CEFTUS 3rd Anniversary Reception and Dinner

 

The Centre for Turkey Studies (CEFTUS) celebrated its 3^rd Anniversary with eminent guests both from Turkey and Britain.

700 distinguished guests were present at the event both from the UK and Turkey. 120 members of the House of Commons and the House of Lords kindly attended the reception and the dinner in London Marriot Hotel in Grosvenor Square. Among them were Conservative Minister Kenneth Clarke MP, David Burrowes Conservative MP, Andy Love Labour MP, Iain McNicol General Secretary of the Labour Party, Graham Brady Conservative MP, Neil Carmichael Conservative MP, Lord Hannay, Lord Hylton, CEFTUS advisors Keith Vaz Labour MP, Baroness Sarah Lutford MEP.

Esteemed guests from Turkey included many academics, journalists and politicians who contributed in the centre’s events in the previous years. Altan Tan People’s Democratic Party (HDP) MP and Deputy Chairmen of Republican People’s Party (CHP) Gursel Tekin MP and Sezgin Tanrikulu MP, Ali Demircali CHP MP and politician and columnist Tuna Beklevic of International Forum for Democracy and Peace (IFDP) supported 3^rd year celebrations of CEFTUS. Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman Kurdistan Regional Government High Representative to the UK was among the guests. Community and non-governmental organisation representatives and business people also attended the dinner.

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Founder and Director of the Centre for Turkey Studies, Ibrahim Dogus, made an opening speech. He stated that the CEFTUS team worked incredibly hard to engage with institutions and other stakeholders to organise debates, conferences, and networking events to build bridges between Turkey and the UK. He thanked members of the Houses of Parliament as well as members of the public for their continuous support and urged followers to consider making a donation to support the centre’s work.

Kenneth Clarke, Conservative MP for Rushcliffe and Minister without portfolio, stated that relations with Turkey are of great significant to Britain and that the government strongly supports Turkey’s EU accession in his speech. He added the communities originating from Turkey and Cyprus have increasingly contributed to Britain’s economic, social and cultural growth.

One of CEFTUS advisors Keith Vaz, Labour MP for Leicester East and Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, congratulated the centre and stated that these events positively promote profiles of Turkish and Kurdish members of the public.

Following speeches, winners of the CEFTUS Community Achievement Awards 2014 were announced at the event. 23 nominees were presented their awards by members of the jury and guests including directors of HSBC and Barclays. A full list of the winners can be found on ceftus.org.

If you would like to support the centre’s work donations can be made on ceftus.org or via [email protected]