A two-day women’s festival organised jointly by the Cyprus Turkish Entrepreneur Women’s Association (GİKAD), the Hatay Gastronomy House and the Turkish Embassy in Lefkoşa got underway on Wednesday.

The opening of the festival was attended by First Lady Sibel Tatar.

The festival is bringing together women from Hatay who survived the devastating February 6 earthquake in Adıyaman.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, First Lady Sibel Tatar expressed her belief that women will once again play an important role in efforts to recover from the devastating disaster that struck Türkiye.

Welcoming the earthquake victims to the TRNC, Tatar said that they were experiencing a bittersweet feeling due to the losses suffered from the quake.

“The Turkish Cypriot people share the joy, pain, suffering and grief of motherland Türkiye. What we need more than anything else after the quake is unity and solidarity. Even though it’s impossible to bring back those we lost we can heal our wounds through support,” she added.

The head of GİKAD İçim Çağıner and the wife of the Mayor of Metropolitan Hatay Lütfü Savaş, Prof Dr Nazan Savaş also delivered speeches at the event.