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Shaping the European Future: Present and Further Challenges for the Representative Polity

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Shaping the European Future: Present and Further Challenges for the Representative Polity
European sentiment in Turkey among opinion-shapers and youth leaders

The European Neighbourhood Council (ENC), in cooperation with  TOBB Economics and Technology University (Ankara, Turkey), and with the support of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF) Turkey, the Delegation of the European Union (EU) to Turkey and the Economic Development Foundation (IKV), organised a lecture titled “Shaping the European Future: Present and Further Challenges for Representative Polity”, which took place on the 5th of March 2020 at TOBB Economics and Technology University. 

The event is part of a series of lectures organised in Turkey by ENC in cooperation with local academic institutions and is the second phase of a project titled “Future values training: European sentiment in Turkey among opinion-shapers and youth leaders 2019-2020“. The project is an extension of an existing ENC training and public lecture programme, which took place between the fall of 2018 and the following spring, in which four Turkish opinion shapers successfully underwent training and meeting sessions in Brussels, after which each opinion shaper gave a university lecture in Turkey to students and academics. The project is rooted in the growing need to exchange ideas with Turkish public intellectuals, journalists, youth leaders and influential civil society members concerning Europe’s innovative policies and progressive thematic priority areas related to their own work. Thematic priority areas are defined as privacy/technology, renewable energy, foreign-policy, free media, trade, civil society (good-governance/efficient-governance/feedback-governance), European peace theory/conflict-resolution, migration/demographics, anti-corruption, the-importance-of-institutions; and how each of these thematic priority areas relate to Turkey (EU-Turkey) and the EU’s Global Strategy (GS) and the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP).

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Prof. Dr. Ihsan Sezal, Dean of the Economics and Administrative Sciences at TOBB Economics and Technology University, chaired the lecture and opened the floor for discussion. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Cigdem Nas of the International Relations Department at Yildiz Technical University, delivered the keynote speech by sharing her views on the EU’s recent internal developments, noting that it is at a critical juncture in its history. The Professor, who is also the Secretary General of the IKV, gave the example of Brexit, the first time a member state is withdrawing from the Union, to underline that even a successful peace  project can be questioned. The EU has to rise up to the challenges present at its very core, notably a return to nationalism, populism, nativism, xenophobia, and protectionism. Addressing its foreign policy weaknesses is also of the utmost importance to prevent a deviation from common values in the long run. She pointed out that the credibility of Turkish membership in the EU has declined, calling into question the EU’s policies towards that country, fostering disillusionment with the European project. Human rights violations along the Turkish-Greek border have further painted EU principles in a bad light. In spite of this, Prof. Dr. Nas believes that respect for human dignity, the rule of law, justice, transparency and accountability are still universal, and the fight for these values will go on both inside and outside the Union.

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Ms. Selvi Eren, Junior Researcher at IKV, delivered a lecture on the diverse challenges facing representative democracy in the EU, which has come under pressure from both the supranational and the national level. Ms. Eren focused on the Eurosceptic populist views which seek to reshape the structure of the integration project according to their own agenda. Attitudes to the European integration project, Ms. Eren emphasised, are not only deeply nuanced, encompassing a wide spectrum from pro-EU to anti-EU stances, but their core arguments also diverge on social, environmental, democratic and governance issues. Ms. Eren stressed the need to address these multi-layered challenges within the scope of the representative polity to effectively discuss the future of Europe. The lecture also discussed the “Brexit effect” on the integration project, the breaches of European values by individual member states and public opinion on the EU.

The fifth lecture is scheduled to take place at Cukurova University on the 6th of March 2020 and will focus on European Common Security and Foreign Policy and Turkey with guest speaker Dr. Ozan Kuyumcuoglu, Research Assistant at the International Relations Department of Istanbul Bilgi University.

ENC In-depth Podcasts: Understanding University-level Youth in Turkey & Europe

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ENC In-depth Podcasts: Understanding University-level Youth in Turkey & Europe

The European Neighbourhood Council (ENC), in cooperation with the Center for Public Policy and Democracy Studies (PODEM), implemented a 14-month research project, within the “Civil Society Dialogue between the European Union (EU) and Turkey Programme (CSD-V)” titled “Understanding Future Values: Youth and Interaction across the EU and Turkey”. The project focuses on youth perceptions in European countries and Turkey, and understanding the socio-political values of the youth and their views on EU-Turkey relations.

