5th NATO Afghan Students Forum - Istanbul, Turkey (18-22 Oct 2010)

Monday, 18 October 2010: The conference begins in Kadir Has University, Istanbul, Turkey!

I'm going to try to write about what went on during the conference in brief: the topics we discussed, the speakers etc. It's probably not complete as i don't have photos for some and it's not possible to document every single thing that went on! haha. So if IR/NATO/Afghanistan doesn't interest you, it might be a bit boring. But well, there's always photos to make it less so (:

International Relations in Turkish - our reserved tables during lunch at the university.

We were given our conference packages and nametags. Yes, Australia is part of the conference because it is a significant non-member troop-contribting nation to the NATO efforts in Afghanistan.

Dr. Alem Hammad, Consul, Afghanistan General Consulate, Istanbul, and Ms. Yeter Yaman, NATO Public Diplomacy Division

The first day was pretty much just the opening of the Forum. We had a keynote address on "Turkey's engagement in Afghanistan" by H.E Ambassador Tacan Ildem, Director General for Internaitonal Security Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, followed by a Presentation on Afghanistan by Afghan students and a panel discussion with the 2 guest speakers.

The day concluded with an inauguration of the photo exhibit on Afghanistan by the Turkish Cooperation and Development Agency along with cocktail. To be honest, i was too hungry to think about taking photos. haha but it was a good way to start getting to know the conference participants through all the mingling.

Tuesday, 19 October 2010: Introductory session: "The Afghan crisis, after seven years of engagement, where is NATO in Afghanistan? What is the situation in Afghanistan?"

We started the day really early at 9am! (That meant getting up at about 7 to have breakfast before going to the university)

However, in my opinion, it was a great start. We had a Panel discussion on "NATO's engagement in Afghanistan, its mandate, the evolution of its mission and the regional dimension" by Mr Daniele Riggio, Information Officer for Afghanistan and Central Asia, NATO Public Diplomacy Division. By far, one of the best and most engaging speakers i've heard.

Moderator: Dr. Dimitros Triantaphyllou, Kadir Has University, with Mr Riggio

Then we had 2 workshops on "Afghan perceptions on the role of NATO and neighbouring countries", and "Public opinion of countries engaged in Afghanistan". Workshops actually meant that us delegates of the conference were making the presentations. We were told beforehand which groups we were assigned to and so we were expected to coordinate and prepare a presentation for the Forum.

Wednesday, 20 October 2010: Session 2: "The regional context: 'Engagement of the neighbouring region'"

There was a VTC discussion between us in Istanbul, with the NATO headquarters in Brussels, Ministry of High Education in Kabul, and students from Heart University and Kabul University in Afghanistan. That was pretty cool, thanks to technology today.

Then there were 2 workshops in the day: One from Pakistan delegates, and another from the Central Asian delegates on their perception of the crisis. Followed by a panel discussion on the US engagement in Afghanistan with Mr Anthony Godfrey, Political Military Counselor, US Embassy in Ankara.

Thursday, 21 October 2010: Session 3: Building the Country: "Achievements and failures of the Comprehensive Approach and lesosns learnt on civilian-military cooperation"

It was the day of my group's presentation!! Happy to say we managed to finish preparing our presentation in time despite some obstacles along the way due to being located in 4 different countries and timezones.

Youth views on the international engagement in Afghanistan

Did i mentioned that the whole Forum was filmed by NATO Channel TV, and our dear Ruth is working on video now, will post it here once it's out! (:

During a Q&A

Then we had another workshop in the afternoon on "The role of women in peace operations and reconstruction", which sparked quite some debate. I have to say the frankness and openness added to the success of the Forum.

Friday, 22 October 2010: Last day of the Forum!

Though the days were long and tiring, time really flew by and it was the last and shortest day! We had one last workshop by the Alumnis of the Forum, and then a closing ceremony.

Closing Ceremony

I certainly learnt a lot from this Forum, especially through interacting with people that i never thought i would meet such as Afghans, Pakistanis, and the delegates from Central Asia. Everyone was fantastic, and so smart too! Of course, the Forum wasn't all just about work. All work no play makes Jack a dull boy! Will blog about all the cultural and fun events we experienced in the next post. I am so glad i got the chance to attend this Forum.

Thank you NATO's public diplomacy division and Kadir Has University for making this possible! (: