Near East University Founding Rector Dr. Suat Günsel and Head of Museums Department of the Near East Enterprises Prof. Dr. Ali Efdal Özkul had important contacts in Tokat, where they were invited by Tokat Mayor Eyüp Eroğlu. During the visit, the opening of the painting exhibition, which brought together 25 works of the Near East University Faculty of Fine Arts, exclusively made for the Cyprus Museum of Modern Arts, was also held. The exhibition, which was opened, has a historical significance as it is the first exhibition held abroad by the Cyprus Museum of Modern Arts, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

Tokat Governor Numan Hatipoğlu, Tokat Deputies Yusuf Beyazıt and Mustafa Arslan, Tokat Mayor Eyüp Eroğlu, Chairman of the Provincial Assembly Erol Duyum, Tokat City Council President Abdullah Gürbüz and his assistant Çağrı Somtürk, Gaziosmanpaşa University Rector Prof. Dr. Bünyamin Şahin and Ak Party Tokat Provincial President Cüneyt Aldemir, Cyprus veterans and many guests attended to the opening ceremony where Tokat Mayor Eyüp Eroğlu, Founding Rector of Near East University Dr. Suat Günsel and Tokat Deputy Yusuf Beyazıt and Tokat Governor Numan Hatipoğlu made speeches.

Tokat Mayor Eyüp Eroğlu: “The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus has always been a very valuable and important place for us.”
Tokat Mayor Eyüp Eroğlu made the first speech at the opening of the Near East University Fine Arts and Design Faculty Painting Exhibition, which is the first exhibition held by the Cyprus Museum of Modern Arts outside the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. He started his speech by expressing his happiness to host Near East University Founding Rector Dr. Suat Günsel and his colleagues in Tokat and said, “The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus has always been a very valuable and important place for us. Many of our veterans who shed sweat and blood during the 1974 Cyprus Peace Operation are here with us today. Every inch of our land is very important to us. In our opinion, patriotism comes from faith and we sacrifice our lives without sparing. Because we are the children of such a great nation.”

Dr. Suat Günsel: “The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and Turkey are a whole. Just as Cyprus is important to Turkey, Turkey is just as important to Cyprus.”
Starting his speech saying “Our Turkey donated a republic to us by giving its life, we are grateful to you as Turkish Cypriots”, Near East University Founding Rector Dr. Suat Günsel continued as follows; “There is only one way to repay this gratitude, and that is to work hard.” Emphasizing that Günsel and Near East Families have been working with this awareness for 43 years, Dr. Suat Günsel said; “This effort is an indication of our belief in the future of the Turkish Cypriot people as much as it is also a result of our effort to accord Turkey. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and Turkey are a whole. Just as Cyprus is important to Turkey, Turkey is just as important to Cyprus.”

Atty. Yusuf Beyazıt: “The Cyprus Museum of Modern Arts, established under the leadership of the Near East University, brings together the works of all the important artists of the Turkic world with the world.”
One of the speakers, Tokat Deputy Atty. Yusuf Beyazıt, on the other hand, started his speech by expressing his pleasure to host Dr Suat İrfan Günsel in Tokat as a true friend of Turkey. “Our teacher Suat, who founded and is the founding rector of the Near East University, is our elder who has made the Near East University a respected university in the world of science. Our teacher Suat, who is also a person of art, succeeds in transferring history to future generations with the museums he opened in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.”

Saying that the Cyprus Museum of Modern Arts, established under the leadership of the Near East University, brings together the works of all important painters of the Turkic world, Ak Party Tokat Deputy Atty. Yusuf Beyazıt said, “While the Near East Enterprises has achieved worldwide success in the field of education with the Near East University, it is building the largest mosque with six minarets in Cyprus, and on the other hand, it is developing the GÜNSEL, the first electric car of the TRNC. Teacher Suat, who is the architect of this vision, is a very special person with all his actions and stance.”

Tokat Governor Numan Hatipoğlu: “The Turks in Cyprus should not lose their lands; It is very important for the Turkic world that they live freely and independently.”
Speaking at the opening of the Near East University Fine Arts and Design Faculty Painting Exhibition, which is the first exhibition held by the Cyprus Museum of Modern Arts outside the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Tokat Governor Numan Hatipoğlu gave a speech saying: “We are happy to host our guests from the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. We are honored”.

Governor Hatipoğlu said, “The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is a place with very different meanings. After the loss of the motherland in the Balkans, the Turks in Cyprus, which is an extension of the Republic of Turkey, which was founded on the eternal Turkish homeland, should not lose their own land; It is very important for the Turkish world to live freely and independently.

Saying that the process of removing the Turks from Asia Minor was stopped with the establishment of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which was established as a result of the struggles in Cyprus, Tokat Governor Numan Hatipoğlu said, “I respectfully commemorate all our martyrs who died in the Cyprus Peace Operation and salute the Cyprus Veterans who are among us today.” .

Stating that the Near East University has achieved great success with its academic and artistic works and that they follow these successes closely, Governor Hatipoğlu ended his speech saying, “We are honored to host Dr. Suat Günsel, the architect of these successes, in our Tokat.”