The winners of the Community Achievement Awards 2017

CEFTUS Appreciation Award

Cengiz Candar

Businesswomen of the Year Award

Yildiz Jasmine Armstrong

Itir Sokmen

Businessmen of the Year Award

Mehmet Sar

Alp Ceylan

Nasir Kiral

Law Awards

Ozlem Erbil Cetin

Ozan Askin  

Role Models of the Year Awards  

Helin Pekoz

Mehmet Agca

Abide Osman

Politics Award

Councillor Emine Ibrahim

Young Entrepreneur Awards

Cem Canpolat

Hasan Içoz

Education Awards

Dicle Korkmaz Conlon

Mustafa Durmaz

Health Award

Dr. Sia Radmand

Media Award

Ali Kalay  

Art Award

Sudden Exit (Can Alper, Murat Hicdonmez, Ceyhun Can Guner and Sevtap Isik)

Community Centre of the Year Award

Alxas Kom (accepted by Kazim Kilic)

Croydon Alevi Cultural Centre (accepted by Israfil Erbil)

Lifelong Achievement Award

Osman Balikcioglu

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On Sunday 8th October 2017, the Centre for Turkey Studies (CEFTUS) hosted its 6th Anniversary Gala with over 700 guests at the Westminster Park Plaza Hotel near the UK Houses of Parliament.  

Commemorating the founding of CEFTUS 6 years ago, the event celebrated the achievements of CEFTUS over the last year in building bridges between Turkey and the UK. In addition to the gala, CEFTUS also celebrated the achievements of the Turkish, Kurdish and Turkish Cypriot communities in the UK with its annual Community Achievement Awards, recognising excellence in fields such as law, business, education and politics (see below for awards winners). Guests, including parliamentarians and ambassadors, enjoyed a delicious three course Turkish meal and excellent performances from Turkish musical acts Legacy II Galaxy and Olcay Bayir.

Please consider making a donation to the Centre for Turkey Studies to allow us to continue doing what we do – producing research and analysis, putting on events with expert speakers from all shades of political opinion in and around parliament, and building bridges between the UK and Turkey. You can donate as little as £5; a £25 or £50 donation would go a long way in helping us put on our next event – just click here to donate. 

The event was well attended by many politicians from various political parties, including Sir David Amess MP – who thanked CEFTUS for all it does to inform healthy debate – as well as Marsha De Cordova MP, Afzal Khan MP, John Spellar MP, Barry McElduff MP, Kate Osamor MP, Lord Glasman, Lord Bird, Lord Dykes, Lord Dholakia, Lord Suri, Lord McInnes and Lord Paul. Mayors in attendance included Marcia Cameron of Lambeth, Philip Glanville of Hackney, Christine Hamilton of Enfield, Linda Huggett of Redbridge and Bhagwanji Chohan of Brent, in addition to a number of local councillors. CEFTUS also hosted various ambassadors from around the world, trade unionists and journalists, many of whom presented awards. Prominent figures from the world of business were also in attendance, and delegations were sent from the three main sponsors – Cobra, JustEat and Alton & Co. Cobra chairman Lord Bilimoria and JustEat’s Ben Carter both spoke, congratulating CEFTUS on the organisation’s achievements and speaking of their own company’s successes.

Figures from across the political spectrum in Turkey also attended, including Republican People’s Party (CHP) MP Gaye Usluer and Altan Tan from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP). Journalist and former adviser to the Turkish government Cengiz Candar, who won the CEFTUS Appreciation Award and was introduced as a “seeker of truth” for his journalistic work in war zones such as Bosnia, was also in attendance. Other special guests included former Justice and Development Party (AKP) MP and law professor Osman Can, and former US Ambassador to Turkey James F. Jeffrey. The breadth of guests at the gala reflected CEFTUS’ ambition to provide open dialogue and to listen to all sides of the debate, encompassing all shades of opinion.

In his speech, CEFTUS founder and director Ibrahim Dogus thanked all the guests and sponsors. He made an impassioned speech, calling for renewed progress in the country:

“What brings us together is our shared belief that Turkey should be a peaceful, stable, democratic and secular country with free and fair elections, the rule of law, protection of minorities and freedom of expression.

And what breaks all of our hearts is when we see the Government of Turkey so often fall short of these ideals.”

Ibrahim went on to draw parallels between the pressing Kurdish issue in Turkey and the conflict in Northern Island, saying that only through dialogue and sitting around the negotiation table can peace be achieved.

The event went tremendously well, bringing together a diverse set of people and highlighting the many achievements of another successful year for CEFTUS in informing debate around Turkish issues in the UK.

The winners of the Community Achievement Awards 2017:

CEFTUS Appreciation Award

Cengiz Candar

Businesswomen of the Year Award

Yildiz Jasmine Armstrong

Itir Sokmen

Businessmen of the Year Award

Mehmet Sar

Alp Ceylan

Nasir Kiral

Law Awards

Ozlem Erbil Cetin

Ozan Askin  

Role Models of the Year Awards  

Helin Pekoz

Mehmet Agca

Abide Osman

Politics Award

Councillor Emine Ibrahim

Young Entrepreneur Awards

Cem Canpolat

Hasan Içoz

Education Awards

Dicle Korkmaz Conlon

Mustafa Durmaz

Health Award

Dr. Sia Radmand

Media Award

Ali Kalay  

Art Award

Sudden Exit (Can Alper, Murat Hicdonmez, Ceyhun Can Guner and Sevtap Isik)

Community Centre of the Year Award

Alxas Kom (accepted by Kazim Kilic)

Croydon Alevi Cultural Centre (accepted by Israfil Erbil)

Lifelong Achievement Award

Osman Balikcioglu

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The Centre for Turkey Studies (CEFTUS) is delighted to invite you to a public forum titled ‘The nine factors behind the rise of ISIS: from the USA to Saudi Arabia’ with keynote speaker American-Turkish-Kurdish intellectual and professor of philosophy, Edip Yuksel.

