President and Members
of E.I. Executive Board,
Education International
5, Bd du Rol Albert II
1210 Brussels
Belgium
Fax: + 32 222 406 06
Email: headoffice@ei-ie.org

14th July 2011 

RE: Appeal to the World Congress of Education International,
against the decision made in relation to the membership application of “DAÜ-SEN”

1. We address this appeal to the 6^th World Congress of Education International in relation to the membership application of “DAU-SEN”.

2. The Cyprus member Unions of E.I., POED, OELMEK and OLTEK, wish to exercise the right vested in us by article 1(c)(i) of the By-Laws of Education International and invite you to consider this letter as an appeal against Education International’s decision to admit the Eastern Mediterranean University Union of Academic Staff (DAU-SEN) as of 1^st October 2002 as invalid and Void according to the Constitution and By-laws of Education International.

3. POED, OELMEK and OLTEK were informed of this decision in writing, on 6^th October 2008, without any sufficient and effective dialogue with the Executive Board on the matter as required by Article 4(c) of the Constitution of Education International, which states that “if an application is received from an organisation operating in a country in which Education International already has a member organisation, the Executive Board will consult with the member organisation(s) concerned before making its decision.”

4. Following a letter by the Cypriot member-unions on 18^th December 2008, calling on the Executive Board to reconsider its decision and re-examine the relevant membership criteria, which ought to have been done so by appointing a Committee of Experts on Membership in accordance with Article 5 of the Constitution, the Executive Board has instead sent a letter as soon after as the 19^th December 2009, failing to address any of our concerns.

5. In fact, that response indicated that the decision of the Executive Board was based on political motives regarding the situation on the island of Cyprus, which falls outside the remit and responsibilities of the Board and shows lack of impartiality and/or lack of due process.  

6. We would hereby like to repeat our objections as member-unions of the Republic of Cyprus to Education International to the Board’s decision to admit “DAÜ-SEN” and wish for the World Congress to consider them in support of our appeal:

a)    The “Eastern Mediterranean University” (“EMU”) is an institution operating in the part of Cyprus which is illegally occupied by Turkish armed forces since 1974. Turkish Higher Education Institutions and “Universities” operating in that part of Cyprus are operating under an occupation regime, namely, the “law” of the so-called “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus” (“TRNC”). The “TRNC” is an entity which unilaterally and illegally declared independence in 1983. The United Nations Security Council adopted Resolutions 541 (1983) and 550 (1984), which state that the “TRNC” is a legally invalid entity and call upon all states not to recognise it nor facilitate or in any way assist its secessionist purposes. Furthermore, according to international and European legislation, the Government of the Republic of Cyprus is the only recognised Government representing the whole island, including the occupied areas.

b)    The “EMU” by subscribing to the “TRNC” regime is operating outside the rules and regulations of the competent authority of the Republic of Cyprus, which is the Ministry of Education and Culture. The “EMU” is not an accredited institution by the competent authority, as required by the Bologna Process and the ENQA Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area. Therefore, the diplomas it awards are rendered void and the teachers and/or other education “professionals” it employs, who might be members of “DAÜ-SEN”, do not enjoy any credence by the competent authority.

c)    Having in mind that the EU places strong emphasis on the quality of Higher Education, it should be underlined that in the Council’s and the European Parliament’s Recommendation on further European cooperation in quality assurance in higher education it is clearly stated that only the competent authorities may accredit programmes of study offered in their region.

d)    Furthermore, “DAÜ-SEN” is not a registered trade union with the Trade Unions’ Registrar of the Republic of Cyprus, in accordance with the Trade Union Laws of 1965 and relevant Regulations issued by virtue of that law, like KTOS and KTOEOS which are Turkish Cypriot registered trade unions of teachers in primary and elementary education respectively, POED, which is the Greek Cypriot trade union of teachers in primary education, OELMEK, which is the trade union of teachers in elementary education and finally OLTEK, which is the trade union of teachers in technical education.

e)    “DAÜ-SEN” is also not national in character and in any case lacks any legitimate right to apply for membership to Education International. 

f)     The Republic of Cyprus supported Education International’s application to become a Consultative Member of the Bologna Process after careful consideration of its Constitution. Particularly Article 4 (b) (iii) of the Constitution, which states: “Any national organisation composed predominantly of teachers and education employees shall have the right to apply for membership and shall be admitted as a member of the Education International by the Executive Board, provided that […] the applicant is, to the extent possible, national in character and scope and representative of teachers and/or other education employees in its country. The term country is defined according to membership of the United Nations.”

g)    The decision by the Executive Board to admit “DAÜ-SEN” into Education International, as of 1^st October 2008, is in contravention to Education International’s Constitution, to UN Security Council Resolutions and international law and practice. It also ignores the sovereignty of the Republic of Cyprus, its laws and the legal competence of the educational authorities of the Republic of Cyprus and falls outside the Aims of Education International, as prescribed in Article 2 of its Constitution.

7.   For the above stated reasons, OELMEK, POED and OLTEK, member-unions of Education International, appeal to the World Congress and request that the Executive Board’s decision (23.09.2008) to admit “DAÜ-SEN” into the Education International is overturned.

Νicosia,  14^th  of  July  2011.