Date	19.03.2025
Department	Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities
SDG

As part of the BİLGEBZE – Bilge Gebze Project run by the Gebze District National Education Directorate, a story writing competition themed “Gebze Through Stories” was organized in collaboration with Gebze Municipality. The competition, which featured elements unique to Gebze (characters, historical sites, natural habitats, architectural structures), was held in two separate categories for middle school and high school students. The award ceremony for the competition was held at the Gebze Cultural Center, attended by District Governor Mehmet Ali ÖZYİĞİT, Provincial Director of National Education Ömer AKMANŞEN, Gebze Mayor Zinnur BÜYÜKGÖZ, District Director of National Education Şenol PEKGÖZ, school principals, teachers, and students. Prof. Dr. Abdullah HARMANCI, a faculty member of our Department of Turkish Language and Literature, served as a jury member in the competition and also participated as a speaker in the panel discussion on “Contemporary Short Story Writing” alongside writers Ayşegül GENÇ, Naime ERKOVAN, and Mustafa UÇURUM, who were also members of the competition jury. Following the panel, students who won awards from among 322 works submitted by 93 schools received their prizes from members of the protocol. This event aimed to increase young people's interest in literature and encourage the preservation of local cultural values through written expression.