TİKA's "Capacity Enhancement Project for Young Leaders"

The closing ceremony took place for the "Capacity Enhancement Project for Young Leaders", which has been organized with the cooperation of Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) and the Al-Sharq Forum.

The "Capacity Enhancement Project for Young Leaders" took place in Istanbul in order to enhance the capacities of young leaders in various areas, who have the vision to become the pioneers of social change in their region as a result of their interest in regional issues in the Middle East and North Africa.

Wadah Khanfar, President of Al-Sharq Forum which has 7,000 members from 13 countries, stated that the event has made an important contribution into establishing communication among young people, taking place in Istanbul with the participation of 40 attendees from 25 countries. Khanfar said: "What we're trying to do here is to design a broad-visioned future and share it with the youth. When we started the Al Sharq Forum, they told us to 'teach the young people the right path and train leaders of the future with a new curriculum'. This is one way to do things. We have goals and dreams, but the most important thing is to learn and design the path to the future. When we learn how to do this, our goals will be achieved automatically." Having stated that the friendships and networking are the greatest support for the young people on their path to success, Khanfar said that he understood the importance of socializing during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

"Young people are lucky to have us"

Dr. Kemal Başçı, Erasmus Higher Education Coordinator of the Turkish National Agency, stated that the integration process with Europe has been accelerated since the Justice and Development Party came to power and that the National Agency was established in 2004 for this purpose. Başçı offered some advice for the young people: "The young people must get together and support each other with projects in areas such as education, sports, arts. Thanks to their projects, these young people will contribute into a better society as well as peace at home and peace in the world. As TİKA, our doors are always open for young people from all around the world. We're ready to provide any kind of support for the youth".

Ömer Faruk Alımcı, TİKA’s NGO Coordinator, expressed his delight for organizing Al-Sharq Forum in Istanbul. Having shared information on TİKA's activities, Alımcı said that they have been cooperating with Al-Sharq since 2016. Alımcı stated that they had great interest in the issues of the Middle East and North Africa countries and that they had an on-going goal to be the pioneers of change in the region.