This time the newsletter of LYNC has a special meaning ! It's completely about the seminar Lessons of Liberalism, held in Bazaleti Lake, Georgia and organized by VVD, FNF and with support of LYNC. We hope you enjoy it reading!

1. June-July 2012
N e w s l e t t
LYNC
e r s p e c i a l e d i t i o n N 4
The summer of LYNC has Lessons of Liberalism. LYNC team invites new members.
started ! Several days of very interesting sessions of During the “Lessons of Liberalism” LYNC
LYNC has held its first summer event in training with VVD trainers Kamran Ullah found new enthusiastic and very active
Bazaleti Lake, Georgia with lots of summer and Ivo ten Hagen and, of course, our young people from Armenia, Azerbaijan and
fun ! Yeah, studying liberalism is fun ! permanent friend and partner FNF. Georgia.
THE YOUTH FROM THE SOUTH CAUCASUS REGION
TAKES LESSONS OF LIBERALISM.
From 29th June till 1st of July 2012 in Bazaleti Lake, Georgia, FNF with the
partnership of VVD (Dutch Liberal Party) and LYNC organized a very interesting
summer event - seminar on the Lessons of liberalism. LYNC helped the organizers to
select the most active and promising youth from the region which
could later join the local teams of LYNC in their future work.
The topic may appear to be quite broad, but for the
young activists that were participating, the program
was very well designed and the topic perfectly
described what was going on in Bazaleti. Those who
were new to the liberal ideas, had the chance to easily
get involved into the study process. It was fun and
useful. This kind of studying process is described in the
book of Robert Kiyosaki „Rich Dad Poor Dad“, when the Ivo ten Hagen
knowledge is gained through games and other innovative One of the best trainers of
teaching mechanisms. So, Lessons of liberalism were a very
VVD who is the LYNC
good chance for the youth to start examining themselves, to find
out the liberal roots and develop them. The combination of friend from the first steps.
flexibility and freshness of the topic and the program did their job This time they came to
in it.
The long term experience in organization of VVD seminars about lessons of Georgia with a completely
liberalism played its role in improving the quality of the seminars. This year the new and exciting program
program of the seminar, that was designed by the trainers, was very well done,
besides, the trainers themselves were very active, communicative, friendly, of teaching liberalism to
enthusiastic and charming which in fact is very important. Sometimes trainers may the youth and successfully
not be able to „appeal“ the auditory, and in this case the most part of the time is
implemented it during the
almost lost.
The program included a couple of extremely contemporary issues, such as social working sessions of the
media and different political systems. Mr Ivo ten Hagen and Kamran Ullah, trainers seminar. The participants
from The Netherlands, were very skilled. Though the participants knew them before,
but their lectures seem to be updated non-stop. this time were lucky with
One of the sessions referred to the most common political systems of the world. This the organizers (FNF, VVD),
gave an opportunity to compare liberalism with conservatism, socialism, to unveil the
necessity of democratic principles in liberalism and vice versa. As a result, Ivo ten with the trainers and with
Hagen concluded, that being liberal means being democrat, but being democrat does the weather.
not necessarily mean being liberal. Lessons of liberalism this time had the headline
Read the interview with Mr.
“Communication and Governance” and were useful first of all because of its quite
relevant structure and viable teaching methods. The participants were given the Ivo ten Hagen in this
chance and freedom to bring the given knowledge to life immediately via work newsletter.
groups.
LYNC newsletter • lync-youth.blogspot.com • lync.youth@gmail.com

2. June-July 2012
LI B ER AL Y O UTH NE T WORK OF T HE SOU T H C A U C A SUS
LYNC values the teamwork skills of
a young active person. For this
reason I was very glad to find out
that there was a special session
concerning teamwork skills in the
program. And, as it has already been
mentioned, the teaching methods
were fun, the participants had the
opportunity to learn without feeling
the heavy burden of the learning
process. Based on this, it can be
concluded that the one of the goals
of the seminar was to prove that
learning liberalism might be easy
and fun. The mobility of the
participants during the seminar helped to keep being switched on during the whole
seminar. Besides, the participants were given complete freedom to ask any questions that
interested them. Ivo Ten Hagen was patient enough to constructively answer each of the
questions, so that the basics of liberalism could become easy for the young participants Kamran Ullah
to digest. This definitely helped to strengthen the roots of their liberal thinking.
