User:Yudheyn/Genc Yesiller

Genc Yesiller (Turkish word groups, meaning : Young Greens) is a platform based on a young people who lives in Turkey and who have a ecological perception of life.

Genc Yesiller doesn't have an official identity at the date, which makes the organisation a sort of platform based on open membership and non-structural working scheme. The debate on the future identity of the organisation is still continuing.

The platform is not officially related to the Greens of Turkey but there is a organical relation between the two entity; common members, tools and political views are amongst the factors which are relying these last entity. But in the meantime, Genc Yesiller is not controled, nor managed by the Greens of Turkey.

History
Genc Yesiller is founded in late 2006, to build up relations with Federation of Young European Greens and Cooperation and Development Network Eastern Europe. The group lost its activity after a year, apart of some small activities realised randomly. In earyl 2009, some existing members of the platform and some new members of green movement decided to raise the group again.

Differents Areas of Work
After several meetings, 4 layers and areas of work are decided to constitue the organisation. Those areas reflects the differents ideas and approach to the topic amongst Genc Yesiller.

A subsidiary place for Young Greens
First of all, that is a non-official place for young people who couldn't (because of age limits) or wouldn't like to be a member of Greens of Turkey(Turkish : Green Party). According to the Turkish laws, to become a political party member, the person shall be over 18 years old, which makes younger people impossible to join to the party. In addition, it is considered as a place for young people who don't want to join the party for a reason or another; sometimes by principles, and sometimes to avoid an official relation to any official entity. So the platform aims to bring these people together, without any compromis.

Expanded Freedom
Secondly, Genc Yesiller is an independent platform for "young" actions, such as creative and not-always-very-legal-ones. These actions can carry the risk of being not-tolerated by Turkish green members, or mostly, these actions can be against code of conduct of a political party. So, Genc Yesiller is an open platform for the expanded freedom for all kind of actions. However, it severely exclude the usage of violence.

This layer also include the preparation and participation of workshops, seminars, conferences, festivals etc. and to co-operate on those ones with Federation of Young European Greens and Cooperation and Development Network Eastern Europe, as well as the other civil society entities, NGOs and platforms.

Place of Attraction for Other Youngs
Genc Yesiller did also want to be the principal actor and bridge between the ecological-green movement and other young people in Turkey. Their way of behavior and acts would reflect the young green approach to the differents issues; which would make easier to promote an ecological and green ideology in Turkey.

Solidarity inside the Party
Freedom of speech and expression is highly preserved between the Greens of Turkey, hence the young greens still wanted to use Genc Yesiller as a platform of solidarity of youth inside the party. It does means that it's a place for young people to prevent any "adult sovereignty", if it occurs somehow in the non-predictable future, according to the meeting' notes of Genc Yesiller, held at 21.02.2009

Structure and Members
Genc Yesiller is composed of 15 members at the date, who are from four different cities of Turkey : Istanbul, Bursa, Izmir and Ankara. The operational and unofficial center of Genc Yesiller is Yesilev (in Turkish, Green House) in Istanbul, Beyoglu.

They realised two meeting after the decision of re-structuring; one in Yesilev (in turkish, Green House) at 21.02.2009 by the participation of 12 members from 4 different cities marked above. The second one is realised two days after, to decide about the layers of the platform and to reach a consensus about short term projects.

Genc Yesiller didn't decide yet for any structure of the platform, which means that every decision until today is made in the meetings and by the participants. However, the discussion of being an official registered place with a written code of conduct or being a totally spontaneous and non-structured place is still continuing.

Ongoing Projects
Genc Yesiller are willing to participate on a seminar in Serbia about Minority Rights and Ethnical Conflict, organised by CDN (Cooperation and Development Network Eastern Europe) at the end of March 2009. In addition, the platorm is also willing to participate on a summer camp in Georgia in 2009 summer, hence the details aren't releaved yet. Lastly, they are planning to organise a summer camp about the promotion of ecological life, in 2010 summer, in Turkey.