The project “Erasmus+ KA154 Young Turkey Diplomacy Forum” supported by the Turkish National Agency has been completed. In the project, which was implemented between 31/05/2022- 30/08/2023 and lasted for 15 months, 3 mobilizations were realized. These are Ankara Meeting, Istanbul Meeting and Istanbul Summit.
Through this project, young diplomat candidates were supported with non-formal training methods on diplomacy between countries, diplomatic channels, diplomacy methods, solution-oriented approach to many national and international problems and regional specialization. The project also supported the personal development of the participants through group work, simulations, negotiations and presentations.
The first mobility of the project took place in Ankara. Ankara welcomed 30 participants, including decision makers, who came together with our young participants in sessions, simulations and roundtables focusing on diplomacy. Participants learned and gained positive impact on topics such as international relations, public diplomacy, conflict resolution and mediation, United Nations, soft power in foreign policy, transformation in the Middle East, Arab awakening. One of the important objectives of our project is to improve young people’s public speaking and debating skills. In this context, our young participants took part in the sessions where we explored the horizons of diplomacy. Through their presentations and policy proposals, young participants had direct contact with decision-makers. In this context, a dialog was created between young people and policy makers and the participation of young people in democratic life was encouraged. In addition, visits to the Turkish Grand National Assembly and Yunus Emre Institute were organized with our young participants. These activities enabled young people to participate in democratic life, develop active citizenship awareness, gain self-confidence and interact with the society and contributed to the visibility of our project.
Zeynep Yildiz, MP from Ankara, and Dr. A. Kutalmış Yalcin, Deputy President of Yunus Emre Institute, participated in the Forum and met with young people in round tables and sessions.
Our participants visited the Turkish Grand National Assembly and Yunus Emre Institute.
Visuals from our Ankara meeting’s introductory events and certificate ceremony
The second mobility within the scope of our project took place in Istanbul. The program was attended by 30 young people with undergraduate and graduate degrees. In the program, the participants conducted research on topics such as the MENA region, the energy problem on a global scale, sports diplomacy and the effects of diplomacy, Europe’s far-right approach and presented their articles with sessions. The young participants in the project were further trained on “Erasmus+ and EU Opportunities”. In this way, they received YouthPass training and were informed about more opportunities. In the project, young people gained skills such as oratory, self-expression, learning solution-oriented approach, analyzing, group work and leadership. Participants came together with decision makers and expressed themselves. With the “Energy Crisis” simulation, the participants conducted research in accordance with the roles assumed by the participants and expressed the policies of the countries in the simulation. YouthPass certificate ceremony was organized at the end of the activity.
Paper presentations by participants on different fields
United Nations General Assembly “Energy Crisis” Simulation
Erasmus+ and ESC Opportunities Training; YouthPass Certificate Ceremony
The last activity of the program was the “Summit” in Istanbul. Participants presented papers on different sub-topics in 4 main sessions. These titles are as follows: Digital Diplomacy and Disinformation; Humanitarian Diplomacy in Practice; The Role of Civil Society in International Relations; Cultural Diplomacy and Regional Dynamics. In the project, information about arts such as calligraphy and illumination and their methods were shared with the participants. In addition, in order to create and support different project ideas in the project, “Project Writing Workshop” training was given and then the participants developed their project ideas with group work. Participants fulfilled their roles by simulating the United Nations General Assembly. Ankara Deputy Zeynep Yıldız was invited to the program and brought together with the young diplomat candidates. The articles created by the participants were reported and presented to decision makers. Students were also interviewed at the summit.
Meeting with Ankara MP Zeynep Yildiz
Participants’ paper presentations in different sessions
Project Training and Group Work
The project was realized with the support of the Turkish National Agency and in cooperation with the Ministry of Youth and Sports Istanbul Provincial Directorate, Sultangazi Municipality, YOU BE FIRST Youth Movement Association, TTB (Norway), Bosnian Representative Association for Valuable Opportunities (Bosnia and Herzegovina)..
