La Vague
16th National Selection Conference Istanbul | 20 - 24 November
4 6 Passion 8 Articles 10 12 14 Committee 15 Work Articles 16 17 18
The beauty of speech
Stereotypes and Participants
Democracy: The delusion in minds
5 7 9 11 13
Morality VS Progression
The inevitable parts
“All great and precious things are lonely.”
‘’You are neither wrong nor alone’’
The Course of the Catalonian Insubordination
Food is Culture and Culture is Food
Project Runway
AGRI // CULT
AFET I
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AFET II
DEVE // SEDE
LIBE I
//
LIBE II
FEMM // ITRE
Letter from the Editors Dear all, consider the absence of all colour another mean of expression. Black is elegant, sophisticated, it implies empowerment, it’s minimal. By embracing the principle “less is more” as a modus vivendi, hereby we present you the second issue of the Media Team of the 16th NSC of EYP Turkey. In this issue, you will have the chance to read what the journalists are passionate about, their problematiques, their worries and questions they have for society. Furthermore, you will be able to have a glimpse of what happened during Committee Work, what the committees discussed, how the last two days passed for delegates.
Dimitris and Irida Editors of the session
Issue 1 // 16th NSC of EYP Turkey // Istanbul | 20 - 24 November 2014 // Dimitris Davris (GR) // Irida Karasmanoglou (GR) // Zura Giorgobiani (GE) // Anastasia Ntracha (GR) // Quirin von Blomberg (DE) // Alinda Ohotski (TR) // Furkan Kalender (TR) // Cevahir Köprülü (TR) // Nehir Hatipoglu (TR) // Ömer Oguz (TR) // Sezen Deniz Tokadam (TR) // Zeynep Demir (TR) // Can Altunkaynak (TR)
La Vague
The beauty of speech
From Aristotle to “I have a dream”
The ancient Greeks distinguished between two purposes of speech. Poetry was pursued for the sake of beauty, using aesthetic and rhythmic qualities of language, attaching only secondary importance on the meaning of what was said. Rhetoric, on the other side, was considered as the art of persuasion, “discovering” all means available to win an audience for one’s cause. It might be somewhat impractical to pledge for one’s innocence in a Shakespearean pentameter or give an attack speech in sonnet form. Nevertheless, a speech is the product of artistic craftsmanship, with phrases like strokes on a masterpiece. Martin Luther King’s ‘I have a dream’ does not only have a reprise, like any pop song, but also the rhythm and melody of a musical virtuoso. Aristotle’s tripartite of logos, ethos and pathos is more than a plain guide for a speech. It is the beautiful representation of the very distinct characteristics that make us humans. Unlike any other animal we have the ability to reason rather than only follow our basic instincts, wherefore a good speech must appeal to the audiences’ reason by presenting logical and coherent arguments. Despite all our ability to reason, our instincts do still have a strong grip on our behaviour and define our being. The strongest of these reminiscences from our ancestors is the subconscious judging of another person into the categories of friend and enemy. Fortunately, evolution forced us to develop some sophistication in our judgements, taking into account perceived intelligence, virtuous character and goodwill. Only an orator fulfilling these criteria can deliver a persuasive discourse. Another distinctive feature distinguishing men from animal is the ability of emotional reflection, the interaction between what we feel and what we think. To persuade someone with a lasting effect, one has to evoke strong emotions like empathy and anger with the audience. If a good speech does not only have the aesthetic harmony of a piece of art, but is also a representation of the processes governing the human mind, what can be more beautiful?