This event is kindly hosted by Sharon Hodgson, Labour MP for Washington and Sunderland West.

The event will take place between 7-9PM on Monday, 27 November 2017 in Committee Room 12, the House of Commons.

In this public forum, Professor Yuksel will share his analysis regarding the birth of terrorist group known as ISIS, dynamics between the East and the West, and potential solutions for world peace.

A prominent anti-extremist activist, Professor Yuksel’s numerous books, lectures, TV debates, and youtube videos challenge the radical narrative used by Islamist terrorist groups. He argues that all nations contribute to the ecology that produces terrorism and that we must therefore seek global solutions. Instead of devoting time, effort, and resources to further militarising conflict, Professor Yuksel’s work seeks peaceful alternatives, setting out what he believes to be the nine key factors that underlie the challenges facing the international community.      

We look forward to welcoming you to this event.

Speaker Biography

Edip Yuksel is the author of over twenty books and hundreds of articles on religion, politics, philosophy and law in Turkish and English. Edip organizes international Critical Thinkers for Islamic Reform conferences; so far in Atlanta, Oxford, Los Angeles, Almaty, and Istanbul and is the co-editor of the annual anthology carrying the same name. He has given lectures at various universities, including University of Arizona, Emory Law, Oxford University, Middle East Technical University, TU Dortmund University International and Princeton University.

After receiving his bachelor degree from the University of Arizona in Philosophy and Near Eastern Studies, Edip received his law degree from the same university. Besides activism, writing and lecturing, Edip works as an Adjunct Philosophy professor at Pima Community College. Edip is fluent in Turkish, English and Classic Arabic; proficient in Persian, and barely conversant in Kurdish, his mother tongue. To promote rational monotheism and peace Edip founded Islamic Reform, 114 Organizations, and co-founded MPJP. Edip shares his documentaries and home-made videos at his youtube channel. His online books and articles are published at numerous Internet sites, including www.19.org.

While a popular Islamist youth leader, Edip adopted the Quran Alone philosophy after corresponding with Rashad Khalifa and reading his landmark book, Quran, Hadith and Islam. This led him to experience a paradigm change in 1986. He parted ways from his comrades, including Tayyip Erdoğan and Ahmed Davudoğlu, who have been leading Turkish politics for over a decade. As a consequence, he was declared to be a heretic. In 1989, he was sponsored for immigration to the USA by Rashad Khalifa and worked together in Masjid Tucson until his mentor’s assassination in 1990.

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The Centre for Turkey Studies (CEFTUS) is holding an event to discuss the ongoing persecution of – and humanitarian crisis facing – the Rohingya people in Myanmar. Speakers will include Paul Scully, MP for Sutton and Cheam; Shadow Minister for Justice, Yasmin Qureshi MP; Mr. Md. Shafiul Alam First Secretary representing the Bangladesh High Commission in London; Sufyan Ismail, founder of Muslim Engagement and Development; and Omar Waraich, Deputy South Asia Director at Amnesty International. Further speakers to be confirmed.

The session will kindly be hosted by Paul Scully MP for Sutton and Cheam. 

The event will take place between 7-9PM on Wednesday, 29 November 2017 in Committee Room 8, the House of Commons.

Please note that as security checks are required to enter House of Commons, we kindly ask you to arrive at 6:30PM, allowing the event to start and end on time. 

Turkey has been deeply involved in the international aid effort, and on 7 September Turkey’s foreign aid agency became the first foreign outfit to deliver an initial shipment of 1000 tonnes of basic food and medicine to Rohingya areas. Meanwhile, Turkish officials have visited the refugee camps in Bangladesh and offered assistance to displaced people.

Because of Turkey’s international involvement and the interest of the Turkish people in this issue, CEFTUS is bringing together parliamentarians, charity workers and experts to speak on the topic and bring attention to the plight of the Rohingya. 

The views of our speakers do not necessarily represent the views of the Centre for Turkey Studies.

Speaker biographies:

Paul Scully is a British Conservative Party politician. He was elected as the Member of Parliament for Sutton and Cheam in 2015. He is the UK’s first MP of Burmese heritage.

Yasmin Qureshi MP is a British Labour Party politician and a barrister practising criminal law. Born in Pakistan, she grew up in Britain from the age of nine. She was elected as the member of parliament for Bolton South East in the May 2010 general election. Yasmin has been Shadow Minister for Justice since October 2016.

Sufyan Ismail is an award-winning UK Entrepreneur and Philanthropist. In 2001, he set up 1st Ethical, the UK’s first FSA authorised financial services firm which he later converted into a charity. In 2007, he founded OneE Group, a specialist wealth management and consultancy operation. Sufyan retired formally from full-time business activity in 2014 to tackle Islamophobia and in 2014, Sufyan founded MEND (Muslim Engagement and Development), a specialist initiative geared towards tackling Islamophobia by advocacy work with the media and Westminster.

Omar Waraich is Deputy South Asia Director at Amnesty International. He recently returned from a visit to the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh.

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The Centre for Turkey Studies (CEFTUS) in partnership with the Turkish Cypriot Community Association is pleased to invite you to a public forum with His Excellency Mr Mustafa Akinci, President of The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).

This event is kindly hosted by Joan Ryan MP for Enfield North. 

The event will take place between 7-9PM on Wednesday, 22 November 2017 in Committee Room 11, the House of Commons.

Please note that as security checks are required to enter House of Commons, we kindly ask you to arrive at 6.30PM, allowing the event to start and end on time.

In this special event, President Mustafa Akinci will share the views of the Turkish Cypriot Community on the Cyprus reunification talks and discuss the future of Cyprus.

