Issue: 66
33 out of 48 countries which are listed as the least developed countries by the UN are in Sub-Saharan Africa and 14 of them are in Asia-Pacific region. Along with Haiti the total becomes 48.
The LDCs are defined as countries which have GDP per capita less than 745 USD with weak human capital and high economic vulnerability.
The Conference on the LDCs aims to provide special support to development efforts of these countries.
The programme set out in Istanbul, foresees halving the number of least developed countries to 24 during the next decade through a rise in aid, favorable market access for all LDCs and building up their productive capacity.
The world's 48 poorest countries have 800 million people, with half of them existing in conditions of extreme poverty.
The 49-page Istanbul action programme sets out recommendations for rich and poor countries covering climate change, aid, health and foreign direct investment.
Monitoring system
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, who yielded a speech in the press conference, held at the closing ceremony, stated that one of the most important components of the Istanbul action programme was better monitoring developments in the LDCs.
Davutoğlu also said, Turkey would again host the mid-term evaluation meeting, suggested to be held in 2015.
Deputy Secretary General for the LDCs, Cheick Sidi Diarra, listed Samoa, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Equatorial Guinea, Angola and East Timor as countries which have potential of being eliminated from the LDC status.
Besides, he told countries such as Diarra, Bangladesh and Nepal are on the right track and it is expected these countries to advance their categories during implementation of the action programme.
Development Aid
Diarra stated that the LDCs achieve 6,2 percent economic growth but this growth didn't effect to share of employment and prosperity.
Cheick Sidi Diarra said that in 2008 official development assistance reached 38 billion dolar and this development assistance can reach 80 billion dolar.
Diarra expressed that the success of LDCs in the future is related with trade, production and direct foreign investment rather than official development assistance.
Diarra told that in the future process they will arrange annual ministers review meeting and cooperation development forum biennially.
Diarra told that in the future process they will arrange annual ministers review meeting and cooperation development forum biennially.
Foreign Affairs Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, High Representative for The Least Developed Countries Under Secretary General Cheick Sidi Diarra, the Head of Intergovernmental Preparatory Committee and Finland United Nations Permanent Representative Jarmo Viinamen, Nepal Vice Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister and the Head of Global Least Developed Countries Coordination Office Upendra Yadav also attended press briefing in the closing part of the conference.
PAN Parks works to protect Europe’s wilderness, the continent’s most undisturbed areas of nature by applying a truly integrated approach: to mobilise sustainable tourism development for strengthening wilderness conservation.
PAN Parks Foundation for Nature Conservation Director Vlado Vancura, who is Nature Conservation Director of PAN Parks Foundation, left Turkey with positive messages after one week pre-verification analysis of Küre Mountains National Park.
The pre-verification work launched by a meeting with General Directorate of Nature Conservation and National Parks staff, Project Management Unit of “Enhancing Forest Protected Areas Management System in Turkey Project”, WWWF-Turkey officers and continued at site level.
At the site level work, the meetings were held with Kastamonu and Bartin governors, district governors, mayors, representatives of the tourism sector and civil society.
Especially wilderness areas of Küre Mountains National Park were visited with long walks; the trails and facilities for visitors were seen on the ground with Bartın and Kastamonu Provincial Directorate of Environment and Forestry staff.
Vancura admired Küre Mountains National Park’s wilderness, intact landscape and breathtaking scenery very much and underlined the significant progress in Kure Mountains National Park by the draft management plan, sustainable tourism development strategy, and visitor management plan in recent years within “Enhancing Forest Protected Areas Management System in Turkey Project”.
Vancura also emphasized the chance of Kure Mountains National Park to be awarderd for PAN Parks certificate by the end of 2011 after a little more progress is some issues.
What is PAN Parks?
Protected Areas Network (PAN) Parks; was founded by the WWF and Molecaten Group.
Network of Protected Areas includes good examples of national parks having wilderness with the effective management in Europe. These parks are given PAN Parks certificate.
PAN Parks quality standards have five main principles: at least ten thousand hectares of wilderness area in the park, a management plan, a sustainable tourism strategy, a visitor management plan and local business partnerships in the PAN Parks region.
These parks offer a wilderness area with undisturbed nature where natural systems of animals and plants are safe to thrive and people appreciate the pleasures offered by wilderness with the respect it deserves.
The web-site has been renewed within “Enhancing Forest Protected Areas Management System in Turkey” activities.
The web site includes detailed information on events in Kastamonu - Bartın Küre Mountains National Park and “Enhancing Forest Protected Areas Management System in Turkey”.
In addition to these scientific works, activitties, events carried in the National Park and buffer zone, travel planning details, and photos are also included in the web-site.
The photography exhibitions aiming to introduce 41 National Parks in Turkey can be seen between 23 May and 5 June in Barutçuoğlu Shopping Center in Kastamonu and Cumhuriyet Square of Bartın, and Amasra Municipality Square.
Due to high interest, photo exhibitions may be extended.
Exhibition posters, promoting remarkable features of national park in Turkey, have photographs of Aykut İnce, Hakan Baykal, Mustafa Demirbaş, Vedat Atasoy, Oğuz Kurdoğlu, Akın Gedik, İlker Yiğit, Cihad Öztürk, Selim Erdoğan, Nergiz Belen, Osman Yöntem, Nejat Ertekin, Murat Delibaş, Yıldıray Lise.
In addition to these, photograpfs from Bursa Provincial Directorate of Environment and Forestry, Çorum Provincial Directorate of Environment and Forestry, Manisa Provincial Directorate of Environment and Forestry, and maps by Dr. Murat Ataol were also exhibited.
In this collaboration SPARK volunteer instructors gave instructor trainings to Sabancı University students with Cisco Networking Academy trainings.
After completing the training, these students trained 25 disadvantaged young people (ages between 18-22) with Cisco IT Essentials training at Sultanbeyli Municipality district, İstanbul.
One of the participants at Sabancı University, Ozgur Fırat, says “apart from the joy of knowing that we made a change in the life of our peers and contributed for a better future, us volunteers have also learnt a lot on information technologies and life. So I think all of us benefited highly from SPARK Project”.
Another instructor Ezgi Kucukderger states that her knowledge on computer technologies was enhances and adds “we helped our new friends acquire a valid certificated training for their careers. I find this Project very valuable and necessary, for it contributes in many ways to both parties involved. Becoming an instructor and teaching helped me learn better, the Project taught me to take responsibility and I practiced my skills on how to speak in public”.
SPARK is a social responsibility implemented by Youth Association for Habitat (YfH) in partnership with Cisco Systems, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Istanbul Technical University (ITU).
The project aims to improve the level of IT expertise among youth while encouraging volunteerism.
On the other hand SPARK aims to support young people to develop social capacities of youth and help them to participate in the new information-based global economy to realize their full potential through peer education model on advanced IT and networking skills.
SPARK has more than 2200 graduates and growing everyday with more than 75 volunteer instructors teaching to their peers in 25 cities across Turkey.
The new University collaboration adds up to its local collaborations with NGOs, municipalities and governorships, taking it to a new level and enhancing its radius.
[BAGLANTILAR]
Under the coordination of project partner, General Directorate of Afforestation and Erosion Control, the plantingsw were done by Kastamonu Provincial Directorate of Environment and Forestry in 126,50 hectares of the buffer zone These species were used in plantings to support wildlife: wild apple, wild cherry, wild mulberry, wild hazelnuts, almonds, cornelian cherry, oleaster, linden, apple, mountain ash tree, plum, wild pear, hawthorn, sour cherry and others.
In Bartın Ulus Section of the Kure Mountains National Park buffer zone, fieldwork is completed for planting and it will be finalized at fall 2011.
The activities of General Directorate of Afforestation and Erosion Control within the "Enhancing Forest Protected Areas Management System in Turkey Project” will be completed after tree seedlings plantings in National Park’s Bartın section.
In Turkey, industry is the largest consumer of energy with 39% of total final consumption of energy as of 2007.
The consumption of energy by industrial sector is expected to grow at high rates in the near future, both in volume and proportion.
Energy audits and surveys carried out in industrial companies indicate that the average energy conservation potential in Turkish industry is at least 20%.
Aim of the project: energy efficiency
Through the newly initiated project “Improving Energy Efficiency in Industry in Turkey”, it is aimed to improve energy efficiency of the Turkish industry by enabling and encouraging companies in the industrial sector for efficient management of energy use by different energy conservation measures and energy efficient technologies.
This project will not only further national efforts on energy efficiency, it will also contribute significantly to Turkey’s efforts to fight against climate change and will create awareness on energy efficiency among the public.
The Improving Energy Efficiency in Industry in Turkey project is implemented by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Industrial Development Organizations (UNIDO), General Directorate of Electrical Power Resources Survey and Development Administration (EIE), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Organization (KOSGEB), Technology Development Foundation of Turkey (TTGV) and Turkish Standards Institution (TSE) with the financial support of GEF.
In the side event Alper Acar, Regional Project Coordinator of the UN Joint Programme, stated that the Seyhan River Basin is like an open laboratory due to its rich biodiversity and that the socio-economic structure, climate change adaptation capacity, livelihoods and agricultural practices of the basin vary depending on the geographical diversity.
Acar indicated that the Community Based Adaptation to Climate Change in the Seyhan River Basin Grants Programme was established with a scaling approach and a spatial viewpoint and that the Grants Programme is a model for demonstrating the climate change adaptation approach at the basin level.
During the side event, panelists Dr. Bülent Selek from General Directorate of State Hydraulic Works VI. Regional Directorate (Adana), Osman Erdem, Head of Bird Research Society, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yıldız Daşgan, Lecturer at Çukurova University Faculty of Agriculture Department of Horticulture and Prof. Dr. Fatih Köksal from Çukurova University Faculty of Medicine Head of Tropical Diseases Research and Application Centre discussed Water Related Adaptation in the Seyhan River Basin under Changing Climate from a different point of view.
The impacts of climate change on water resources and agricultural production, impacts of sea level rise on socioeconomic structure, society and species, the important role of sand dunes in preventing sea level rise, the importance of using local vegetable seeds resistant to drought and salinity in agricultural production in the context of adaptation to climate change, and diseases linked to climate change or the impacts of climate change (e.g. water-borne diseases, their causes and how they occur) were some of the issues highlighted by the panelists.
Three main problems in water resources management
Dr. Bülent Selek from State Hydraulic Works VI. Regional Directorate (Adana) stated that there are three main problems in water resources management: lack of water (scarcity), excess water (floods) and pollution of water (water quality) and that all these elements directly affect the socioeconomic structure.
Selek added that 87% of the water used in the Seyhan River Basin is used for irrigation purposes.
He indicated that the studies conducted by the VI. Regional Directorate of the General Directorate of State Hydraulic Works in the context of the project Identification of Surface Water Resources Potential and Flood Risks within the perspective of developing Water Resources Management Policies in Seyhan Basin within the framework of Adaptation to Climate Change supported by UN Joint Programme a 5°C increase in temperature is estimated by 2099 and a decrease of precipitation in the lower Seyhan Basin and an increase of temperatures in the upper Seyhan Basin are anticipated.
He added that, the water supply and demand balance of the Seyhan River Basin has been prepared considering these estimations.
Osman Erdem, Head of Bird Research Society and Project Coordinator of Adaptation and mitigation of the effects of sea-level rise related to global climate change in Seyhan Delta Project supported by UN Joint Programme explained the important role of ecosystem services in adaptation, the importance of sand dunes as a barrier to possible sea level rise and indicated that sea level rise will not only have environmental effects but will also affect the livelihoods in coastal areas and thus the socioeconomic structure and communities.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yıldız Daşgan, Lecturer at Çukurova University Faculty of Agriculture Department of Horticulture said that Turkey holds a very rich source of plant genetics.
Daşgan stated that five species and 300 genotypes of vegetable seeds collected from all over Turkey have been scanned against salinity and drought resistance in the context of the project Screening and Saving of Local Vegetables for their Resistance to Drought and Salinity supported by UN Joint Programme.
Effects of climate change on health and economics
Prof. Dr. Fatih Köksal from Çukurova University Faculty of Medicine Head of Tropical Diseases Research and Application Centre and Project Coordinator of Transmitted Diseases Observation and Control System Project supported by the UN Joint Programme, explained the public health and poverty dimensions of climate change.
Köksal stated that climate change induced water-borne diseases make up 3% of all diseases and added that the pressure caused by climate change force people to migrate, those who migrate also face bad conditions in their new settlement areas similar to the ones faced in places they come from and this degrades the social structure.
Köksal added that diseases that were unknown to exist in Adana were discovered with the project implemented by the Çukurova University Faculty of Medicine Tropical Diseases Research and Application Centre. In the near future cases of tuberculosis are expected to increase.
The side event on “Water Related Adaptation in the Seyhan River Basin” provided a platform to share experiences on sustainable and replicable solutions on adaptation to climate change on a basin scale during the 2nd Istanbul International Water Forum which had the motto of regional water challenges and solutions.
The introductory meeting was held at university’s Beyazıt Campus on May 5th in cooperation with Faculty of Economics of the University of Istanbul.
As Prof. Nihal Tuncer shouldered moderating the session; Assoc. Prof. Türkan Turan participated in the session as a guest speaker.
The 2010 Human Development Report entitled “The Real Wealth of Nations: Pathways to Human Development” has been introduced at nine universities.
How did it start?
The last Human Development Report was first introduced on November 4th, 2010 at Middle East Technical University, simultaneously with the rest of the world.
The tour continued with introduction meetings held at Harran University of Şanlıurfa on November 26th, Akdeniz University of Antalya on December 8th, then respectively in Adana and Kars.
The activity organized in conference hall of Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences of Çukurova University was on January 13th, 2011. The Human Development Report was introduced in Kars at Kafkas University, on January 17th, 2011.
The report was introduced at Anadolu University in Eskişehir on April 22nd and at Ondokuz Mayıs University in Samsun on April 25th.
The topic of this episode is a beautiful goddess which left her mark in ancient history of Southeastern Anatolia: Argande.
UNDP Turkey: Hello, this is the New Horizons Podcast of United Nations Development Programme Turkey. The topic of this episode is a beautiful goddess which left her mark in ancient history of Southeastern Anatolia: Argande. More precisely, a project using the name of Argande: Innovations for Women's Empowerment in Southeast Anatolia… How is the name of the Goddess Argande used, and more importantly what relation does it have with women’s empowerment? We will discuss these with our contributor. Ms. Gönül Sulargil, welcome.
Gönül Sulargil (G.S.): Thank you.
UNDP Turkey: You are the manager of Innovations for Women's Empowerment in Southeast Anatolia Project. If you would like, before talking about the project, let us discuss Argande a little bit. Who is Argande, what is the relationship between her and eastern Anatolia? Could you tell us a little bit?
G.S.: Actually, you have already said it, Argande is the goddess of beauty of the Kingdom of Commagene, and she symbolizes power and prosperity in the southeast. More precisely Nemrut... Commagene is a civilization in Nemrut.
UNDP Turkey: Somewhere around modern day Adıyaman and the surrounding area...
G.S.: Yes, let me explain for those who do not know. Argande is one of the sculptures on Mount Nemrut.
UNDP Turkey: Is it?
G.S.: Yes, if you go there, please have a look at them. One of those is Argande.
UNDP Turkey: Mount Nemrut is one of the highest mountains of the southeast and it overlooks the entire region. Thus choosing her name is very meaningful for such a project, since it is a women's project.
G.S.: Of course. Research was done while looking for a name for the project. This name, Argande, was discovered by one of our volunteers, Ms. Yeşim Demir, who works at Demir Tasarım (Demir Design), who created our corporate identity. She did all the designs.
UNDP Turkey: There is a trademark established under this name. I think we have aroused interest about the trademark. Let us clarify what we have been talking about. What is the Argande that you are representing?
G.S.: Our Argande is a fashion trademark, established by voluntary support of the most important designers of Turkey.
UNDP Turkey: We all know that Turkey has some deficiencies regarding women’s empowerment in southeastern regions and women there are unemployed. You aim to empower women there with your project. How did you start your project and how did the idea of Argande come out?
G.S.: While starting this project, Argande became a sub outcome of our project; it is a sub-project of Innovations for Women's Empowerment in Southeast Anatolia Region Project. We decided that we needed to create a brand for the things that the women of this area were producing, establish a corporate identity and develop of marketing strategies.
UNDP Turkey: Actually a garment trademark was created, composed of what southeastern women produce.
G.S.: Yes, at first we did not think of having a fashion trademark, we actually wanted a trademark; but when we got deeper and deeper we realized other dimensions. We wanted the support of fashion designers. We should mention the names of the designers who we work with.
UNDP Turkey: Turkey’s important fashion designers...
G.S.: The most important fashion designers. They are very active.
UNDP Turkey: Shall we name some of them?
G.S.: We work with the coordination of Ms. Hatice Gökçe who is our designing coordinator. We have eight other names. Mehtap Elaidi, Deniz Yeğin, Gamze Saraçoğlu, Simay Bülbül, Alex Akimoğlu, Günseli Türkay, Rojin Aslı Polat –who designed most of the last collection – Hakan Yıldırım...
UNDP Turkey: There are many famous names. If you enter argande.com, you can see them all. This is designing dimension. You gathered many parties. You enabled volunteers to meet women in that region. Of course there is Southeastern Anatolia Project Administration involved, and the other one is United Nations Development Programme Turkey. Could you tell us about how you finance the project?
G.S.: SIDA supports us financially. SIDA is Swedish International Development Agency.
UNDP Turkey: Products produced became reachable for buyers and consumers in Turkey in cooperation with a fashion trademark. Talking about the background might be beneficial. The reason of why this project was created can be understood when the rate of participation of women in the labor force in Turkey and rate of unemployment in the region are analyzed. What is the situation in that region?
G.S.: Turkey is far behind the European Union countries when the rate of participation of women in the labor force in Turkey is analyzed. We all know this. The rate is 19.9 percent, if I am not mistaken. This rate decreases to four percent when we go towards the east.
UNDP Turkey: Only four women out of 100 work and earn money.
G.S.: Our project aims for social and economic development in the Southeastern Anatolia Project region; yet we give importance to the economic dimension of it; because these are the needs of the region. Of course there is a social dimension; yet if you correct the economic dimension, the social dimension will automatically be corrected. These trigger each other.
UNDP Turkey: You formed a trademark, inspired from the cultural heritage of that county and accomplished many things. It would be good to talk about what you have done. In which cities, counties did this production process begin? It started with ateliers and now?
G.S.: There are so many things that it is hard to explain. At first the idea was “designers design, we will have them manufactured by women”. This was the core. We talked to designers, and they said “we will do this voluntarily”. They are all members of the Association of Fashion Designers. We had the approval; but we had to find somewhere to sell. MUDO was the first place that came into our minds and met with MUDO. Why? Because MUDO is an important trademark, a firm with a large network and good quality; that is why we went to MUDO first. We shared this project with its executives and they said “why not; but we still need to see the collection”. The task became serious at that point.
