The activity "South-Eastern Anatolia Reading Festival" undertaken jointly by the GAP Administration and UNDP took place in Batman on 07 March 2006. Participants to this activity included 80 children and writers and artists from the CAN Children's Publishing House including writer Çetin ÖNER and Bilgin ADALI.

The activity "South-Eastern Anatolia Reading Festival" undertaken jointly by the GAP Administration and UNDP took place in Sanliurfa on 13 March 2006. Participants to this activity included 80 children and writers and artists from the CAN Children's Publishing House including writer Sevim AK and stage artist M.Ali ALABORA.

The activity "South-Eastern Anatolia Reading Festival" undertaken jointly by the GAP Administration and UNDP took place in Gaziantep on 14 March 2006. Participants to this activity included 80 children and writers and artists from the CAN Children's Publishing House including writer Sevim AK and stage artist M.Ali ALABORA.

A team composed of GAP Administration staff from the General Coordination for Economic Development and Entrepreneurship accompanied Sanliurfa Commercial Exchange in its business visits to Konya, Izmir, Çanakkale, Edirne and Polatli. During these visits, contacts and interviews were held with the leaders of business environment in these cities to exchange views and further cooperation.

The second AGROMACH Agricultural Technologies and Animal Husbandry Fair took place in Sanliurfa, the heart of the South-Eastern Anatolia which presents a huge agricultural potential with its 7.5 million hectares of arable land. The AGROMACH 2006 was an opportunity to find out about the latest technology in the area including agricultural equipment and machinery, seeds and saplings, irrigation schemes, animal feed, agricultural chemicals and fertilizers.

The 15^th of annual "GAP Picture, Poetry and Essay Writing Contest" participated by primary and secondary students in the region took place under the organisation of the GAP Administration and Ministry of National Education. Top performing children and their teachers were received by State and Deputy Prime Minister Assoc. Prof. Abdüllatif SENER and H.E. President Ahmet Necdet SEZER during their visit to Ankara.

Contest winners were hosted 3 days in Ankara and 2 days in Sanliurfa by the GAP Administration.

The activity "South-Eastern Anatolia Reading Festival" undertaken jointly by the GAP Administration and UNDP took place in Batman on 9 May 2006 in Sanliurfa on 15 May 2006 and in Gaziantep on 16 May 2006.

Artists and writers from CAN Publishing House present in these activities included Çetin ÖNER, Ceyda DÜVENCI, Göknil GENÇ and Halit ERGENÇ.

Basing on their joint experience since 1996, the GAP Administration and UNDP organised an international forum on POVERTY REDUCTION AND EMPLOYMENT IN THE GAP REGION in Adayaman on 12 - 13 May 2006 to address the issue of poverty in the context of countrywide and local dynamics and discuss effective ways of reducing poverty.

The forum whose opening speech was delivered by State and Deputy Prime Minister Assoc. Prof. Abdüllatif SENER was realised with the support of Adiyaman Governorate and financial contribution of the Swiss Government.

With the participation of leaders from various sectors, the forum provided opportunities to evaluate and discuss the level of poverty in the GAP region and factors underlying it, national and international strategies for poverty alleviation and new model for employment generation.

The 28^th International Excavation, Investigation and Archometry Symposium organised by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism took place in Çanakkale.

The GAP Administration was also present at the symposium making presentations under such headings as "GAP's Approach to Cultural Heritage", "Historical Significance of the GAP Region and Present State of Problems" and "Priority Scientific Research Agenda and Necessary Cooperation in the GAP Region" .

A Delegation including GAP President Muammer Yasar Özgül; Adiyaman Deputies Faruk Ünsal, Mahmut Göksu, Hüsrev Kutlu, Mehmet Özyol and Sevket Gürsoy; Adiyaman Governor Halil Isik; Adiyaman Mayor M. Necip Büyükaslan; Adiyaman Industry and Commerce Chamber President Zafer Ersoy; Adiyaman Organised Industrial Zone Director Yüksel Önal; businessmen and members of the media visited Bursa on 30 - 31 May 2006. The purpose of the visit was to contact businessmen in Bursa to discuss possibilities of joint investment in the region, creation of synergy with the joint action of investors and further advance existing relations in these areas.

