Nicosia Turkish Municipality (NTM), attended Social Affairs Committee meeting of the international institution called Eurocities which consists of the most important cities of Europe. Social Affairs Committee, which NTM is also a member of, organizes meetings every year in different  member nations with the participation of the foreign relations and social affairs directors. In the committee, Nicosia Turkish Municipality is together with the most important cities of Europe; Tampere, Eindhoven, Rotterdam, Gothenburg, Munich, Leeds, Newcastle, Stockholm, Oslo, Hague, Belfast, Helsinki, Brussels, Prague, Madrid, Vienna. The Head of Foreign Relations, Deniz Birinci represented the NTM in the first meeting of this year, which was hosted by the Capital of Norway, Oslo.

Under the leadership of Rotterdam Municipality, the committee makes lobby works to increase the quality of life in European Cities. In the committee, where solution models in  member nations are shared, modern social policies are discussed and the applications of host towns related to those topics are investigated on site.

Within this framework, the members of the committee has visited the life centers which serves drug addicts in order to decrase the crime rate in the city under the umbrella of Oslo Municipality.

Taking the floor, the Head of Foreign Relations, Deniz Birinci, pointed that the name “Nicosia” is only identified with Greek Cypriot thus far, although the Nicosia Turkish Municipality has existed for 50 years and she ephasized that everyone must know that Nicosia is the city of Turkish Cypriots as well. In a platform where social participation projects are discussed, Deniz Birinci stated that it is necessary to think first about how the participation of Turkish Cypriots will be implemented to these kind of projects, connoted that it is very bothersome to be always faced with the Greek side’s interruption. Stating that she is hopeful that a permanent solution will be found in the near future, Deniz Birinci drew attention that the cooperation in local level can put a huge contribution to the search for a solution at the central level. Therefore, Birinci identified that they need all kinds of cooperation and support from all member cities. The Committee meeting ended with the closing dinner at the Oslo Town Hall, given by the Mayor of Oslo Municipality, after the approval of the agenda Eurocities plenary committee that will be taking place at the Hague in November 2008.