Young ABTTF YEN participated to Youth Leader Seminar

Many youth associations representing different minorities in Europe took part in the seminar entitled “Breaking the walls”

Young Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) attended the Youth Leader Seminar organised by Youth of European Nationalities (YEN) on 26 September - 2 October 2016. Young ABTTF Spokesperson and Former YEN Chair Fatma Reşit participated to the seminar in Burgenland that was organised by the youth association of Croatians “Hrvatski akademsi klub (HAK)” and the youth association of Carinthia Slovenians “Klub slovenskih študentk in študentov na Dunaju (KSŠŠD)”.

The official inauguration of the seminar entitled “Breaking the walls” took place on 26 September in the city centre of Livka/Lockenhaus. YEN Chair Britta Tästensen greeted the participants at the official inauguration where the Mayor of Livka Christan Vlasich was also present. On the first evening, the traditional exchange market took place where participants had the opportunity to introduce their minority and region while tasting the traditional food of hosting Burgenland Croatians and Carinthia Slovenians and listening music.

The attendees visited the Austrian Parliament in Vienna on the third day of the seminar. A panel was organised in the parliament with the participation of the representatives from all 6 political parties where the issues of the current legal state of Carinthia Slovenians and Burgenland Croatians, bilingual street signs, improvement of minority language education and the financial support to the associations working on minorities were discussed. After paying a courtesy visit to the offices of hosting associations in Vienna, participants took part in the flash mob event with the theme “Diversity connects”.

The participants held 4 workshops on different topics on the fourth day. At the workshop on minority languages, Young ABTTF Spokesperson Fatma Reşit talked about the current situation of the Turkish Minority of Western Thrace while informing the participants about problems in the field of bilingual education and the fight of the associations that were close down on the grounds of using the word “Turk” in their names. A panel was organised in the evening of the fourth day with the participation of persons who have taken posts at YEN Board in the past where the former board members including Former YEN Chair Fatma Reşit replied the questions on YEN’s works and activities.

*Photo’s: www.facebook.com/yeni.org