Researcher and author of 33 books and Honorary Chair of TCCA Mr Yashar Ismailoglu will kindly chair this event.

We look forward to welcoming you to this event.

Speaker Biography

Born on December 28, 1947 in Limassol, Mustafa Akıncı is a graduate of the Middle East Technical University, Faculty of Architecture.

In 1975, he was elected to the Constituent Assembly of Turkish Cypriots; subsequently, he served as the first elected Mayor of the Nicosia Turkish Municipality for an uninterrupted term of 14 years from 1976 to 1990.

During his Mayorship, he collaborated with the then Nicosia Greek Cypriot Mayor on the implementation of the Nicosia Sewerage Project and the Nicosia Master Plan. In this context, Nicosia Master Plan received the ‘World Habitat Award’ in 1989 and the ‘Aga Khan Award for Architecture’ in 2007. Additionally, in 2003 Akıncı and his Greek Cypriot counterpart were awarded the prestigious ‘Europa Nostra Medal of Honour’ in recognition of their consistent and successful efforts for Nicosia and its citizens during particularly difficult times, and for the preservation of the historical and architectural environment of the Walled City.

Akıncı played a leading role in the establishment of the Union of Turkish Cypriot Municipalities and became its first President.

Between 1987-2001 he served as the Leader of the Communal Liberation Party (TKP); from 1993 to 2009 he was a Member of the Turkish Cypriot Parliament; and between 1999-2001 he undertook the role of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism.

As one of its founding members, Akıncı became the leader of the Peace and Democracy Movement (BDH) which was founded during the Annan Plan period. He handed over the leadership of BDH with the establishment of the Social Democratic Party (TDP).

President Mustafa Akıncı has delivered keynote speeches on Cyprus at internationally renowned academic platforms such as Oxford University, Harvard University and Yale University, as well as international forums such as Chatham House, The Royal Institute of International Affairs.

He published his first book ‘Belediye Başkanlığı’nda 14 Yıl’ (14 Years as Mayor) in 2010, and several of his articles have been published in various journals.

Mustafa Akıncı who got elected as the 4th President of the TRNC in the elections on April 2015, is fluent in English.

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On the 16th of January 2018, the Centre for Turkey Studies (CEFTUS) will be holding a Westminster Debate with James Ker-Lindsay, Professor of Politics and Policy at St Mary’s University, Twickenham and Ilker Kilich, former Republican Turkish Party (CTP) UK President.

This event will be kindly hosted by Faisal Rashid, Labour MP for Warrington South and chaired by Ipek Ozerim, editor of T-VINE Magazine.

Please see speaker biographies below.

The event will take place between 7-8:30 PM on Tuesday, 16 January 2018 in Committee Room 6, House of Commons.

Please note that security checks are required to enter House of Commons, we kindly ask you to arrive at 6:30 PM, allowing the event to start and end promptly on time.

North Cyprus’ General Election was held on 7th January 2018. The National Unity Party (UBP) returned as the largest party, but without enough seats to form a majority. The Republican Turkish Party (CTP) came second, and like the Democratic Party (DP) lost seats; while the right-wing People’s Party (HP) and the New Birth Party (YDP) both gained a place in the parliament for the first time, winning 9 seats and 2 seats respectively. It remains to be seen with who the nationalist UBP will seek to form a government after several parties immediately ruled themselves out of joining a coalition. The election was primarily dominated by Turkish Cypriots’ domestic concerns, as it is President Mustafa Akinci, who is not up for reelection until 2020, that takes the lead when it comes to Cyprus reunification talks.

In the meantime, the south of the island is set to hold its own significant vote, with the first round of presidential elections scheduled to take place in the Republic of Cyprus on the 28th January, expected to be followed by a second round runoff on the 4th of February.

Our expert speakers Mr Kilich will analyse the election results in North Cyprus and Dr Ker-Lindsay will focus on the forthcoming Greek Cypriot elections and what they mean for the future of Cyprus talks.

Please register to attend this event.

The views of our speakers do not necessarily represent the views of the Centre for Turkey Studies.

Speaker Biographies

Dr James Ker-Lindsay is Professor of Politics and Policy at St Mary’s University and Senior Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He has published numerous books on Cyprus, including Resolving Cyprus: New Approaches to Conflict Resolution (I.B. Taurus), The Cyprus Problem: What Everyone Needs to Know (Oxford University Press), The Government and Politics of Cyprus (Peter Lang, co-edited with Hubert Faustmann), and EU Accession and UN Peacemaking in Cyprus (Palgrave Macmillan).

Ilker Kilich is a Turkish Cypriot born under the British Colonial Rule. Having lived through the 1963/64 troubles, he has dedicated a substantial part of his life to promoting peace and unification of Cyprus as well as promoting socialist values. A graduate from the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, he was one of the leaders of Turkish Cypriot University Students. Following 1971 Military Coup, he left Turkey for Cyprus, where he joined Ahmet Mithat Berberoglu in building the newly born Republican Turkish Party (RTP). Kilich was entrusted with the RTP’s campaign in the 1973 Vice-Presidential elections, during which the RTP Candidate was put in house arrest and forced to step down. Together with Berberoglu and Naci Talat he was arrested and given a suspended prison sentence of 2 years, forcing him to leave Cyprus for London. Together with his friends in the UK he has helped to provide political, financial and moral support to his party in Cyprus. He has chaired various organisations and was the president of the CTP-UK from 1994 to 2012. His numerous articles on the Cyprus Problem has been published in London and in Cyprus. He was the recipient of CEFTUS Lifetime Achievement Award 2015. Kilich is still an activist and political opinion former on Cyprus. He is an RIBA Chartered Architect.

Ipek Ozerim is the editor of T-VINE Magazine, an English consumer publication for British Turks. She is also the co-founder of Embargoed!, a UK-based Turkish Cypriot human rights group.

