April 23, 2018 ‘National Sovereignity and Children’s Day’ Celebrated With Marine Activites at Bebek Bay in Istanbul
We believe it is very important for the future of Turkey to introduce our children in early childhood, to life by the seas and to transform their fear of the seas into a passion for life at sea.
We know that it is in our hands to bring together our beautiful ‘blue country’ with ‘blue civilization’. When the two are united we can be more independent, more democratic, more rational, more scientific, more productive, more hardworking, more courageous and more environmentally cautious. In the end, we shall be more prosperous and happier.
With such awareness, as we did in previous years, we celebrated this year’s ‘National Sovereignity and Children’s Day’ together with children and their families, embracing the sea with marine activities.
As Bebekliler Association and Bebek Citizens’ Initiative (Bebek Semt Girişimi – BSG) we organised our third event together with Koç University Maritime Forum (Koç Üniversitesi Denizcilik Forumu – KUDENFOR) and Sarıyer Municipality’s Center for Maritime Affairs (Sarıyer Denizcileşme Merkezi), the two organisations that had initially inspired us. We planned the day together with Bahçeşehir University Turkish Straits Research Center (Bahçeşehir Üniversitesi Türk Boğazları Uygulama ve Araştırma Merkezi – BAU TURBAM), Ortaköy Yacht Club, DAK-SAR Search and Rescue at Istanbul Seas (NGO DAK-SAR Gönüllü Deniz Arama ve Kurtarma Örgütü) and the Platform of Bosphorus Associations (Boğaziçi Dernekleri Platformu – BODEP).
In the background of this annual event lies Bebekliler Association and Bebek Citizens’ Initiative’s dream of “developing a center, a focal point in Bebek for sea sports. Our aim is to provide free lessons and training in swimming, sailing, rowing, and other marine activities for the young.”