Turkey held its first 'Development Marketplace' earlier this month
May 20, 2005 -- When Hasan Dikyuva and Yusuf Kemaloglu stepped up to the podium and were awarded a $15,000 prize at a competition for great ideas, they were greeted with thunderous applause. Dikyuva, a young man in his 20s, could not hear the clapping – he is deaf. But the warm sentiments in the crowd, gathered by the World Bank and other sponsors in Ankara earlier this month, were plain to see.
He and his co-winner Kemaloglu, a hearing specialist at a public hospital, proposed to develop and systematically disseminate in the media a form of sign language which would be uniquely Turkish instead of the standard international sign language currently used. They received seed money for their project from a consortium of donors who awarded a total of $270,000 to 23 projects. 
| Turkey’s "Development Marketplace" was held at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara. |
The competition was part of the World Bank’s “Development Marketplace” program which seeks to identify and support innovative grassroots ideas and encourages the creation of partnerships between different types of people and institutions. In Turkey, the one-day event was held on May 3rd and triggered 765 competing entries from all parts of the country. The winning proposals were selected by a 21-person jury, chaired by Andrew Vorknik, the Bank’s Turkey Country Director. It brought together representatives of national and international organizations, governmental and non-governmental agencies as well as partners of the Bank in this project. Middle East Technical University, the Open Society Institute, the Union of Chambers of Commerce and Maritime Industry, the European Union Commission, MNG Kargo, Microsoft, Philips, the Wall Street Institute, Infomag, NTV and Yenibir.com all contributed to the event’s success. In his opening remarks, Vorknik emphasized the timeliness of a competition whose theme this year was ‘Social Progress and Inclusion on the way to Europe’. “At a time when the world is racing to achieve better social and economic growth and Turkey is racing to become a member of the European Union, the need for creative and innovative partnerships is greater than ever,” he noted.
There was no hierarchy among the winning contestants to reinforce the message that when Turks get together and think creatively, “Turkey is the winner.” 
| Başak Güçlü (center) received one of 23 awards for her volunteers’ network website. |
Nur Bekata Mardin, a professor of Economics at Bosphorus University, came up with a plan for developing tourism on Turkey’s beautiful South-Eastern border, while protecting its cultural heritage and giving local women an opportunity to work. She wants to establish an agro-touristic cooperative in Mardin, a town perched on a hill near the Syrian border, overlooking the Mesopotamian plains. | One NGO suggested introducing pen pals and monthly prison visits to juvenile detention homes. Dilek Ozgoren imagined an Internet café for the blind where glass windows would let in warm sunlight while people felt their way around the web on special computers. Other projects ranged from developing organic agriculture to creating a web-based network for volunteers scattered across Turkey. |
Dundar Ucar, a member of the Grand Jury and Chairman of the Wall Street Institute in Turkey, said he found it extremely difficult to single out the best projects. “For Turkey the event was a vivid and precedent-setting example of highly effective business and human interaction between donors, NGOs and private sector,” he added. Many visitors came away impressed by the strength and vibrancy of the Turkish NGO movement. For Tunya Celasin, External Relations Officer in the Ankara office, “The event showed that we need not look far -- that we need to tap our own potentials and learn to work together to achieve our goal." In addition to the competition, the event included a 'Knowledge Forum' held on the same day in which about 200 people participated. Discussions were centered around the topic of ‘Social Responsibility on a Corporate Level: Linkages between the Private Sector and the NGO World.' * * * For more information, contact: In Ankara: Tunya Celasin (90-312) 459 83 00 Tcelasin@worldbank.org In Washington: Miriam Van Dyck: 1-202- 458 2931 Mvandyck@worldbank.org |
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