This ENC In-Depth Podcast Series follows the publication of a two-part report on “Values, Interactions and Aspirations: Understanding University-Level Youth in Turkey and in Europe”, developed by PODEM and ENC. Both debates were moderated by Andreas Marazis, ENC Head of Research for Eastern Europe & Central Asia.

In Part 1, Dr. Aybars Gorgulu, PODEM’s Executive Director and Samuel Doveri Vesterbye, ENC’s Managing Director discussed the rationale, the methodology and the key findings of the two-part report.

Part 2 features the comments and insights of  Dr. Dimitris Bouris, Assistant Professor of EU Security/European External Relations at the University of Amsterdam, ENC Academic Council Member and visiting professor at the College of Europe Natolin in Warsaw; and Dr. Branislav Radeljic, Professor of International Relations at Necmettin Erbakan University in Turkey, ENC Academic Council Member and Visiting Professor of European Politics at Nebrija University in Madrid. The guests analysed the impact of exchange programmes, such Erasmus, among youth and academics and their potential in positively or negatively influencing political developments in the long run.

You can listen or watch both podcasts through the links below:

Audio 1

Audio 2

Video 1

Video 2

Online Fellowship: Strengthening Resilience to Radicalisation & Disinformation in Central Asia

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Online Fellowship Training Programme: Strengthening resilience to radicalisation and disinformation in Central Asia

The European Neighbourhood Council (ENC), in cooperation with Internews, organised a one-week online fellowship training programme from 26 to 30 of October 2020, dedicated to “Strengthening resilience to radicalisation and disinformation in Central Asia”.

The Phase II of this project is funded by the European Union (EU) and implemented by Internews as a follow-up intervention which builds on lessons learned from the previous project “Contributing to stability and peace in Central Asia through media literacy, improved reporting and regional cooperation” (Phase I).

The 18-month long project places an emphasis on strengthening citizens’ capacity in countering violent extremist narratives and disinformation campaigns that lead to radicalisation through supporting  media, civil society organisations (CSO), government institutions, religious leaders and active citizens in Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. 

The trainings involved a wide range of speakers, such as representatives of EU institutions and experts dealing with Central Asia and media studies, all from different backgrounds, who shared their expertise with the 30 Central Asian fellows who participated in the sessions, debating the most pressings issues for journalists and civil society representatives working across the region.

The fellows started their week with an introductory session by Samuel Doveri Vesterbye, ENC Managing Director, on how the EU works, namely foreign policy and inter-institutional cooperation. Andreas Marazis, ENC Head of Research for Eastern Europe & Central Asia, followed by discussing EU-Central Asia Relations with the fellows. The first day of training continued with Jana Weber from Friedrich Naumann Foundation Brussels who outlined the main points on how EU Advocacy works. The first day was concluded with an exchange of views with EU official, Claes Andersson, who focused on how the Instrument contributing to Stability and Peace (IcSP) and how the instrument fits into the new Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI).

Throughout the rest of the week the fellows had the chance to exchange views on media ethics and the role of journalism in preventing violent extremism and radicalisation. The fellows listened to the insignts of Aidan White, founder of the Ethical Journalism Network, Jack Parrock, journalist from Euronews, Vitalba Crivello from the European Parliament Research Service European Science Media Hub, and from Nafisa Hasanova from Reporters Without Borderswho provided interesting views on the different ethical conflicts and difficulties that journalists face when dealing with complex and sensitive topics, media owernership concentration and the disinformation “epidemic”.

The group also had the opportunity to learn more about different ways to access funding for Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), namely from a top grant-giving organisation supported by EU member-states, the European Endowment for Democracy (EED) with Kristina Vaiciunaite, expert working with the Eurasia Programme and Vittoria Zanellati, Programme Officer at the European Partnership for Democracy . The speakers offered an overview on how to sucessfully apply for projects in the region and best practises on local media associations of journalists, among other things.

The last training session featured insights from Karin Heremans, an expert on radicalisation and is the leader of the education working group at the Radicalisation Awareness Network (RAN), a European Commission initiative that brings together practitioners from across Europe who aim to prevent extremism, who briefed fellows on the European Commission current main guidelines on how to deal with radicalisation, through education, prevention and an hollistic local community approach.