by Quirin von Blomberg
4
La Vague
Morality VS Progression From the dawn of history, societies were built according to a specific social stratification that inspires its function and affects the social interactions. People are used to be classified based on their behaviour, their habits, and their social norms, to classes -higher or lower, conservative or progressive-. Eventually their destiny seem to be determined from this classification, whose factors include social stereotypes, income, authority and various social elements that unite and divide us at the same time. Consequently, people that cannot fit in the imposed norms are doomed at the margin of our societies, to be often judged and mistreated. However, the truth is that their existence is fundamental for the preservation and sustainable development of societies. To further elaborate, social inequalities contribute to the will and effort for change and progress. Thus, minorities are used as the basement upon which the higher classes step to rise on the social scale of fame and money, as they complete the equation of power comparison. It is them that create and sustain the motives for a better and brighter future, by taking the blame for every wrong decision and social anomaly, so that everybody else feels safe and morally intact. All these “marginalised” people suddenly become our scapegoats in the ambitious hunt for more, always more. Thus, the existence of such a class feeds the ego of a society where everything shifts and morphs constantly leading to a fear of impermanence. Nevertheless, is it fair to have societies with the above mentioned foundations? If we are to be described as societies with moral conscience, we cannot accept the exploitation of fellow civilians and turn our back to problems that do not directly influence us. If we want to pave the way towards more lenient and understanding societies that accept and nurture uniqueness, we have to take our own responsibilities and put our egoism aside. It is “we” before “me”!
by Anastasia Ntracha
5
La Vague
Stereotypes and Participants Europe has always been full of stereotypes. It is, to some extent, fun and fascinating to see how the different preconceptions differ from one country to another. British people are said to be courteous, Italians are always relaxed and Germans are disciplined. The best way to understand if these stereotypes are correct or not, is to actually meet people from that country. Guess what, EYP sessions are the perfect place for a comparison. Let’s start with the Turkish people. The Turkish people are considered to be careless and traditional. Spending a day in Istanbul is enough to realize the carelessness of the Turkish society. It takes you at least 2 hours to get home in the traffic and slums surround the skyscrapers, which also damage the city’s silhouette. Also, did you know that the officials from other countries were welcomed with the traditional drink called lion’s milk? Moving away a few hundred kilometres, we arrive in Greece. Greece has a similar culture with Turkey. People are friendly and welcoming, but they are also known for their loudness, care freeness and gossips. We have six Greek officials in the session, who also show these features. For instance our honourable editor Dimitris got a hoarse voice on the first day of the session. However, the carefree image of the Greeks turned out to be wrong, since we didn’t observe a carefree Greek in the session and speaking of the gossips, the Greek crew in the media team was the only one to fill the gossip boxes. We have also two Germans in the session. Germans are considered to be punctual and hardworking and well, our German officials protect their images as punctual hard workers. We also want to hear the stereotypes about all the foreign officials, as well as delegates, so we encourage you to write “good stuff” to the gossip boxes!
by Ömer Oguz
6
La Vague
The inevitable parts Right at this moment, in which you are reading this article, uncountable horrors are taking place all over the world. Children are being kidnapped in Uganda and forced to join military; people are killed in Ukraine fighting for the independence of their regions; people from banned Muslim organisations are being tortured in Uzbekistan and the press reports of North Korea are censored by the government. Why am I mentioning these events? What do they have in common? All of them are human right violations that take place all over the world. There are thousands more of them happening as we speak. We don’t have to go as far to Uganda or North Korea. Human right violations are happening in our cities each day. Concerning my city, Istanbul, thousands of Syrian immigrants are on the streets begging. They don’t have shelter or food. The Turkish government fails to provide them the adequate asylum conditions; their own government is guilty of placing them into a war, putting their most important basic human right at stake: the right to live. We, the educated people, are aware of the existence of Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as our whole education was founded on the values of this declaration. Unlike us, some people don’t know that individual human beings have rights and that each violation against these rights is a crime. It’s not their fault that they aren’t conscious, they haven’t had the chance to receive a good education and unless people, who are aware of this problem take some action, not only theirs, but their grand children’s lives are going to be lost forever. Promoting Human Rights is the key to dissolve this issue. There are many NGOs, such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Human Rights Action Centre, which work to trace human right violations and put a stop to them. The problem is that NGOs aren’t strong, backed-up institutions, and their actions are constantly restricted by the government. It all concludes to one thing: governments need to get more involved in enforcing human rights. They shouldn’t just be left on paper; they should become integral part of our daily lives.
