The Centre for Turkey Studies (CEFTUS) and the Friends of Cyprus are pleased to invite you to a public forum with keynote speaker Sener Elcil, General Secretary of KTOS, the Turkish Cypriot Primary Teachers Trade Union.
Please see speaker biography below.
This event is kindly hosted by Fabian Hamilton, Labour MP for Leeds North East.
The event will take place between 7-9PM on Wednesday, 19th April 2017 in Committee Room 8, 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.
A referendum on the proposed changes to Turkey’s constitution will take place on 16th April 2017. The changes proposed would significantly alter the structure of Turkey’s government and so the vote has big implications for Turkey’s domestic and foreign policies.
The result of the referendum may have an impact on the Cyprus talks. Mr Elcil will discuss the chances of a Cyprus settlement based on the outcome of the Referendum in Turkey and the consequences of a settlement for Cyprus, Turkey, the UK, the EU and the UN.
We look forward to welcoming you to this event.
Speaker Biography
Sener Elcil has been the General Secretary of KTOS, the Turkish Cypriot Primary Teachers Trade Union, since 2001. He supported Turkish Cypriot Leader, Mustafa Akinci from the day he decided to stand. He works on education, with teachers, pupils and schools in the north of Cyprus, but also with Greek and Turkish Cypriots in the Association for Historical Dialogue and Research, and for the establishment of the Home for Cooperation in the Buffer Zone. In 2009 he was elected to represent Cyprus as a whole on the Executive of the European Trade Union Committee for Education (ETUCE). He has since made arrangements to alternate with his equivalent Greek Cypriot teacher trade union leader. He has led the Turkish Cypriot Trade Union Platform to both the European Parliament and the UK Parliament. Last year he won the 2016 European Citizen’s Prize awarded by the European Parliament. He was also awarded a prize with his colleague and friend Christos Efthymiou for their work together in the Bicommunal Peace Initiative in which capacity they have visited the two Cyprus Leaders, Nicos Anastasiades and Mustafa Akinci, and leaders of the Cypriot political parties. He has worked to get left parties in the north of Cyprus to work together including the Social Democratic Party whose representatives addressed a CEFTUS meeting. The setting up of the Education Technical committee last year reflects the importance of education to the future of Cyprus. This year he has backed the platform to urge the 100,000 Turks living in Cyprus to vote No in the presidential referendum but is aware that many Cypriots believe that a Yes in the Referendum is better for a Cyprus settlement. He is in the UK to be awarded another prize from the Teachers Union, NASUWT and brief people about what is happening in Cyprus and the peace talks.
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