Nevertheless, those
The extremely active and
whose opinions were
somehow different from very skillful trainer of VVD
the common liberal who kept the whole process
values, had the freedom
to express themselves going in a dynamic and
and get involved in an “young” rhythm. The
active and fruitful dialogue with each other and with the trainers. So, if the goal of the
seminar was to tease youth interest in liberalism, the LYNC team is confident they have participants were easy to
succeeded. listen to him and follow his
Coming to the target groups, one can assume, that young beginner liberalists and
directions. Mr. Kamran
socially, politically active youth were the target group of the event. Though definitely
adults also enjoyed the process. shared his working
To conclude, one of the basic goals of the seminar was to show, that a person is free to experience with us and
make choice concerning his own life and benefits.
gave specific tips and
The event lasted three days. During those advises of making decisions
three days Ivo Ten Hagen and Kamran
Ullah flexibly matched the program to the and acting due to the time
audience and were open to accept any requirements. He is a live
new suggestion concerning the program, if
example of making fun of
that did not cause significant change of
the program goals. Herewith, LYNC the learning process and
(Liberal Youth Network of the South that is what his “liberal
Caucasus) also had a session, which
helped the LYNC members to look at the word” says - fun, which he
working group from outside. The LYNC shared during one of the
team helped the new participants to gain
more information about the youth sessions.
initiative and to prepare their own
presentations on the community, after which the LYNC team members answered the
questions of the other participants concerning the structure of LYNC, membership rules,
activities etc. The LYNC team itself understood which were the main gaps of the work
done and decided on the upcoming changes that should be arranged in the upcoming
months. The trainers were successful to take the LYNC team out of their comfort zone, so
that they could step forward in the development process. The atmosphere as a whole was
very positive.
The trainers seemed to be quite skillful and experienced, they had no problem to catch
the attention of the auditorium. The information they gave was very practical. And, as we
know, practical information is easier to understand. The trainers were very good at
socializing with the participants. That is very important, as the participants see, that the
trainers consider themselves equal to the participants. The friendly attitude only
contributed. The slogan of the seminar sometimes was „Less talk, more action“. When in
action, it’s no problem to catch new information.
The LYNC team members had a partial contribution to the development of the program.
With our suggestion the trainers changed the structure of the session that referred to the
LYNC. Besides, one of the members prepared daily report of the event.
LYNC newsletter • lync-youth.blogspot.com • lync.youth@gmail.com

3. June-July 2012
LI B ER AL Y O UTH NE T WORK OF T HE SOU T H C A U C A SUS
WE ARE EQUAL, BUT NOT THE SAME.
INTERVIEW WITH IVO TEN HAGEN.
The liberal values are based on respect for each individual, because we are equal but not the same. You will have the possibility to develop, but
whether you reach your goal or not is up to you, the help you organise and the opportunities you create. This is the basic responsibility you have for
your life. Liberals will help other people who cannot help themselves, yet we try to help you to reach an independent life. We have to be tolerant if
we give other people the same rights we would like for ourselves. And be careful that liberal values don't change in conservatism but evaluate the
values and reflect on them on a regular basis.
Ivo ten Hagen
Where are you from, which organization and what is your ideology? What was
your development path?
You met me in my role as a trainer for the VVD, a Dutch liberal party. Just after my
graduation I became a member because I thought that the party could use some
of my not active support. They asked me to become a representative in my city of
Boskoop, Netherlands and then I started following trainings and lectures about
the party, politics and professional skills. I became an active member and started
to give the trainings myself, which I've done for the past ten years.