by Alinda Ohotski
7
La Vague
Democracy: The delusion in minds Countless definitions, metaphors and comparisons have been considered cogent to create an understanding of democracy since Ancient Greeks. Whereas mutual relations in social and psychological basis are transforming due to the developments during last centuries in industry, which has brought out the blind greediness of consumption of human and natural sources, currently, “democracy” is utterly different from its original form. Being the fundamental columns of democracy, freedom of expression and equality have controversially been concocted deceptively. Basically, the main purpose behind it may be the desire to obtain the control of state, which turns it into the tyranny of the mob. Literally, the mob, who is chosen by the community with the majority of the votes, is the obstacle in front of individual liberty in society. In this case, a question comes to minds: if, undeniably, the base of this structure has been cracked as an obvious fact, why should democracy be considered as a delusion? In an ordinary democratic system, debate is the initial step of the process, being the ground of ideas. However, the irrational moral means, which are oppressed by society itself, form the shop of ideologies for the citizens to decide and pick one before vote. The ideology shop is able to sell ideas from limited diversity, since customers are made to select and eventually buy one of the served and oppressed ones. The deficiency of widely differing political aspects is caused by the shop owners common sale strategy, which is changing the brand, design and packaging, while keeping the products same, as well as creating the deception while choosing one. Most of those customers will buy those goods, whereas the minority forms its own due to unwillingness to have them. Consequently, the shop keepers will commence to do favour to their temporary customers while trading, although the others are made to adapt themselves to the commonly used ones as they have to. To conclude, the social pressure, which is shaped by distinct ideas on psychological needs, results in oppressive administrative organs and their limited options that restrict freedom of being different and eventually will be the cause that ends majority. Are also occurred as a consequence of those limitations, there will be no free ideas in this cycle.
by Cevahir Köprülü
8
La Vague “All great and precious things are lonely.”
John Steibeck
Far away, in the south, lies a very valuable and elusive group. The quote on the title reflects their lives quite well. They take the road that is less travelled on and continue it until the end. A life of solitude is somewhat inevitable for them. Seals are one of these great and precious animals in the world that are lonely. Generally, most of their population lives in the cold regions of the Antarctic, far away from many other animals and us, humans. Since this is so, seals have no proper representation in the world we live in today. They have no rights, no option to speak their mind and have no control over what we are doing to their environment. We are using their photos on social media, magazines and, since many people find them cute (which they are), they make toy seals as well. What if they don’t want their photos published on Facebook or Instagram? We may see them posing really cute for a photo, but they might find it disgusting and we are not taking their feelings into consideration. Do you like it when your worst photos are published on the internet for everyone to see? I guess not. This is an understatement to the last thing we do to them though. Seals prefer the cold but, due to global warming, we are forcing them away from their homes. This is unacceptable. Instead of making life hard on them we should give them a brighter life. They deserve to be hugged, played with and should be shown love. A selfie or a photobomb with one could really change a seal’s attitude toward us, humans. Maybe we might not have looked at it this way, but seals are possibly lonely and prefer to be lonely because we haven’t been that great to them. From now on treat them with care and passion so we can free them from their solitude.
by Furkan Kalender
9
La Vague ‘’You are neither wrong nor alone’’ Says the LGBT rights movement ‘’LambdaIstanbul’’. It has been working for the improvement of the life conditions of LGBT individuals as they are often harassed or even attacked. Be it a psychological or a moral problem, many people still see homosexuality as a disease and some find the right to restrict the other in themselves telling them whom to love, whom to marry . Prejudice and its effects on society are visible and deeply disturbing. What I personally call the ‘’fear of others’’ is mostly related to the homosexual and LGBT people, especially in Turkey. Although, with all the ethnic conflicts and nationalistic urges, this is something that shouldn’t be considered a problem. In Turkey LGBT individuals are one of the groups who are constantly looking for their rights. However, their official recognition is confined to their very private affairs. Also, Turkish law does not include gender identity equality and, therefore, there is no recognition for the same-sex couples so far. The fact that there is no legislation against anti-LGBT hate crimes and discrimination makes them highly vulnerable in the public sphere. These individuals are often victims to assaults and harassments and as they are not mentioned in the constitution of their homeland, they are excluded in the minds of many people as being different from the ‘’normal’’ or ‘’regular’’ society. Therefore, homosexuality is seen as being immoral. While confronting cases of LGBT individuals in court, they are accused of ‘‘public exhibitionism,” and “offenses against public morality”. The violence is being justified, shortening the sentence of the guilty. Many times since 1990s, propositions about recognition of the same-sex couples, legalising the same-sex marriage or criminalising any sort of discrimination in any part of life has been made unsuccessfully. Additionally, the example of a homosexual football referee having been subsequently banned from referring football matches and therefore being made redundant and the heart-breaking victim of the so-called the first ‘’honour killing’’, student Ahmet Yıldız, shows how far we are from certain standards and mind-set. Concluding, we shouldn’t forget that laws are in need of improvement in both Turkey and the rest of Europe, as they should protect LGBT people from discrimination in employment, education, housing, health care and public accommodations.
by Zeynep Demir`
10
La Vague The Course of the Catalonian Insubordination Being one of Spain’s richest and most highly industrialised regions, Catalonia is proud of its own identity and language, as well as being one of the most independent-minded community, especially, keeping in mind the recent referendums and the protests that have been going on in the region. A new statute of autonomy, agreed by referendum in Catalonia, passed by the Spanish Parliament in June 18th 2006, which was drastically altered by a controversial court ruling in 2010. Attacks against Catalonia’s educational system and linguistic rights have also increased and more and more recentralisation measures started to be taken, which, eventually, lead to an inevitable insubordination. On September 11th 2014, 1.8 million people took the streets of Barcelona to celebrate Catalonia’s National Day and were asked to vote on 9 November, 2014. They formed an 11km-long flag mosaic in the form of a giant V that stands for Vote. 80.76 % of the people voted Yes-Yes for the two questions that were asked on the referendum, which were if they wanted Catalonia to become a State and if they wanted this State to be independent. Recently, Catalan President Artur Mas is shaping up for an early regional election, targeting independence from Spain within two years and referring the previous referendum as a lesson in democracy. It seems like Catalonia will get the chance to be an independent state, however, it’s a big question whether this formation and transition process will be smooth or not, especially recalling the 2008 financial crisis, which damaged Spain on a great extent.
by Can Altunkaynak
11
La Vague Food is Culture and Culture is Food In organisations which gather a lot of people with different ethnic backgrounds, cultures and native languages -such as EYP-, one can easily realise that stereotypes are not that accurate. Certain traditions don’t have a huge effect on someone’s personality. However, I think that the cuisine and eating habits in general can tell a lot about a nation and it’s actually possible to have a brief idea on a culture just by taking a look at the traditional foods. In fact, food is the easiest thing to be introduced to the foreigners about a country. Compared to other things, such as clothes or traditions, food is more likely to be adopted by other countries as well. My fellow journalist Quirin, who’s from Germany, told me that his favourite dish is sushi and Jakob, excellent Austrian chairperson of the ITRE committee, mentioned that he really likes Doner Kebab, as well as schnitzel. Neither do German culture has any similarities to the Japanese culture nor Austrian and Turkish cultures are related, but somehow good food always manages to be appreciated. Food does tell a lot about the culture it belongs to. For example, Middle Eastern cuisine includes a variety of some really strange combinations of different materials and spices. The ingredients and their combinations say a lot about the multicultural atmosphere in the area. As an outcome of the cultural diversity in the region, Middle East has been the house of many different ethnicities, such as Persians, Assyrians, Jews and Greeks, since ancient times. The heterogeneity does not only cause political or religious conflicts, but the extraordinarily rich Middle Eastern culture is also a result of it. Middle Eastern food in general is like a mosaic: successful combinations of contrasting ingredients. In my opinion traditional foods is as characteristic as music or language for a culture and I highly support using traditional cuisine to develop intercultural dialogue.