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The Centre for Turkey Studies (CEFTUS) is pleased to invite you to a public forum with renowned journalist Yavuz Baydar, co-founder of P24, the Platform for Independent Media, and Editor-in-Chief of Ahval online. Baydar has recently been given the Special Award of the European Press Prize, which he shared with the Guardian and Der Spiegel.

This event is kindly hosted and chaired by Virendra Sharma, Labour MP for Ealing, Southall.

Please see speaker biography below.

The event will take place between 7-9PM on Wednesday, 7 February 2018 in Committee Room 10, House of Commons.

Please note that security checks are required to enter House of Commons, we kindly ask you to arrive at 6.30PM, allowing the event to start and end on time.

Turkey is said to have experienced the world’s biggest decline in freedom of speech over the past decade, much of which has taken place since the declaration of state of emergency following the failed coup attempt in July 2016.

According to Freedom House, in 2017 Turkey is now rated  ‘partly free’ in freedom in the world, ‘not free’ in freedom of the press, and ‘not free’ in freedom on the net. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported that 73 journalists were put behind bars in 2017.

As part of ongoing operations following the coup attempt in 2016, many journalists accused of alleged links to the coup plotters and/or terrorist organisations have been put under pretrial detention. Despite Constitutional Court ruling in early January, prominent journalists Mehmet Altan and Sahin Alpay, who had been detained for over a year, were not released. This again brought attention to the role of the judiciary in Turkey, with the lower courts making an unprecedented decision to not recognise a higher court’s decision. The cases of Altan and Alpay, alongside several other detained journalists, will now be taken to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which is expected to issue a judgement in February.

Our keynote speaker, journalist Yavuz Baydar, will lead a discussion on politics, media and law in Turkey in this timely Westminster Debate on 7th February 2018.

We look forward to welcoming you to this event.

The views of our speakers do not necessarily represent the views of the Centre for Turkey Studies.

Speaker Biography

Yavuz Baydar is the Editor-in-Chief of Ahval, a trilingual independent online news site on Turkey. He has been a journalist for nearly 40 years. Baydar was among the co-founders, in 2013, of the independent media platform P24 to monitor the media sector and the state of journalism in his home country. His opinion articles have appeared in the Guardian, Süddeutsche Zeitung, New York Times, El Pais, Svenska Dagbladet, Yomiuri Shimbun, the Arab Weekly, and Index on Censorship. He wrote regular opinion columns for the Turkish dailies Today’s Zaman, Bugun and Ozgur Dusunce. Turkey’s first news ombudsman, beginning at Milliyet daily in 1999, Baydar worked in the same role as reader representative until 2014.

He served as president of the U.S. based International Organizaton of News Ombudsmen (ONO) in 2003. In 2014, as a Shorenstein Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School of Government, he completed an extensive research paper on self-censorship, corruption of ownership in Turkish media, state oppression and threats over journalism in Turkey – in the wake of Gezi Park protests. Baydar worked as producer and news presenter in Swedish Radio &TV Corp. (SR) Stockholm, Sweden; as correspondent for Scandinavia and Baltics for Turkish daily Cumhuriyet between 1980-1992, and the BBC World Service, in early 1990’s.

Baydar has recently been given the prestigious ‘Journalistenpreis’ by the SüdostEurope Gesellschaft in Germany. Earlier, he was delivered the Special Award of the European Press Prize (EPP), for ‘excellence in journalism’, in 2014, and, in 2017, Morris B Abram Human Rights Award by UN Watch. He was also given the Umbria Journalism Award, Italy, in March 2014, and Caravella ‘Mare Nostrum’ Award, by the organization ‘Journalists of the Mediterranean’, in Puglia, Italy. He has lived outside Turkey since the July 2016 coup attempt.

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All-Party Parliamentary Group on British Turks and Kurds inaugural meeting took place on 21^st February 2018 in Committee Room 17 of the House of Commons.

The Centre for Turkey Studies (CEFTUS) has been appointed as secretariat.

Dan Carden MP has been elected as Chair of the APPG British Turks and Kurds. David Warburton MP, Catherine West MP, Sir David Amess MP, Tom Brake MP, Brendan O’Hara, Lord Glasman and Lord Watts have been elected as Vice-Chairs.

Joan Ryan MP, Tracy Brabin MP, Gerald Jones MP, Grahame Morris MP, Virendra Sharma MP, Fabian Hamilton MP, Chris Williamson MP, Alex Sobel MP, Gareth Thomas MP, Ruth Cadbury MP, Neil Coyle MP, Nick Thomas-Symonds MP, Siobhain McDonagh MP, Mike Hill MP, Baroness Warsi, Baroness Harris and Lord Wallace have become members.

As secretariat of the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Turks and Kurds CEFTUS will:

• Promote the work of the APPG in Parliament and beyond through traditional and social media
• Endeavour to keep MPs and Peers informed on relevant topics through regular electronic briefings
• Work to further links between the Turkish and Kurdish communities and their elected representatives at all levels
• Provide administrative and technical support where necessary

APPG’s official purpose of statement is as below:

“To encourage debate and engage in discussion about issues affecting Britain’s Turkish and Kurdish communities. To celebrate the contribution and achievements of Britain’s Turkish and Kurdish communities”

In the inaugural meeting Lord Balfe, Member of APPG for the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Gary Kent, Secretary of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Kurdistan and Ibrahim Dogus, Director of CEFTUS were in attendance.

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The Centre for Turkey Studies (CEFTUS) is pleased to invite you to a public forum with successful entrepreneur Cuneyt Asan, founder and partner of Gunaydin Group, one of Turkey’s largest and best known restaurant chains and meat suppliers.

REGISTER

This event is kindly hosted by Joan Ryan, Labour MP for Enfield North.

