According to the opinions and suggestions of the participants in the evaluation session at the end of the congress, the points below were agreed upon:

1.Since it first came out, the idea of The Arab-Turkish Congress of Social Sciences caught much more attention than expected. So that, it became a necessity to transfer this interest to a more efficient and broad organization. For that reason, it is needed to take some measures in order to organize this interest institutionally.

2.It is needed to improve the relations between the Turkish world and the Arab world which have been improving recently in all respects. It is indicated that the popular ideas about Arabs in Turkish world and about Turks in Arab world have begun to affect improving relations positively; yet those relations should have an academic depth beyond popular ideas.

3.It should be paid attention to contact directly for Arab and Turkish worlds in order to understand particularly each other scientifically and to develop a common understanding as a result of this contact. In that sense, the congress should be evaluated as a basis for developing the language of social sciences by going beyond the Orientalist discourse which they mostly use when both sides consider themselves and each other. Additionally, it is significant to establish research centers on Turkey in Arab countries and those on Arab world in Turkey.

4.ATCOSS was not only limited with the relations between Arabs and Turks or their perceptions about each other, but also the participants were not only Arabs and Turks. Bringing various academic backgrounds of the two worlds together is one of the goals of this congress. It should be aimed to experience a quite strong exchange of views as a consequence of these meetings; and thus to improve “academic volume”.       

5.There should be some measures taken in order to teach Turkish in Arab states and Arabic in Turkish world more broadly and efficiently; however these measures should not taken merely to teach the target language; it should also be a basis to study the history, culture, and sociology of these two worlds.

6.It was also mentioned that The Council of Higher Education needs to take some facilitating and encouraging measures to have more students from Arab states in Turkish universities.

7.It should be encouraged to exchange lecturers between Turkish and Arabic universities for short-term and long-term.

8.It was also gladly observed that the meetings as a consequence of the congress also created an academic synergy. It should also be taken into consideration that these organizations can provide civil society meetings and these meetings can provide a platform for improving new cooperation.

9.The current position of information and communication technology needs to be considered more actively, efficiently, and in a planned way in terms of the opportunities as a consequence of this kind of cultural meetings.

10.The second of this congress, which is agreed to ensure its continuity by organizing it annually, will be held in October, 2011 in Cairo.  

ATCOSS CHAIRMANSHIP