President Ersin Tatar, T.R. Nicosia Ambassador Ali Murat Başceri, Near East University Founding Rector Dr. Suat İrfan Günsel, Term President of the Interuniversity Board and Rector of Manisa Celal Bayar University, Prof. Dr. Ahmet Ataç, Deputy General Manager of Disabled and Elderly Services of the Ministry of Family and Social Services, Önal İnaltekin, and Near East University vice-rectors, deans, lecturers, students and guests attended the event of Barrier-Free Informatics Days, organized under the leadership of the TRNC Barrier-Free Informatics Platform affiliated with the Near East University Social Research and Development Center, in order to remove the obstacles through the help of informatics with the opportunities provided by computer technologies and the internet, and to develop and expand new information technologies.
After the moment of silence and the singing of the national anthem, the unhindered choir work prepared by the Presidency Art Committee and the Committee for the Disabled, and the public service announcement of the digital mapping project of barrier-free spaces prepared by the Presidency Committee for the Disabled’s were watched by the guests.
President Ersin Tatar, Republic of Turkey Nicosia Ambassador Ali Murat Başçeri, Interuniversity Board Term President and Manisa Celal Bayar University Rector Prof. Dr. Ahmet Ataç, Near East University Acting Rector Prof. Dr. Tamer Şanlıdağ, Deputy General Director of Disabled and Elderly Services of the Ministry of Family and Social Services of Turkey, Önal İnaltekin, Turkey Barrier-Free Informatics Platform Coordinator and Manisa Celal Bayar University Faculty Member Dr. Mustafa Özhan Kalaç, Chairman of the Presidential Committee for the Disabled Ahmet Akdeniz and Head of the Social Research and Development Center of Near East University Prof. Dr. Zehra Altınay gave speeches.
After the speeches, panels and sessions were held on “Barrier-Free Informatics Studies in the Public”, “Disabled NGOs and Barrier-Free Informatics Projects” and “Let’s Raise Happy Generations with a Barrier-Free Safe Environment” were held face-to-face and online.
President Ersin Tatar: “We will do whatever needed to be done in the name of human rights, as a member of society, for a barrier-free life everywhere and in every field.”
Expressing his happiness for taking place in such a meaningful organization, President Ersin Tatar said, “With the power and universality of being a world citizen, we have to carry out these works on behalf of humanity and we are doing whatever necessary.”
President Tatar said that it is extremely meaningful and valuable for the disabled to meet on this platform with the contributions of the Near East University administration, in cooperation with the institutions and organizations in the Republic of Turkey, so that they can live unhindered.
Tatar stated that the Turkish Cypriot people are a people who always have social sensitivity, who always protect the disabled with their kindness and show all the political will to make their lives easier with legal regulations. Referring to the importance of the implementation of the decisions to be taken, President Ersin Tatar said, “We will do whatever needed to be done in the name of human rights, as a member of the society, for a barrier-free life everywhere and in every field.”
Ali Murat Başceri: “The ideas to be expressed at the workshop will make valuable contributions to the public institutions and organizations of the TR-TRNC.”
The Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey to Nicosia Ali Murat Başceri stated that he is happy to see that the Near East University, which is the highly distinguished institution of the TRNC, and Manisa Celal Bayar University, are working on this issue in collaboration. Başceri said, “We wish and constantly express that all our institutions and organizations in Turkey act together with their collaboratives in the TRNC, and together produce solutions to common problems. I am sure that these ideas, which will be expressed at the workshop, will bring invaluable suggestions to both the public institutions and organizations in the TRNC and the public institutions and organizations in our country, I look forward to reading the final report of the workshop.”
Prof. Dr. Ahmet Ataç: “If there are no disabled people, we do not have a part of us that integrates us.”
Interuniversity Board Term President and Manisa Celal Bayar University Rector Prof. Dr. Ahmet Ataç started his speech with the words “Today, I noted that the Near East University and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus went further than the previous day and covered great distances in a very short time”. Prof. Dr. Ataç said, “I would like to thank President Ersin Tatar, who contributed to this process, and I sincerely thank Near East University Founding Rector Dr. Suat İrfan Günsel, the Vice-Rector and all his teammates, the President of the Presidential Committee for the Disabled and his team.”