Please see speaker biography below.

The event will take place between 7-9PM on Tuesday, 13 March 2018 in Commitee Room 21, the Houses of Parliament.

Please note that security checks are required to enter House of Commons, we kindly ask you to arrive at 6.30PM, allowing the event to start and end on time.

Starting at a small butchers shop in Istanbul, Cuneyt Asan has grown a business that now encompasses more than 40 restaurants, alongside a large warehouse and central logistics centre employing 2,500 people. In 2015, he partnered with Dogus Group, one of Turkey’s largest conglomerates, to expand his ‘Gunaydin’ brand globally, with plans to open further fine dining restaurants in London, Moscow, New York and Dubai.

Asan will discuss his journey from humble beginnings to becoming one of Turkey’s best known businessmen.

REGISTER

CEFTUS
ceftus.org

Speaker Biography

Cuneyt Asan is a butcher by trade. He was born in 1959 in Erzincan,  His family migrated to Istanbul in 1962 where, to support his family, Asan started to work while still in primary school. He got his first job at a butcher’s shop called Bahar. That day, his new boss gave him his apron, marking the start of his career as a butcher. He served tea, cleaned the shop and carried customers’ bags, earning his first money. When he went to school the next day, he had pocket money for the first time, which he used to buy sodas for two of his friends.

Every day after that, Asan went to the butcher’s shop after school, He worked there until he enlisted for his mandatory military service. Even at such a young age, he was thinking about how meat should be stored. He would go on to introduce a multitude of firsts for butchery in Turkey. He was the first to offer meatballs from a butcher’s shop, make meat popular among kids, simplify women’s work in their kitchen, and offer chicken products. Today, his cold storage project, made out of Himalayan salt, is used around the world.

At the time, his butcher’s shop still went by the name Bahar which, he noticed one day, was not at all original. He decided to make a difference, and rechristened it ‘Gunaydin’. Back then, there were newsboys on the streets, shouting the name of the newspaper they were selling, and Gunaydin was one such newspaper. This gave Cüneyt Asan a sense of pride and taught him the importance of self-promotion.

Soon after, there was an influx of kebab cooks who came from Antep, Urfa and Southeastern Anatolia to open their own kebab restaurants in Istanbul. He began supplying them with meat, and in 1992, he opened his first restaurant in Çamlık, Küçükyalı.

Cüneyt Asan and his partners knew they had to create a difference with the Gunaydin Restaurant. They opened the world’s first butcher’s shop featuring an American bar and a library. Newspaper headlines called them the pioneers of the industry.

In time, Asan came to believe that he was chosen for his profession. He began taking on apprentices and still trains news colleagues personally. He believes the importance of training, and is committed to uphold it.

The story of Cüneyt Asan’s life symbolizes his values. He believes anyone can exceed if they find themselves a clear path and walk it with determination. He argues that, in order to succeed, one needs a target, and most importantly, a need. He thinks that being born into a wealthy family eliminates one’s drive to endeavor and accomplish.

The views of our speakers do not necessarily represent the views of the Centre for Turkey Studies.

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The Centre for Turkey Studies (CEFTUS) is delighted to invite you to a launch of Patrick Keddie’s new book ‘The Passion: Football and the Story of Modern Turkey’ on 3rd April 2018.

This event will take place between 6:30-8pm on 3 April 2018  in Diskus Room of Unite House (Unite the Union, Unite House, 128 Theobald’s Road, Holborn, London, WC1X 8TN).

In this book launch, journalist Patrick Keddie will share his observations of modern Turkey through Turkish football. Drawing a picture of Turkey’s social fabric with clashes over ethnic and sexual identities as well as telling the story of the biggest match-fixing scandal in European football in his book, he will discuss how football in Turkey has been a site of power, anger and resistance.

Patrick Keddie is an author, journalist and essayist based in Istanbul. A reporter for Al Jazeera, his writing has also appeared in VICE, the Guardian, the Huffington Post, the Irish Times, the LA Review of Books, Middle East Eye and the Sunday Herald among others.

We look forward to welcoming you to this event.

The views of our speakers do not necessarily represent the views of the Centre for Turkey Studies.

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The Centre for Turkey Studies (CEFTUS) will be holding a Westminster Debate with Dr Louis Fishman, assistant professor of Modern Middle East history at Brooklyn College, City University of New York on 25th April 2018.

This event will be kindly hosted and chaired by Mohammad Yasin MP for Bedford.

Please see speaker biography below.

The event will take place between 7-8:30 PM on Wednesday, 25 April 2018 in Committee Room 9, House of Commons.

Please note that security checks are required to enter House of Commons, we kindly ask you to arrive at 6:30 PM, allowing the event to start and end on time.

During the last twenty years, Turkish-Israeli relations have transformed from the two states having close diplomatic and military ties, to one much more characterized by its tense and cold relations. However, despite these difficulties, Turkey and Israel have continued to maintain ties, with economic and trade ties only growing stronger. In this talk, Louis Fishman will look at the intricacies of Turkish-Israeli relations and place them within an historical context, focusing on how domestic and regional politics have helped shaped their complicated ties. Towards the end of his talk he will also pose a few questions about what the future holds for these two countries.

We look forward to welcoming you to this event.

CEFTUS

Speaker Biography

Louis Fishman is an assistant professor of Modern Middle East history at Brooklyn College, City University of New York. Currently he is working on the last stages of his book on late Ottoman Palestine. He regularly contributes to Haaretz, where he writes about Turkish and Israeli affairs, in addition to writing and providing political analysis to media outlets in Turkey, Israel and the US. He divides his time between New York, Istanbul, and Tel Aviv. He finished his BA at Haifa University, and his MA and PhD at the University of Chicago. In addition to giving talks in Israel, he also has taught classes at Sabanci, Bahcesehir, and Okan Universities.  

