A delegation from ENPP, constituted by Eduardo Basso, President of the Board, Apolónia Rodrigues, Coordinator of the Places of Peace Route and Áurea Rodrigues, President of the Scientific Council, visited the city of Edirne on August 24th and 25th, whose Municipality is a founding member of the Network and which recently regained its activity in the Association through the action of its current Mayor, Mr. Recep Gürkan.
The ENPP delegation was received on the first day by the Head of the EU&International Relations Office of the city of Edirne, Ms. Ebru Karaca, who accompanied the visits to some of the main ex-libris of the City’s Cultural Heritage: Municipal Museum of the City of Edirne, Selimiye Mosque (UNESCO World Heritage), Turkish Hat Art Museum, Edirne Archeology Museum and the Bazaars of Arasta, Bedesten and Alipaşa in the morning, followed in the afternoon with visits to the Great Synagogue, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, the Monument of the Turkish Baby and, finally, the Monument Lozan – Monument Commemorating the Treaty of Lausanne of 1923 – the Treaty that returned the region of Edirne to the Turkish Republic.
The morning of the second day of the visit was occupied with bilateral meetings between the ENPP delegation and the Municipality of Edirne: first, with the heads of the EU&International Relations Office of the city of Edirne, during which the cross-border projects were presented involving Edirne and several Bulgarian cities, as well as the current ongoing projects of the ENPP, namely the preparation of the 13th European Meeting of the Association that will take place in the German city of Markranstädt in October. This was followed by a meeting with the Deputy Mayor of Edirne City Council, Mr. Yaver Tetik, representing the Mayor, Mr. Recep Gürkan, who was absent abroad, in which various aspects related to the city’s involvement in the ENPP, with the ENPP delegation offering a stone painted by the Evoramonte artist Inocência Lopes representing the Convention House, where the Évora Monte Convention was signed, which ended with the so-called “Liberal Wars” in 1834.
In the afternoon of this day, it was also possible to visit the Health Museum Complex (Ottoman Hospital) before the departure of the ENPP delegation.
This visit helped to strengthen the collaborative ties between ENPP and the city of Edirne, which are expected to be strengthened in the future.
