Last September, AEGEE-Baki organised a Model United Nations (MUN) about Human Rights. It was directly connected with the Civic Education Focus Area (Aim 1, Objective 1) and the Spreading Europtimism Focus Area (Objective 3). For this reason, they were chosen as ACTive Local of the Month. We spoke to Vazifa Khalilli, PR Responsible of AEGEE-Baki, to find out more!

ACT: Which emotions did you feel when you were told that AEGEE-Baki was chosen as ACTive local of September?

Vazifa: At the end of a very busy and tiring day, it was really nice to know that AEGEE-Bakı was chosen as Active local of September. This totally made our day!

Why did you decide to organise this activity/these activities?

Model UN is a simulation of the United Nations where participants role-play delegations in representing a country’s position on a certain topic, and it is also directly connected with the Civic Education Focus Area and Spreading Europtimism Focus Area. On the other hand, it gave students the opportunity to use their creativity to find a resolution to the problem while enhancing their knowledge of politics as well as their public speaking and debating skills. MUN provided youth with a wide range of possibilities of debates in the following committee: UN Security Council.

What was the result of your activity?

Our conference gathered 15 delegates from different countries coming from all over Europe and the world. These delegates engaged in enlightening debates in our committee. In brief, the delegates were challenged to think outside the box and find solutions to the problems related to our society. Moreover, participants were not only members from AEGEE-Bakı, there were also non-AEGEE-Bakı members -which understandably describes that we were able to reach as many young people as possible.

How do you inform your members about the Action Agenda/Strategic Plan?

Actually, we inform our members about the Action Agenda and the Strategic Plan at our Local Training Courses and in some of the events organized by our working groups, in addition we used to have a project giving information about AEGEE, Action Agenda and Strategic Plan. Furthermore, we also inform our members on our social media accounts about open calls for the positions and projects in Europe where they can help to develop these areas and also get new experiences in AEGEE Europe too.

Do you have any other activities related to the Action Agenda/Strategic Plan?

As mentioned above, in Local training Courses we do some interesting activities related to the Action Agenda/Strategic Plan. Besides, every week during the summer, in our lovely office we came together in order to share our ideas and do some workshops related to that. Now, we are thinking about new, inventive activities which can also inform members about the Action Agenda/Strategic Plan in a different way.

Why should other locals organize activities related to the Action Agenda/Strategic Plan?

I think the most important thing in AEGEE for improvement is to share. Because, as a local, if you do not share missions and visions of AEGEE, clearly you just try to survive. In other words, without Action Agenda/Strategic Plan, you cannot be aware of anything and AEGEE cannot make a change. That is why we come to conclusions, make future goals for the Action Agenda/Strategic Plan and share them in order to make a change for a better future in AEGEE. If every local does what they have in their mind, we cannot say “Feel the AEGEE Spirit”, because that spirit is not felt anymore. Doing what you want does not change a thing. If we need to improve together, we need to act together.

Do you have any tips for organising thematic activities?

The tip that you need to organise something different, creative and amazing is not your only motivation; your motivation is also buinding a big, but also strong team like AEGEE. And for this big team, you do not only need to find people that work together. For that, you have to also find a team that trusts, shares and cares for each other!

Can you tell us a bit more about your local? (Founded in, members, active members, committees you have, etc.)

AEGEE-Bakı started its activities in 2004 and more than 1500 local students have been involved in different local and international projects. The main purpose of the organisation is to promote the European ideas by creating cooperation between Azerbaijani and European students. Since the academic year started we are in the process of gaining new members and currently we have almost 150 members. It is really wonderful that we can attract so many students from different faculties. For example, we have law students, economy students, engineering students etc. On the other hand, the AEGEE-Bakı Board consists of 5 board members(President- Farid Rahimov, Secretary&HR Responsible- Narmina Yolchuyeva, PR Responsible- Vazifa Khalilli, Treasurer&FR Responsible- Vusal Veliyev, Project Director&External Relations Responsible- Rashad Nazarli + 2 advisory board members- Orkhan Babayev, Kanan Atayev). Besides, we have also 5 working groups, namely Human Rights, Languages, Education, Sport and Entertainment, Culture. As board members, we are working on new, creative projects and giving motivation and inspiration to our lovely members every day.

Characterise your local in one sentence.  

