Presidency Transfer: From Greece
to Turkey
by Dr. Markos Loukogiannakis
Athens, February 4, 1997
The firs three-years period of our Balkan
Society came to the end, leaving the echoes of a successful
meeting in Athens which, for first time, brought in contact
so many fellows from the Balkan peninsula and the neighboring
areas, opening exciting perspectives for closer collaboration
and firm communication in various scientific and social fields.
From Florina to Athens, the Hellenic Geophysical
Union led the first steps of the Balkan Society, trying to trace
the paths for an effective internal communication as well as
for the indispensable contacts with the international geoscientific
community. The final achievements were not always what we expected
to be, but something important has been already established
and is going ahead in spite of the obstacles we met and we are
still facing.<
The second period leadership belongs to
the Chamber of the Geophysical Engineering of Turkey. Prof.
Dr. A.T. Basokur, who assisted the Greek presidency with all
his forces as vice-president, confirmed our Turkish colleagues
will to push the Society even more and strengthen its voice
for the benefit of all geophysicists from South-Eastern Europe.
The official transfer of the presidency
took place in Istanbul Hilton Hotel, on January the 17 th. The
Greek delegation, formed of the President G. Sideris, the Secretary-scientific
M. Loukogiannakis and the Treasurer Y. Grigoriou met the respective
Turkish fellows A. T. Basokur, I. Aydin and T. F. Aksu. All
files, correspondence and financial records of the BGS were
passed to the Turkish presidency. The cordial climate of the
meeting led us to the Bosphorus seaside where the Turkish delegation
offered a tasteful dinner with traditional Turkish cuisine.
The past and the new members of the BGS Council, accompanied
by the President of the Istanbul branch of the Turkish Chamber
O. Gündogdu and the General Co-Chairman of the Istanbul
97 meeting B. Ecevitoglu, had the chance to exchange ideas for
the future of the Society and its place in the international
geoscientific scene.
The Hellenic Geophysical Union is committed
to support the new presidency in all initiatives it will undertake
for the benefit of our Balkan Geophysical Society. We wish success
to its targets and we are looking forward to meeting all our
colleagues from Balkans and abroad, at the second Balkan Congress
in 1999.
With my best wishes for peace, collaboration
and success.