Diaries 2005

P8: Male - Arm

10.08.05
Today, in the era of co-operation and globalization it is so important to destroy the enemy image and despite of the “heavy” historical memory we have to overcome all the psychological barriers. I think face to face communication will help us to do that and it helps us to understand and know each other and that helps us to have less problems. The summer school Gamats Gamats / Yavaş Yavaş is a very good chance to do that and I hope I can have my small investment in this process and I think it is very big thing to have a friend in Istanbul and to learn Turkey here.

11.08.05
It was very nice day. We attended the lecture of Murat Belge, it was very interesting and cognitive. I think that part was most interesting part. We were glad to know about Antakya, many interesting things from Sevan Nisanyan. And the lecture and the game of Sezin Oney was very interesting.

12.08.05
Yesterday was very interesting day because we visited very interesting places like St. Pierre Church that was the first Christian church. We visited Mosaics Museum there were many beautiful mosaics and statues, there I saw the evolution of coins they began from a thousand years ago to 19th century. After that we visited Harbiye Waterfalls. Frankly speaking I think that it must be a big waterfall but it was very small and near that waterfalls was a very interesting road where people selling very interesting souvenirs. I bought some presents. The day was ended in restaurant and I think it was a very important day.

13.08.05
Yesterday was very nice day. Yesterday I woke up at 8:30 but didn’t want to wake up because we were playing cards and singing up to 2:00 a.m. but I must do it because in 10:00 begins our working and listening an interesting thing. As usual, the first was the group work, today the lecture was about nationalism and I can say that it was very interesting and in that lecture we listened at first a rear lecturer Ferhat Kentel. After that we had a very interesting discussion with Sevan Nisanyan about Armenia. I think that it was very interesting day.

15.08.05
It was very cool weekend because we visited very interesting places. First was Vakiflikoy. There we saw the cooking process of “harissa”. Next day we go to Vakiflikoy we ate that harissa. There I saw many Armenians that came from all over the world to be in that ceremony. After that we went to seaside and to Titus tunnel. These were very interesting. It was very nice weekend.

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.