A work of heart! 

Written by ACT

Our Member of the Month of December must be the youngest recipient ever. She is just 18 and she is the Public Relation Responsible of AEGEE-Bakı. We chose her because she was in charge of the “Love has no language” project, in the framework of AEGEE-Bakı’s Language Working Group.

The AEGEEan: Who is Shams?
Shams: I am Shams Mammadli, an 18 years old girl studying my third year of university in the World Economy Department. At the university we have a charity club and I’m involved in its projects. Usually in the mornings I have my classes, then I visit AEGEE-Bakı’s office. But in my leisure time I like walking, singing, meeting friends, reading and writing, making wishes and plans, watching movies and animations and so on.

When and why did joined AEGEE-Baki?
I joined AEGEE-Bakı in April of last year. I was looking for an organisation in order to be more active and a friend of mine, who is the current president of AEGEE-Bakı, suggested to become a member. At first, it was just an interesting place, yet soon I felt the famous AEGEE spirit and quickly it became a part of my life.

You are the Member of the Month of December. How does it feel?
Actually, I was not expecting this. When friends started to tag me in a Facebook post, I just couldn’t understand what was going on. And when I realized it, I jumped for joy. It felt good!

You are in the Language Working Group (LWG) of AEGEE-Baki and coordinated the “Love has no language” project. What is the project about?
When I first became the LWG coordinator, I was thinking about something new and beneficial. So suddenly I had an idea about this project. As I have always believed in peace in love and its power, I came up with this idea. We worked for four months with our WG and visited different institutions for negotiations, luckily, most of them were supportive and we made it. The main point of our project was to demonstrate that we don’t actually need any words to share our love. We didn’t communicate by words with people having down syndrome, children with hearing disabilities or rescued street animals. All we did was just share our love and care and this made all sides happy. This way we all felt that we were doing exactly the right thing since we couldn’t find words to express our feelings after the visits. That’s how the final video was made.

You organised a sign language course. How important is the inclusion?
Before coming up with this idea, I had seen some social videos of this kind and always wanted to learn some sign language in order to understand the hearing and speech impaired people and their silence. We all knew that some people try to ignore or exclude them from society. But actually we didn’t do it for the ignorant, we did it for the hearing and speech impaired ones to show them we care. So we found trainers and they taught us a lot of things. It was not just the alphabet and common words in sign language, but also the feelings, lifestyle and standpoints of people communicating through this language. So, after the trainings, we made a final video and by sign language we told that we hear them.

What are your future projects in AEGEE?
As a member I want to make a project transferring complicated facts into simple and interesting videos with the help of our interested members. So that it will be beneficial for many people. Nonetheless, now I’m the new PR responsible in AEGEE-Bakı and most of my future plans are about this field. Actually it’s quite a different task, yet I’m trying to do my best for my local.

Last but not least, let’s do a small game. Explain you and your personality using the letters that compose your name.
Since we have one letter for ‘sh’ in our language, I’ll take it as one. Shams means Sun, so…

SHining
Ambitious
Merry
Smiling

 
Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Verona

One of the AEGEE locals that lies furthest to the east is AEGEE-Bakı, situated on a small peninsula in the Caspian Sea. You might think of them as a remote or different local, but nothing could be more wrong. If you spoke to them, you’d meet nothing but the most kind, open, and, above all, enthusiastic members, who organise the most amazing events. It just comes to show that, from the North to the Caspian Sea, Europe is everywhere. Let’s meet AEGEE-Bakı.

The AEGEEan: Could you tell us a little bit about AEGEE-Bakı?

AEGEE-Bakı: AEGEE-Bakı started its activities in 2004 and more than 1500 local students have been involved in different projects. It was registered by the Ministry of Justice on August 10th, 2007 . The main purpose of the organisation is to promote the European ideas by creating cooperation between Azerbaijani and European students. The number of members is about 100 and this number is increasing day by day.

Board members are Orkhan Babayev – the President, Anar Alizamanli – Treasurer and Fundraising Responsible, Elmin Allahverdiyv – Public Relations Responsible, Arzu Amirguliyeva – Secretary General and Human Resources Responsible, Khagani Gasimov – Projects and External Relations Responsible.

What are the most amazing things AEGEE-Bakı has ever organised? 

