In the coming months, we will be contributing to the intellectual discussions and to cultural exchanges with a series of new different projects.
Our Turkey-EU Update bulletin, published monthly in English, will continue to inform those who want to follow what is happening in EU-Turkey relations from an independent viewpoint. We will also continue to send information notes on important developments to European actors, including think tanks and the EU press corps.
Following the appointment of Tanzer Gezer as TR PLUS’s representative in Turkey, we will be even more active in the EU debate and in organising projects in Turkey. In October, we will start a series of TR PLUS “brain-storming meetings” whose content will be published on our web site. We will also publish a list of TR PLUS supporters in Turkey.
In November, we will be supporting the Gourmet Week, which takes place from November 12 to November 17 in Brussels and the Flanders region of Belgium, with Turkey as this year’s guest country. Turkey’s rich multi-cultural cuisine is an excellent means of communicating the essence of Turkey, and TR PLUS will be involved in many activities of Gourmet Week.
Our successful co-operation launched earlier this year with the London School of Economics Chair of Turkish Studies will continue with new seminars and activities.
In December, we will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the right of Turkish women to vote and to seek election. To mark this event, we are planning a seminar in the European Parliament. We will also include Austria in our activities, with a seminar in Vienna similar to the one which we organised on May 19 with LSE in Brussels.
Back in Brussels, we will organise a series of events using cinema as a communications tool. In particular, we will present a very amusing a 22-minute documentary, “Coffee Futures” by Zeynep D. Gürsel, which tells what ordinary people think of Turkey’s EU membership aspirations.
We will also continue to present successful projects of Turkish NGOs in Brussels while at the same time taking part in projects in Turkey. Our media partner, the EU news and analysis portal www.euractiv.com.tr,will help us reach a wider public.
In short, our efforts to bring Turkey and the EU closer together are increasing. As a three-year-old independent NGO, we owe our gratitude to those who have been giving us their support.
Zeynep Göğüş
President
TR PLUS - Centre for Turkey in Europe