SECRETARY GENERAL VISITS MEMBER ASSOCIATIONS IN CYPRUS

13 April 2016

On 8th April 2016, the WVF Secretary General, Lt. Col. (Ret) Joseph Falzon, visited two of our Member Associations in Nicosia, Cyprus.

The Secretary General first met The Cyprus Veterans Association World War II (CVA WWII), a member of the WVF since 1990. The CVA WWII was a very active Member Association of the WVF, attending most meetings until the 22nd Meeting of the SCEA in Kiev (2011), and even hosted the 16th and 18th Meetings of the SCEA (1996 and 2002 respectively). Recently, the advancing ages of the Association’s members has made it difficult to send a delegation to WVF Events. Despite this, the CVA WWII is still active on the home front, observing Annual Remembrance Commemorations on 8 May for the End of World War II, 21 September for UN Peace Day and 11 November for Armistice Day. The Secretary General had an extremely informative meeting with the Association’s Secretary General, Treasurer General, the Chairman of the Nicosia Branch and their full-time Secretary.

After lunch hosted by the CVA WWII, Lt. Col. Falzon made his way to meet one of the WVF’s more 2 recent Associations, The Retired Officers Association of Northern Cyprus (KKTC ESUD), whose membership was ratified by the 28th General Assembly of the WVF, Sopot (Poland), in September 2015. 

There was also an opportunity to formally meet Colonel Halil Sadrazam, the Security Advisor to the President, who is also a long serving member of the KKTC ESUD. The KKTC ESUD President spoke to Lt. Col. Falzon about their desire to become a strong Member of the WVF, and their plans to send delegations to International WVF Events now that their Membership has been ratified. The Secretary General was then introduced to the President of The Retired Non-Commissioned Officers Association, who stated his intention to apply for Membership of the WVF, a notion which was welcomed enthusiastically by the Secretary General.

Following this meeting, Lt. Col. Falzon visited the Club and Offices of The Retired Non-Commissioned Officers Association which offered impressive facilities for its spirited members.

The last meeting of the day was with Dr. Erhan Ercin, Undersecretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Lt. Col. Falzon told the Undersecretary that it was an honour and a privilege to meet him at the end of such a productive day spent in Nicosia. The Secretary General was, above all, very impressed by Dr. Ercin’s unequivocal support of the two Associations in Northern Cyprus.

In conclusion, the Secretary General enjoyed an informative visit to Cyprus, meeting two Member Associations of a different nature, who both stated their continued support for the WVF’s future projects and activities.