On the 9th of May 1950, Robert Schuman presented his proposal for the creation of an organized Europe, which he considered indispensable to the maintenance of peaceful relations. That was the first move towards the creation of what is now known as the European Union. Now each year, May 9th is celebrated as Europe Day.
The European Commission, which is the official representative of the European Community, made the Bilkent Library a full European Documentation Center (EDC) in 2001. The EDC receives many publications, in print and other formats such as CD-ROMs, produced by the EU institutions. Material in the EDC relates mainly to EU law and policy, in particular, copies of draft legislation and information on the main EU institutions, such as the Commission, European Parliament, and the Court of Justice.
The Bilkent Library's objective as an EDC is to help the university promote and consolidate teaching and research in the field of European integration, and to make information on the European Union and its policies available to the public. In order to establish contacts with the other EDCs in Ankara, on April 28, 2004, Beyhan Karpuz, who is in charge of the Bilkent EDC, hosted a meeting of all EDC Supervisors from Ankara (ABGS, METU EDC, TOBB, ATAUM) as well as Ms. Selda Paydak, who is the liaison officer for EDCs in Turkey in the Office of the European Commission Representative to Turkey.
Be sure to visit the Bilkent EDC web site at http://library.bilkent.edu.tr/ edc/edcilksayfa.htm or direct your questions to edc@bilkent.edu.tr