University students should act as pressure groups
on university administrations to increase and further Bilateral Agreements
between universities within the framework of Socrates Programme.
We believe that the governments and political parties play an essential role. We
urge that Turkish-Greek dialogue and cooperation should be a long term state
policy and has to receive institutional support. The political parties should stop
their policy of getting votes based on nationalistic policies and contexts. We
would like to see disarmament in the region, and more civil initiatives between
Greece and Turkey. Governments and relevant authorities should exert effort
to facilitate mobility between Greek and Turkish citizens, young people and
students in particular. We need direct connections between the capitals of
Turkey and Greece, cheaper accommodation facilities and more scholarship
opportunities for language learning. We don’t want any mobility obstacles;
Turkish citizens should also be able to visit Greece without any visa.
We, as non-governmental youth initiatives, should work for a Greek-Turkish
youth network to be supported by concrete and long lasting projects. Thanks
to the support to be received, Greek and Turkish youth initiatives can organise
large-scale bi-annual events, festivals. We can declare a Turkish- Greek Dialogue
Day and organise not only activities but also campaigns.
Last but not least, we should not forget that we are all humans and indeed
living in a globe, where thousands of natural disasters and environmental
issues, political and military conflicts do exist. Starting from Cyprus, we should
play active role as active European citizens to transform the world we are
living in through the values we believe in. We need to launch large-scale action
in Cyprus, to struggle the physical and mental borders and to contribute to
further cooperation of Turkish and Greek Cypriots in different levels.
We, the young people of Greece and Turkey, have to be the ambassadors of
what we see and experience here.
Final Conference
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