An
international youth conference on the theme ‘Youth in Action: For peace,
solidarity and common values’ is currently underway at Antalya city, southern
Turkey. The event started on 10 August and will run through to 24 August 2016.
The
forum is organised by the Islamic Conference Youth Forum for Dialogue and
Cooperation (ICYF-DC), an international organisation affiliated to the
Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and hosted by the Turkish Ministry
of Youth and Sports.
Oanisers
said the forum is designed to create an atmosphere where participants will
discuss and point out challenging issues confronting the youth world and to
further suggest solutions to the highlighted problems.
Abdurrahman
Topbas, vice-president of ICYF-DC, speaking at the welcoming ceremony, said the
forum seeks to raise awareness of young people towards prevalent values,
history, culture and civilisation and to reunite them under a common vision for
the future.
He
said their strategic objective is to provide young minds of the ‘Ummah’ the
opportunity to deliver their potentials through leadership.
“We
want to see that the development of young people sensitive to global and social
issues that would empower them through leadership qualities,” Mr Topbas
explained.
Melik
Ecertas, chairman, youth branch of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development
Party (AKP), in his presentation on the ‘Importance of unity and solidarity
among the youth’, said young people are very fundamental in promoting unity and
friendship.
He
called on participants to use this forum as a stepping stone to begin their
networking and partnership in order to foster a better society for the youth.
In
an interview with The Point newspaper Turkey correspondent, Malick Jallow, a
Gambian student representative at the conference, said he is full of praise and
appreciation to see the Gambian flag among the flags of OIC member countries.
Malick,
a sociology student at Ankara Yildrim Beyazit University in Turkey, said the
forum accorded him a unique opportunity to interact with different people
across the world.
The
young aspiring Gambian sociologist said the topic presented at the forum will further
enhance his understanding of the world, more importantly, his immediate
society.
The
topics presented included Islam and democracy, international relations; Islamic
thoughts in modern and post-modern age.
Another
Gambian, Sulayman Marenah, a representative of the Ministry of Youth and Sports
of The Gambia, is participating in the event.
