Document Date: April 3, 1998
Posting Date:... April 12, 1998
From Eleftherotypia
by Thodoris Pyliotis
[ translated by Dimostenis Yagcioglu ]
Chios, 4/3/1997
Students from the Management Department of the University of the Aegean at Chios will have the opportunity to meet with Turkish students from Izmir, within the framework of an initiative by AIESEC, an international association for students interested in economics and management.
More specifically, two teams, a Greek one and a Turkish one, each consisting of 30 students, are going to have a series of meetings on issues of common interest, such as objectivity in the mass media in both countries, cultural similarities, etc.
The team of the Turkish students will stay in Chios from the 4th of April until the 8th; all the expenses of their trip and lodging will be covered by the University of the Aegean and by private companies sponsoring the initiative.
Their Greek counterparts will visit Izmir from May 2 to May 6.
"AIESEC has planned this program both in order to enhance the relations between the University of the Aegean and the Universities in Izmir, and in order to contribute to a change in perceptions and elimination of stereotypes between the two peoples," said Maria Iliadou, a member of that organization.
"Unfortunately," she continued, "we observe these stereotypes not just among the government officials of the two countries, and among the middle-aged and the elderly, but also among young people and kids, who are biased and reluctant to take a step toward the society on the opposite coast of the Aegean."
Iliadou also expressed her wish that this encounter be the foundation stone for more regular meetings.