UNDP Turkey: You gave the responsibility to designers in a sense.
G.S.: Yes, we told them and they designed clothes. Prototypes were made. It was a perfect collection…and we shared it with the sales officers of MUDO and they gave the first order for clothes. The scale of the order could not be underestimated and we started to understand the gravity of the task. We were really thrown by this actually.
UNDP Turkey: Women started producing and manufacturing.
G.S.: No; we questioned how to we were going to produce them all; because to keep a certain standard and a certain level of quality is not very easy. We knew about the existing conditions of ateliers and the women's skill levels there. Reaching that quality was very difficult. That is why we requested İTKİB’s support.
UNDP Turkey: İTKİB is the General Secretariat of Istanbul Textile and Apparel Exporters’ Association...
G.S.: We requested İTKİB to send its container to Batman; we chose Batmen because it is one of the cities where women intensively have problems and there is intensive poverty. Our project covers nine cities in Southeastern Anatolia Project. We do not need to list them, I guess everybody know them.
UNDP Turkey: It is a project containing poor cities of southeast – the poorest cities of Turkey.
G.S.: Actually not all of it is poor; you can easily exclude Antep. There is a container of İTKİB here too. They are very good at sewing training. That is a huge truck; they brought it to Batman and deployed it in the garden of ÇATOM in Batman. Everything started there. Everybody said “a business will be started up here”, although we did not tell anybody. We had interviews and chose 40 girls. They had training and then started to work at the atelier.
UNDP Turkey: You worked with many women and girls who earned money for the first time in their lives.
G.S.: I can tell their stories which are very sorrowful...
UNDP Turkey: We actually have limited time; we need to wrap up. You came to the factory phase from a simple atelier phase. Let us skip over this part and discuss what Argande is doing now?
G.S.: As of today, there is a trademark identity called Argande. If you search argande, you will find many results of our work.
UNDP Turkey: You will find hundreds of results. I would like to give a few examples; for instance, it is possible to find Argande on websites such as Markafoni, Trandyol.
G.S.: Products are sold at 15 MUDO branches.
UNDP Turkey: This is a project constituting an example and involving many innovations. There is the voluntary dimension. In the meantime, when you search on Google, you said Istanbul Fashion Week…
G.S.: We had a fashion show twice there. Let me tell you about these. The first was in February 2010 at Istanbul Fashion Week. the team of Istanbul Fashion Week supported Argande and there was a professional fashion show with the support of volunteers involving music, lights, models, and agencies. We need to thank each of them separately; but we do not have enough time.
UNDP Turkey: This is a project which reflects the hope and efforts of women from southeast. You can find Argande products at MUDO shops, everywhere in Turkey and on argande.com; and I know you have a wide spring-summer collection. Let us end our programme by highlighting this. Thank you very much for joining us Ms. Gönül Sulargil. Manager of Innovations for Women's Empowerment in Southeast Anatolia Region Project, Ms. Gönül Sulargil was our contributor. We have come to the end of the New Horizons Podcast of United Nations Development Programme Turkey. This podcast has been recorded at studio of Radyo İlef of University of Ankara. You can follow our podcasts on Açık Radyo (Open Radio) on FM frequency, on university radios in our broadcasting network, or on the internet on undp.org.tr, on iTunes as podcast format, as well as on YouTube in video format. Our username on social media is undpturkiye. Hope to see you next week, good bye!
The topic of this episode is the rarely-seen Anatolian lynx, which was photographed a while ago in Kars. We will talk not only about lynxes; but about all big predatory mammals living in Anatolia.
UNDP Turkey: Hello, this is the New Horizons Podcast of United Nations Development Programme Turkey. The topic of this episode is the rarely-seen Anatolian lynx, which was photographed a while ago in Kars. We will talk not only about lynxes; but about all big predatory mammals living in Anatolia. There is an association we have heard about quite often recently, and it aims to protect wildlife in northeastern Turkey, and the GEF Small Grants Programme (SGP) under United Nations Development Programme is also supporting the work of this association. We will discuss the details with our guest, who is an expert from this association. Welcome, Mr. Emrah Çoban. He is Science Coordinator of the Northern Nature Society and qualified biologist, and Ms. Gökmen Argun, who is the National Coordinator of GEF or namely Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme, welcome to you as well.
Emrah Çoban (E.Ç.): Thank you.
UNDP Turkey: First of all I do want to mention the name of the programme, more precisely, of the project. This project, you work for, has a long name. Conservation of Carnivore Species, Reducing the Large Carnivore-Human Conflict and Developing Wildlife Tourism in Kars Project… Quite a comprehensive name. The reason behind the interest of the Turkish press in this project has been the photographs of lynxes. These lynxes were photographed during the winter months that have just passed, and has now been seen only in Antalya. Let’s start with this, if you like; then we can talk about the background behind this project, the financing, how it was created and developed etc. But first, lynxes are alive in Kars and you tracked them down, what kind of a process was it to get these photographs?
E:Ç.: Of course it was a difficult process. We are working in Sarıkamış Allahuekber Mountains National Park; it is approximately an area of 243 hectares. By placing warmth and motion sensor machines, what we call photo-traps, we were trying to find the transit points of these animals, and after finding these transit points, we worked to uncover their movements and how much close contact they have with humans. From one of these photo-traps, we only managed to capture a phograph of a lynx and its young – that was the first photographic record taken in Kars. Because lynxes hunt at night, they were hardly seen in the daytime. Of course, we managed this in Kars, too. We have repeated this every year, since 2006, in the calendar we publish in collaboration with SGP. A person by chance saw the lynx picture we put on the calendar, and sent us lynx videos he has taken in nature a week ago. We have shared these with the press. Of course, this is a great thing.
UNDP Turkey: Actually, he may not be aware that this is a very rare thing he has captured on video.
E:Ç.: Of course he is not. The calendar had increased his awareness, but we have never regarded it just as a calendar. It is very valuable because it captures people’s attention immediately. Thanks to the calendar, he brought these recordings to us and I think it was the only lynx video has been recorded in the last ten years and so it was very valuable for us. Because, eventually, this was the one of the aims we want to reach; to teach people how to treat wild creatures in their region – because the person who shot this video was actually a hunter.