Every year, we, AEGEE-Baki, hold different kinds of festivals and events for both our members and international youth. One of the main and popular events is Novruz festival. Novruz – International Youth Festival- is the annual celebration of Novruz with the youth from all around the world. This project will give you a unique chance to experience different parts of NOVRUZ holiday, such as jumping over bonfires and running through the streets, banging on pots and pans with spoons and knocking on doors with your hats and bags to ask for little presents (sweets and candies) and tasting national cookeries, such as shekerbura, pakhlava, goghal and so on.

Do you often collaborate with AEGEE-Sumqayit, considering that you’re only 26 km apart? 

Yes, we collaborate almost with all AEGEE locals in Azerbaijan. The nearest one is Sumqayit and there is no distance when it comes to co-operation and future work for the better future society. We always share our thoughts and exchange our skills and practice with each other.

Azerbaijan is on the frontier of Europe and the Middle East. Does this shape the structure or culture of AEGEE- Bakı? 

AEGEE- Bakı is in the edge of Europe. Even though we are far from the closest areas of Europe, we have a lot in common with Europe. AEGEE took the borders away and brought the idea of unity and friendship, made an exchange of cultures, customs and traditions, knowledge and other aspects for all around Europe. We feel the AEGEE spirit even from the farthest part of the Europe.

Being on the edge of the geographical network of AEGEE, are there any challenges to organize trips or have other members of AEGEE visit Baku? 

We have been seen from the other parts of Europe too. Many AEGEEans every year visit our local and their main dream is to discover the Eastern Edge of Europe. We acknowledge them with the eastern European culture, traditions and this is the main exchange point of our cultures, thoughts, ideas and share these all with all around us.

We organise several events like Novruz-International Youth Festival, Summer University that are the main out of other projects. The main target is to invite the young AEGEEans to discover the eastern and mysterious part of Europe.

Is there anything else you would like to share with us? 

Currently, our working groups are implementing several upcoming local projects . In January we are going to have the local Agora. Because of that, we are busy with both a new upcoming Board elections and local projects.

Written by Willem Laurentzen, AEGEE-Nijmegen

Azerbaijan is one of those countries that people only visit when they have seen pretty much everything in Europe, but are too scared to go beyond Turkey for an insight of the Muslim world. Located in a perfect crossroad amid the Soviet legacy and the Islamic traditions, too open minded to be on one side but too different to be on the other, the land of fire is often seen in Europe as the strange neighbour who never says “hi”. Still, Azerbaijan has its unique spirit, although it is not for everyone…

Twenty seven of us AEGEEans were lucky enough to discover it during the Summer University organized between the Baku and the Gandja locals. For two weeks, Ukrainian blonde girls, huge Dutch guys, very loud Spanish and some crazy Hungarians, among many other nationalities, tried to blend in with the gentle-mannered Azerbaijani people. Of course, it was an impossible mission, since our presence was easily spotted anywhere we went.

Our Summer University chose as motto “Come and see the AzerbAEGEEnian dream!” and aimed to open a window to this very specific part of the world. Somewhere between the modernity brought by the petrodollar and the traditions kept over the centuries, Azerbaijan shows its true colours only when you step out of the dream of big cities. Baku and Gandja have everything the rest of the country has not: they are clean, they are safe, they have nice green areas where to chill and all the necessary infrastructures to ensure a nice time to visitors. The rest of the country is sylvan, is difficult, is disorienting and is definitely slow paced.  But that is precisely where the fun is: in that contrast of us being cuddled in 5 starts hotels only to be thrown in the arms of Imodium to overcome the vomitacja katastrofa two days later.

Now, we feel like survivors and we only remember the good times, which were by far more than the uncomfortable ones. Both Baku and Gandja organizers struggled for us to have a great time in their country, succeeding indeed. They were patient guides, resourceful interprets, friendly lecturers and adventurous buddies. In their hands, we tried the haute cuisine of the Shaki region -no irony here!-, we learned some traditional dances with an overenthusiastic teacher, we visited some nice historical sites, as the UNESCO-recognised Qobustan settlement, and we put our life at risk taking pictures of the military by the border with the Nagorno Karabakh disputed area -yes, irony here-. But many of us will remember the camping by the lake in Quba as the best experience of this SU, since it allowed us to disconnect from the chaotic cities in a beautiful spot without losing the AEGEE party spirit. Again, contrast blending in perfection.

