Impressions of Participation of WCA President in the Antalya Diplomacy Forum

The WCA President Johny Messo was invited to speak at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum, held on 18-20 June 2021 in a beautiful Antalya resort on the coast of the Mediterranean. This high-level event gathered political leaders, diplomats, opinion makers or academics from different continents to shed light on the topic of “Innovative Diplomacy: New Era, New Approaches.”

For the program, participants, etc. see the website of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum.

The WCA has participated in this global platform dealing with diplomacy which remains the core method of communication among leaders and states. The WCA President and Mr. Sait Susin, the distinguished Chairman of the Syriac Orthodox Diocese in Istanbul, were the only two Arameans who were invited. During the forum, they took the opportunity to engage with many world leaders and academics, informing them about the existence of the Aramean people and their Aramaic language.

On Saturday, 19 June 2021, the WCA President Johny Messo was part of an interesting panel discussion on Tackling Extremism and Discrimination; here you can watch back this panel discussion (for Johny's contributions, click here for Statement 1 and Statement 2 or by clicking on the two photos below). The discussion was moderated by Maria Ramos (photo), the eloquent TRT World presenter. From left to right, the other panelists (see photos below) were

- H.E. Mukhtar Tileuberdi, Kazakhstan’s Foreign Minister;
- H.E. Miguel Angel Moratinos, High Representative of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations;
- Prof. Dr. Alberto Melloni, Chief Scientific Advisor to the European Commission
- Prof. Dr. Mehmet Paçacı, Special Representative of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and Turkey’s former Ambassador to the Holy See;
- and, last but not least, Mr. Sait Susin, the distinguished Chairman of the Syriac Orthodox Diocese in Istanbul.

Click on the image to watch Johny's first contribution

Click here or on the image to watch Johny's second contribution

Johny Messo met with a number of world leaders and high-level politicians, including the Turkish hosts of the impressive Antalya Diplomacy Forum, President H.E. Recep Tayip Erdoğan and Foreign Minister H.E. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, who invited the WCA and thus granted the Aramean people, who are indigenous to Southeast Turkey, a voice and visibility among so many high-level state officials from various parts of the world.

It was encouraging for WCA to receive so much positive feedback from Ministers and Ambassadors alike who did not know yet or very little about the existence of the Aramean people and their Aramaic language.

With Turkish delegates in particular, stimulating exchanges of thoughts and ideas followed regarding the development of Tur-Abdin (Aramaic for “The Mountain of the Servants [of God]”) and the Arameans who have a documented history of more than 3,000 years in this ancient region in Southeast Turkey.

 The WCA President Johny Messo and Sait Susin, the distinguished Chairman of the Syriac Orthodox Diocese in Istanbul, with the host, Turkey’s Foreign Minister H.E. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu