The Formation of the World Disability Union | 6-7 April 2013

(Sylvia Tiryaki and Mensur Akgün
Participating in the Formation of the World Disability Union)

On 6-7 April, 2013 the World Disability Union (WDU) was formed by its first General Assembly session in Istanbul, Turkey. The aim of the Assembly was to elect members to the Union’s newly formed organs and expert committees.

More than 200 delegates from 70 different countries attended with opening speeches made by the Foreign Affairs minister of Turkey, Prof. Dr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, the Family and Social Affairs Minister of Turkey, Fatma Sahin, the WDF&WDU Vice President, Necdet Özturk, and the WDF&WDU President Metin Senturk, among others.

Sylvia Tiryaki participated in the 2-day event as the Vice President of the Election Council. The Assembly successfully formed the necessary organs and committees and filled them with members to carry out their mandates.

—

More information about the 1st General Assembly of the World Disability Union and the World Disability Foundation can be accessed here.

For the program of the Assembly click here.

Conferences Dr. Sylvia Tiryaki

UN Alliance of Civilizations: 5th Global Forum, Vienna 2013

(Left to right: Jorge Sampaio, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Michael Spindelegger and Ban Ki-moon)

On February 27-28, 2013 Sylvia Tiryaki participated in the United Nations Alliance of Civilization’s (UNAOC) 5th conference in Vienna, Austria. The forum, which focused on the promotion of responsible leadership in diversity and dialogue, brought together decision-makers and experts from all around the world. Participants included his Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani,  José Manuel García-Margallo y Marfil, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Michael Spindelegger, Ban Ki-moon, Vuk Jeremic, Jorge Sampaio and Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, among others. During the two-day conference current global issues such as Syria, Mali, Israel-Palestine, and the future of sustainable development were discussed. At the conclusion of the Conference, a document entitled the Vienna Declaration was compiled out of the Conference’s proceedings.

In 2009 GPoT Center, along with Ecole Normale Supérieure (ENS) organized a conference in Paris entitled “Alliance of Civilizations and Union for Mediterranean Region: Two Compatible or Concurrent Processes?”. For further information click here to access a summary of the proceedings.
Also in 2009, UNAOC held the İstanbul Forum, which can be accessed here.

(Secretary General of the UN: Ban Ki-moon)

Mediation in the Mediterranean: Developing Capacities and Synergies

Dr. Sylvia Tiryaki, Deputy Director at GPoT Center, attended the first of two seminars as part of the United Nations Group of Friends of Mediation Spanish-Moroccan Initiative. The seminar, entitled “Mediation in the Mediterranean: Developing Capacities and Synergies” took place in Madrid 11-12 February 2013.

The Spanish-Moroccan initiative on Mediation in the Mediterranean aims to give support to the UN efforts to strengthen the role of mediation in conflict resolution. The initial seminar, organized by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairstogether with Cooperation and the Toledo International Centre for Peace (CITpax) in Madrid, invited representatives from various international institutions, non-governmental organizations, academia, and experts on mediation, in total from 26 countries. The seminar engaged with questions about the ways in which mediation capacities can be enhanced in the Mediterranean, such as through increased cooperation at an international, regional, and local level.

Dr. Tiryaki participated as a speaker during the seminar’s second session on the role of national and local mediation actors and their capacity of coordination with others. The session addressed questions of the salient needs for local mediators today and the most effective way of developing their capacities, and the best mechanisms for cooperation between local and other levels of mediation during different phases of a conflict.

Conferences Dr. Sylvia Tiryaki European Union MIDDLE EAST

Mediation in the Mediterranean: Developing Capacities and Synergies

Dr. Sylvia Tiryaki, Deputy Director at GPoT Center, attended the first of two seminars as part of the United Nations Group of Friends of Mediation Spanish-Moroccan Initiative. The seminar, entitled “Mediation in the Mediterranean: Developing Capacities and Synergies” took place in Madrid 11-12 February 2013.

The Spanish-Moroccan initiative on Mediation in the Mediterranean aims to give support to the UN efforts to strengthen the role of mediation in conflict resolution. The initial seminar, organized by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairstogether with Cooperation and the Toledo International Centre for Peace (CITpax) in Madrid, invited representatives from various international institutions, non-governmental organizations, academia, and experts on mediation, in total from 26 countries. The seminar engaged with questions about the ways in which mediation capacities can be enhanced in the Mediterranean, such as through increased cooperation at an international, regional, and local level.

Dr. Tiryaki participated as a speaker during the seminar’s second session on the role of national and local mediation actors and their capacity of coordination with others. The session addressed questions of the salient needs for local mediators today and the most effective way of developing their capacities, and the best mechanisms for cooperation between local and other levels of mediation during different phases of a conflict.

Conferences Dr. Sylvia Tiryaki European Union MIDDLE EAST

Challenges for the European Union in a Changing World

On October 22-23, 2012, Dr. Sylvia Tiryaki participated in the conference “Support to
Armenia-Turkey Rapprochement (SATR) Project: Highlights and Prospects”. The goal of the conference held in Istanbul was to prepare grounds for stakeholders in Armenia and Turkey to pick up and capitalize on the achievements of the SATR project.

