“When I look at Gaziantep today, I see our ‘new citizens’ who are living with us and who are part of us. I recently attended an event where a film about an immigrant was shown. It was a really emotional film. At one point I looked over and saw Syrian and Turkish women crying and sharing tissues with each other. That moment really struck me. When we fully accept our new citizens and open ourselves up to them completely, we’ll have become a really beautiful society.”
Damla Deniz Cengiz, Coordinator, Art Center
“You could say, ‘It’s just a movie. How much difference can it make?’ But the situation Deniz described is important, because it shows the power of emotions to bring different people together. We don’t have to have the same skin color, or gender, or nationality in order to laugh or cry together. It doesn’t matter what the situation is, we can always find common ground on the basis of shared feelings – as long as we’re willing to overcome our prejudices.”
Emre Budak, Student, Department of Mathematics