FURTHER THOUGHTS AND ELABORATIONS WITH THE OCCASION OF THE CONFERENCE IN ANKARA My meeting with all those young people who were participating in the project at the beginning of April 2004 in Ankara, the private conversations, the suggestions I made, and mainly the big discussion that took place during the last day of the Final Conference, led me to many interesting thoughts and proposals three of which I would like to mention here:
1
We all need to think that NGOs have nothing to do with the State, or the State Policy – otherwise they would be called Governmental Organisations. That means that they often support opinions that usually oppose the common opinion, no matter what this means. It takes a great effort to support one’s opinion and this effort has severe consequences. Our accession and mainly our stay and activeness in such organisations are not mere accidental facts. We all have to work systematically with collaborators, know which values we propose and which ideas we support, to make clear our ideological context.
2
176
st
The existence and activity of NGOs measures how “mature” and how close to Western Europe comes a society. It is obvious that in this part there are important differences between Greece and Turkey that our countries are in different stages of evolution. Therefore, we have to analyse each case, to examine what is happening in each country, how many and what kind of organisations are active, what demands they have, what kinds of people are involved and who they are representing. Finally we have to see how many people are involved in this civic dialogue and mainly who are not participating and why. The answers to those questions will definitely help understand our world by showing its limits – and will contribute to a more effective Greek Turkish approach.
3
nd
and last. The Greek-Turkish approach, within what we call today the civil society, has a long history and many ups and downs. The most interesting part in this case is the participation of many young people. So this is what I propose, something that the previous generation didn’t do for us and neither did we do it for you– is a complete and detailed report of what is happening; even starting from this moment. You should cooperate – it needs a lot of work– rd
Final Conference
and set up a detailed ‘database’ where every relative event will be mentioned: when it took place, who did it, what was the historical and political context –this is one of the most significant elements– what problem triggered it, how the situation was analysed, what were the goals and the means, what where the results (and how significant they were). By this, we will have a total review of the matter and the most important; we will be able to put in good use the knowledge and the experience of the past generation. I wish to you all success and good luck, and keep up the good work.
Giorgos Mavrommatis Thessaloniki, 4 September 2004
SOME VIVID NOTES FROM THE FINAL CONFERENCE ASSESMENT PANEL EMRAH KURT “As one of the few people here who was working during the initial preparation of this project five years ago, i am very excited today to be here at the Final Conference of the project. Yesterday we were talking to friends and comparing Turkish-Greek relations with Franco-German rapprochement in 60’s. We are in a position and stage, which will be more successful than FranceGermany rapprochement in Europe thanks to this dynamism amongst young people and civil society in both countries. For sure, there are still some people who do not believe in that and who are still very much sceptic, however these kind of events and participation of both countries convinced me that many people here in this room are the main guarantee of the future.”
NUR BATUR “This is the third year that i have been involved in this project. The first panel discussion was again in Ankara, Middle East Technical University, and then I was with you at Sakarya University. This is the third time for me at the final conference of the project. I heard an anecdote from Mr. İlter Türkmen, Minister of Foreign Affairs once upon a time. In 1974 just after the intervention of Turkey to Cyprus, Mr. Türkmen was the chief of cabinet of Minister of Foreign Affairs that time. They were in Washington and they had a meeting with Mr. Association des Etats Généraux des Etudiants de L’Europe