“If you are a part of this society, if you are a part of this puzzle, if only one you is absent in this puzzle, we will be incomplete, if we are absent, you will be incomplete. If we imagine that we are a puzzle consisting of millions of pieces, when we put tens of thousands of them together, even one missing piece will be enough to make us unfinished. That is why it is our greatest duty as a society, as a member of this society, to take experience from our past and provide an accessible and sustainable world to our children. We, as Turkish universities, are a whole. Every individual living at the Near East University and in the TRNC is an indispensable part of us. If there are no disabled people, we do not have a part of us that integrates us. Without us, a piece that completes them would be missing. As humans, we are aware of this. A 2-year pandemic process has shown this to us. No matter how much money we have in our pockets, no matter what our title is, we could not go out freely, our freedom of travel was restricted.
Prof. Dr. Tamer Şanlıdağ: “Informatics Days, a very important vision meeting aiming to eliminate the barriers in the lives of disabled citizens”
Near East University Vice Rector Prof. Dr. Tamer Şanlıdağ, on the other hand, said that the Barrier-Free Informatics Days is a very important vision meeting aiming to remove the obstacles in the lives of disabled citizens, who are a very valuable part of the society.
Stating that a very important part of public services are provided through digital channels today, Prof. Dr. Tamer Şanlıdağ, “Physical conditions are of vital importance to improve information technologies with this perspective while making efforts to bring disabled people to the necessary standard so that they can participate in life and add value to themselves and the society. Another important aspect of Barrier-Free Informatics Days, which we have been organizing for the last 10 years in order to bring this important issue to the agenda, to set a vision and to guide all relevant institutions and organizations, is that it provides an agenda and unity of action between our Motherland Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. In this respect, it is very valuable and meaningful for Near East University, Celal Bayar University, the TRNC Barrier-Free Informatics Platform and the Turkish Barrier-Free Informatics Platform to come together to form a common will.”
Ahmet Akdeniz: “We aim to establish a strong structure between our disabled people and the state, and to establish a national disability policy.”
Chairman of the Presidency Committee for the Disabled, Ahmet Akdeniz, said that the 9th Barrier-Free Informatics Days, which they first started in 2013 and are held today, added a lot to him as an individual.
Akdeniz said, “With the Presidential Committee for the Disabled, which we established on December 15, 2020, we aim to establish a national disability policy by establishing a strong structure between our disabled individuals and the state. In this respect, we work in close cooperation with 7 non-governmental organizations and public institutions in our committee. On this occasion, Near East University Social Research and Development Directors Prof. Dr. Fahriye Altınay and Prof. Dr. Zehra Altınay and Prof. Dr. Nedime Serakıncı have been with us since the very first day, and they have been the names that closely followed this process without leaving us alone. I would like to express my endless thanks to them.”
Dr. Mustafa Özhan Kalaç: “Providing solutions to the problems of the society they are in is one of the most important duties of universities.”
Turkey Barrier-Free Informatics Platform Coordinator and Manisa Celal Bayar University Faculty Member Dr. Mustafa Özhan Kalaç emphasized that universities do not only carry out scientific and educational activities, but that it is one of their most important duties to provide solutions to the problems of the society they are in. Dr. Kalaç said, “In line with this mission, we are working on the development of information and technologies for the disabled. In these works carried out by the secretariat of Manisa Celal Bayar University, we have provided serious cooperation with universities, NGOs and the private sector, especially with government institutions, and we have carried out many studies to this day. In 2013, we started to carry out similar studies in the TRNC in cooperation with the Near East University, and we created a very serious bridge.”
Önal İnaltekin: “Accessibility is one of the most important requirements of participation in social life in the modern world.”
Önal İnaltekin, Deputy Director-General of Services for the Disabled and Elderly of the Ministry of Family and Social Services of Turkey, said that accessibility is one of the most important requirements for taking part in social life in the modern world, and emphasizing that in order to benefit from the education, health and employment rights offered to the society, first of all, must be accessible as well as the places and communication opportunities where these rights are offered. Önal İnaltekin said, “Accessibility is one of the most important factors for ensuring the equal participation of disabled people with other individuals without discrimination in all areas of social life and for implementing rights-based policies.”
İnaltekin said, “As our President, Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, signed the UN convention on the rights of disabled people in 2007, Turkey became one of the first countries to sign this convention. Positive discrimination towards our disabled people was constitutionally guaranteed in 2010, an accessibility system was established in 2013, and 2020 was declared as the year of accessibility.
Prof. Dr. Fahriye Altınay: “The pioneering steps and social projects of Near East University act as a bridge.”
Near East University Social Research and Development Center Director Prof. Dr. Fahriye Altınay stated that in addition to the pioneering steps taken by the Near East University regarding science, art and technology, it also acted as a bridge in many social projects.
Expressing that the Social Research and Development Center was established in 2013, Prof. Dr. Altınay stated that they are trying to find solutions to social problems with scientific projects and for this purpose they continue to progress together with their teammates.