Ağri 2015 C12.29 annual conference report

Conference

The annual conference was held in a marginal region in eastern Anatolia. The University of Ağri had offered to organize the event from August 23 to 28 including a three-day field trip.

The small number of participants allowed for sufficient time for presentation and discussion, which has been undoubtedly an advantage, although a wider range of participants and papers would have been welcome. It is planned to publish the contributions in our new series “Perspectives on geographical marginality” to be published by Springer.

Field trip

The field trip took us first from Ağri to Erzurum, where we visitied the ski resort of Palandöken, the city, and Atatürk University, particularly the aquaculture section that cultivates trout in the context of its curriculum, but also for research and for sale to fish breeders in the Erzurum region. The second day included a visit of the Karaca karst cave (near Gümüşhame) and the Sümela monastery close to Trabzon. Both visits were interesting from the point of view of (indigenous) tourism; particularly Sümela was packed with people who did not mind tackling the difficult walk towards the monastery. On day three we followed a slightly different route back to Ağri, passing first along the coast of the Black Sea as far as Rize, then travelling inland across the Karadeniz mountains. The landscape included both hazlenut and tea plantations, and both products are very important export commodities of the country.

Despite the low participation the conference was successful and gave rise to stimulating discussions. We are hoping that the events in the following years will attract more speakers and listeners.

Walter Leimgruber, 10 September 2015