ABOUT
The coming meetings followed each other for two consecutive years. Leonidas Manolidis and Aziz Belal chaired these meetings during the years 1988 and 1989.
It was during the “Extraordinary Meeting on Otitis Media” in Denmark and I was getting prepared for the “22. Politzer Society Meeting” at that time. Jacques Magnan asked me to talk about joining MSOA meeting with Politzer Society. This was a good opportunity for recalling the minds again to MSOA after 8 years. So, a Symposium on “Vestibular disorders and their treatment” has been put into the program and Jacques was the Co-Chairman of the Meeting. Antonio Quaranta was the President of MSOA at that moment.
Following this meeting, another symposium was held during the 6th Cholesteatoma Meeting in Cannes. “Hearing aids versus surgery” was the topic. A business meeting was also performed during this instance and Francisco Antoli Candela was elected as the President of the Society.
Again, Jacques felt the lack of having the Bylaws and proposed to have a business meeting. Malta, as being one of the most central points of the Mediterranean, became the destination and we met in Salima to revise the bylaws of the society. Almost all countries of the Mediterranean Region were presented in this business meeting. With the spirit raised in Malta Island in 2001, a new effort has been developed and the meetings followed each other during the coming years.
Me and Anestis Psifidis chaired two regional meetings (on behalf of MSOA) one in Çesme – Izmir (Turkey - 2002) and the other in Chalkidiki – Thessaloniki (Greece -2004). Among these two meetings, Francisco Antoli Candela gathered the society members in the 6th International Meeting in Madrid with a very interesting topic on “Neuroplasticity” during 2003. I was elected as being the new President in 2004.
The scientific activities of the Mediterranean Society of Otology and Audiology showed great performance just at the beginning of the 21st Century.
7th International Meeting was organized by Taieb Bassoumi in Djerba – Tunisia during 2005. And then Mislav Gjuric gathered all scientists from the region for the 8th Meeting in Dubrovnik – Croatia in 2006.
At that moment, the reputation of MSOA was increased and the Society presented itself with Symposia, in International Meetings such as 18th World Congress in Rome and 6th EUFOS Congress in Vienna.
The 9th International Meeting was organized in Bari by the founder of the Society, Antonio Quaranta in 2007.
In 2008 the 10th Congress was again a joint Meeting to 8th International Cholesteatoma Conference. 9 sessions were held on behalf of MSOA especially on Hearing Science, during this Conference. During this Meeting the Anestis Psifidis took the office as being the new President of the Society. Jacques Magnan was also elected to take the action in 2012.
Owning a Scientific Journal has been an important goal. Mediterranean Journal of Otology begun publishing in 2005 under my Editorial team. Soon after a great interest was focused on it and to compete with the other International Journals, we decided to change the name as “The Journal of International Advanced Otology” in 2009. Within the same year it was accepted to be indexed Thomson Scientific to be included in SCI-E. Currently the Journal is being published three times a year each issue covering 25 articles.
In 2009 the Meeting was held in Alexandria, Egypt and was chaired by Aziz Belal. And 2010 again the MSOA Congress was organized on its own (without being part of another International or National Meeting) by Jacques Magnan in Marseille. During this meeting the executive committee decided having the meetings biannually.
In 2012 Naples hosted the biannual Meeting of MSOA. Antonio della Volpe was the Chairman. With this Meeting Jacques Magnan was elected as being the President of the Society, and Constantino Morera should act as being the Vice President, also to replace Professor Magnan.
In 2014, Constantino Morera organized the 14th International Meeting of the Society in Valencia. Professor Morera took the Presidency to be active until 2016 and to be replaced by Professor Armağan İncesulu during the 15th Meeting, which she is getting to organize also. The Executive Committee has also decided for the 16th Meeting to be organized in Israel.
The Mediterranean Region has its own friendly, affectionate behavior which is unique in the world. Indeed, it was a very good idea gathering the people having different religion and races but inspiring the same atmosphere even if there are still some conflicts creating sorrow and pain in some parts.
Currently the Executive Committee covers almost all countries in the region. We present very friendly relations beyond the politics and exhibit a very good model of amity and relations that will stay forever among the countries. We also heartily wish that the efforts made by the civil societies like us, serve for similar friendships and peace in Mediterranean region.
Prof.Dr.O.Nuri Özgirgin