Have you ever been in the South Caucasus before and in which countries?
How aware you are about the liberalism problems in our region?
VVD international asked me to conduct a training in Georgia in May last year. It
was my first visit to the South Caucasus and it touched me to see the struggle you are having to express basic freedoms which are so natural in our
country that I hardly think about it. I think it changed my way of looking at the world and of the way I give trainings.
What do you know about LYNC, have you read (heard) about our organization? What suggestions do you have regarding the activities of
LYNC (other youth organizations in the region)?
LYNC started at one of my trainings, so I feel a bit like a founding father. It was nice to see the hard work you all have done. The best development
for LYNC is to be an open community, where people can discuss or just watch what is going on. Don't link yourself to parties so you can stay
independent.
Do you see any opportunity of cooperation between VVD and LYNC? How do you usually treat the opportunities to work with the youth
organizations?
VVD and LYNC will have a relation for a long time, because the VVD is committed to help liberal movements all over the world. But we give only
training or advise, you have to go your own way, even if we don't like it. It's your development in your region.
What teamwork tools do you have?
Teamwork is about trust, responsibility and a strong will to let others succeed. Be
open and positive and the world looks brighter.
Do you feel yourself a citizen of a certain country?
As I mentioned before, I'm a member of several community's and I have several
roles. I'm Boskoper, Dutch, European and world citizen. I'm a father, a husband and
maybe someday a math teacher. There are times when those memberships collide,
but I survive because I want to look at an honest man in the mirror.
From a liberal point of view do you think no borders between states is an
Utopia?
A world without borders is not my dream. Borders give people a sense of security. It is nice to feel at home in your country. Government should
be as close to people as possible. But borders can be open for people to trade or to move. In my dream the world works together, trade together
and exchange culture.
LYNC newsletter • lync-youth.blogspot.com • lync.youth@gmail.com

4. June-July 2012
LI B ER AL Y O UTH NE T WORK OF T HE SOU T H C A U C A SUS
STAY OPEN FOR OTHER COUNTRIES, OTHER PEOPLE, BRIDGING CULTURES.
INTERVIEW WITH FRISO RIP
The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (Dutch: Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie:VVD) is the liberal political party in
Netherlands.The VVD is a member of the worldwide network of liberals, Liberal International (LI), the European Liberal and Democratic and
Reform Party, (ELDR), the European Liberal Forum (ELF), the Alliance of Liberals dan Democrats for Europe (ALDE), the European
Network of Political Foundations (ENoP), and the Liberal South East European Network (LIBSEEN).
This time this liberal family’s trainers with FNF organized an interesting seminar on Lessons of Liberalism. Some of the LYNC members were also participating
in this event. One of the VVD representatives was Friso Rip, VVD international officer. Below is the interview with him, by Lilit Melkonyan - member
of LYNC international relations group.
Is this your first time in the South Caucasus?
No, I’ve been in South Caucasus before, I was in Georgia, and it was again another project with Friedrich
Naumann Foundation.
What do you know about LYNC?Have your read about our organization?
I’ve heard about LYNC before coming to Georgia, I know that it was finally created in Bakuriani and its
regional organization which also shares the ideas of liberalism. It’s like our project of regional network in
North Africa, so partly I imagine how you have started.
So are you informed about the liberalism problems in this region?
Somehow. I see that Georgia is in better position than Armenia or esp. Azerbaijan from liberal
perspectives. Like every international officer I’m aware of general problems of the region, about the
youth’s difficulties of expressing their liberal ideas, approaches. I can understand the importance of
LYNC and the difficulties you face taking into consideration the regional conflicts.
Knowing this, what suggestions would you have regarding the activities of LYNC (or the other
liberal youth organization in the region)?
LYNC should involve more members. More people you have, more political conveys your message, more power you have. As much active
members LYNC has, as powerful it is. When you are network, it is very important to connect more people, to educate more young people, to have
more people ready for liberal changes.
Talk a bit about your system values /let it be human, world values.
