In Europe in the last few years, dialogue and integration have really been present between the “culture of old Europe”, with Judeo-Christian roots, and Muslim culture that represents the 15 million Muslims living in Europe today.

It has been really important to stop thinking of Europe as Christian Europe and to move on to considering how the continent is home to three world religions that originated in the Near East and that share a mythology and sacred text. In order or arrival, these are Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and nowadays this vision best corresponds to the composition European.

Another issue currently significant in Europe, and which is closely linked with socio-cultural dialogue, is Turkey: Turkey as a democratic and modern country, with a strong civil society where the law and modern economy rule. At the same time, Turkey had a high proportion of Muslim citizens that defend the idea of a democratic and secular state, which is, in fact, one of the oldest in Europe.

The entrance of Turkey into the EU continues to provoke distrust due to their culture, as well as the more concrete aspects to do with the negotiations surrounding their adhesion, but above all because Turkey with its 70 million inhabitants and with an above average demographic growth, would acquire substantial political influence. Extending Europe’s borders to another religion and culture would change the tradition identity of Europe and the traditional values of its society.

All the arguments seem to us to be more than sufficient to make this issue the topic of our Actions for a Global Citizenship programme, which in this case consisted of a five week programme with a group of at least 6 young people as follows:

• 1.One-week stay in Istanbul working on the following activities:
  • In-depth knowledge of Turkish democracy
  • Knowledge of the cultures within Turkey
  • Getting to know and understand the different religions and religious groups in Turkey
• 2.Four weeks of voluntary work in various social, cultural or environmental organisations in Turkey (according to personal profile of each participant). Participants would live with host families during this time, preferably Muslims.