by Sezen Deniz Tokadam
12
La Vague Project Runway In fashion, one day you’re in, the next you’re out. So, while millions try to stay up to date on all the new trends, some amongst them are curious on deciding who their strongest link is. As you may know, the best fashionistas are the fashion designers themselves. They are those who set the trends, design the clothes and sell millions of them. And now, we have the chance of discovering the future fashion kings & queens. Project Runway shows us 12 extremely capable designers fighting for that one big prize. A key into that magnificent fashion world that only the biggest names can enter. It’s Mondo, Anya, and Seth Aaron! They’re chosen by all the famous names in fashion. The jury’s include Micheal Kors, Heidi Klum, Nina Garcia, Isaac Mizrahi and celebrity guest juries that change in every episode. Each season, Project Runway starts with 12 competitors, and they have to complete challenges, which usually means creating full garments in under 24 hours. The challenges are extreme! And, as if the time constraints and demanding expectations of the juries weren’t enough, they have to create the garments out of materials found on beaches, worn by random pedestrians, sold at grocery stores, and used in kindergartens. In the end, their designs are worn by stars, seen on the red carpet, represented on the covers of magazines and illuminate the stages. In Project Runway, there are many different types of fashion represented throughout the challenges. My favourite is Avant Garde. Avant Garde fashion is when you think outside the box. It’s experimental, futuristic and very satisfactory for the eye. Its unique form and intricate design is a peak into the future and shows us the true fashion aesthetic of the designers. Fashion is a way of expression, a way to reflect what’s on the inside. What’s your fashion aesthetic? Are you an oxford shoes, plaid skirts & sweater vests preppy kind of fellow or do you prefer to reflect upon your music taste by punk, rock inspired clothes? Just remember, next time you can’t find anything to wear, turn on my favourite show and take a peak.
by Nehir Hatipoglu
13
La Vague
AGRI
Delegates of AGRI Committee seem to get along very well. They really love their chairperson, even though he is a fig from a galaxy far far away and he wants to become a pineapple. Compliments were flying around in the very first hour of the team building. The delegates actually came up with a unique compliment: Pizza! In the case someone from another committee has a crush on one of the attractive delegates of AGRI, the pick-up line would be something like “Girl, is pizza your favourite food? Because you’re hot!” In fact, all of them have a potential of being a really loyal and caring lover, even if they find out that you are a pineapple. After a few dates they would neither break up with you nor eat you, which is a quite important kind of commitment, bearing in mind that they are fully aware of the fact that, at some point in the future, human race can face some really serious difficulties providing everyone with food. I’m quite sure they will come up with an amazing resolution and help the human race overcome starvation. They will also win the Intergalactic War with a little help from the Army of Southern Greek Republic of Pineapplus (no, not the “Armi” who shouts Jesus all the time). I wish them much good luck with increasing the waste of food so that we can feed an additional population of 400 million. Thanks to the committee, which has a chairperson from Hungary, no one will be hungry.
by Sezen Deniz Tokadam
CULT
The Committee on Culture and Education, chaired by the lovely Giorgina Giani, is characterised by the ample reserves of girl power and the strong willed two gentlemen of the committee to challenge the difficult task of standardising and improving the educational performance across Europe.
During the Teambuilding the delegates from different schools broke the ice between each other in a brief time and started with the committee work, right after the opening ceremony, as a strong team. Firstly, the CULT committee knuckled down the main problems and the key actors about the gap between the education systems in Member States. Having examined the facts and the taken actions by the EU such as the Bologna Process and the ERASMUS+ program, the committee focused on the main issues about the gap between the demands of the labour market and the educational system efficiency. Since the committee divided the topic into several parts and did researches in groups, everyone could express their ideas, which provided the committee the ability to evaluate the topic from different angles. Although the discussions became tense occasionally, the committee was able to stay calm and work on, which brought the committee closer by the end of the day. Apart from the hard work, the delegates maintained the calm atmosphere in the committee by playing energisers, such as fruit salad. Also Deniz became our Ninja Champion who will represent the Committee on Culture and Education in the second part of the Olympic Games.
by Ömer Oguz
14
La Vague
AFET I
The weather was freezing and cloudy, without doubt, it was not the day. AFET was standing and staring at each other as neither enthusiasm nor someone, who was sure about what would happen, could be seen. However, with the start of the Teambuilding, the atmosphere was now more sincere. After a while, one of us was down and left her team with tears all over eyes, saying she would have an operation. Apparently, that should have been the end of awkwardness except the indecisive AFET about how to line-up in case of not wearing underwear, the psychopathic AFET who had took lives as usual, the AFET whose friends have eerie fantasies on the ground and in the air, as well. Being a committee of conflicts, which are caused by problematic foreign affairs around EU, the topic is utterly complex with its background and mutually fragile political and economic relations between Member States and non-Member States. Therefore, the committee work commenced with the formation of the timeline of the crisis which is from the spark to the current developments in Baltic States. Imagination was limitless and conspiracy theories about Russia were told ceaselessly. It was now a situation of “Russia versus all”. Despite the first encounter with Jury Members, that turned unanimous decisions into controversial responds, endless rejections and non-stop discussions, after the second Jury’s observation, AFET became more patient and respectful. Honestly, I can’t deny the gaps in the harmony of AFET, which mostly made the debate stuck at some moments. Nevertheless, I admit that much knowledge will absolutely give us what we expect from the session as a whole.