The Southern Caucasus is a rich area itself, but each of the three countries constituting it has its own idiosyncrasy worth to be discovered. However, you may need somebody to guide you through a process that has not proven to be easy, due to that in-between situation that makes them close to us in a great distance. From my experience, there is no better way to delve into these peculiar features than with the expertise of the AEGEE people…

Written by Alessia Calderalo García, AEGEE-Madrid

As part of the new action called GO GREEN, organized by the Environmental Working Group (EnWG), several locals all over Europe took part in the AEGEE Bike Week. The AEGEEan spoke to Elise Bessieres (AEGEE-Brussel/Bruxelles), HR responsible of the EnWG and therefore one of the initiators of the Bike Week, to find out more about the story behind this event and the specific actions performed by the antennae.

The main goal was easy: to raise awareness of sustainable methods of urban transportation. And, in the best case, to combine it with sports and fun for the locals, of course. Instead of giving long speeches about the disadvantages of travelling by car, AEGEEans were therefore asked by the EnWG to set a good example and hop on their bikes.

The time frame was set for the end of June, a month in which the focus within GO GREEN was set on green transportation anyway. It fitted perfectly, being “an easy and fun activity during summer, where a lot of people are outside and travel”, Elise tells us. To activate more members, especially taking into consideration that June is quite often in the middle of the exams period, the AEGEE Bike Week actually lasted for two week, giving the locals more time to organize their activities.

In general, the locals were quite free in their choices concerning what exactly they were going to organize. Ideas given by the EnWG ranged from smaller events just for the members of the locals to bigger events that might even involve the public. Encouraging members to use their bikes to go to university, bike trips to nice landscapes, exchanges with other antennae by bicycle or “free rent AEGEE bikes”, meaning that locals offer people the possibility to rent their bikes for free instead of driving, were just some of the inspirations given by the EnWG. As long as the events centered around this sustainable method of traveling, everything was allowed and new ideas were welcome!

In the end, many locals indeed became quite creative. For instance, AEGEE-Kastoria co-organized a bicycle trip around lake Orestiada on 15th of June together with other voluntary groups to raise awareness of violence against women. Many other locals arranged trips with their members and a lot of pictures of cycling AEGEEans popped up on social media within the last weeks. The precise number of participating antennae is not known, but every single event surely earns the Network’s respect.

All in all, the AEGEE Bike Week was quite a success, Elise tells us. “Especially because we organized a picture competition. It was a nice way to also promote the locals who participated as we posted their pictures on Facebook”. These photos are the best proof to show that promoting a sustainable way of transportation does not have to be boring, but can offer lots of fun.

It is not definite yet if the AEGEE Bike Week will become an annual event, but Elise assures us that the current board of the EnWG will definitely suggest the idea to renew the event during every summer to the next board.

Written by Katja Sontag, AEGEE-Aachen

The locals that cooperated: AEGEE-Bakı, AEGEE-Bologna, AEGEE-Gdansk, AEGEE-Gliwice, AEGEE-Kastoria

The scope of conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh

South Caucasus is a historical region between Russia, Iran and Turkey shared by Azerbaijanis, Armenians and Georgians. Situated in its center Nagorno-Karabakh remained for a long time a unique example of common peaceful co-existence of several ethnics that do not have the same language, religion and views of common history, but lots of common cultural artifacts instead. Material and unmaterial things that were created by ethnosis or nation during its development. E.g for ancien Egyptians its papyruses, for Chinese people – porceilan, greeks – pottery. coins, but also poetry and literature as unmaterial items,  for turks – carpets, etc. Specifically in Karabakh there were lots of this things (inc. pottery, carpets, poems ) that were created by significant influences from both armenians and azerbaijanis.

In the beginning of  the 20th century the concept of regional multiculturalism met the raise of nationalism hastened by massacres and deportations of Armenians in neighbor Ottoman Empire. The treaty of Kars (1921) postponed the national tensions putting the whole South Caucasus (except several areas given to new born Turkey) under the Soviet Union dominance; Nagorno-Karabakh therefore was approved in territory of Soviet Azerbaijan Republic.

