Newsletter
December 2006
Dear Members and Friends,
We continue to inform you in periodic intervals about the successive
work of our Association, „The Friends of Gökova- Akyaka“.
On Saturday, the 30th of September, our 13. General Meeting has taken
place, where our biannual Work Statement has been distributed as a
booklet. Of course we are happy to send you a copy on your request, as
soon as it will be translated into English.
Mrs. Nurhan Kavuzlu is our new Board Member and takes the place of Mr.
Ali Şahin.
Under normal circumstances a General Meeting provides the opportunity to
present and discuss the institutional performance of the last period.
This should provide a base for right decisions and opens the way to the
future. This time we could not reach our aim, since the manners of a
group of badly prepared people prevented any fruitful discussion and
positive approaches.
It would be much better and more constructive for future elections, if
members who are really determined, committed to the work of the
association and to nature protection, and who are able to criticise
constructively would openly come forward as candidates. This would also
enhance the meaning of our association’s Vision.
Besides that the association’s constitution had to be changed in quite a
few matters during the meeting. They have been necessary to adopt the
statute to the new Turkish Association Law and further EU Directives.
Now we can work under a new contemporary constitution. We recommend our
members, or members to be, to read this paper. The constitution and the
Work Statement are both available (momentarily only in Turkish) as
downloads from www.akyaka.org/dernek or as hard copies in our
office.
This year’s Culture Program in the Nail Çakırhan- Halet Cambel Culture
and Art House ended on the 29th October with an exhibition of the works
of the Akyaka Art Centre. We will continue to use this cultural
opportunity in the sense of our supporter, Nail Çakırhan. The annual
Catalogue of 2006 that had been printed in very good quality, gave a
good overview about the yearly program and detailed information about
the exhibitions. We will try to follow this tradition in 2007, probably
extending to an English version. Because of financial reasons a German
version is not being planned.
All art lovers are invited to visit the Culture and Art House, chat with
the artists, who are always present about their work or simply enjoy
this opportunity of a bit of different tourism.
The long due renovation of the locality has already started and will
surely be completed until the start of the new season.
According to a board decision, the fortnightly discussion evenings of
last winter will not be repeated during this winter season, since some
have been made quite unpleasant by a certain group of people. We know
that we are disappointing some of our well meaning members, but we will
be always open to constructive suggestions and discussions. Everyone can
find us in the office.
During the night from 12th on 13th October and over the following days
quite a few street dogs and owned dogs have been killed by poisoning.
This routine like ugly event disturbed many people deeply, since dog
loving residents are subject to the ill-will of an ignorant minority.
Our association’s Street Animal Working Group and many volunteers did
take extraordinary steps to halt this situation. A storm of petitions
hailed upon the local administration, the governor and concerned state
departments to find the culprit(s). In a short time 1002 signatures have
been collected. Taking Akyaka’s overall population (~2500) into account
this number is a proud result. The collected signatures have been
forwarded to all concerned departments and the media has been informed
as well. The mayor saw it necessary to call a public meeting, saying
that the new Animal Protection Law will be implemented in Akyaka in the
shortest time. We are still waiting on the implementation on the “Street
Animal Strategy” that has been signed by us and the Mayor on the 29th
April 2005.
The long standing “Monitoring and Active Protection Project for the
Wetlands of Muğla” is continuing.
The association participates in an organized manner and with 10 active
officers on the monthly meetings of the Consultancy Council of the
“Gökova Coastal Zone Management Plan EU Project”. We are looking forward
to share our views about the project and our participation with you in
the next newsletter.
We hope that the New Year will bring as many more happy communication
opportunities and the Board wishes you all a good New Year and Kurban
Bayramı.
All the best from Akyaka
Nurhan Kavuzlu
Board Member, Media Officer
NOTE:
We thank all
members or friends of the association of the Friends of Gökova-Akyaka for
the confidence that you have in our work.
Constant support
is very important for us. Every day we lose cultural and small town
values which must be protected. Perhaps the membership fee or donation
seems to you a very small contribution; however, your help is very
important for us, not only financially but your support gives us moral
strength.
If you liked to
donate, you can do this directly through
GarantiBank,
Branch Mugla, Acct. NR. 507-6299583
Or
…. Pay by credit card very easily by
visiting our website
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