Dr Erol Kaymak

CEFTUS Roundtable with Dr Erol Kaymak and Dr Michalis Attalides

Dr Erol Kaymak is Chairman of the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Eastern Mediterranean University. He is a founding member of the People’s Party (Halkin Partisi) in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) headed by Professor Kudret Ozersay. Dr. Kaymak is currently a member of the party assembly. Dr Kaymak has published on ethnic politics and on the case of Cyprus in academic journals and edited volumes. He has also produced or contributed to reports on Cyprus published by the United Nations in Cyprus (UNFICYP), the Centre for European Studies (CEPs) in Brussels, CIVICUS: Worldwide Alliance for Citizen Participation (CIVICUS), the Peace Research Institute of Oslo (PRIO), as well as the Center for Sustainable Peace and Democratic Development (SeeD). Dr. Kaymak is active in academia, politics and public diplomacy. He was a member of President Eroglu’s advisory board that worked closely with the Turkish Cypriot negotiating team between 2010 and 2015. During the ‘Annan Plan’ negotiations of 2004 Dr. Kaymak was a member of the technical committees that worked with the United Nations to finalize the blueprint prior to submission to simultaneous referenda in Cyprus. In addition, Dr. Kaymak serves as coordinator for the Cyprus Chapter of the Greek Turkish Forum that aims to contribute to bilateral relations between Greece and Turkey. He is also a founding member and a former director of a Cyprus-based think tank, the Center for Sustainable Peace and Democratic Development (SeeD). Dr. Kaymak has featured in international and local media, including live interviews on BBC World, Al Jazeera English, and has been quoted in various news publications.