by Cevahir Köprülü
AFET II
Although the committee rejects the name “AFET 2” and refers to itself simply as AFET, because it is clearly the only relevant committee tackling the pressing challenges for European foreign policy, it has commenced its committee work diligently. This confidence has proven to be beneficial for taking on the terrorists of the Islamic State, causing chaos and destruction in Iraq and Syria. The delegates have laid out the foundation for their ambitious plan to stabilise the Middle East region. On their first day of their work they have identified the problems caused by the rise of ISIL itself, as well as the flaws of the current approach taken by the EU and the military coalition. As such, a focus was placed on the issue of continuing influx of fighters from foreign countries, as well as the financial resources amassed through oil sales and ransom money. Furthermore, the committee has identified the dimension of the humanitarian catastrophe suffered by refugees and the violations of human rights as issues that will be addressed by the committee’s resolution. Having established the roots and symptoms of the destruction caused by ISIL under social, economic, political and military aspects, there is reason for confidence that AFET 2 will provide a comprehensive approach for the EU that will ensure lasting stability in the region.
by Quirin von Blomberg
15
La Vague
DEVE
Delegates of DEVE tried hard to find their own cheer, but for a considerable amount of time they only came up with long sentences of no meaning. Examples were like “DEVE just do it”, “DEVE not the animal” and, to Erke’s fail “DEVEEEEEE”. In the end, they decided they’re too cool to have a shout. Instead they decided to shout, faking an animal, when they were out of topic or distracted. The multitude of ‘’O’’s in the names (Ogulcan, Oguzhan, Orkun, Orkan, Orhun) gathered in one committee, made it incredibly hard for me to memorise the names, but at the end a good will is the key to everything. I personally found the committee quite knowledgeable and willing. They controlled their work. I guess the best part of the day was when they gave a massage to each other, listening Erke’s dream of lying on a warm beach and watching the latecomers butt-spelling. They said it was quite a pleasure. The hilarious side of DEVE became visible with the phrases “Orkan to Erke: That beard... (We have passion in the committee)” and Erke’s flirtatious moves with his scarf in the game “Honey, tell me that you love me.” During the massage session things got more comfortable than expected, when ‘’Are you relaxed?’’ question from Orkun, continuing with lowering his hands on Egemen’s shoulder, seemed, at least, unexpected. Equally hilarious was Erdem’s surprise, when he heard the delegate’s monkey shout in the middle of the committee work.
by Zeynep Demir
SEDE
Today was a weird day for me. I never knew I would find a group that loved pineapples so much. Pineapples today meant happiness. I didn’t know that you could seriously use a pineapple in over 100 different situations. Pineapples were over here, over there and under the sea, everywhere. They were used to compose a serious defence mechanism. This defence is one of a kind and will stop cybercriminals right in their tracks. No need to worry about being hacked or spied on, we have the pineapple defence implemented. As you can easily see, pineapples are much more than just fruit. They symbolise life itself in a way. Anytime, anywhere, doing anything, we may secretly have the work of pineapples in the background. You just have to look close enough to realise that reality that stands in front of you.
by Furkan Kalender
16
La Vague
LIBE I
LIBE I’s committee work started dynamically its day by agreeing upon and establishing the “golden rules” in order to ensure a viable dialogue. Proper time management, clarity and precision in opinion exchanging process, mutual respect and hugging to alleviate tensions were considered the holy grail of debating rules. Creating the committee’s Mindmap and its legislative base was their next task. The committee, after a fruitful debate, agreed that the continuous violation of human rights in Syria led to a great influx of refugees towards EU and neighboring countries. Thus, the Common European Asylum System’s policies and directives have to be adjusted in order to deal with the basic needs of refugees. Legislative assistance in their route towards a resolution includes Dublin regulations as well as Directives on Asylum Procedures. Later on, a “Fact War” on the topic increased the energy levels and worked as an incentive to come up with common definitions on important terms of the topic. Therefore, humanitarian admission and non-refoulement principle are now crystal clear on the minds of all delegates. Next step was to identify the stakeholders of the current situation and the problems faced by the refugees. Consequently, the delegates observed that the absence of legal routes especially towards EU countries led refugees to dangerous trafficking networks. Furthermore, the limited infrastructure of reception centers results in poor provision of basic facilities. Lastly, the lack of a unified asylum policy in Europe and the limited amount of humanitarian funds due to the extended economic crisis creates new barriers for the integration of refugees.