The fellowship week was concluded with a public online round-table discussion dedicated to Terrorist groups’ violent narratives and their growing traction among local populations: Lessons from Italy, Western Balkans & Central Asia”  which was organised by the European Neighbourhood Council (ENC) in Brussels, in cooperation with Internews Central Asia’s office in Bishkek and the European Foundation for Democracy (EFD) and provided a stage for PVE experts from Europe and Central Asia to share findings from their latest research projects and effective practices in countering violent extremist narratives.

The Future of Europe and Turkey through Education:  Deciphering Disinformation and Fact-checking Methods

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 Deciphering Disinformation and Fact-checking Methods

The European Neighbourhood Council (ENC), in cooperation with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF) Turkey and the Delegation of the European Union (EU) to Turkey kicked off its new project titled The Future of Europe & Turkey Through Education”. The online training programme builds on identified best practises of the Turkey Training and Lecture Programme 2018-2020 (TTP) and it covers the following topics: privacy, disinformation, media freedom and fundraising.

The four online sessions, which began on the 26th November, bring together a group of around 40 opinion shapers composed of members of Civil Society organisations (CSO), journalists/bloggers, students and academics across Turkey.

The first training session was dedicated to Deciphering Disinformation and Fact-checking Methods and featured opening remarks by Gulcin Sinav, Project Manager at Friedrich Naumann Foundation Turkey and Samuel Doveri Vesterbye, ENC Managing Director. Both highlighted the importance of being aware of the existence of fake news and to have the tools to decipher them in order to have access to better information and paved the way for the panel discussion that followed.

Anneli Ahonen, Head of East StratCom Task Force at the European External Action Service and Emre Saklica, Editor at teyit.org shared their professional experience in the field. Ms. Ahonen explained the latest efforts of the European External Action Service on debunking fake news, and more specifically those related to COVID-19, as the crisis created a fruitful and dangerous ground for disinformation. Despite the action of social media platforms during the crisis. The EU targeted COVID-19 disinformation through a more efficient communication on EU policies, strengthening the media environment in EaP through financial support, as well as exposing and analising disinformation through the EUvsDisinfo website. Ms. Ahonen also focused on the 2018 EU Action Plan Against Disinformation, which gave four main guidelines in order to tackle the spreading of fake news: an improved detection, analysis and exposure, a stronger cooperation and common response, the mobilization of the private sector, as well as raising awareness and societal resilience.

Mr. Saklica explained the spreading of disinformation, particularly during times of crisis, due to the fact that it appeals to our emotions, and is now much easier through social media platforms. As Turkey is more exposed to disinformation than any other European country, Mr Saklica used the example of the Izmir earthquake in October 2020 to debunk several conspiracy theories, for example on the claims about a higher magnitude, the supposed need for blood in Izmir, or the alleged missing student Ahmet Demir, with an emphasis on how dangerous these fake news could be as they produce anxiety and fear. Mr. Saklica also shared several ideas on what to do when confronted with disinformation: think twice, follow official statements, check the sources, stay up to date, try to prevent anxiety and fear, and be careful about the polarization of the society in order to empower our suspicion muscle. As a conclusion, Mr. Saklica explained the most important characteristics in order to work as a fact-checker: reading a lot on various topics, asking questions, learning how to use technology and having an good networks of experts to cross-check information.

The next online training will take place on the 2nd of December and will cover the topic of data privacy and the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Report Launch Event: Socio-economic Impact of COVID-19 & Media Consumption in Central Asia

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Report Launch Event: Socio-economic Impact of COVID-19 and Media Consumption among Vulnerable Communities in Central Asia

 

The European Neighbourhood Council (ENC) in cooperation with Internews, released its new study: “Socio-economic Impact of COVID-19 and Media Consumption among Vulnerable Communities in Central Asia”. The report is part of the “Strengthening Resilience to Radicalisation and Disinformation in Central Asia through Independent Media (Phase II)” project, produced with the financial support of the European Union and implemented by Internews.

To mark the launch of the report, ENC and Internews organized an online event that took place on Friday, 11th of December 2020, featuring key opening remarks by Ambassador Peter Burian, European Union Special Representative for Central Asia, Marc Fiedrich, FPI2 Head of Unit at the European Commission, and Jodie Ginsberg, Chief Executive at Internews. The panel consisted of Samuel Doveri Vesterbye, ENC Managing Director, Andreas Marazis, ENC Head of Research for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and Shairbek Dzhuraev, Co-founder and President of Crossroads Central Asia. Ilhan Kyuchyuk, MEP from the Renew Europe Group and Rapporteur for Uzbekistan in the European Parliament wrapped up the event with his closing remarks.