A two-day conference brought together more than 60 participants from SATR Consortium members and SATR key local and international partners in Armenia and Turkey, as well as representatives of the Turkish and Armenian civil society and expert community who were not directly engaged in the SATR project, and representatives of the US Missions in Armenia and Turkey. The participants summarized project achievements and lessons learned, discussed further strengthening of the established partnerships and future joint programming, and addressed current and future potential of non-state actors in promoting Armenia-Turkey normalization.

As a Deputy Director of GPoT Center, member of the project’s multi-partner Consortium, Dr. Tiryaki presented achievements and lessons learned from SATR’s support activities to media cooperation between Armenia and Turkey during the session on the first day. SATR project, lasting from October 2010 until October 2012, aimed at supporting Armenia-Turkey rapprochement through developing of new business partnerships and regional professional networks, engaging civil society in alliance-building to further contribute to Armenia-Turkey normalization, and establishing a favorable environment for state-to-state dialogue and interaction.

Armenia Conferences Dr. Sylvia Tiryaki Turkey

The Istanbul Forum 2012

On October 8-10, 2012, GPoT Deputy Director Dr. Sylvia Tiryaki attended the Istanbul Forum 2012, an initiative launched by the Center for Strategic Communication (STRATİM). This year, the Istanbul Forum focused on the Middle East and regional issues.

The Istanbul Forum is an annual forum which includes European, American, Turkish and Middle Eastern participants with an aim to provide a forum for high-level, off-the-record discussion among diverse decision-makers and opinion shapers on shared policy challenges. This year’s 3rd Istanbul Forum started with opening remarks by H.E. President Abdullah Gül. The program included six sessions of closed roundtables taking up different critical themes.

Conferences Dr. Sylvia Tiryaki MIDDLE EAST Turkey

EuroMeSCo Annual Conference 2012

Following the workshop entitled “The Multilateral Track of Euro-Mediterranean Relations: The Role of the Union for the Mediterranean”, which was organized by the Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean, European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed) and Euro-Mediterranean Study Commission (EuroMeSCo) in Barcelona on October 3, 2012, Dr. Tiryaki participated in the EuroMeSCo Annual Conference. The theme of this year’s conference taking place in Barcelona between October 4-5, 2012 was “Europe, the Mediterranean and the Arab Spring: Crisis as an Opportunity”.

Conferences Dr. Sylvia Tiryaki European Union MIDDLE EAST

Addressing Violent Extremism: Creating Space for Civil Society

GPoT Center’s Deputy Director Dr. Sylvia Tiryaki attended the conference “Addressing violent extremism: Creating space for civil society”, a side event on the occasion of the UN General Assembly review of the Global Counterterrorism Strategy, which was held at the Church Center for the United Nations in New York on 26 June.

Civil society representatives from all around the world participated at the event, making for 38 different NGO’s. Other than that representatives of Permanent Missions to the United Nations, the conference included United Nations Agencies (such as Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate [CTED], United Nations Refugee Agency [UNHCR], UN Alliance of Civilizations [UN AOC], Peacebuilding Support Office [PBSO], Ombudsman of the Security Council’s 1267 Committee, UN SC 1267 Committee, UN Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute [UNICRI], and UNESCO). Yet other agencies and organizations, including the International Organization for Migration [IOM] or Global Human Rights Fund were amongst the participants.
The conference was organized by The Civil Society Network for Human Security, a global collective civil society platform working to more effectively countering violent extremism. In doing so, it aims at connecting transnational organizations and states with local civil society organizations, engaging policy makers, state actors, and inter-regional bodies.

The Civil Society Network for Human Security platform is initiated by the Dutch development organization Cordaid and the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC), a global network of civil society organizations working actively in the field of conflict prevention and peacemaking.

Conferences Dr. Sylvia Tiryaki

Creative Initiatives to Move Forward

On June 15-17, 2012, Dr. Sylvia Tiryaki attended a roundtable discussion entitled “Creative Initiatives to Move Forward,” conducted as part of the Cyprus Academic Dialogue (CAD), in the city of Limassol. CAD, which first met in July 2010, is a forum of Greek Cypriot, Turkish Cypriot, Turkish and Greek scholars who aim to contribute to a peaceful solution of the Cyprus issue on the academic level.

Conferences Cyprus Dr. Sylvia Tiryaki Turkey

The Geopolitical Re-configuration of the Middle East

Dr. Sylvia Tiryaki participated in the conference entitled “The geopolitical re-configuration of the Middle East”, organized by the FRIDE and the Fredrich Ebert Stiftung on May 17 in Madrid. Dr. Tiryaki was a speaker in the conference’s second session on the role of Turkey as a regional player.

The event focused on the changing Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region as an opportunity to evolve towards new political, economic, social and geopolitical systems after the “Arab Spring” uprisings.

Conferences Dr. Sylvia Tiryaki MIDDLE EAST