Almaty, which takes its name from the apple, and skiing in Kazakhstan

Although they live in different geographies, journalists who do their job properly share the same genes; the profession comes before everything else, news is a matter of honor, and acting as a watchdog for the public by prioritizing the interests of the people is the fundamental principle. While performing this watchdog role, a journalist has no hidden agenda, no expectation of personal gain, and no effort to curry favor with anyone, and such things are unacceptable.

The 1950s were years when the Cold War was blowing like a storm; there was heavy pressure in the Soviet Union and the iron curtain countries under its occupation, and practicing journalism was very difficult; the slightest criticism was enough for a journalist to end up in Siberia. (I can almost hear those asking if the situation is any different in today's Russia, where opposition leader Navalny was killed in dungeons.)

In the 1950s, the same was true in Western countries; even a journalist who went to Moscow to conduct an interview was declared a communist and demonized; in fact, such an event even occurred in Turkey, where rival newspapers in Istanbul had giant posters hung on walls to have a newspaper that sent its reporter to Moscow declared communist.

It was during these years that French journalist Gilles de La Rocque came up with an interesting idea and, 69 years ago, founded the Ski Club of International Journalists (SCIJ) with his colleague Marcel Pasche; their goal was to bring journalists from both sides together for skiing, to help them mingle, to ensure they exchanged views, and to listen to what they had to say if they had anything to tell, thus avoiding spies as well.

Founded with this idea, the SCIJ has been gathering for skiing in a different country for a week every year ever since. This journalistic organization, which started with two people, has now reached 31 countries and a thousand members worldwide; journalists from Turkey have also been members of this organization for 14 years. There are nearly 20 members today in the Turkey SCIJ Association, which was established under the leadership of Yazgülü Aldoğan, Zeynep Alemdar, and Şükrü Küçükşahin; so much so that such an international meeting was also held in Turkey in 2012, where about 200 guest journalists first toured Istanbul and were then taken to Erzurum to ski.

As a member of this club, we spent last week in the city of Almaty, Kazakhstan, where we went for the traditional winter meeting of the Ski Club of International Journalists, together with journalists from Turkey, Gamze Düşmez, Barçın Yinanç, Deniz Çiyan Ünal, and Serkan Ocak. For a week, 123 participants from 27 countries both skied and discussed world issues as professionals doing the same job in different countries. In the meantime, Serkan Ocak surpassed the journalists from Nordic countries, who learned to ski when they were still babies, in the 'Cross-Country Skiing' category and won a bronze medal by coming in third.

During the meeting in Almaty, the effects of global warming on tourism and the changes artificial intelligence has brought to journalism were also discussed during non-skiing times. In addition, Kazakhstan's famous mountaineer Maksut Zhumayev also attended the organization as a guest of honor; Zhumayev, who is known for climbing the world's 14 mountain peaks over 8,000 meters and is one of the 49 mountaineers to have achieved this, shared his experiences.

The Shimbulak ski resort near Almaty, the former capital of Kazakhstan, which hosted the 69th meeting, is known as the largest winter tourism center in Central Asia. The ski resort, which is only 25 km away from the city center but at an altitude of 3200 meters above sea level, is located in the Tian Shan Mountains. With its 3200-meter altitude, the ski resort has an important privilege and offers skiing opportunities from November to May.

Kazakhstan is the largest of the Turkic Republics, a huge country with four times the area of Turkey but only one-fourth of its population. You know how they say if you go from Turkey to China, you will hear Turkish spoken everywhere; Kazakhstan gives one such a feeling, Turkish words stick to your ears in every conversation; just saying that the name of the city of Almaty comes from the apple is proof of this in itself.

The ski resort Shimbulak also takes its name from 'çimen' (grass) and 'bulak'; we know 'çimen', and 'bulak' means spring in Turkish, so it means grassy spring. Seventy percent of the Kazakh people are Muslim, and they call Turkey their 'Motherland'. Almaty is an ideal center for sightseeing, and Shimbulak is an ideal center for skiing; the Turkish words that will constantly catch your ear, the delicious cuisine, the warmth of the Asian people, and prices cheaper than in Europe are its pluses.