UNDP Turkey: When did he capture the video?
E.Ç.: Video was captured two months ago, and in the same week with this capture, we were informed that two lynxes were killed by hunters. We see that as the number of such studies increases, hunters become more conscious and the emergence of these kind of images or videos are actually useful.
UNDP Turkey: These are images have been taken in the first months of 2011, right?
E.Ç.: Yes, it was taken in the first months of 2011. In the meantime, two lynxes were shot in Tunceli by hunters.
UNDP Turkey: I wonder how many lynxes there are in Anatolia.
E.Ç.: We don’t know this yet. Currently we are investigating this, I mean; this is actually a large project. We do not know how big the population is, that’s why we are unable to put into action a protection activity. In Turkey, we only know that in our area of work, there is one lynx and two young. We can not go beyond that, but by looking at the size of area a model can be projected, but for that we need to work more in Sarıkamış and Eastern Anatolia.
UNDP Turkey: We will come back to this issue soon. The photo-trap idea is worth explaining I think, how it works and so on. We will also look other predatory animals; but I would like to turn to the other dimension of work, to Ms. Gokmen. Global Environment Facility Small Grants Program supports this work. What kind of cooperation are you in; how did you find each other?
Gökmen Argun (G.A.): GEF Small Grants Program has been active in Turkey for 16 years. We know very well the people who work in Kuzey Doğa, we follow very closely their studies on Kuyucuk Lake. They brought forward a project prepared from their studies. The content of the project is about mammals, especially about predatory mammals. They came up with a project that set out the characteristics of the region, and the project showed that some activities could take place to solve the problems of the region, and that this could be achieved with the participation of local people. Knowing the scope of the project and their experiences on the subject, we supported them at both national and international level; we supported them in issues such as the budget, and we are working together on developing the project. They had already prepared some of the project, they came to us with it ready to go. Because it complies with our strategic priorities, we supported them.
UNDP Turkey: You began to work in a partnership with the Northern Nature Society.
G.A.: The project the Northern Nature Society has brought to us includes protection of mammals; but the most important thing is that the problems they experienced in their area are about the population. Since they present solutions which can pose examples to eliminate the conflict between humans and predators, and they are applicable elsewhere in Turkey...
UNDP Turkey: For example, issues such as hunting, right?
G.A.: Yes, there are very interesting topics among what Mr. Çoban has said. There are dimensions of these activities such as the recording of these animals in Turkey, the internalization of this issue by hunters, raising the awareness of local people, their inclusion in the process and on a larger scale, the beginning of ecotourism in the region. It is a search for a complete solution and we thought that one of the best examples of this search for a solution can be found in Kars.
UNDP Turkey: You are in the head of GEF Small Grants Programme, and this explains why it focuses on Kars. Accordingly, this project is being carried out in a limited area. The first pillar is to protect predatory species; the second, as you just mentioned, is to prevent conflict between humans and large carnivores, and finally to develop wildlife tourism that relies upon these predators… The project has three pillars. Mr. Çoban, I would like ask you. Earlier you mentioned photo-traps; perhaps it may be useful to explain this more.
E.Ç.: As the name implies, it is a 'trap' with warmth and motion sensors that trigger the camera. We set up the machine in an area – we especially identify areas where our target species, like bears, wolves and lynxes may pass. When they pass there, the machine automatically turns on and takes photographs and shoots video.
UNDP Turkey: Does it capture all kinds of living things or can it recognise other things?
G.A.: It cannot recognise humans. The machine is set up according to the size of the passing animal; I mean, for a wolf you set it up at a height of 50-60 cm. For a grizzly bear you rise to a meter. For this reason we can only define wild animals. This machine does not pose any danger to human beings.
UNDP Turkey: Or to animals.
G.A.: Or to animals, because it works with an infrared sensor. Besides, animals do not notice the machine. The machine just takes photographs. There is no sound and light emitted by the machine. Then between fifteen day periods we change the memory cards and batteries, and the locations of the machines and collect more data.
UNDP Turkey: The machine takes photgraphs of these animals and of the rarely seen lynx as they pass by the camera. It was published in many places in Turkey, right? It is the first time in Turkey that the videos of these animals came up. Let’s put Lynxes to one side for now. There are bears in this region of course, and other predatory species as well. Let’s touch upon these. As we mention big predatory mammals, we shall ask, which living species there are in Turkey?
E.Ç.: We can rank the grizzly bear, wolves, lynxes and pigs as the main ones. These are creatures which have conflicts and problems with human beings, and are actually animals in our targets. Because our main target is to protect ourselves. I do not want to be misunderstood; with this project, we try both to protect wildlife and to secure ourselves. Because as we enlarge our living areas, we enter into spaces of these wild animals and we are forced into conflict. They harm us and the next day, we harm them. There is a cycle of conflict. Our aim with SGP, and what we have been doing is trying to find where this conflict starts. Where is the conflict and what are our problems? We had a survey with 700 people in 17 villages around the National Park, and every village has its own problems. Of course every area will have their own solutions. We go there and tell them these solutions. We have things we want them to do, and in this way we will enable them to have their own solution strategies.
UNDP Turkey: Actually you have come to an important result which has lead to one way to decrease conflict. Within the scope of your project, you mention the wild life corridor. What is this? How will they be formed?
E.Ç.: Yes, this is actually a new term used in Turkey, and in the world. Such corridors are – if we touch upon the Sarıkamış Region specifically– pathways formed between squeezed forest blocks in order to allow the wild life population to move around.
UNDP Turkey: This means there is a settlement site in between. There are a part of forest, a region where people live and wild animals are living in squeezed places.
E.Ç.: Yes, this causes the variety of genes of these animals to change; because there is then reproduction between families and this causes generational defficiiences. In order to prevent this, we try to move these animals through the corridors we form to move them above the Kaçkar Mountains, in order to cause the lowest amount of harm for both human beings and animals – actually these forests used to exist above the mountains, but we had destroyed them. These is a legend in Sarıkamış; squirrels used to go to Hosaf from Sarıkamış without touching the ground; yet now, since these forest blocks are separated, the animals are stuck inside these blocks.
UNDP Turkey: When this corridor is formed, wild life will be able to move freely between different regions. When will visible outcomes of this project be seen? When will you start to see results other than the photos you took?
