The integration of European nations is a major historical process we are participating in. It is a current development in the process of emergence of European nations, which determined the shape and history of Europe in the previous centuries. After a series of catastrophes a new concept was born to stress the need of peaceful coexistence and cooperation of European cultures and peoples - the concept of coalescence. Among European cultures and peoples we include the citizens of the Republic of Turkey, since the Turks had an enormous impact on European history and were part of it for centuries. It is the dream of a peaceful world of harmony, mutual assistance and integration instead of competition and exclusion. The question is what can be done to enhance the achievement of this ideal. Our answer is, there is still a long way to go and a great deal of work to do. That is why we decided to start a project, which is dedicated to the overcoming of bias having existed for centuries based on historical facts and events. We want to discuss sensitive historical topics in order to work out the reasons for emotional and historical prejudices and learn to deal with them. We want to get to know the viewpoint of the other participants in this part of history and understand what issues they are placing value on. We want to show different facets of past events and developments and search for examples of fruitful interaction and positive cultural effects. Through a better knowledge and understanding of historical events and the perspectives of the other participants, we want to reach a better intercultural understanding and rapproachment. There are many historical topics which can be used in this context. We chose to review seven centuries of European-Turkish history. We brought together schools from countries, which were part of this common European-Turkish history and which are willing to try out the innovative and modern approach mentioned above. We chose this topic also because of the fact that the issue of integration of the Republic of Turkey in the European Union is one of the most frequently discussed political topics at present. We want to deal with these questions, too, exchange views and form our own opinion. Four high schools from four different countries are participating in the project: the Commercial Academy of Bruck an der Leitha in Lower Austria near Vienna, the Cagaloglu Anadolu Lisesi, a High School with a focus on language teaching in Istanbul, Turkey, the 7 General Hightschool "Sveti Sedmochislenitzi", a special high school for languages in Sofia, Bulgaria, and the Györi Deák Ferenc Közgazdasági és Informatikai Szakközépiskola, a high school with emphasis on economics from Győr, Hungary. We will meet four times in 26 months’ time, once in each participating country to present the results of our studies, to discuss viewpoints and to get to know our partners and their countries. We want to visit historical sights, to learn a bit of each language and to improve our English language skills by doing the whole project in English. We will work with ICT and improve our skills in this field, too. We want to make contacts and make friends in the other countries and thus live the European integration in reality. We are planning to create an Internet site to make our studies and discussions, our visits of historical sights and our cultural activities available for history teaching and for the general public. We will disseminate our experience at a local, regional, national and European level in order to set an example to an intercultural project and encourage other educational institutions to follow our lead. In the long run the project will help all partners to become more international and open for working in a multinational environment. It will improve our language skills and give us the chance to acquire experience of managing international events and projects. It will bolster the connections and contacts between young people from different countries, between schools, teachers and educational systems and it will contribute to a stronger integration both within the European Union and between the European Union and one of its most important strategic neighbours - the Republic of Turkey. We are convinced that a friendly relationship between states and nations develops through the close connections between common people.
The idea for this project emerged against the background of intensified European integration vs. the strengthening of nationalist tendencies in many European countries. Based on the notion that the EU, as the most important peace keeper after World War II, will only be able to continue its project of integration if the majority of its citizens, especially young people, actively share and support the European idea with conviction, we started in fall 2015 a school-partnership on the topic of historical legacy. Our aim was to show our common grounds in a shared cultural history. Though there have been many confrontations in our past, an even more copious cultural transfer has enriched our everyday-lifes as well as our high cultures. Moreover, we tried to look through the eyes of others at our own history. This way we strove to comprehend that in the end there is no “national” history, there is only one common history from different points of view, exegesis and representation. To see history through the eyes of others does not only help to understand each other, but also oneself. It becomes easier to overcome stereotypes and to foster tolerance and togetherness instead. As for current history, we put stress on our firm conviction that nationalism can never be any alternative for humanist ideals and common human rights. Four high schools participated in the project: two grammar schools (7 SU "Sveti Sedmochislenitzi" from Sofia and Cagaloglu Anadolu Lisesi Istanbul) and two vocational schools (BHAK Bruck an der Leitha and Györi Deák Ferenc Közgazdasági és Informatikai Szakközépiskola from Györ). 15 students aged between 15 and 18 took part from each school, with the exception of Györ with only ten students. The main activities of the project were the four trips to the four participants‘ countries. In November 2015 the common Roman and Byzantine heritage was studied in Istanbul. The architecture and history of the Hagia Sophia, as well as its influence on the future architecture of mosques in the 16th and 17th centuries was one of the highlights. Our second trip took us to Györ in May 2016, where cultural adaptation in music, the visual arts, cuisine and the bathing culture were discussed taking examples from the 15th to 18th centuries. Beforehand, international teams of pupils had prepared the topics using digital communication technologies. Within the presentations cultural transfers from the Orient to the Occident, as well as Oriental inscriptions were shown. The workshops of the third excursion to Sofia focused on the phenomena of nationalism from the late 18th to the 20th century. In workshops transnational groups of students studied the theory and historical aspects of nationalism, the image of Turks in the Austrian press, as well as the linguistic influences of the Turkish language on Hungarian. Further examples of the peaceful coexistence of Turks and Bulgarians under the Turkish rule of Bulgaria, as well as the movement of the young Turks were analysed. A plenary discussion of nationalism in history and today closed up the topic. The last meeting for the project participants was in April 2017 in Bruck an der Leitha. The main topics of this exchange were the current migration crisis and human rights. The students were involved in diverse activities, such as drawing, discussions, speeches, role plays, and listening to music of peace and resistance at seven learning stations. Within these activities, human rights were experienced and artistically represented. Part of this main topic also comprised a guided tour through the United Nations Office in Vienna. The cultural programmes in each country were exceedingly varicoloured. We visited historical sites, archeological museums and museums of arts, churches, synagogues and mosques, and we also saw theater plays, the spiritual dance of the Dervishes, and in Vienna we watched an opera. The diversified and intense cultural experience was singular for the students. Additionally they gained a lot of knowledge and experience in foreign languages, mainly by the use of English as common language, but also in German and Turkish as foreign languages. We look back on more than two years of an extraordinarily successful best practice project in every aspect, with very attractive and well-executed activities which undoubtedly leave their mark on our minds.