Alliance of Civilizations Istanbul Forum Events Begin at Our University!!

Alliance of Civilizations Istanbul Forum Events Begin at Our University!!

The 2nd Major Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, established under the leadership of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Spain José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, convenes in Istanbul on 6-7 April. The first major event and press conference of the Forum are being hosted by Bahçeşehir University.

The Alliance of Civilizations Project, established with the view that the whole world is going through a major crisis today and that this crisis is fundamentally a crisis of civilization, is convening in Istanbul for the 2nd forum on 6-7 April 2009, following the first forum held in Madrid last year. The main areas of action of the Alliance of Civilizations Project, which will bring together in Istanbul many world leaders, including Prime Minister of the Republic of Türkiye Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, US President Barack Obama, Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Alliance of Civilizations High Representative Jorge Sampaio, as well as representatives of 83 countries, are Education, Youth, Migration and Media.

Bahçeşehir University began the 2008-2009 Academic Year with an academic year opening ceremony attended by the Co-Chair of the Alliance of Civilizations and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Spain, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero , and the Co-Chair of the Alliance of Civilizations and Prime Minister of the Republic of Türkiye, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Having started the academic year with the theme "Alliance of Civilizations", Bahçeşehir University is now hosting the first major event of the Alliance of Civilizations Istanbul Forum.

The event hosted by Bahçeşehir University, organized within the scope of the Alliance of Civilizations Youth Forum , is the "Where Civilizations Meet: Istanbul" conference. The first meeting of the international youth forum, organized by the Alliance of Civilizations Islamic Conference Youth Forum, the Bahçeşehir University Center for Civilization Studies and the Galatasaray University Faculty of Arts and Sciences, takes place at Bahçeşehir University with the Where Civilizations Meet: Istanbul Conference.

The conference, to be held on the evening of Friday, 3 April 2009 with the participation of 80 young university students from all over the world who have come for the Alliance of Civilizations Istanbul Forum and Bahçeşehir University students, will serve as a "welcome to our country" message to the young people coming to Türkiye for the forum. The opening speeches of the conference will be delivered by Minister of National Education of the Republic of Türkiye Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Çelik, Bahçeşehir University President Prof. Dr. Deniz Ülke Arıboğan, a United Nations Alliance of Civilizations Representative whose name has not yet been confirmed, Prof. Dr. Bekir Karlığa, Chair of the Alliance of Civilizations Türkiye Coordination and Director of the Bahçeşehir University Center for Civilization Studies, and Kenan Gürsoy, Dean of the Galatasaray University Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

Following the opening speeches, novelist Elif Şafak will give a talk on "Women, Civilization and Istanbul", and writer and Bilgi University faculty member Murat Belge on "Where Civilizations Meet: Istanbul". At the end of the session, Prof. Dr. Mustafa Kaçar will give a presentation consisting of Katip Çelebi's maps, prepared for the 2009 UNESCO Katip Çelebi year. The closing speech of the conference will be delivered by Ali Sarıkaya, Advisor to the Prime Minister and President of the Islamic Conference Youth Forum.

At the event, the 80 students who have come to Istanbul for the Alliance of Civilizations Project Youth Forum and Bahçeşehir University students will come together at the Bahçeşehir University Campus in Beşiktaş. This meeting is described as a youth reflection of the meetings to be held on 6-7 April by US President Barack Obama, Prime Minister of the Republic of Türkiye Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and other world leaders to develop a common understanding of civilization. The guest students will continue the events, which begin on 3 April 2009 with the "Where Civilizations Meet: Istanbul" conference, on 4-5 April. At these events, young people from the Islamic Conference Youth Forum, the European Youth Forum, the Latin American Youth Forum, the Pan-African Youth Forum and the Asian Youth Council will prepare an action plan for the Alliance of Civilizations Global Youth Movement and hold meetings to set out the structural architecture and functioning of this formation.

Before the conference to be held on 3 April 2009, Prof. Dr. Bekir Karlığa, Chair of the Alliance of Civilizations Türkiye Coordination and Director of the Bahçeşehir University Center for Civilization Studies, and Ali Sarıkaya, Advisor to the Prime Minister and President of the Islamic Conference Youth Forum, will hold a press conference at the Bahçeşehir University Beşiktaş Campus. At the meeting, Prof. Dr. Bekir Karlığa and Ali Sarıkaya will provide the press with detailed information about the Youth Forum, one of the main topics of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations 2nd Major Forum to be held at Çırağan Palace in Istanbul on 6-7 April.

ALLIANCE OF CIVILIZATIONS

ISTANBUL FORUM - YOUTH EVENTS

3 APRIL 2009 - BAHÇEŞEHİR UNIVERSITY, BEŞİKTAŞ CAMPUS

ALLIANCE OF CIVILIZATIONS ISTANBUL FORUM AND YOUTH FORUM

PRESS CONFERENCE:

Venue: Maksem Café

Time: 18:00 – 19:00

Speakers:

• Prof. Dr. Bekir Karlığa, Chair of the Alliance of Civilizations Türkiye Coordination Committee – Director of the Bahçeşehir University Center for Civilization Studies

• Ali Sarıkaya, Advisor to the Prime Minister – President of the Islamic Conference Youth Forum

CONFERENCE ON "ISTANBUL, CAPITAL OF CIVILIZATIONS":

Venue: Fazıl Say Conference Hall

Time: 19:00 – 20:30

Presenter: Dr. Sinem Vatanartıran, General Director of Bahçeşehir Colleges

• OPENING SPEECH: Prof. Dr. Deniz Ülke Arıboğan, President of Bahçeşehir University

• Prof. Dr. Bekir Karlığa, Chair of the Alliance of Civilizations Türkiye Coordination Committee – Director of the Bahçeşehir University Center for Civilization Studies

• Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Çelik, Minister of National Education of the Republic of Türkiye

• Prof. Dr. Kenan Gürsoy, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Galatasaray University

• Elif Şafak, Writer

'Women, Civilization and Istanbul'

• Prof. Dr. Murat Belge, Journalist-Writer, Head of the Department of Comparative Literature, Istanbul Bilgi University

'Civilizations of Istanbul'

• Prof. Dr. Mustafa Kaçar, Istanbul University, Department of Philosophy

'2009 UNESCO Katip Çelebi Year and World Maps'

• CLOSING SPEECH: Ali Sarıkaya, Advisor to the Prime Minister – President of the Islamic Conference Youth Forum

DINNER:

Venue: Faculty of Arts and Sciences Terrace

Time: 20:45 – 23:00