E.Ç.: The corridor project is still in the planning stage. We, together with both General Directorate of Forestry and Ministry of Environment and Forestry, now have to form the infrastructure. This is a long process. It can take five to ten years; because trees have to grow in the area. Each year there will be organized analysis of how it is developing– we are willing to pursue this with SGP. This will be a corridor started with SGP, because we want SGP to be involved in the process. Especially analysis on whether this project will help people or not, this is a very important point as well.
UNDP Turkey: We hope that your cooperation continues and enhances your outcomes. Thank you very much for joining us. Mr. Emrah Çoban, Science Coordinator of Northern Nature Association ad Ms. Gökmen Argun, GEF-SGP (Global Environmental Facility - Small Grants Programme) National Coordinator were our contributors. We have come to the end of the New Horizons Podcast of United Nations Development Programme Turkey. This podcast has been recorded at the studios of Radyo İlef of University of Ankara. You can follow our podcasts on Açık Radyo (Open Radio) on FM frequency, on university radios in our broadcasting network, or on the internet on undp.org.tr, on iTunes as podcast format, as well as on YouTube in video format. Our username on social media is undpturkiye. Hope to see you next week, good bye!
The topic of this episode is Small Investments Fund for Local Implementations on Economic, Social and Environmental Services of Forests Project.
UNDP Turkey: Hello, this is the New Horizons Podcast of United Nations Development Programme Turkey. The topic of this episode is Small Investments Fund for Local Implementations on Economic, Social and Environmental Services of Forests Project. This year is also the “Year of Forestry”. I wonder how knowledgeable we are on this topic. What is the status of Turkey in this area? What are the contributions of United Nations Development Programme to Turkey’s efforts in this area? We will discuss all these issues with our guests. Welcome, Mr. Nuri Özbağatlı.
Nuri Özbağdatlı (N.Ö.): Thank you.
UNDP Turkey: You are the manager of Small Investments Fund for Local Implementations of Economic, Social and Environmental Services of Forests Project. We have a guest from the General Directorate of Forestry. Ms. Emine Ataş, you’re welcome as well. Ms. Ataş is Director of the Branch of External Relations in the General Directorate of Forestry. First, Mr. Özbağatlı, I would like to start with you. This project you work for has a long name, I’ve just said it twice. Actually, it ends with “Small Investments Fund”. “Small Investments Fund for Local Implementations of Economic, Social and Environmental Services of Forests”… First of all, let’s start with explaining what “Small Investments Fund” is . Then, we will discuss the forests issue in more detail.
N.Ö.: The name is small; but its effect is large. Actually, it is an investment programme that has been implemented by Baku Tbilisi Ceyhan Crude Oil Pipeline (BTC Co.) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) since 2004.
UNDP Turkey: Since 2004?
N.Ö.: Two phases have been implemented since 2004. We have given out funds to organisations such as civil society organizations in the region, local authorities and even private companies, which work on topics such as biological diversity, sustainable development and energy efficiency.
UNDP Turkey: Supporting them in carrying out their projects…
N.Ö.: Exactly, and this year we started the third phase. In this phase we cooperate with the General Directorate of Forestry that administers biologically diverse forests that cover 27 percent of Turkey. As UNDP Turkey, in the third phase, our project partner is BTC.
UNDP Turkey: Let’s clarify: BTC means Baku Tbilisi Ceyhan Crude Oil Pipeline.
N.Ö.: Our co-operation began with General Directorate of Forestry, which is the supervisor of the project, we are the implementer.
UNDP Turkey: You said General Directorate of Forestry administers 27 percent of Turkey, at this point; I would like to ask Ms. Ataş; does 27 percent of Turkey consist of forests?
Emine Ataş (E.A.): Yes, 27 percent of Turkey consists of forests. We are very rich in terms of the amount of forest we have in Turkey. As with our geography, because it is like a continent of its own, our forests are large and most parts are natural and contain biological diversity.
UNDP Turkey: Are there also unnatural forests as well?
E.A.: Of course, for example like other industrialized countries if you destroy all of your forests, and then you form plantation forests by reforestation, then you will have unnatural forests.
UNDP Turkey: Turkey has another fascinating feature; the percentage of the surface of Turkey that is covered by forests continues to grow, right? I would like to ask you, how is this possible?
E.A.: Of course, there are many reasons for this, first one is migration, as you know rural-urban migration is a problem; but it is an advantage for forestry. This is the most important reason for the increasing amount of forests. The amount of villagers that live in forests has now decreased and so the impacts on forests of this population is now less. The problems that we struggled with before, such as smuggling, or people planting fields of crops without permission, have dcreased, because we already have fields that produce an adequate amount of crops, and so as a result these areas now become forests.
UNDP Turkey: Actually, most people may think that our forests are decreasing because of the great forest fires take place every year – which is of course a real danger, but when we look at the bigger picture there have been bigger factors than this affecting forestation… What are the factors that affect forests other than migration?
E.A.: One other factor is the diversification of energy resources, for example the widespread use of natural gas… And of course what happens in the international markets also has an effect. There is no more illegal use of resources, because raw materials like wood and paper can be imported into the country cheaply. This is another factor.
UNDP Turkey: The need for wood used in industry is met through imports so it decreases the threat.
E.A.: Yes.
UNDP Turkey: If we continue to talk about the project now; what will we see happen in the coming period? Because this is quite a new project, it only started in March. What is the plan for your project in the future?
N.Ö.: What we want to do with this project, I mean, the General Directorate of Forestry carries out some of the best work in the world in areas such as fire fighting and managing forest areas. We can say that we are number one in the world. On the other hand…
UNDP Turkey: The General Directorate is quite well known in rural areas but people in urban areas do not know that much about its activities I think, right?
N.Ö.: Yes, on the other hand, on the international level there are a number of very comprehensive activities that the General Directorate of Forestry is doing. In order to spread the word about these activities internationally, we are trying to create co-operative projects.
UNDP Turkey: What kind of activities for example?
N.Ö.: For example fighting fire is one of these, but I would like to point out that the name of the project highlights the economic, social and environmental values of forests. Actually, this is our way of classifying the values that we know that our forests have. We look the issue as a matter of sustainable development. But, on the other hand, when we say forest, we do not mean just a forest that is a means of producing wood. There are also villagers living in the forests. Actually the presence of forest villagers enriches forests. From wild life to mushrooms and woodpeckers, there are all components of the forests. For this reason, we want to make small implementations that will enrich the environments that they live in, enrich the natural wildlife and enhance the contributions that people make to nature in these forests.