The multicultural region clashed in the end of 80s, during the disintegration of the USSR. The majority of Armenians in the Nagorno-Karabakh region claimed the rigth of self-determination as they opposed living under the Azerbaijani rule that they considered to be unfair. Pogroms (ed: plunderings/ violent attacks) of Armenians in Sungari and Baki accelerated the sad result – the Karabakh war started. From that moment a diverse land populated either by Azerbaijanis and Armenians met terrible examples of national conflicts: tensions of discrimination by nationalities, deportations, massacres of peasants in Maragi and in Khojaly. Azerbaijan´s population has left the region living now in IDP-camps of Azerbaijan as internally displaced persons. The whole Nagorno-Karabakh region and the surrounding areas were “occupied” (Azerbaijan point of view), “freed” (Armenian point of view).

Till now the tensions remain. The war was frozen in 1994, both sides stand on their positions and moreover the conflict is now often used for political reason to distract the view from ones local problems. National media is used to manipulate the view of locals and to amplify the hate, youth from both sides can’t meet each other except outside their home lands.

The Scope of conflict resolution meeting

The task of building the civil society for Caucasus starts from creating the common history that is impossible without oral histories exchange. Common values, power of personalities, seminars, trainings and workshops, non-formal Education – are effective measures help to deal with long term-conflict on youth level and facilitate the peace building process between two countries. Examples like the co-operation between young people from different cultures and backgrounds in this event are the best proof that it is not only possible but it could be quickly realized for active youth: to live in peace and co-operation in a more and more interconnected world.

In order to create a common base of communication, understanding and ensuring support from the authorities for our Students´ Forum and the locals in Caucasus, President Luis Alvarado Martinez, Projects Director Miguel Gallardo Albajar and Liaison Officer towards OSCE Alin-Florin Calin attended the Conflict Resolution Meeting as AEGEE-Europe’s representatives and took the opportunity to meet with the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijan Youth Foundation and Azerbaijan’s Youth Council (NAYORA). Future collaboration for new projects on conflict resolution was discussed, with a special focus on the situation of the region Nagorno-Karabakh.

Subsequently the Conflict Resolution Meeting, organized by AEGEE- Bakı, was officially opened from 7th to 11th of February in Baku. It united more than 30 young peacemakers from Europe, Caucasus and Middle East: from the Netherlands to Turkey or from Finland to Pakistan who met and discussed conflict resolution issues and presented their experiences. The participants enjoyed watching the traditional “1001 night” ballet at Baku Opera and Ballet Theater and the adventurous spirit of six hours travelling by minivan to the second largest city of Azerbaijan and runner for European Youth Capital 2016 – Ganja. The group met there with local NGOs and youth.

A big part of agenda took the topic about the conflict in Caucasus between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Experts from the Baku State University Dr. Altay Goyushov (PhD) and Mr. Azad Garibli (MSc) gave a historical insight into history of Azerbaijan and demonstrated the external influences in the region during the development of Azerbaijani nation that caused the current state of things. The influence of Russia especially was enlightened while discussing the situation in rebel regions of Ossetia and Abkhazia of Georgia. The speakers underlined the necessity of regional identity and common history for the peaceful and economically profitable future.

“There is a necessity of media regulation umbrella over the conflict zones” – told the author of the second workshop devoted to nationalistic media influence esp. on youth in conflict regions. His well accented necessity of bringing the people together in European mediation projects correspond well with AEGEE-strategy positioning youth as a stakeholder in conflicts. As one of the examples an author presented an AEGEE peace building project in Caucasus “Musicians without borders”, applied recently to several European foundations. Groups for each regional conflict worked on potential solutions to improve the situation in conflicts Nagorno-Karabakh, Georgia – Abkhazia – Ossetia and Israel-Palestine in order to find a way out from the conflicts. They gave a short introduction into the conflict they were discussing and their conclusions.

In any conflict there are peace-makers, who co-operate together to create a change agency for the societies. Such people arrived to Baku this time, students from Israel and Palestine who brought the idea of common co-existence in their NGO “YbY” to life, shown the presentation of the Israel – Palestine conflict. They did not agree with each other on everything but they have shown how open-minded people are able to understand each other and actively change friends, families and neighborhood attitudes. If each society gets to learn about their neighbors, their dreams, hopes and fears – people will become aware of the humanity of the other side.
Written by Nikolai Kazantsev, AEGEE-Moscow and Alin-Florin Calin, AEGEE-Europe Liaison Office.