After visiting Bursa Governor Nihat Canpolat and Mayor Hikmet Sahin on 30 May 2006, the delegation also paid visits to the Chamber of Industry and Commerce and some enterprises. The delegation also participated to the monthly meeting of the Chamber on the same day.

Activities under the "South-eastern Anatolia Reading Festival" launched jointly by the GAP Administration and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) took place in Sanliurfa on 8-9 and 12-15 June 2006 and in Batman on 15 June.

With the contribution of writers from the Can Publishing Co. and stage artists, the reading festival reached 80 children. Tilbe SARAN, Cüneyt TÜREL, Hadi ÇAMAN, Bilgin ADALI, Sevim AK and Özgür ÖZ were among writers and artists taking part in activities carried out in two provinces.

The "2^nd GAP Meeting of Young Turkish Businessmen Living in Europe" organised jointly by the GAP Administration and The Association of Young Businessmen of Turkey took place in Sanliurfa on 4 November 2006. State and Deputy Prime Minister Abdüllatif SENER and State Minister Kürsad TÜZMEN were also present at the meeting.

The meeting had the purpose of seeking investment possibilities in the region and bringing in the experience and capital of Turkish businessmen active abroad, informing visiting businessmen about such possibilities, promoting exports and building cooperation between businessmen in the region and those who are active in other countries. The number of participants to the meeting was 300 including those living abroad.

After the meeting which took place on 5 November 2006, participants paid a technical sturdy visit to Mardin.

The event "90 Businessmen from 9 Provinces Meet for GAP" took place at Hotel Grand Cevahir in Istanbul.

This organisation brought together businessmen active in the region and other regions for discussing the investment potential of the region and seeking ways of promoting investments. The meeting yielded a "GAP Investment Platform" comprising private sector representatives and headed by GAP President Muammer Yasar ÖZGÜL.

The platform will be active in such areas as encouragement of investments in the region, improvements in investment environment, maintenance of synergy created thus far, ensuring the sustainability of investments and follow up of activities launched.

The 6^th Congress of "Turkish Businessmen in the World" took place on 18 - 19 November 2006 at Lütfi Kirdar International Congress and Exhibition Centre in Istanbul under the auspices of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The GAP Administration was present with its stand at the meeting which brought together Turkish businessmen active in other parts of the world.

The 10^th International Business Forum and 11th MÜSİAD took place in İstanbul from 23 to 26 November 2006. These meetings were organised to revive the historical "Silk Road" mission with the participation of Islamic countries and to form investment partnerships for global markets.

The GAP Administration was present in the event with its stand.

The opening ceremony of Ceylanpinar Treatment Facility took place on 7 December 2006.

The "Organic Farming Conference" took place on 7 December 2006 in Sanliurfa. The aim of conference was to discuss developments taking place in the world and in Turkey in the context of "organic farming and organic farming based industries", strategies that can be developed in order to enhance the competitive advantage of the GAP region in this field and to draw the attention of interested parties to the potential of the region in organic farming and related industries.

On 8 December 2006, the "Mardin Food Sector Forum" took place as a part of the broader project "Roadmap for Food Sector in Mardin". The aim of the forum was to share project outcomes with stakeholders, discuss measures to further develop this sector in the area and to draw the attention of Government authorities to this sector.

The "Platform for Public-Private Sector Cooperation" initiated jointly by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and SETBIR held its first meeting in Diyarbakir on 9 December 2006. The purpose of this meeting was to address in a comprehensive manner various issues including media involvement, investment opportunities in the region, problems facing the private sector, mutual expectations and respective responsibilities of both sectors. The leading private sector representatives took part in this meeting titled "Public-Private Sector Cooperation and Investment Opportunities in South-eastern Anatolia".

The opening speech of the platform meeting was delivered by GAP President Muammer Yasar ÖZGÜL.