UNDP Turkey: We are talking about the ecosystems as a whole. From seed and soil to trees, people living in the forest and the natural wildlife.
N.Ö.: Yes, while we are here at the moment, inside a recording studio we are also actually talking about an ecosystem that support us here in this studio as well. Forests are something that contribute to this as well. It is also important that while we are doing these activities, we also think about our long term cooperations. Even beyond this project, we will continue to develop international, national and local partnerships with the help of the General Directorate of Forestry. One of these collaborations, I would like to ask Ms. Ataş to talk about this, is a new project of ours that is being submitted to GEF 5 and will be implemented for the first time in the world.
UNDP Turkey: The project will be supported by the Global Environment Fund. Let us listen to you, Ms. Ataş.
E.A.: Before that, you said “international” and it was an accurate description. In general, our work is known in rural areas. Our activities of the General Directorate of Forestry, and Turkey’s abundance of forests are well-known in the world. In recent years, we have focused a lot of energy on this issue. For example, at the beginning of this year, as you know this year is the international year of forests, the United Nations Forum on Forests took place. We attended with the chairmanship of the Ministry with a committee, and this very significant meeting is held in New York in the United Nations building, and it will be held in Turkey in 2013. The General Directorate of Forestry is a 172-year old institution and has a well-established organizational structure. Most countries in the world face problems of deforestation because they do not have proper planning for their forests, but our country has been creating plans for its forests since the 1960's. This might be the reason why Turkey preserves its abundance of forests. About the project…
UNDP Turkey: Let us underline once more; this summit will be held in Turkey in 2013.
E.A.: It will be held in Istanbul, Turkey. Before we discuss the project, I would like to say that we hosted very significant international meetings last year and in recent years as well. As you know, forests and water are so important for our survival, especially as climate change is a huge threat for us. Water shortage is the biggest indicator of this. Coordination between forests and water is very important. A meeting of FAO which is headlined as “Forests and Water” will be held in Kastomunu this year. Other than that, a joint meeting of the European Forestry Commission will be held in October in Antalya. These are, of course, huge opportunities to increase our capacity, to introduce our forestry to the world and to develop co-operations with others.
UNDP Turkey: In terms of strengthening international awareness, these approaches highlight the international role of Turkey. Only a small number of people are aware of these activities. For this reason, it has been good to discuss this topic.
E.A.: Yes, Turkey also has really strong bilateral relationships with neighbouring countries in this region. For example, we hosted a committee from Bosnia-Herzegovina; we hosted committees from Lebanon and Kazakhstan. In Syria, we had the project for a Forest Management Plan, and this was selected and promoted as a success story out of twenty different projects conducted in different countries. For example, we are aiming to create a city forest in Bosnia-Herzegovina. We have discussed this from the beginning of the program; forests do not just consist of woods, their potential for recreational activities are also crucial. When you go into the woods, that feeling of relaxation has no comparison. We talked about migration, into cities and boring places that we all complain about; people now want to go to into forests on the weekends. For that reason, the idea of the city forest was born, and as the General Directorate of Forestry, we will create city forests in all cities hopefully during this year.
UNDP Turkey: So we can also note down the concept of the city forest. Very briefly, could you tell us about your co-operation with the Global Environment Fund?
E.A.: It is about the management of integrated forest areas; it includes climate change, biodiversity… As you know in the scope of the climate change agreement, we create an inventory every year, we report this internationally; this report contains info on how much carbon the forests in Turkey hold each year. It is a very comprehensive project, it covers areas in which biodiversity is protected. It will be an integrated project, it will have a budget of 28 million dollars, it is a five year project. So we expect it to be a project that remedies a lot of problems that Turkey and its forests has, and we are very excited about it.
UNDP Turkey: On the one hand, we have the project that we have been talking about since the beginning of this programme, on the other hand there is this project you have just mentioned, as well as the efforts on forestation. We understand that there is a lot of significant activities going on, even if we may not have heard so much about them. We have tried to contribute to spreading the word. Would you like to add something Mr. Özbağdatlı?
N.Ö.: Yes, as you know, UNDP Turkey, United Nations, we are working towards Millennium Development Goals, and as the General Directorate of Forestry, actually I think we will be able to reach not just one of these Millennium Development Goals, but several of them.
UNDP Turkey: It is not just environmental sustainability…
N.Ö.: Of course, because our forests and the richness of the people living in our forests are going to help us reach these Millennium Development Goals. So our co-operation with the Small Grants Project will continue, as well as with the huge project we mentioned just now that has a budget 28 million dollars. But this is not only a cooperation on this project, beyond that, this project will help forests in Turkey, it will help villagers in Turkey living in forests, and consequently it will help all of us to speed up to reach the Millennium Development Goals.
UNDP Turkey: I am sure the accomplishments driven from outcomes of various small projects you support will become evident soon. Thank you very much for your participation.
N.Ö.: Thank you so much.
E.A.: We thank you.
UNDP Turkey: Mr. Nuri Özbağdatlı, UNDP Project Manager and Ms. Emine Ataş, Director of Branch of External Relations at General Directorate of Forestry at Ministry of Environment and Forestry
The topic of this episode is a project named the “Seed Network”.
UNDP Turkey: Hello, this is the New Horizons Podcast of United Nations Development Programme Turkey. The topic of this episode is a project named the “Seed Network”. The project is carried out by Bugday Society for Supporting Ecological Livelihood and Association of Seed Depositories with a financial support of UNDP - Global Environmental Fund Small Grants Program. All the meetings have been held, goals like preservation of agricultural biodiversity and creation of a seed database are for a single purpose: to create a "Seed Network"… What do all these mean? We will discuss this with our guests. Özge Gökçe, she is a biologist and coordinator of GEF Small Grants Program. Welcome.
Özge Gökçe (Ö.G.): Hello.
UNDP Turkey: And Arif Şen, welcome to you as well. You are the project coordinator of Seed Network for Conserving Turkey’s Agrobiodiversity. Firstly, Mr. Şen, I would like to start with you. What does “Seed Network” mean, and which seeds will it consist of? What kind of project is this?