Photo credit:http://www.agos.com.tr

The views of our speakers do not necessarily represent the views of the Centre for Turkey Studies.

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The Centre for Turkey Studies (CEFTUS) will be holding a public forum with Mr Saad Saeed, Solicitor Advocate at Aman Solicitors Advocates on the recent changes to the indefinite leave to remain (ILR) under the Turkish European Communities Association Agreement (ECAA) Business Persons category. Other speakers TBC.

This event will take place between 7 -9 PM on Tuesday, 24th April 2018 in Committee Room 9 of the House of Commons.Please note that security checks are required to enter House of Commons, we kindly ask you to arrive at 6:30 PM, allowing the event to start and end on time.

This event is kindly hosted by Sir David Amess, Conservative MP for Southend West.

On the basis of the Veli Tum and Mehmet Dari case, Turkish citizens were immune from further restrictions on establishing businesses in the UK since the UK became a signatory of the Ankara agreement by joining the European Economic Community in 1973. The British government’s decision to suspend ILR applications under the ECAA, otherwise known as the Ankara Agreement, comes after a decision by the Upper Tribunal of the Immigration and Asylum Chamber in March 2017 that permanent residence does not in fact fall under the ‘stand still clause’. Rather, limited leave to remain is deemed sufficient to fulfil the Ankara Agreement.

The number of Turkish ECAA businesspersons accepted under this agreement during the period of 2007 to 2017 was 29,205 although the number of people living in the UK under this agreement is expected to be higher as this does not take into account the dependents of the applicants or the number of applications in 2018 and the change in the status of the agreement is likely to have a significant effect on the Turkish business community in the UK leaving a significant number of the community in limbo.

In this event, our keynote speakers will discuss the Home Office’s recent announcement and the impact on the Turkish and Kurdish communities in the UK.

We look forward to welcoming you to this event.

CEFTUS

Speaker Biography

Saad Saeed has been working in the legal field for over 16 years. He has been a qualified solicitor for over 10 of those years and a Solicitor Advocate (Higher Courts Civil Proceedings) for over 6 years. He currently works as a Solicitor for Aman Solicitors Advocates in their Wembley office. Saad specialises in the fields of immigration and employment law. Saad has a keen interest in the Ankara Agreement in the immigration context and has a vast array of experience regarding the Ankara Agreement, having advised numerous individuals about making applications for entry clearance, leave to remain, and indefinite leave to remain. Saad has also represented many individuals in the Tribunals when their applications for leave have been refused. Saad was the instructing solicitor in the case of ZY (Turkey) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2011] EWCA Civ 65 and also represented Kadir Ascioglu in the Court of Appeal case of Ascioglu v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2012] EWCA Civ 1183.

Other speakers TBC.

The views of our speakers do not necessarily represent the views of the Centre for Turkey Studies.

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The Centre for Turkey Studies and the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) will be holding an exclusive roundtable with Dr Louis Fishman on Turkish-Israeli Relations.

This event is invitation only and places are limited. Please email us at info@ceftus.org to reserve your place. It will take place between 2-3:30pm on Thursday, 26th April at RUSI.

Places will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

This exclusive roundtable will be chaired by Dr Jonathan Eyal, Director of RUSI International.

Dr Louis Fishman is an assistant professor of Modern Middle East history at Brooklyn College, City University of New York. Currently he is working on the last stages of his book on late Ottoman Palestine. He regularly contributes to Haaretz, where he writes about Turkish and Israeli affairs, in addition to writing and providing political analysis to media outlets in Turkey, Israel and the US. He divides his time between New York, Istanbul, and Tel Aviv. He finished his BA at Haifa University, and his MA and PhD at the University of Chicago. In addition to giving talks in Israel, he also has taught classes at Sabanci, Bahcesehir, and Okan Universities.

Dr Fishman will look at the intricacies of Turkish-Israeli relations and place them within an historical context, focusing on how domestic and regional politics have helped shaped their complicated ties.

This event is invitation only and places are limited. Please email us at info@ceftus.org to reserve your place.

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The Centre for Turkey Studies (CEFTUS) will hold its 7^th Anniversary Gala and Community Achievement Awards in July 2018 (Date TBC).

Founded in 2011, CEFTUS has grown remarkably and has been the only effective organisation that provides an open platform for issues regarding Turkey and the region, builds bridges between Turkey and the UK and brings together Turkish, Kurdish and Turkish Cypriot communities of the UK.

CEFTUS has now opened the nominations for the Community Achievement Awards (2018). The awards, which aim to recognise excellence of Turkish, Kurdish and Turkish Cypriot Communities in the UK, will be presented in categories of business, education, art, media and community work. Anyone can make a nomination by either emailing CEFTUS on info@ceftus.org with a nominee name, contact details, category, reason for nomination. Alternatively, nominations can be made via our nomination form which can be found here.

Previous winners of the Community Achievement Awards can be found in our current magazine here and 2017 winners can be found here.

CEFTUS will once again organise a wonderful gala where parliamentarians, business people, community leaders, local and national media will be in attendance. Having hosted celebrities such as Zulful Livaneli and Gulse Birsel in previous gala events, CEFTUS will again host distinguished figures from Turkey including parliamentarians, academics, journalists and business people.

Please watch CEFTUS 6^th Anniversary Gala highlights.

CEFTUS 7^th Anniversary Gala will also aim to raise funds for the work of CEFTUS throughout the year. Supporters of CEFTUS are very welcome to make donations via the link below or purchase tickets/tables.

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The Centre for Turkey Studies is pleased to invite you to a Westminster Debate with political commentator and author Ali Bayramoglu on 6th June 2018.

This event will be kindly hosted by Siobhain McDonagh, Labour MP for Mitcham and Morden.

