The Call for Applications is part of the “Support to Armenia-Turkey Rapprochement” project supported by USAID. The project is jointly implemented by a Consortium of four organizations: Eurasia Partnership Foundation (EPF), Union of Manufacturers and Businessmen of Armenia (UMBA), International Center for Human Development (ICHD), and Yerevan Press Club (YPC) in cooperation with a number of key Turkish partners including: the Global Political Trends Center, the Turkish-Armenian Business Development Council, Anadolu Kültür, GAYA research institute, the Media and Communications Department of Izmir University of Economics, Toplum Gönüllüleri Vakfi, the Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation, and the Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey.

USAID and the Consortium members support Armenia-Turkey rapprochement by facilitating engagement between civil society groups, establishment and development of business partnerships and regional professional networks, and enhanced understanding between the people, for peace and economic integration in the region.

Existing stereotypes continue dominating the communication and socializing of the new generation in Turkey and Armenia. People hardly know their neighbor and do not even feel the need or wish to know “the other side”. There is a need to acknowledge the existing stereotypes in order to know each other better and communicate differences and commonalities. However, educating the public is a long and challenging process. Yet the process can be significantly catalyzed through traditional and social media, and particularly through bloggers and other active users of social media. 

To this end, ICHD in Armenia and GAYA in Turkey will engage in joint programming to enhance the capacity of Armenian and Turkish new media practitioners in understanding and mitigating stereotyping, effective communication and persuasion skills, as well as to present the basics of nationalism studies.

ICHD and GAYA invite applications from young Armenian and Turkish new media practitioners to attend a five-day interactive (local) training workshop in Armenia and Turkey respectively. A local workshop will be organized in each of Armenia and Turkey. The working language of each local workshop is Armenian and Turkish, respectively. 

Workshop Dates: 

June 20-24, 2012, Ankara, Turkey for Turkish participants.

June 20-24, 2012, Yerevan, Armenia for Armenian participants.

Eligibility 

Applicants may represent any organization in Armenia and Turkey respectively (media organizations are preferred). Applicants not affiliated with institutions are also eligible to participate in the training. In any case, applicants should be active users of Facebook, Tweeter, Livejournal or any other social media and be interested in the coverage of Armenia-Turkey related issues. Knowledge of English language is a plus. 

Application Requirements 

Applicants are requested to submit the following documents:

a)      CV.

b)      Proof of social media activity (online link)

c)      Essay showing interest in the topic of Armenia-Turkey relations and expressing readiness to discuss the topic in the future.

Application Submission

Applications from Armenian participants must be submitted electronically at [email protected]

Applications from Turkish participants must be submitted electronically at [email protected]

Deadline for applications:  June 17, 2012