INSPIRATIONAL WOMEN
Dr. Suat Günsel University of Kyrenia carried out an organisation themed as “Inspirational Women” for 8 March World Women’s Day.

The first female prime minister of TRNC and former Speaker of the TRNC Assembly, Internal Diseases Specialist Sibel Siber MD. , Vice Rector and Dean of Faculty of Medicine, Paediatric Endocrinology Specialist Prof.  Rüveyde Bundak MD. , Ceramic Artist Bedia Kale and, Sociologist and Yoga trainer Özlem Var attended the organisation as speakers.

The organisation commenced with the speech of Dr. Suat Günsel University of Kyrenia Hospital Head Physician Prof. Nail Bulakbaşı, he stressed the importance of women taking place in social life and he added that another subject that is as important as women rights is women’s health. He also remarked the “Breast and Cervical Cancer” which are the leading causes of death among women and stated that early diagnosis can save lives. Bulakbaşı, MD.  stated that as Dr. Suat Günsel University of Kyrenia Hospital they frequently organise awareness raising and encouraging studies on women health and he said “ don’t be afraid of cancer, be afraid of being late”. Prof.  Bulakbaşı, MD.  wished a happy Women’s Day  and thanked those who worked for the organisation.

During his speech, University Rector Prof. İlkay Salihoğlu remarked the importance of women rights.  Salihoğlu stated that men often retain rights to the property and they represent the half of the society and therefore, despite some improvements in women’s rights, still we did not reach the desired level. Salihoğlu reminded that World Women’s Day has become a worldwide event recently and there is much more to be done in this subject. Salihoğlu concluded his speech with two poems on women and sent his regards to all speakers and participants.

Dr. Sibel Siber delivered the first speech of the day and stated that she was delighted to be a part of such an organisation and shared her experiences as the first female prime minister and Speaker of the TRNC Assembly. She also stressed the importance of positive discrimination in order to make women more active in politics and shared information about the efforts on providing a quota for women in the parliament member elections and world statistics. In her speech, she remarked that the percentage of women and men are equal in the field of education and population, however the rate of women is low in administrative positions and she provided some statistics to prove that 97% of CEOs are men and women are unable to progress beyond middle management. Dr. Sibel Siber gave some information about the Glass Ceiling barrier and how environment and role model effects woman’s career and shared some of her own experiences. Siber stated that the opportunity of women to become administrators is closely related with dreaming this at an early age and stressed that role models are very important and concluded her speech about empowering women.

Dr. Rüveyde Bundak presented some examples of women who have managed some of the first, both in Cyprus and Turkey and inspired many by their success. Prof. Dr. Bundak, in her speech which included female physicians who achieved great success in health and pioneered a lot of subjects, especially mentioned the name Prof. Dr. Türkan Saylan who was also her teacher and stated that she had a special place for her. She mentioned the studies of Prof. Saylan on Hansen disease. Dr. Bundak explained her studies on Diabetes Camps which has been going on for a very long time to inspire young women and stated the success of the camp organisation and that the children who attend these camps gain knowledge for the rest of their lives.

Bedia Kale, in her speech, provided some examples from her past artistic studies and pieces and shared her experiences of how an artistic character develops and goes on in this profession. Kale explained that she has always been into arts and her excitement has always been supported by her parents and therefore, it is important to support children’s interests. She also added that it is important to give more place to the physical education, music, arts and etc. lessons in the curriculum especially for the secondary schools and high schools.

Özlem Var remarked the importance of women who have been discriminated to tell their stories, listen to each other and inspire each other with their stories. She also added that individual history telling is a very valuable thing to do to reveal the lives of many which have been shadowed by the history told by the ones who hold the power in their hands and stated that she values sharing these stories both in her personal development and yoga lessons. After her speech, she made a short breath and mediation activity with the participants.

The Inspirational Women activity concluded after the Women’s Health lottery, presenting flowers to the speakers and cocktail.