In addition to their biennial international meetings, IULTCS also organise meetings and events on a local scale, thereby carrying the developments in the leather world to the international platform. One of these local events, the Second Eurocongress, will take place in Istanbul from May 24-27, 2006, and will be organised by DETEK with Dr Volkan Candar as president. While the leather industry is being relocated on a global scale, Istanbul’s unique position as a metropolis between East and West and its history of uniting both worlds adds significance to this congress.

Authors wishing to present papers are invited to send abstracts to the Scientific Committee according to the following schedule and written in English. The maximum length is a page in A4 format, in Times New Roman, 12pt, single line spaced including title, author names, affiliation and full mailing address (including fax number and e-mail address). The abstract should clearly summarise the objectives and results of the study, describe the methodology of the investigation, point out methods of analysis whenever it was applied and finally give a short interpretation of the result obtained. Abstracts should be sent via e-mail by October 15, 2005, to the following address: eurocongress@detek.org.tr

The Technical – Scientific Committee will use these abstracts exclusively to evaluate and select the works for acceptance. The committee will communicate to the authors whether the proposal has been accepted or not and the presentation modalities (oral communication or visual display) by November 30, 2005. Full texts should be sent not later than February 28, 2006.

Istanbul plays an important role in the history of the Turkish leather industry from Kazlicesme to Tuzla, to the Grand Bazaar to Zeytinburnu. In addition, it remains the centre of leather fashion and production in Türkiye. That the latest developments in the leather world are going to be discussed in Istanbul sheds light on the future of this city in the leather industry. Türkiye will be hosting such an event for the first time, which in itself is significant. Türkiye will also host the international IULTCS Congress in 2013. The 2006 Eurocongress will serve as a preparation for the 2013 event.

For further information: email: eurocongress@detek.org.tr; website: [http://www.eurocongressistanbul.org], [http://www.detek.org.tr], [http://www.iultcs.org]