Turkey hosts international youth camp on media

SAMSUN - Anadolu Agency

An international institution affiliated with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has kicked off a camp aimed at familiarizing young people with important concepts regarding journalism, the media and their role as youth leaders.

The Islamic Conference Youth Forum for Dialogue and Cooperation (ICYF-DC) launched the media camp on Sept. 17 in Turkey’s Black Sea province of Samsun.

The ICYF-DC Youth Media Summer Camp is co-organized by Turkey’s Youth and Sports Ministry, Higher Council for Youth and Sports of the state of Palestine and state-run Anadolu Agency.

A total of 70 youths from OIC regions, including 15 Palestinians, are participating in the week-long camp.

Among the camp’s objectives are to explore crucial elements of a reliable journalist’s craft, to learn to evaluate the reliability of sources and approach any information critically and to build the capacity of Muslim youth in terms of leadership skills and empower them through meaningful participation in the media.

The camp will also “create an atmosphere where they can discuss the most important youth-related problems in media participation in the region and produce solutions as youth leaders.”

Speaking at the event on Sept. 18, Palestinian Youth and Sports Minister Jibril Rajoub thanked Turkey and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for their support of his country.

“The biggest [form of] terrorism is denying the existence of the Palestinian people,” he said, adding the right way to achieve peace in the Middle East is for Israel to “realize our rights and to give them to us.”

Speaking at the same event, ICYF-DC President Elshad Iskandarov thanked Anadolu Agency.

He said participants would receive certificates at the conclusion of the camp.