GencNet Youth Conference Sponsored by IRI

May 16, 2003

Nearly 1,000 youth attended the GencNet National Conference last week as part of an IRI-sponsored effort to increase the participation of young people in Turkish political and civic life. The conference – which took place between May 9 and May 11 – also marked the first time that youth from a non-Turkish country (in this case Albania) attended. GencNet Party Chairman Cem Uzan delivered the keynote address and took questions from the audience for the first time. Participants chose Uzan as their speaker through an electronic poll on the GencNet.org website. Other speakers included the Turkish leaders of the World Public Relations Association, the United European Football Association and the World Textile Federation.

The mayor of Istanbul and the former Turkish minister of education participated in expert panel discussions where the youth were able to communicate their priorities via an electronic audience response system. Another presentation reflected on GencNet’s successful effort to lower the age of eligibility to run for the Turkish Parliament to 25 years.

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