7 December 2016: Contributed by Dr. Burcu Ozsoy
The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosted the photographic exhibition “Our Antarctica – Images from the Great White South”, organized by the Ministry jointly with the Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs (COMNAP), the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) and Istanbul Technical University (ITU) Polar Research Centre (PolReC). The exhibition included boards by PolRec illustrating Turkey’s scientific activities in Antarctica. The opening reception was held on 14 October 2016 at the Ministry’s art gallery. Opening speeches were delivered by Mr. İbrahim Cem Şahinkaya, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Head of Department of Environmental Affairs; Professor David Walton, Emeritus Fellow of British Antarctic Survey; and Associate Professor Burcu Ozsoy, Director of PolReC. The opening was attended by about 80 people, including Turkish and foreign diplomats in Turkey, including ambassadors, officials from Turkish government departments and academics.
ITU PolReC hosted the images from the Great White South after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The opening was held, at ITU Maritime Faculty in Istanbul, during the celebration of the 132nd Anniversary of the faculty. Mr. Ahmet Arslan, Minister of Transport, Maritime affairs and Communication kindly joined the opening on 3 December 2016. Dr. Ozsoy, explained the details and importance of the photo exhibition to Mr. Minister. The other ITU PolReC members tried to engage with almost 500 people, who visited the exhibition, from national maritime community, government departments, non-govermental maritime organizations, academics from several universities, ITU maritime students and graduates.
The photo exhibit began at the 2012 SCAR Open Science Conference and COMNAP Annual General Assembly in Portland, Oregon, US and has been traveling the World ever since. If you are interested in hosting the exhibition, please contact David Walton. Turkey became an Associate member of SCAR in 2016.