Amb. Burian started by highlighting that post-COVID-19 recovery, while being very challenging, is also a unique opportunity to build back better. The importance of the ENC and Internews report is therefore crucial, as it helps the EU rethink its approach and better apprehend groups that were never focused on before. This societal participation is crucial in contributing to sustainable and inclusive governance.

A major constraint in standing up to the crisis is the uneven digitalisation happening in Central Asian countries, which undermines both governmental and societal efforts to address the pandemic. Among implications of this digitalisation is the limited access to reliable information due to the inability of state agencies to provide official data on time and attempts to conceal the scope of the problem. However, increased digitalisation can mitigate the effects of the crisis, especially for people living in rural and remote area.

Labour migrants, for example, which is one of the communities ENC and Internews focused on, were disproportionately affected by the pandemic, as they are not part of any social protection from their home nor host countries. This creates grievances and ground for radicalisation, and explains that, whereas most people joining ISIS from other parts of the world do so because of ideological reasons, recruits from Central Asia are lured based on economic incentives and misinformation.

Marc Fiedrich agreed that the pandemic has brough the issue of disinformation into all societies around the world, and that working on this issue will help us understand how manipulation of information is being used and what challenges the media are facing in Central Asia. To ensure that information is not used to undermine democratic institutions or to advocate violent extremism, it is important to support the media and civil society organisations (CSOs) but also government institutions, religious leaders and active citizens. Mr. Friedrich highlighted the importance of the report as a way to further nuance our appreciation of the different problematics in Central Asia.

Jodie Ginsberg emphasized that access to trustworthy and accurate information is not just a public good but can genuinely save lives, which is why this report is particularly important today. Ms. Ginsberg stated Internews’ ambition that journalists and media from Central Asia will use this report as a reference point in their own projects covering vulnerable communities, as it highlights the important gap of evidence on how vulnerable communities have been affected by the pandemic. Stakeholders, including governments and the international community could also learn from it, and use it in their communication strategies by creating people-centred stories and make the voices of the vulnerable communities heard.

During the panel discussion Samuel Doveri Vesterbye presented the methodology of the study, a tailor-made and rapid online analysis methodology based on a quantitative data survey of approximately 2,000 respondents across vulnerable communities in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, as well as 500 qualitative semi-structured in-depth interviews with all three vulnerable communities and 120 “elite” interviews with content producers (journalists and bloggers) across Central Asia. He also refered to the desk research and the consultations with academics and fields experts that took place in order to identify the different vulnerable communities and the research gap.

Moving on to the key findings of the study, Mr. Doveri Vesterbye elaborated on the socio-economic impact of the pandemic. The findings suggest that labour migrants and ethnic minorities were the most impacted groups, reporting high level of unemployment and labour uncertainty. Another very clear pattern is that women are a particularly exposed sub-division within already vulnerable communities, especially regarding unemployment and uncertain work status rates. In general, 20% more women reported unemployment compared to men. 

Andreas Marazis explained the study’s findings related to trends and patterns of media consumption in Central Asia, which revolve around three categories: the media preferences, the internet access to information restrictions, and the language preference and availability for information consumption. In terms of media preference, data from the vulnerable communities and content producers suggest that the two main sources are television and the Internet. With regards to the different platforms, social media (mainly Instagram and Vkontakte), and instant messaging applications (WhatsApp and Telegram) are the most used. On the issue of Internet restrictions, 36% percent of refugees and stateless persons reported Internet restrictions in their country of residence. However, for ethnic minorities in Kazakhstan and Tajikistan, it goes up to respectively 56% and 50%. Finally, the findings show that vulnerable groups favour the Russian language, with the exception of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, thus revealing a linguistic gap in terms of local news.

Shairbek Dzhuraev  focused on the impact of COVID-19 on media consumption. The pandemic became an unexpected source of danger to our physical well-being in addition to a sudden change in our way of life (shutdown of offices, closing of borders, lockdown). There was a significant increase in news consumption, especially related to the virus (statistics, precautionary measures), followed by a reverse effect of disengagement and demand for non-COVID-19-related content. Instant messaging services, in particular Telegram, Instagram and Zoom, saw a major growth in usage as a result of the pandemic. In terms of trust, there were three important trends found. Firstly, in Central Asia, international media are more trusted on COVID-19-related matters. Secondly, there is a discrepancy between those considering online media or television as the biggest source of unreliable information. Finally, there is no consensus on what type of information is actually “fake news”. As a result, debunking disinformation became a priority for content producers.