The event will take place between 7-9PM on 6th June 2018 in Boothroyd Room, Portcullis House. Portcullis House is opposite Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament and above Westminster tube station.

Please note that security checks are required to enter Portcullis House, we kindly ask you to arrive at 6.30PM, allowing the event to start and end on time.

President Erdogan has announced that elections to choose the country’s next president and parliament will be held on June 24. The vote will be the first held as part of the presidential system introduced by a closely contested referendum last April. The next president is set to have significantly expanded executive powers and will likely define Turkey’s future direction over at least the medium-term.

Ali Bayramoglu will outline the recent political developments in Turkey and will analyse the upcoming general elections.

Please note Mr Bayramoglu will speak in Turkish with translation provided at this event.

We are looking forward to welcoming you to this event.

Centre for Turkey Studies

Speaker biography

Ali Bayramoglu is an academic and political commentator in Turkey. He has produced several publications on minority rights, on the Kurdish issue and on religious and conservative movements in Turkey. Since 1994, he has continuously contributed as a columnist to a variety of newspapers. His most well-known books include The Islamic Movement in Turkey (2001), The Military in Turkey (2004), The Religious and Secular in the Democratization Process (2005), and The Process of Resolution: From Politics to Arms (2015).

The views of our speakers do not necessarily represent the views of the Centre for Turkey Studies.

Photo credit: www.hurriyet.com.tr

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The Centre for Turkey Studies (CEFTUS) is pleased to invite you to a Westminster Debate with Gulcin Ozkan, Professor of Economics at the University of York, on the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections in Turkey and the economy.

This event is kindly hosted by Catherine West, Labour MP for Hornsey and Wood Green and Vice Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on British Turks and Kurds.

The event will take place between 7-9PM on Tuesday, 19 June 2018 in Committee Room 8, House of Commons.

Please note that security checks are required to enter the House of Commons, we kindly ask you to arrive at 6.30PM, allowing the event to start and end promptly on time. Please register to attend this public event. 

Ahead of upcoming general elections, the Turkish economy is becoming a hotly contested issue. The lira’s recent rapid decline against the dollar has sparked debate about the country’s macroeconomic policy, with the government rejecting the orthodox response of increasing interest rates, claiming such a move would hold back growth. Turkey’s central bank eventually took action, averting a potential financial crisis. But questions over the future of the economy remain.   

In this timely event, days before the elections on 24th June, our keynote speaker Professor Ozkan will analyse Turkey’s economic policies and the impact of the snap elections.

We look forward to welcoming you to this event.

Speaker Biography

Gulcin Ozkan is a Professor of Economics at the University of York. She holds a BSc in Economics from METU, Ankara, Turkey; an MSc in Economics from the University of Warwick, and a PhD from the University of York. She has taught at various institutions, including METU, University of Durham and the University of York. She is also the Managing Editor of the Bulletin of Economic Research. She was the Academic Secretary to the Money, Macro and Finance Group – the leading research group in financial, macro and monetary economics in the UK – during 2010-2015.

The views of our speakers do not necessarily represent the views of the Centre for Turkey Studies.

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The Centre for Turkey Studies (CEFTUS) will hold its 7th Anniversary Gala and Community Achievement Awards (2018) on 15th October 2018 at Park Plaza London Riverbank.

Monday, 15 October 2018

Reception: 6:00 – 7:00PM

Dinner & Awards 7:00 – 11:00PM

Park Plaza London Riverbank
18 Albert Embankment Lambeth
London SE1 7TJ

Dress code:  Lounge Suit or Cocktail Dress

Founded in 2011, CEFTUS has grown remarkably and has been the only effective organisation that provides an open platform for issues regarding Turkey and the region, builds bridges between Turkey and the UK and brings together Turkish, Kurdish and Turkish Cypriot communities of the UK.

CEFTUS will once again organise a wonderful gala where parliamentarians, business people, community leaders, local and national media will be in attendance. Having hosted celebrities such as Zulful Livaneli and Gulse Birsel in previous gala events, we will again host distinguished figures from Turkey including parliamentarians, academics, journalists and business people.

CEFTUS 7th Anniversary Gala will aim to raise funds for our work throughout the year. We receive cross-party and cross-community support in the UK and Turkey and does not owe any allegiance to any government, political party or institution. We are a non-profit organisation. In order to continue our work, we thank you for your kind support through purchasing tickets. Supporters of CEFTUS are very welcome to make donations via the link below or purchase tickets/tables.

CEFTUS has also opened the nominations for the Community Achievement Awards (2018). The awards, which aim to recognise excellence of Turkish, Kurdish and Turkish Cypriot Communities in the UK, will be presented in categories of business, education, art, media and community work. Anyone can make a nomination by either emailing CEFTUS on info@ceftus.org with a nominee name, contact details, category, reason for nomination. Alternatively, nominations can be made via our nomination form which can be found here.

Previous winners of the Community Achievement Awards can be found in our current magazine here and 2017 winners can be found here.

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The Centre for Turkey Studies is working with Ahval News to hold a joint event at Labour Party Conference 2018.

24th September 2018

5.15-7.15pm

 Room 5, Hall 2

ACC Liverpool

Kings Dock

Liverpool, England L3 4FP

United Kingdom

Google maps and directions

Turkey is at a definitive moment in its history. A new presidential system has drastically restructured the country’s politics, the military is increasingly involved in Syria and Iraq, and the economy is on the brink of crisis.

Yavuz Baydar, Editor-in-Chief of recently formed independent Turkish news outlet Ahval will be joined by Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the (Stockholm University Institute for Turkish Studies Cengiz Candar, human right’s activist Nurcan Baysal, and distinguished academics Dr. Ayse Zarakol and Dr. Arzu Yilmaz to discuss these developments and what they mean for democracy and the region.

