On behalf of the Turkish Agency for Coordination and Cooperation (TIKA), the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, Ahmet Davutoglu, awarded the President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov, with recognition for successful cooperation and commitment to enhance the relations between the two countries.

“I would like to extend my gratitude to all who gave their support and assistance for the implementation of TIKA’s activities and projects in the Republic of Macedonia. However, my gratitude, first of all, goes to the great friend of the Republic of Turkey, the distinguished President of the Republic of Macedonia, Mr. Gjorge Ivanov”, the Turkish Foreign Minister Davutoglu said, reminding that since 2003 TIKA has supported the development of the Republic of Macedonia with more than 30 million US dollars.

The Turkish Foreign Minister stressed that he experiences Macedonia at the same level as Turkey, and the overall assistance and support through the projects implemented by TIKA in Skopje, Tetovo, Gostivar, Bitola, Radovish and in other cities, are a sign of great friendship between the two countries.

President Ivanov, at this solemn occasion, commended on all initiatives of the Turkish Agency for Coordination and Cooperation and noted that TIKA is, indeed, a binding bridge between the two countries.

“We share a great common past, but above all, we have a great future together. I believe that in the future we will be closer and more united, to help each other and to nurture all that is positive from the common life we have had for centuries”, the President said.

He also wished TIKA to continue with the same intensity to assist all the projects in the field of education, protection of culture, preservation of the entire tradition that we have inherited.

“I always stress with pride that in Macedonia the Turkish community is part of our integrated society which fosters multi-ethnicity, multi-religion, and multi-lingualism. I avail myself of this occasion, to congratulate the Day of the Turkish language and education in Turkish as a mother tongue to the members of the Turkish community”, President Ivanov said.

During the ceremony, an exhibition was organized titled “TIKA and the Education in Macedonia” and “TIKA - Pride of Turkey in the World", as part of the activities marking the 20th anniversary since the establishment of the diplomatic relations between Macedonia and Turkey.

For the affirmation of the Macedonian literature and culture in the world in the course of the five decades of its existence and activity, the President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov, today awarded the recognition “Charter of the Republic of Macedonia” to the Macedonian PEN Centre.

At the award ceremony, attended by academics and writers - members of this association, President Ivanov said that the Macedonian PEN Centre in the past 50 years both created and collaborated with other PEN centers worldwide, members of the International PEN Centre.

Exactly the international PEN Centre, the President stressed, was the first international association which, in general, at the Congress held in 1992 adopted a special resolution that recognizes the right of the Macedonian people to their own name, language and culture.

”Unfortunately, two decades after this Declaration, and after centuries and decades of creating in the Macedonian language, after countless translations, books and magazines, the Macedonian language and all that is created in the Macedonian language is still being denied. Denial of a language is denial of its speakers, artists who create using that language. It is a denial of the fundamental values of human civilization”, President Ivanov said on the occasion of the award of this recognition.

The Macedonian President further added that by their activities and deeds, the members of the Macedonian PEN Centre undoubtedly contributed to make it one of the busiest bridges connecting the Macedonian literature and culture with the European and world culture. 

The President of the Macedonian PEN Centre, Risto Lazarov, thanked President Ivanov for the recognition of what the Macedonian PEN Centre has done all these 50 years in the affirmation of the Macedonian words and literature.

"The recognition goes to all generations of the Macedonian PEN, since its establishment to the newly recruited members of only one month ago", Lazarov said.

The Macedonian PEN Centre was established on December 20, 1962, and ever since then a number of prominent Macedonian writers and authors were members of this Centre and left their own mark. In its five decades of history, the Macedonian PEN Centre published several anthologies of Macedonian poetry and prose in English and French.

The winner of the recognition “The Best Young Scientist”, Dr. Trifche Sandev, held a lecture at the University “Goce Delchev”. Sandev won this prestigious recognition awarded by the President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov, in 2011.

The subject of the lecture in the field of physics and mathematical physics, was related to the research Sandev won the title “The Best Young Scientist”. The students were presented part of the results of his research on the topic physical modeling of natural phenomena.

“The recognition was award to him for the physical modeling of certain natural phenomena. Various diffusion phenomena in nature, described with equations. Some experimental results that can be found in the scientific literature, we are trying to find a theoretical model and to describe them”, Sandev said.

He expressed hope that the interest at the open cal for young scientists this year will be huge. At the same time, the students at the University “Goce Delchev” were able to obtain more information about the terms of the competition for the most prestigious award for science in the Republic of Macedonia.

The call for "The Best Young Scientist" for the current 2012 is underway for applications until 31 December, and is open to all young people up to 30 years of age dealing with science, who have achieved a scientific result during the year and who are willing, through their scientific research, to contribute to the positive development of society and the environment in which they live and work.

President Ivanov established the practice of awarding this recognition, following his commitment to support science, scientific institutions and research. With timely support of all young people who are dealing with science and with acknowledgement of their achievements, we invest in the future and in the development of the Republic of Macedonia, President Ivanov says.

The President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov, and his family, at his home, welcomed 15 children from the Orphanage “11 October”, at the age of 3 to 11 years, and, along with them, decorated the Christmas tree in the presidential residence “Villa Macedonia”.

Children voices echoed in the residence guest room, singing enthusiastically Christmas songs, while the First Lady, Ms. Maja, did everything for the children to feel at home.

“The act of decorating the Christmas tree is a joy, both for all children and for us, the adults. It is an act that unites the whole family on the eve of the New Year and Christmas holidays. Our intention was to open our home to those children whose destiny prevented them to feel the parental love so that at least a moment they can be part of such a pleasant and warm parental atmosphere”, Ms. Ivanova said.

The first decoration on the tree was hung by the youngest among the children, Maksut, and then followed his peer Gabi, with the assistance of the President's son, Ivan, who took them in his hands and helped them reach the highest branches of the Christmas tree. The Ivanov family expressed hope that with this gesture they managed to meet at least one wish of the orphans, to make them feel the warm family atmosphere.

"I consider their arrival in our home today a small contribution to bringing parental love to these children, so that they can feel that they are not thrown out of the society, to feel that someone cares for them, and in the future to become good citizens of this country", the First Lady of the Republic of Macedonia, Ms. Ivanova said.

Besides the decoration of the Christmas tree, President Ivanov donated Christmas presents to his visitors. The children had the opportunity to play with the family pet, Alek. They enjoyed in the cheerful atmosphere that the President's son Ivan complemented with his guitar, playing songs of Tose Proeski.

The winner of the award “Best Young Scientist” for 2011, Dr. Trifche Sandev, this evening, in the People’s Office of the President in Skopje, delivered a lecture in the field of physics and mathematical physics, namely, how some phenomena in nature, which occur in complex systems, can be described with mathematical-physical models. It is exactly in this sphere that Sandev conducted the research that resulted in awarding him the prestigious award “Best Young Scientist”, traditionally awarded by the President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov.

Many young researchers, from secondary schools and universities, interested in natural sciences, electro-technology, information science and computer engineering, had the opportunity to meet Trifche Sandev and become familiar with his scientific-research work, and also to learn of the criteria to be met by the potential winner of the award “Best Young Scientist”.

Dr. Sandev is employed in the Radiation Safety Directorate, through the competition of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia for employment of top 100 students in the state. He is the author of about twenty scientific and expert papers in the area of mathematical physics and statistical physics, most of which were published in international impact factor reference journals. The results of his doctoral dissertation, Sandev has so far presented at several international conferences and seminars.

The competition “Best Young Scientist” for the current 2012 is underway; the deadline for applications is by 31 December, and is open to all young people, up to 30 years of age, dealing with science, who have achieved during the year a scientific result and who have a desire through their scientific research to contribute to the positive development of the society and the environment in which they live and work.

The award "Best Young Scientist" was first time awarded by President Ivanov in 2010, to the then 28-year-old, MA, Nikola Zlatanov, doctoral student at the University of British Columbia, Canada, and in 2011, this award went to Dr. Trifche Sandev. This award aims to encourage development and to stimulate investment in science, to support scientific institutions and young scientists, but also to award the top scientific achievements.

According to President Ivanov, the investment in education and science is longstanding and most cost-effective investment. With timely support of all young people dealing with science and with acknowledgment of their achievements, we invest in the future and in the development of the Republic of Macedonia. Therefore, we need to motivate and encourage young scientists in our country to direct their creativity and intelligence to innovation and development of new technologies, President Ivanov says.

The President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov, met today with Dr. Mahmud Cevik, Coordinator of the Turkish Agency for Coordination and Cooperation (TIKA) in the Republic of Macedonia.

Dr. Cevik and TIKA representatives expressed appreciation for the opportunity to meet with President Ivanov and to present the already implemented and current projects of TIKA, noting that the support of the President, his ideas and efforts are of particular importance for their successful implementation.

As Dr. Cevik said, TIKA, in its operation, takes into account the development needs and goals of countries and societies in which it is present, and, based on that, it defines the fields for cooperation, through concrete projects and programs. The main goal is to provide substantive contributions to the development and cooperation in the fields of economy, technology, trade, social issues, culture and education.

“TIKA is one of the bridges enabling improvement of relations and cooperation between the two friendly countries - Macedonia and Turkey. The Turkish Agency for Coordination and Cooperation attaches particular importance to the approximation of the countries through concrete technical cooperation”, the TIKA Coordinator, Dr. Cevik, said.

President Ivanov appraised the efforts of TIKA to strengthen the ties between the two societies, as well as the success of the projects implemented so far in the Republic of Macedonia in the field of education, health, restoration, development of agriculture, finance, tourism and industry.

He stressed that the experience of the Republic of Turkey is of great importance for our country, and expressed appreciation for the technical assistance, educational and advisory activities TIKA conducts in the Republic of Macedonia, which, as he pointed out, gives significant contribution to the institutional strengthening, but also in maintaining closeness among the nations.

The representatives of the Turkish Agency for Coordination and Cooperation, expressed hope that this support at the highest level will contribute to the further successful implementation of the objectives and agenda of TIKA, and willingness to work closely with all institutions in the Republic of Macedonia which would benefit from the implementation of the joint projects.

The Turkish Agency for Coordination and Cooperation (TIKA) is part of the Presidency of the Government of the Republic of Turkey; it is present and operational in the Republic of Macedonia since 2005, with its Program Coordination Office.