Conference Statement

The location of the 2015 Conference is in Eastern Turkey in the city named after a famous mountain dominating larger area of Armenian plateau – Ararat or Ağrı Dağı in Turkish language. The mountain itself is a symbol of the city as well as it is a national symbol of neighboring country Armenia. In their mythology the mountain was the home of the Gods. It also plays an important role in Judeo-Christian as well as Islamic tradition as the place where Noah’s ark finally came to rest after the Great Flood.Ağrı is located on a 1650 meter high plateau, named after the majestic mountain mentioned above that can be seen from the city centre. It is a gateway of east where you can have an overall view of “Türkiye” from the highest point. Ağrı hosted various nations and civilisations throughout history. It is one of the important tourist centres of the east with suitable tracks for mountain climbing and trekking in summers, skiing in winters. It is a seat of a Province with the same name with an area of 11,376 square kilometers and a bit more than half million inhabitants. On the east it extends all the way to Iranian border. The neighbouring province Iğdır on the north borders even with Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic that is exclave of Azerbaijan and with Armenia. The border with Armenia has been closed since 1993. Turkey closed it as an act of disapproval of Armenian intervention in the Nagorno Karabah region in Aserbaijan. Border character of the region is further evident from the fact that aerial distance from Ağrı to Georgian border is about 160 km and to the one with Irak about 260.

Located at the east edge of “Türkiye”, Ağrı became a settlement beginning from the ancient times and a stage for various civilisations. Being a part of Anatolia and a cradle of various rich and advanced civilizations, the history of Ağrı can be traced to 18th century BC. Hurrians are one of the oldest civilisations settled in Ağrı. In the middle of the 7th century the dominance of the province had passed to Arabs. When Seljuk Turks entered into Anatolia, the province was dependent to Byzantines yet it was dominated by Seljuk Turks in 1054. Before the period of Republic the province used to be a “sanjak” named Doğu Bayazıt. It was changed to Karaköse in 1927 and finally to Ağrı in 1938.

Most of the territory of Ağrı Province is mountainous and undulate. The mountains of Ağrı stretch in series. Rich, grassy plants cover the surface of the province. Grasses refresh at spring and extinct at fall because of the cold weather. Winters are cold whereas summers are dry and hot.

The Hosting institution has been opened as AğrıDağı University in May 2007. In 2008 the University was renamed after its founder civil engineer and businessman – İbrahim Çeçen (ICUA). It is still a state university lead by rector prof. dr. İrfan Aslan.

At the start, the university had only one faculty – the faculty of Education with 20 professors, 18 lecturers and 1,200 students. Today, the number of professors involved in teaching and training is around 300, including 59 academicians and 259 corresponding members of the academy. Over 7,000 students are studying at 10 regional branches of the university. Today ICUA is the 4th largest university in Eastern Anatolia. It has two campuses, 1 central laboratory for scientific-research and study-scientific institutes, 4 scientific-research laboratories and centers, 12 study laboratories and rooms, and 2 libraries. Bachelor and Master courses are held at The Vocational School, Faculty of Science and Letters, Faculty of Education, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences and Vocational Health School.