As a conclusion, Ilhan Kyuchyuk highlighted the importance of focusing on vulnerable groups in Central Asia, as challenges of Central Asia become part of the EU challenges as well, and cited for example illegal trade, terrorism, migration and climate change. When hit by a pandemic, it is even more crucial that the EU helps and supports groups that were the most affected: it is both an ethical and pragmatic choice, as when vulnerable people are suffering, they can become victims of disinformation and radicalization.

You can watch the recording of the report launch event below

Deciphering disinformation and fact-checking methods

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The European Neighbourhood Council (ENC), together with the EU Delegation in Turkey and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation in Turkey (FNFT) implemented a new project on “The Future of Europe & Turkey Through Education” Online Training Programme in 2020-2021, building on identified best practices of the Turkey Training and Lecture Programme 2018-2020 (TTP). A group of 60 opinion shapers composed of members of Civil Society organisations (CSO), journalists/bloggers, students and academics across Turkey, including urban centers such as Adana, Diyarbakir, Samsun were invited to participate in the four online training sessions, which took place throughout November and December 2020. The first session covered the topic of Deciphering disinformation and fact-checking methods (26/11/2020), the second was dedicated to Understanding how GDPR works (02/12/2020). The third session was on the topic of Transparency and Investigative Journalism (04/12/2020), while the fourth and last sessions was about Mapping access to funding in Turkey (08/12/2020).

ENC – Internews PVE Online Fellowship Programme

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ENC – Internews PVE Online Fellowship Programme

ENC, in cooperation with Internews Central Asia, organised during the first half of September 2019 their second fellowship programme as part of the EU-funded regional project on Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE) in Central Asia “Contributing to stability and peace in Central Asia through media literacy, improved reporting and regional cooperation”. The project focused on national and regional efforts to prevent radicalisation in Central Asia through increasing the capacity of journalists, teachers, civic activists and media professionals (through training activities, workshops both on national and regional level, and innovation laboratories) in the production of high-quality media content and raising the level of critical media consumption of representatives of civil society, decision-makers and ordinary public.

 

ENC study: the impact of COVID-19 on media consumption among vulnerable communities in Central Asia

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ENC study: the impact of COVID-19 on media consumption among vulnerable communities in Central Asia

The European Neighbourhood Council (ENC), in cooperation with Internews Central Asia, presented the preliminary findings of their new study during an online event, which took place on August 6th, and was live streamed on Facebook. The study aims to provide a mapping of media and information consumption among three target communities (labour migrants, refugees/stateless persons and ethnic minorities) during the COVID-19 pandemic, while also identifying their vulnerabilities and risks of social exclusion.
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Andreas Marazis, ENC Head of Research, Samuel Doveri Vesterbye, ENC Managing Director and Shairbek Dzhuraev, co-founder and director of Crossroads Central Asia shared early findings of their research on media consumption among vulnerable communities in Central Asia, the impact of COVID-19 and the link between access to information and poorer socio-economic conditions.
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The first results arising from the quantitative data survey, which reached thousands of interviewees, showed that COVID-19 had a tremendous impact on the living conditions of these communities. Over 50% of labour migrants in the region are currently unemployed, a number which is due to increase over time, while poverty among refugees is becoming more widespread.
At the same time, the findings demonstrated that these communities lack coverage in most media platforms (TV, radio, press and online media) across the region and need to be more representated through different minority languages beyond Russian.
The results also indicate that the levels of uncertainty for all groups rose, including unemployment. However, labour migrants and refugees/stateless people are far more at risk of job uncertainty. Concerning income levels, refugees and stateless people reported the lowest levels, followed by labour migrants, whereas ethnic minorities reported the most financially secure status among the three groups.
The graphics below demonstrate some of these figures:
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When it comes to media consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of internet is widespread among all communities with an absolute majority confirming online platforms as their preferred medium to access news and information, with the exception of Uzbekistan, where social media usage is low in comparison. Language concerns on COVID-19 information are also high among all groups and range between 10 and 20% of individuals within these communities desiring other languages than the ones available to obtain information.
Overall, there were varying degrees of trust towards government in terms of their handling of the new Coronavirus and availability of information, standing at 50/50 in most countries. However, many individuals simply did not have access to diverse and/or quality information, or the tools to access it.
ENC and Internews Central Asia will continue their research until the end of September 2020, looking into finalising the report by the end of October 2020.
You can access the video of the online event here.

