Mario Soldati once said that a journey is a feeling, not only a fact. In fact, it is exactly of friendship in the Southern Caucasus that we talk about when referring to our journey. July 2010, from the 14^th to the 31^st. Officially announced last Sunday by the president of ‘Rondine’, Franco Vaccari, in occasion of the final day of the association’s yearly event entitled ‘Piazze di Maggio’, a dream started a little more than one year ago has become reality: “Starting from Baku we will visit the most important cities in the Southern Caucasus reaching Istanbul” -  explained Mr. Vaccari.

The Document in 14 points will be delivered at the main institutions of Turkey and the countries of the Southern Caucasus, with the direct involvement of local population. The delegation of Rondine will be composed of the association’s staff, the young students of the International Hall of Residence and representatives of Italian politics, culture and economy. During each stage of the trip the delegation will first of all meet academic institutions, so as to reassert the centrality of students for the project and for the elaboration of the document. Moreover, the ‘14 points’ will be delivered to political institutions which have the main responsibility of putting the document into practice. A role of particular importance is reserved to meetings with local authorities, to give Mayors and Cities the role of direct connection and pacific dialogue among different local realities of the Caucasian countries, beyond the structures of central Governments. Religious institutions will also be among the institutions the delegation will refer to, playing an important role in the civil society of the region thanks to their prestige and credibility towards public opinion. The Document delivery to Muftis, Catholicoi and Patriarchs also enables to re-launch dialogue among confessions so as to give back to religions their role of promotion of peace and meeting between different identities.

The Friendship trip will furthermore inspire a series of economic agreements thanks to the participation of the association ‘Entrepreneurs for Peace’ and to contacts already made with Caucasian referents.

As a crowning achievement of the popular diplomacy mission Rondine considers it essential to experience, in each stage, a moment of celebration, to reassert the nature of the project which was started by Caucasian youth and to involve directly the people of the place in the promotion of the Document in 14 points.

Because Marion Salvati talked of “feeling”, but it is also true that his fellow writer Kafka told us that “feelings can be built only by travelling”.