Education

7th Greek-Turkish Young Leaders Symposium (GTYLS)

The GTYLS will include the participation of 15 Greek and 15 Turkish active citizens with a background in International Relations and related disciplines (MA students, PhD candidates, young PhD scholars, and professionals), aged between 20 and 40 years old, and experts from both countries that will act as speakers and trainers. 

The GTYLS is a forum for the study, dialogue, and networking for young Greeks and Turks. The CIES and its partners aim to ensure that tomorrow’s political, business, social, and academic leaders construct a framework which prioritizes and builds trust between the two countries. Considering the current circumstances due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the 7th GTYLS will be organized online via the CIES’s Zoom platform. Sessions will be extended over four days and be limited to three to four hours a day. On the first day, the participants will be involved in a panel discussion led by accomplished experts on “An Assessment of Greek-Turkish Relations”. During the next three days, the participants will be engaged in expert-led workshops on the themes of “Media Literacy/Confronting Disinformation”; “Youth Empowerment”; and “Tacking the Challenges of Migration”. 

For the first time in the Greek-Turkish Young Leaders Symposium series, Focus Groups led by an experienced facilitator will be incorporated as part of the agenda. Participants will work in mixed groups and will be asked to discuss and analyze the thematic sessions/workshops, with the objective of presenting their policy proposals. Upon the end of the Symposium, participants will work collaboratively to provide content for a Policy Paper which will incorporate the work and ideas of each focus group. The findings of the Policy Paper will be discussed during the next GTYLS (scheduled to be held November 2021 in Athens), ensuring a degree of continuity in the Symposium series with the participation of some of the more involved participants.