Summer University is the main event which allows Europeans to feel the AEGEE spirit and to spend the summer holidays with participants from other AEGEE locals. This year AEGEE-Bakı and AEGEE-Sumqayıt decided to co-organise this project to show the beauty, the culture, the language and the history of Azerbaijan, which is why it was divided in two parts (Baku and Sumgait).

Experiencing the culture of Baku

First week of the Summer University took place in Baku and began with the arrival day on July 16^th. Green Rock Extreme Sport Complex was reserved for accommodation, and in the Baku part of this SU the participants took part in language courses, Azerbaijan Cultural night, shisha party, trip to Guba and Gobustan, as well as activities in Baku, such as excursion to important and historical places. Baku is the heart of culture and history of Azerbaijan, and this is why the majority of this SU was planned to take place there, but our participants also got the opportunity to go to Gobustan. Moreoever, culture and traditions of Azerbaijan were showed in Cultural night.

Heading towards Sumgait

The second week was organised in Sumgait. The hotel reserved for the participants was in Novkhani at the coast of the Caspian Sea and entertainment was planned for this part because of the strength-consuming previous part. On the other hand, some activities such as language courses, shisha party and sessions were repeated. In Sumgait, participants could get the chance to swim in the biggest lake in the world – the Caspian Sea and to see the third biggest city of Azerbaijan – Sumgait. Futhermore, participants represented their culture and traditions in European Night which has a very important position in the Summer Universities. Especially the last day has left special lasting memories in the hearts of the ones that were involved. Having already been enriched with great memories, the cherry on top was when professionals took their time to teach the folk dance and music of Azerbaijan to the attendees.

Written by Ilkin Zaka Khanishly, AEGEE-Bakı

At the Spring Agora Enschede, AEGEE welcomed new “babies” in its family – it ratified previous contracts of new locals and signed the Conventions d’Adhésion (CdA) from the latest Network Meetings, as well as the new ones.

However, among all the new locals, there was one which started its history long before Agora Enschede – AEGEE-Sumqayit.

The AEGEE Contact in Sumqayit was started in April 2011, right before Spring Agora Alicante, and during the year that passed until the signing of the CdA, the contact managed to organise more events than an average AEGEE local would in a few years.

Every month, the AEGEE Contact in Sumqayit had more and more surprises in its activity reports  – several presentations in a row at the biggest universities, the “Broad Hearts” Charity Campaign for children with heart diseases, the “Brain Ring” championship in Sumqayit schools, a round table for the “Human Rights Day”, the International Forum of Young Leaders, a big Youth UnEmployment Action Day, training camps and lots more – this was all done in the first 6 months after the contact was approved by the Comité Directeur.

“We want to make Sumqayit a center of youth in Azerbaijan,” said Azer Maharramov, the President of AEGEE-Sumqayit, during the first Skype meeting with me, their Network Commissioner. It sounded ambitious and unlikely to happen in such a short time… But it wasn’t the case with Sumqayit.

The city of Sumqayit was founded a little bit more than 60 years ago and now it is already the third largest city in Azerbaijan. Located on the shore of the Caspian sea, at a distance of 31 km from the capital, the city had all the chances to merge with the capital and become a part of Baku in a short time. However, this didn’t happen, and so far the city is developing very fast and independently, being a city of young people and youth activity.

Does this situation remind you of our new-born local? Indeed, AEGEE-Sumqayit started its development extremely fast, the same its city did many years ago, and it seems that there’s only a little bit left until it can become a big competitor of the oldest and biggest local in Azerbaijan, AEGEE-Baki. Competition? No way! Only friendship and extremely effective cooperation exists between those two wonderful locals and the clear evidence of this is the Summer University of AEGEE-Baki and AEGEE-Sumqayit, which they are organising together this summer.

Not for the first time, the whole AEGEE Network can observe the real boost of European activity in the geographically far located Caucasian region. One time we may call it an accident, two times – coincidence, but after the third time it becomes a rule. Welcome to our newest Caucasian miracle: AEGEE-Sumqayit!

Written by Olga Iatsyna, AEGEE-Dnipropetrovsk