The CIU Department of Psychology visits the Cyprus Turkish Orthopedically Disabled Association

CIU Faculty of Arts and Sciences Department of Psychology visited the Cyprus Turkish Orthopedically Disabled Association.

Stating that they organized an event within the scope of the 3rd December International Day of Persons with Disabilities, CIU Department of Psychology Activity Committee President Assist. Prof. Dr. Linda Fraim added that they presented the theater play Blackboard, which was written by Orkun Bozkurt and Aysan Özcezarlı, which is in relation to the problems experienced by orthopedically disabled citizens.

Advising that the aim of the event was to express the problems experienced by orthopedically disabled individuals, Fraim went on to say, “Our aim is to inform on the subject of how we can support them, and to raise awareness on this subject”.

Explaining that this play was prepared in order to draw attention to the problems experienced by disabled individuals across the island, Nicosia Turkish Municipality (NTM) Arts director Cem Aykut also drew attention to the problem of disabled parking bays.

Informing that across the island there are almost 1000 disabled parking bays, Aykut advised that making these with opening and closing buttons would not exceed 100 thousand Turkish Lira.

Aykut stated that he wasn’t aware of the lack of disabled toilets until such time that he begun working with disabled individuals in NTM, and also noted that the total cost of building disabled ramps and toilets across the island is around 500 thousand Turkish Lira.

Stating that the aim of the play can be explained with the phrase "putting a finger in a blind eye", Aykut elaborated that wheelchairs are being used by individuals who do not need them, and that in the situation where a citizen working in a government office is unable to work for a year due to a broken elevator not being repaired, instead of the elevator being repaired, the solution is found in assigning the worker to another location.

Cem Aykut noted that the play was written 6 years ago, however, due to the fact that there have been no developments since then, he underlined that the play has remained contemporary.

Reminding that the play in question is the first play to take place within the Ministry of Education curriculum, Aykut expressed that in this respect, the play carried great importance.