Interview for Hotel Magazine
2003
Nazire Dedeman
Founder President of Umut Foundation
You are the founder and the president of the Umut Foundation. Which areas is the Foundation dealing with and what activities does it carry out?
Umut Foundation was founded in 1993 to make contribution to that young people and children who are the assurance of our future live away from guns and violence, solve their problems and disagreements by nonviolent ways, create peaceful environments, believe in the rule of law and are raised as modern people and good citizens whose feeling of justice was developed.
Our Foundation, in line with its goals, traditionally holds every year award winning contests on Individual Disarmament in such fields as sculpture, painting, news, caricature and short movies, gives educative trainings on For Being a Citizen and publishes academic works. Umut Foundation held the first International Individual Disarmament Symposium in Turkey in 2002. Moreover, we applied at UN for the consultancy statute. We think that this statute which will be approved in 204 will pave the way for other Turkish NGOs. This year, we have started a commission study in cooperation with the Turkish Bar Association to reconstitute the Law no. 6136 on Firearms, and the Toy Regulation released by the Ministry of Health and to forward it to the politic authority. We will hold a symposium on October 3-4, in which the Law on Firearms will be discussed, make our march of silent shoes on September 28 which we have been regularly holding every year and hold the award ceremony for the 1-Minute Cartoon contest on Individual Armament: GIVE RIGHT TO LIFE. Umut Foundation tries to raise social awareness on this important problem by means of activities that it has been regularly holding every year on September 28 Individual Armament Day as well as the projects that it realizes during the year and other society-oriented activities.
After a painful incident that took place in past weeks, you called for NGOs serving for the tourism sector and mentioned to them and looked for their support about the negative impacts of individual armament on tourism. To summarize, what is the relation between Tourism and Guns?
Deaths and wounding incidents that take place because of individual armament gives big damage to the tourism sector. Because of the existence of extensive violence within the society, tourists concerns about committing crimes and armed clashes prevent them from visiting such regions. Moreover, sights which are the capital of the tourism sector and the society, as well as indicator of culture, may be damaged because of such social clashed. The general idea originating from past experiences is that targeting tourists will have a broader repercussion.
Tourists who would like to visit our country first want to be sure that their lives are safe. For example, people abstain from going to Israel, Iraq or other surrounding countries for vacation, since there is no life security in those countries because of wars and clashes. It has been confirmed that individual armament is exorbitant before and after wars. Increasing crime rate in a region and emergence of clashes and rebels there will certainly draw away tourists from that region.
In Turkey, on the other hand, deaths and wounding incidents caused by individual armament threatens life security. Unfortunate death of 2.5 years old Ali Stair was very worrying. His family and the Scots showed justified reaction. A little child lost his life because of a stray bullet. This incident is of course not easy for the family; and the Scots now think that Turkey is an unsafe country. We know that a lobbying work in this direction has been started. It must be remembered that tourism is one of the most important sources of income for our economy and these incidents of violence give big damage to this important source of income. Those making money from tourists have to be responsible for the health of tourists, as well as properly presenting them the historic and natural beauties of our charming country. Health and safety of tourists has to concern those in the tourism sector the most.