European Youth Parliament (EYP), a civil society initiative that aims to increase political awareness and responsibility in young Europeans, encouraging them to be tolerant and free-thinking citizens. Since the organization began at a high school in the French city of Fontainebleau in 1987, it has rapidly grown into a network covering 40 European countries. It is Europe’s largest youth platform for political debate, exchanging ideas, intercultural comparison, and European citizenship education. Thousands of young people offer their support in a voluntary capacity and its annual events attract almost 40,000 participants.
EYP Turkey joined the network in 1999, acquiring legal status as the European Youth Parliament Association (Avrupa Gençlik Parlamentosu Derneği) in 2011. The EYP’s 69th International Session took place in Istanbul in 2012. The 78th International Session in Izmir in 2015 was sponsored by the
Vehbi Koç Foundation. The Koç School European Youth Parliament Club organizes an annual international meeting called the Koç Forum, in which students discuss current global issues and produce draft resolutions.