Please note: You will need a conference pass to attend this event

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Centre for Turkey Studies is working with Alliance of Turkish Businesspeople (AOTB) to hold a Public Forum at the Houses of Parliament on Tuesday, 23rd October 2018 from 6:30pm to 8:30pm.

The event will kindly be hosted and chaired by Catherine West MP and take place at Committee Room 8, Houses of Parliament.

In this panel discussion by the Centre for Turkey Studies, legal experts and campaigners will provide an overview of the recent changes to settlement applications under the so-called ‘Ankara Agreement’, and the ensuing legal challenge against the changes.

Until 16 March 2018, Turkish nationals who set up businesses in the UK under the Ankara Agreement were able to apply for settlement after four years, without paying an application fee. Following a sudden rule change, more onerous requirements have been introduced (five years of residence, an application fee of £2,389 per person, as well as passing language and Life in the UK tests).

The new rules apply retrospectively to 12,500 Turkish nationals who have already set up businesses in the UK and are currently within the four-year route. A 1,300-strong collective of Turkish entrepreneurs have formed the Alliance of Turkish Businesspeople (AOTB), a volunteer-run not-for-profit campaigning group that has launched a judicial review to challenge the retrospective application of the new rules.

For this panel discussion, we will be joined by AOTB’s co-founding director Ms Leni Candan, and the legal team behind AOTB’s judicial review: Ms Emma Daykin, Barrister at Lamb Building; and Mr Yasar Dogan, Solicitor Advocate and Non-practising Barrister at Redstone Solicitors.

SPEAKER BIOS

Emma Daykin is a barrister who represents individuals against the Home Office in all aspects of immigration, asylum and human rights, at all levels. She is ranked as a leading junior for immigration in Legal 500, which states, “She is caring, well prepared and a powerful advocate.”  

Emma has particular experience in claims, both judicial review and appeals, involving the Ankara Agreement and the position of Turkish nationals seeking to establish themselves in business or working in the UK.   In particular, she appeared as junior counsel led by Nathalie Lieven QC in R (otao Akturk) v SSHD [2017] WLR (D) 145; [2017] EWHC 297 (Admin), the lead case on the issue of abolition of the right of appeal for Turkish citizens seeking to exercise their freedom of establishment under the European Community Association Agreement (the Ankara Agreement) with Turkey.  The Judge held that the abolition is incompatible with the Agreement in that it breaches Article 41 (1) of the Additional Protocol (standstill clause) and that incompatibility is not avoided by Administrative Review. Emma was also counsel in EK (Ankara Agreement – 1972 Rules – construction) Turkey[2010] UKUT 425 (IAC).

Yasar Dogan is a non-practising Barrister and Solicitor Advocate with Higher Rights of Audience in both Civil and Criminal matters. He graduated from University College London (UCL) with an LLB (Honours) Law degree in 2007. In 2008, he was called to the Bar by the Honourable Society of Inner Temple, having completed the Bar Vocational Course. In 2011, he cross-qualified as a solicitor and in the same year he was awarded Higher Rights of Audience in both civil and criminal matters qualifying as a Higher Courts Advocate. In June 2017, he founded Redstone Solicitors and is still practising there.

Yasar Dogan specialises in Immigration and Nationality Law. He has a particular interest in the Ankara Agreement, having provided advice and representation in several applications, appeals and judicial reviews involving the Ankara Agreement since 2008. He is currently advising and acting in a number of judicial review cases challenging the legal propositions in the case of Aydogdu v SSHD.

Leni Candan is a communications consultant for not-for-profit organisations. After becoming impacted by the sudden changes to Ankara Agreement settlement rules only weeks before she was due to apply for settlement, Leni founded a campaigning group to fight the retrospective application of these changes. The group later became the Alliance of Turkish Businesspeople (AOTB) and has recently filed for permission to launch a judicial review challenging the retrospectively effective changes.

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The Centre for Turkey Studies (CEFTUS) is pleased to invite you to a Westminster Debate with Yavuz Baydar and Cengiz Candar on Turkey’s place in the world.

This event is kindly hosted by Hugh Gaffney, Labour MP for Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill.

The event will take place between 7-9PM on Tuesday, 16th of October 2018 in Committee Room 5, the Houses of Parliament.

Please note that security checks are required to enter the House of Commons, we kindly ask you to arrive at 6.30PM, allowing the event to start and end promptly on time.

The recent resurgence of nationalist politics looks set to have implications for Turkey’s public- discourse in both the short and the long-term, raising growing questions in the EU over the country’s continued commitment to liberal rights and freedoms. At the same time, tension with NATO over Syria looks set to come to a head amid profound differences over the country’s future and Turkey’s ever-closer embrace of Russia as a strategic partner in the conflict.

In this panel discussion, Yavuz Baydar and Cengiz Candar will analyse these developments, putting them into context at both a domestic and international level.

Speakers: 

Yavuz Baydar is the Editor-in-Chief of Ahval, a trilingual independent online news site focused on Turkey. He has worked as a news producer and reporter for the BBC World Service, the Swedish Radio & TV Corp, and Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet. He has received several awards for his journalism, including the prestigious 2018 ‘Journalistenpreis’ from the South East Europe Association in Munich, and the 2017 Morris B Abram Human Rights Award from UN Watch. In 2014, he was a Shorenstein Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School of Government, where he undertook research on state oppression and threats to journalism in Turkey. He has lived in exile since the crackdown on media freedom following the July 2016 coup attempt.

Cengiz Candar is Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the Stockholm University Institute for Turkish Studies and is one of the region’s most experienced journalists, having worked for a number of Turkish media outlets. He has also served as a special advisor to former Turkish president Turgut Özal, lectured at Bilgi University in İstanbul and completed scholarships at the Woodrow Wilson International Center and the United States Institute of Peace. Currently, he is an Associate Fellow at the Swedish Institute for International Affairs.

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