Embargoed attend the 3rd World Congress
of Turkish Cypriots
MEMBERS of Embargoed!’s executive committee were invited to attend the Third World Congress of Turkish Cypriots held in North Cyprus between the 22nd and 24th November 2013 and the following is a report to their membership.
Chair Fevzi Hussein and Secretary Suzanne Nuri along with Embargoed! members John Oakes and Izzet Sinan (invited independently),all made the trip to North Cyprus on 21st November where the Congress was held at the Acapulco Convention Hotel near Girne.
The Congress which drew Turkish Cypriots from around the world, lasted for three days and featured
a range of speakers on a variety of topics. Fevzi Hussein’s speech to Congress, which included the short 5 minute video about our Turkish Cypriot Olympic Project (TCOP), was very well received with many delegates speaking about the content of his presentation to him afterwards.
John Oakes addressed the Congress with his opening comments being spoken in Turkish. Izzet Sinan gave a presentation to Congress on the merits of ex-pat voting rights and also sat as an expert panel member which took in a discussion on the same subject.
Among the notable speakers were Lord Sharkey and Baroness Meral Hussein-Ece who briefly addressed the delegates on the Saturday, and there were speeches on the opening day from TRNC President Derviş Eroğlu and 
former President Mehmet Ali Talat. A speech by the Speaker of the TRNC Parliament Dr Sibel Siber was also well received.
Embargoed! attended most of the main sessions of the Congress and uniquely were the only group to constantly Tweet and update Facebook with pictures and comments on proceedings. Chair Fevzi Hussein said “We are proud to have represented Embargoed! at such an event but it is sad that this Congress does not seem to have any links to the TRNC Foreign Ministry as the views and opinions expressed by ex-pat Turkish Cypriots would have been useful to hear. Nonetheless, we did pass a letter to the Foreign Minister Özdil Nami explaining about our campaigns.” Fevzi added that the opportunities to network at such an event were invaluable as was the opportunity to get Embargoed!’s messages about current campaigns and past achievements across to new audiences.
Reflecting on what was achieved, Embargoed!’s Secretary, Suzanne Nuri had the following to say:
“The Congress idea has potential to be a very effective way of drawing opinion and ideas from Turkish Cypriots around world. But Congress needs to be more inclusive and TRNC government ministers need to realise how effective our ideas and suggestions can be. I do hope there will be future events, which draw on many more groups, NGOs and experts to attend“
For those that share the same views as Embargoed! and wish to join this organisation, please click here . Please also view the Turkish Cypriot Olympic Project video below:
