Diaries 2005

P5: Male - Tr

EXPECTATION
Firstly, I want to state something about the contributions of this summer school to participant students: I am absolutely sure about the benefits of participating into an international environment. Moreover, the participants are from two countries that do not know each other; but, again, I am absolutely sure that we well see that we are not that much different. And of course, if we would have any contribution for solving the problem, that would make me very happy. I mean, even the idea of frontiering for the solution of the problem is very exciting to me.
Now I want to state something about this summer school’s contributions for the others living on earth. They will see that starting to solve a problem and constituting dialogue between any two countries is easy. Also, they will see that, leaving the prejudices behind and looking ahead is for the benefit of everybody. In an environment of a beautiful cultural mosaic like Antakya, our job will be much more easier, I think. Lastly I’m sure that this summer school will gamats gamats make us get to know each other and will probably contribute to the politics and historical politics and will set a precedent in this area.

10.08.05
When you just dream about it.
I can see it in your eyes.
When you believe that you can do it.
You can easily realize.
I sang this quote of a stand-up comedian Cem Yilmaz, since it is in English. My Armenian friends listened carefully but did not understand its humor, because this song was just a teaser.
All these happened in the bus, while we were coming to Antakya from Adana. But the most exciting part of the trip was in the plane the speeding up of the plane before lifting off was really impressive. But in the bus we had a great chance to get to know each other. And only one day we became this close, which is very good I think. Oh by the way, it is very good that we did not talk about the problems on the first day. I think first we should “gamats gamats” get to know each other.

11.08.05
We had a good time about group journals and being in a lecture of Murat Belge was very important for me. Also Sevan Nisanyan’s lecture was really exciting. He is really a vey wise man, he knows a lot and this influence us a lot.
At night the disco was cheap and really good place. We spent very good times in the disco. After the disco we all got together in room 153 and played the guitar and sang songs.and a good sleep followed this night :)

12.08.05
I was sick yesterday.
I missed the classes and especially Ferhat Kentel’s. I felt sorry about it. Both in the hospital and in the hotel they took good care of me. We also had a great time during dinner. And a good sleep made me feel better.

14.08.05
Saturday was also exciting with full of cultural similarity and ? But the major fun was in sea and the pool. We had a great time in pool and after the pool we had a great dinner with Armenian and Turkish songs. And the kunefe stop after the dinner was fantastic. But I realized that kunefe shouldn’t be eaten with ice cream. That’s a tip for Antakya trips :)

Support to the Armenia-Turkey Normalisation Process is a programme implemented by a Consortium of eight civil society organisations from both countries with the financial assistance of the European Union under the Instrument for Stability. 

The overall objective of the programme is to promote civil society efforts towards the normalisation of relations between Turkey and Armenia and towards an open border by enhancing people-to-people contacts, expanding economic and business links, promoting cultural and educational activities and facilitating access to balanced information in both societies. 

The Consortium partners include Civilitas Foundation (CF), Eurasia Partnership Foundation (EPF), Public Journalism Club (PJC), Regional Studies Center (RSC) from Armenia; and Anadolu Kültür, the Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey (TEPAV), Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly (hCa), and Hrant Dink Foundation from Turkey.  The programme will include a series of activities such as media support, TV talk shows and citizen reporting to contribute to better mutual understanding.

The programme will also include travelling discussions; workshops and trainings for youth and teachers; exchange of artists, architects, and entrepreneurs; fellowship opportunities and travel support to enhance encounters and cooperation across the border. Research on business and economic opportunities; celebrity discussions about the past; and opinion exchanges of high-level former officials will also be a part of the programme. 

One of the main pillars of the Programme is inclusiveness – to engage and support new actors in the dialogue process. To this end, the Consortium created a Grant Scheme to invite individuals and civil society organisations from Armenia and Turkey - other than the Consortium members - to propose and implement their own project ideas, which will contribute to the overall objective of the Programme and multiply the shared outcomes. 

The results of all activities will be shared with the public through the trilingual website, which will serve as a networking tool featuring the overall picture of the past, current, and future developments in Armenia-Turkey dialogue initiatives. 

For further information, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.