by Anastasia Ntracha
LIBE II
It didn’t take very long for the LIBE II to become a group of friends, despite the fact that at the beginning of Day 1 they were complete strangers. At the end of the day, one delegate put their current phase into words really well. “I think we are friends. We are a team. I love you all” and the committee responded “Aww!! We love you, too!” performing a big Group Hug. The delegates started the Committee Work day eagerly. They had their research papers ready and couldn’t stop themselves from contributing to fruitful discussions. Too much enthusiasm can sometimes harm the process of discussion, so they came up with the safe word: “Potatoes!” to use it when the discussion gets too heated and it’s time to calm down. Proudly, they didn’t need to use it that often. Starting the day by understanding their topic, putting it into their own words, they moved on by identifying the key actors and things to take into consideration concerning the integration of Muslim people in the EU. They emphasised on the misconception of Muslims, the drastically growing population of Muslims and misleading examples of Muslims throughout history (such as 9/11, London Bombings and the current ISIS crisis). Each time they finished an introductory clause, a round of applause accompanied by their special version of the song “We will Rock you” followed. LIBE II declared that after 8 hours of committee work, they had “juiced-brains”. I guess too much serious EYPing in a day can be threatening for your mental health.
by Alinda Ohotski
17
La Vague Who runs the world? GIRLS!
FEMM
FEMM is very enthusiastic about this obvious fact, so much as to the point that you might find us yelling this while waiting for our lovely organisers to take us to dinner. I mean, with 9 girls and 3 boys how could we not? Considering that, even the best amongst us have been subjected to violence, such as Rihanna, Marilyn Monroe and Pamela Anderson, we must take immediate action. We must consider that anyone could be subject to violence, the women in the coffee shop, our librarian or even our school teacher. The same is valid for the violator. We are reminded by the delegates in FEMM that these men don’t have horns and that no, they do not walk around in Taksim square with a sign saying that their partners are a subject to mental, physical or sexual violence. Particularly, an important observation that’s successfully been pointed out in our committee is that some people do this out of cultural values or pride. During these few days, FEMM will struggle with these problems, trying non-stop to find solutions to the most indispensable issues in our society. Let us all remember that yesterday, it wasn’t two girls walking around in suits during Teambuilding. Listen up men, for a commonly said phrase is: “Every time you mistreat a woman, you give up the right to be treated like a man.” I’d like to conclude with an African proverb you may find written on our walls if you ever visit our committee “The ax forgets, the tree remembers”.
by Nehir Hatipoglu
ITRE
After a fun Teambuilding the previous day, ITRE started off with beautiful drawings that symbolised the status quo of the micro, small and medium sized economies around Europe and was followed by personal presentations of the delegates, such as explaining terms like overdraft, venture capital or stock market, as well as the Horizon 2020, which is one of the greatest factors that plays a key role for this very committee. Then, delegates started to brainstorm and prepared a conceptual diagram, so as to see the full picture that will, hopefully, lead the committee to the succession in certain aspects of the issue that are related with the labour force, finance, entrepreneurship skills, legal regulations, research. We shouldn’t forget the knowledge that will be acquired as an outcome of this research, that were, later on, strengthened by the individually written facts, in order to specify the problems in the most realistic way. In the end, it was decided that the biggest problem was the lack of knowledge regarding the various aspects of SME entrepreneurship, such as how to run the business, how to apply for the banking loans, how to present the company to a potential investor, as well as the available ways of finance. In a nutshell, it’s been a nice day with creative drawings and business terms in which, the delegates got the chance to define the problems that they will, hopefully, find benevolent solution to the issue.
by Can Altunkaynak
18
19
La Vague