Eurasia Partnership Foundation (Armenia) announces an open call for all interested journalists and bloggers from Armenia and Turkey to participate in the Media Bus Tour in Armenia and Turkey.

The Tour is organised within the framework of the Programme “Support to the Armenia-Turkey Normalisation Process” implemented by a Consortium of eight civil society organisations from Armenia and Turkey with the financial assistance of the European Union under the Instrument for Stability.

The Consortium includes Civilitas Foundation (CF), Eurasia Partnership Foundation (EPF), Public Journalism Club (PJC), Regional Studies Center (RSC) from Armenia; and Anadolu Kültür, the Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey (TEPAV), Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly (hCa), and Hrant Dink Foundation from Turkey.

The purpose of the Tour is to provide an opportunity for journalists and bloggers from Armenia and Turkey to explore the neighbouring country and rediscover their own country which will help them to learn about the other, as well as establish professional connections between media professionals of the two countries.

On May 24 to June 6, 2012, EPF organized a similar Media Bus Tour for a group of 18 journalists and bloggers from Armenia and Turkey. The group traveled around Turkey and Armenia, visited historic and cultural sites, met representatives of the government, civil society, media, academia, and think tanks and heard varying perspectives on Armenia-Turkey normalisation.

The bus tour offered a unique opportunity for the participating journalists and bloggers to establish human and professional relations amongst each other, to re-explore their own country and learn about the neighbouring country and to better comprehend the hurdles and the nuances associated with the Armenia-Turkey dialogue by meeting people on the ground. 

This allowed them to gain a more holistic idea about the diversity of existing views on this issue. The very first Media Bus Tour was implemented by the Media Initiatives Center (former Internews-Armenia) in summer 2011. 

The current Tour will take place on October 13-26, 2014 in Turkey and Armenia. Eight journalists from Armenia and eight journalists from Turkey will be able to participate in the Tour. The group will travel in different cities and areas in Turkey (including Istanbul, Izmir, Fethiye, Antalya, Cappadocia, Ankara) and Armenia (Dilijan, Yerevan, Lake Sevan, Sisian, Goris) preparing video materials, interviews and articles to be published in their home media outlets and/or in social networks.

The journalists and bloggers willing to participate in the Tour should meet the following requirements:

• have an extensive experience in traditional and/or new media;
• have relevant experience covering Armenia-Turkey relations (applicants are required to submit previously published articles);
• have advanced level of English for communicating with  counterparts from the other country;
• have willingness to travel for two weeks, while producing and publishing media content in their home media entities and/or social networks. 

In addition, journalists representing a media outlet should submit a reference letter signed by the Editor of that media outlet that the applicant is entitled to publish or broadcast materials prepared during and after the Tour.

All the expenses related to the Tour will be covered by EPF including the air flights between the two countries and transportation by bus/airplane within Turkey and Armenia, as well as accommodation costs and meals throughout the Tour.

The deadline for submitting applications is 17:00 (local time) on Wednesday, September 24, 2014. 

All applicants should submit their application packages electronically to Eurasia Partnership Foundation (Armenia) at [email protected]

Armenia-based applicants can address their inquiries to Mr. Vazgen Karapetyan at +374 10 25 15 75 (ext. 105), [email protected]

Turkey-based applicants can address their inquiries to Ms. Burcu Becermen, the Communication Coordinator of the Programme ‘Support to the Armenia-Turkey Normalisation Process’ at

 +90 212 240 33 61, [email protected]