Online discussion: The human dimension to EU-Uzbekistan relations: youth, exchange, and a better life

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Online discussion: The human dimension to EU-Uzbekistan relations: youth, exchange, and a better life

The European Neighbourhood Council (ENC), in cooperation with the Embassy of Uzbekistan to Belgium, organised an online discussion on 16 July 2020 dedicated to “The human dimension to EU-Uzbekistan relations: youth, exchange, and a better life”.

This discussion aimed at identifying common ground with Uzbekistan on the improvement of relations through fellowships, people-to-people contact, exchange and youth aspirations. Important notions like increasing the visibility of the EU, and a better understanding of the needs of young people were highlighted throughout the event. Uzbekistan’s new reform process was also underlined as key to advance the new Enhanced Parternership and Cooperation Agreement, a milestone in EU-Uzbekistan relations, and much needed to foster youth development, business environment and economic cooperation.

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The debate was moderated by ENC Managing Director, Samuel Doveri Vesterbye, and featured remarks by Ilhan Kyuchyuk, MEP from the Renew  Europe Group and newly appointed Rapporteur for Uzbekistan in the European Parliament. Mr.  Kyuchyuk took this first opportunity to share his thoughts on the EU relations with the country since his nomination, noting that the current momentum is very positive seeing as reforms well on going ahead of the signature of the new Enhanced Parternership and Cooperation Agreement. While there are challenges, he noted that there is also a lot of room for the EU and Uzbekistan to “get to know each other better” and foster opportunities of cooperation in priority areas such as civil society engagement, education, sustainability, water management, labour migration, connectivity and radicalisation. He added that nothing is sustainable and stable without democracy and people-centered policies, which the ENC has been promoting through fellowships and training for Central Asian young academics.

Andreas Marazis, ENC Head of Research for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, presented his paper for the first time, which was the background to the discussion,  and provided some insights on the notion of good life in the region and the main results of his research. He noted that Central Asian youths rank family, wealth, economy, health, employment, social status and security as the main priorities for a good life, in line with European priorities too. In the views of Central Asians, this concept is closely interlinked with socio-economic development and better relations with European partners.

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The pannel also featured H.E. Ambassador Dilyor Khakimov, Ambassador of Uzbekistan to the EU, a representative of Akmal Burkhanov, chair of the Yuksalish (Progress) National Movement, Maciej Madalinski, Deputy Team Leader  for Central Asian countries and Mongolia at DG DEVCO, Gulnoza Ismailova, Vice Rector of University World Economy & Diplomacy and Sanja Valiev, Deputy Director of the Institute of Strategic and Interregional Studies.

All speakers agreed that the focus on youth is an absolute priority for Uzbekistan and Central Asia, underlining that the EU should support prosperity and resilience, living up to the new EU Strategy for Central Asia, both in urban and rural areas, promoting exchanges, people-to-people contacts, funding opportunities for civil society organisations, vocational trainings and women representation.

You can find the full discussion: here

The Future of Europe and Turkey Through Education: Online Learning Initiatives for Youth in Turkey

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The Future of Europe and Turkey Through Education: Online Learning Initiatives for Youth in Turkey

The European Neighbourhood Council (ENC), together with the EU Delegation in Turkey and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation in Turkey (FNFT) implemented a new project on “The Future of Europe & Turkey Through Education” Online Training Programme in 2020-2021, building on identified best practices of the Turkey Training and Lecture Programme 2018-2020 (TTP). A group of 60 opinion shapers composed of members of Civil Society organisations (CSO), journalists/bloggers, students and academics across Turkey, including urban centers such as Adana, Diyarbakir, Samsun were invited to participate in the four online training sessions, which took place throughout November and December 2020. The first session covered the topic of Deciphering disinformation and fact-checking methods (26/11/2020), the second was dedicated to Understanding how GDPR works (02/12/2020). The third session was on the topic of Transparency and Investigative Journalism (04/12/2020), while the fourth and last sessions was about Mapping access to funding in Turkey (08/12/2020).