Arif Şen (A.Ş.): A “Seed Network” is a network that has been set up to preserve existing biodiversity. This is a network that includes many related institutions and aims to provide communication among these institutions. At the same time, it creates specific responsibilities. The practical responsibilities of it are seed warehouses that are established through these relationships. The warehouses are taking shape through regional responsibility. What and how can we protect these seeds, by creating regional databases of biodiversity, this is what we are working on.
UNDP Turkey: That might well lead to the creation of a map of biodiversity perhaps.
A.Ş.: Yes, one part of this project, along with creating these stores of seeds, will be to map the regional biologies of each area and see what kind of seeds are native to them.
UNDP Turkey: The name of your association gives us a small clue about this as well. In the scope of this project, you represent an association named as “Association of Seed Depositories” at the same time. Let us talk a bit about this. Not only seeds, but you describe your work as preserving local produce as well, right?
A.Ş: Preserving biodiversity and local culture is one of our aims, I mean, the seed is maybe a bit symbolic in some sense. We founded this project in order to bring together all of these cultural accumulations, the local tastes and so on, and preserve them as a whole.
UNDP Turkey: In fact, for you to create such a project the situation in Turkey must have been not so good. What is the lay of the land as you see it now?
A.Ş.: Compared to the past, up to 3 or 5 years ago, the situation is better now because current actors in existing seed network are generally quite sensitive, aware and have the capability to conduct this work. In the last two years, we have formed a chain of warehouses in Turkey. We have 33 warehouses. From the Aegean, Marmara, Black Sea and Mediterranean coasts to Ardahan, Kars, Erzurum, Erzincan, Malatya and Maraş, we have these warehouses. Each of them have a responsibility in their region…
UNDP Turkey: In fact, what you are saying is that things are not all that bad in Turkey then.
A.Ş.: Actually, it is not that bad among civil society organizations, but in terms of existing ones it is a bit problematic sometimes.
UNDP Turkey: We will come back to that soon. We will turn to the topic of GMOs, genetically modified organisms. At this point, I would like to address Ms. Gökçe. How does the meeting of the Global Environment Fund and this project take place, and how did your aims and the aims of the Depositories Association come together? Would you tell us a bit about this?
Ö.G.: Of course. One of the priorities of Global Environmental Fund is preserving agrobiodiversity. One of their studies focuses on the preservation of agro biodiversity. In this respect Turkey is a very important country. Turkey is part of a region that includes the Fertile Crescent, which is the motherland of most types of grains that are popularly consumed in the world. Therefore, preservation of local species in Turkey may well have a global impact on food production, even potentially providing global food security. So this was a very important point.
UNDP Turkey: You are talking about a global impact. What you are saying is that Turkey and Anatolia is motherland of most of the agricultural products and seeds as well.
Ö.G.: In addition to this, even if Turkey is not where these crops have originated from, most of these products have intergrated into our local biology very well. In this context, we know that a lot of new, and perhaps commercially not yet well known, species maintain their existence in our country and we believe that these should be preserved as well. But at the moment, our seed enthusiasts or seed depositaries have problems with legislation. In the current situation, there is a problem with sales of domestic crops. Any product needs to have a certificate in order to be sold, but it is not possible for domestic products to have this certificate.
UNDP Turkey: In this case, are we talking about a lack of legislation?
Ö.G.: We have the legislation. But there is no provision within the legislation that covers domestic crops. Therefore, they are left aside. This creates a risk for Turkey and for the world, because by using these crops less and by choosing these crops less, these crops face a risk of extinction. With extinction, traditional production techniques are also disappearing. Production knowledge is disappearing. In various regions, even culture is disappearing.
UNDP Turkey: All right Mr. Şen, why don’t producers prefer local seeds in the case of several products?
A.Ş.: The reasons they dont prefer these local crops is related to the markets and shelf life. Our local crops don’t have much of a shelf life. For example this is the problem with our vegetables. Second, it is very hard technologically to harvest our cereals. This is because traditional cereals, for example, our local wheat, grows very tall. New technology prefers much shorter wheat in order to be able to use a harvesting machine to collect it. The machine cannot harvest tall wheat. That’s why farmers have practically given up on traditional cereals. One of the main problems is the markets, the other is technology.
UNDP Turkey: With reference to these points, it is understandable why producers do not choose local crops. OK, what is the current condition of the market regarding genetically modified organisms? Does Turkey have a problem with GMO's at the moment?
A.Ş.: We have no problems with this legally. It is absolutely forbidden to plant seeds with GMOs. But beyond this, I mean, our topic here is beyond GMOs… What Im saying is that our industrially produced crops are very uniform.
UNDP Turkey: Can we clearly say that there are no seeds in Turkey with GMOs?
A.Ş.: Legally speaking, yes.
UNDP Turkey: But it might be in practice.
A.Ş.: I cannot know.
UNDP Turkey: There is also the question of patents. There is a legal dimension to this, right? Seeds need to be described and get patents. What is the process for this?
A.Ş.: Our current village seeds are not considered as seeds in the law. It is seen as a gene source for crops. For something to be described as a seed; it needs to be unique, uniform and historically settled. It needs to stay uniform as time goes on. In five years, it will grow in the same way, its shape will be the same, all of the crops will be the same height, and it will give fruit at the same time… This is how a seed is described. Since what is described does not create new types of crop, and does not evolve, the gene pool of this seed is much more condensed. The gene pool of our local crops is therefore much more diverse and richer. So it cannot be officially described as a seed, since it is constantly changing. Consequently, it is not possible to get a patent for something cannot be described. Only definable and commercially valuable things can get a patent.
UNDP Turkey: To highlight, seeds are not the only issue here. Even if our starting point is seeds or seed depositaries, there are a lot of subtleties such as the preservation of local productions and cultures, the maintenance of these traditions, and the recording of them, as well as the improvement of the seedbase. Your website is tohumagı.org. Those who want to can reach all the details from there. Thank you very much for joining us. Özge Gökçe, biologist and coordinator of GEF Small Grants Program and Ahmet Gökçe, the project coordinator of Seed Network for Conserving Turkey’s Agrobiodiversity were our contributors. We have come to the end of the New Horizons Podcast of United Nations Development Programme Turkey. This podcast has been recorded at the studio of Radyo İlef of University of Ankara. You can follow our podcasts on Açık Radyo (Open Radio) on FM frequency, on university radios in our broadcasting network, or on the internet on undp.org.tr, on iTunes as podcast format, as well as on YouTube in video format. Our username on social media is undpturkiye. Hope to see you next week, good bye!