The 105th anniversary of the adoption of the National Anthem was celebrated with an event organized by the Turkish Club of the European University of Lefke. At the event titled “Mehmet Akif Ersoy and the National Anthem in Cyprus,” university faculty member Prof. Dr. Oğuz Karakartal first delivered a speech describing the characteristic traits of Mehmet Akif and comparing the National Anthem with the national anthems of other countries around the world.

EUL graduate Şerif Avşar, a specialist spoke about his book “The National Anthem in Cyprus,” which was based on his thesis, stating that the book examines the place of the National Anthem in the life of the Turkish Cypriot community. He noted that two weeks after the National Anthem was adopted by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey on 12 March 1921, Turkish Cypriots published the anthem and sang it despite the British ban. Avşar also added that Turkish Cypriot newspapers bravely printed the anthem in their pages and presented examples showing how Mehmet Akif and the National Anthem inspired Cypriot poets.

In addition, in his speech, Avşar shared the results of a survey that he conducted with final-year middle school students in Nicosia with the permission of the Ministry of National Education. He expressed that the majority of Turkish Cypriot youth know the National Anthem and view it as a heritage from their ancestors, a poem that evokes feelings of homeland and Turkish identity, and one that should be known, noting that this result was encouraging. He added that their findings scientifically demonstrate that Turkish Cypriots have embraced the National Anthem wholeheartedly for more than a century.