The most important for me, especially in liberalism is responsibility. Individual responsibility is the core message of liberalism for me. I think it just
lets other people become what they want. I am responsible for my decisions, my way and I can’t make another person become what I want.
How do you develop your thinking? What was your path of development?
Staying open for other countries, other people, bridging cultures.
What teamwork tools do you have/use in your organization, which ones you would like to share with LYNC?
If you have good manifesto, than most work is done. It’s important to concretize what you want, to be agreed on it. Keep talking to each other, stay
open, involve yourself with others.
Do you see any opportunity of cooperation between VVD and LYNC?
In general every cooperation depends on how inclusive you want to be. If you have the same goals, vision, or how alike they are. Are you sharing the
same goal? If you are professional network, than it’s a good platform to share your knowledge, experience. I think all the liberal organizations
should and are cooperating. We have something to learn from LYNC and could share our experience of networking with LYNC, for example
LYNC also can cooperate with liberal network of North Africa, on which we are working now. In general I like the idea of LYNC, I think in future
we will have more joint events and projects.
LYNC newsletter • lync-youth.blogspot.com • lync.youth@gmail.com

5. June-July 2012
LI B ER AL Y O UTH NE T WORK OF T HE SOU T H C A U C A SUS
I APPRECIATED THE ATMOSPHERE OF TRUST, MUTUAL THE TRADITIONAL
UNDERSTANDING AND RESPECT. PHOTO STORY
ASYA MALAMYAN
One of the Armenian participants of the seminar on Lessons of Liberalism in Bazaleti, Georgia,
Asya Malamyan, is sharing with us her impressions and opinion about the event and the liberal
atmosphere there. From the first day she was actively engaged in the exciting working process of the
groups and as a result currently Asya is one of the new active members in LYNC and will
contribute to the works of our youth initiative. We warmly welcome Asya and other new members
from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, who joined LYNC after Bazaleti.
LYNC team
From 29th of June till the 1st of July
in Bazaleti Lake, Georgia took place a
seminar dedicated to Liberalism:
Communication and Governance,
organized by German Friedrich Naumann
Foundation in cooperation with VVD
(Dutch Liberal Party) and LYNC(Liberal
Youth Network of the South Caucasus).
As a participant, I must mention, that the
event was organized in the highest level.
The trainers were very professional and
the topics were covered for one hundred
percent. In the agenda we had such
topics as liberal values, strengths of
liberalism, weaknesses of liberalism,
principles of consensus, social media etc.
The training sessions were full of new
information, knowledge and fun, as well
as theory and practical exercises.
Team building games were playing very
important role for fulfilling the workshops that we had in our agenda. They both helped
us to get to know each other better and to raise the trust among participants.
One thing that was especially appreciated by me was
the atmosphere of trust, mutual understanding and
respect. Participants were from South Caucasus
region: Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan. Though this
region is considered to be a conflicting one, not even
a single case of misunderstanding was noticed among
participants. Despite the political and economic
instability in the region liberal youth of all three
countries managed to work in very diverse groups and
successfully complete all the workshops.
Besides the knowledge and a lot of fruits for thought
that this seminar gave us, let’s not forget about the real fun we had in Bazaleti. These 4
days were unforgettable not only in the context of
knowledge, but also in human relationship, friendship,
trust through diversity, tolerance and respect of that is
different. Frankly speaking this was my first “tête-à-
tête” interaction with participants from our region. JOIN US !
It was rather strange for me. Especially when in www.youtube.com/getlynced
this kind of seminars I used to stay with
members of our (Armenian) team, but this time I
was sharing a room with a very nice Azerbaijani www.facebook.com/lync.youth
girl, Yegane, and that was very interesting. The
way almost all of the participants were
dancing under Armenian national music –
qochari and Azerbajani music in a bus on our way back was really
amazing. This was our first but hopefully not the last teamwork together.
LYNC newsletter • lync-youth.blogspot.com • lync.youth@gmail.com