- Source: Semra Eren-Nijhar
Semra Eren-Nijhar (born April 6, 1967 in Istanbul) is a Turkish writer, sociologist, documentary filmmaker and a social commentator.
Biography
Eren-Nijhar is an expert in the area of social policy across Europe and Türkiye mostly focusing on issues of migration, memory, belonging, heritage, women, youth, race, identity, and the Turkish diaspora and Turkish Heritage in the EU.
She is the founder of the ‘Turkish Heritage in the UK’ initiative, co-founded with Councillor Ahmet Karahasan of the "Turkish Heritage Day in London" – launched on December 8, 2014, at Enfield Council. She is also the founder of "Turkish Heritage in Europe" which was launched at the International Bosphorus Summit on November 29, 2019, in Istanbul.
For more than fifteen years Eren-Nijhar researched the archives of the Cyprus Turkish Association CTA (first Turkish association in Britain) and is the first and only researcher who introduced some selected documents, photos, and publications of the archives to the wider public.
Her work London Turks – In Their Own Words which chronicles the Turkish community over the last eighty years with photographs, interviews, and portraits in the UK was the first major work on the Turkish diaspora in Britain and was exhibited and acknowledged by the Greater London Authority, Mayor of London in 2006 and later in 2007 at the European Parliament acknowledged and hosted by MEP's Claude Moraes, Cem Özdemir, Emine Bozkurt and Vural Öger with the attendance of the Ambassador Volkan Bozkır, the Permanent Representative of Türkiye to the European Union.
She is an expert on the twice Nobel Prize nominee Turkish Cypriot poet Osman Türkay and has enabled his work to come to life once again in Europe and in Türkiye. Eren-Nijhar worked for several years in the House of Lords as an adviser to a peer, Lord Tarsem King, Baron King of West Bromwich. The documentary "Söz Bizde – We Have the Voice", co-produced and directed with Ersin Atlı in 2010 was shown by Türkiye's national broadcaster TRT and was the first documentary giving a voice to young people living in Britain and in Europe with Turkish and Kurdish background.Eren-Nijhar uses creative techniques from the world of arts by drawing in people's interest in her sociological research outcomes and findings.She has exhibited her photographic exhibitions in Britain, Belgium, and Türkiye. Her work mainly focuses on portraits of individuals.
Eren-Nijhar’s photographic exhibition “My Journey from Güvercinlik (Pigeon-loft)” was invited in 2017 to exhibit at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) during the marking of the British Turkish Cypriot community 100 years of migration to the United Kingdom. It was the first major photographic exhibition held at the Victoria and Albert Museum featuring the Turkish Cypriot community in Britain.
Awards
2004 –Millennium Awards Fellowship, Lifetime Membership for her personal commitment and achievement enriching the community throughout the United Kingdom.
2015 – International European Quality Award, Innovation and Awareness Award for her outstanding achievement in her work.
2018 – Achievement Award for her outstanding achievement in her work.
2024 – Recognition certificate from the President of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Ersin Tatar for her contribution to the work on Turkish Cypriot poet Osman Türkay.
Books
Evrenin Şairi Osman Türkay, Cyprus Turkish Association Publications, 2011
Avrupa’nın İlk Türk Derneği – Kıbrıs Türk Cemiyeti, Cyprus Turkish Association Publications, 2012
Kıpırtı Yazıları, Yar Publishing, 2013
Artık Gurbet Yok! (Mu?) I – There Is No More a Place far from Home! (Is There?), Ozan Publication, 2014
Turkish Heritage in the UK, SUNCUT Publishing, 2014
Londra’da Çok Kültürlülük – Yaşamdan Portreler, Ozan Publication, 2015
Artık Gurbet Yok! ( Mu?) II – Das Gefühl in der Fremde zu sein gibt es nicht mehr! (Oder?), Ozan Publication, 2016
Turks in London-The Unheard Voices, Ozan Publication, 2017
Kadınlardan Dünyayı Değiştiren Sözler, Ozan Publication, 2018
Londra mı Dediniz? Buyrun..., Ozan Publication, 2019
Osman Turkay
Anlat Patara – Tell Me Patara: Poetry, Ozan Publication, 2021
Tağı Bey, on the folk song ‘Hoş Gelişler Ola, Mustafa Kemal Paşa’ Ozan Publication, 2022
Millennium Poet Osman Türkay, Ozan Publication, 2023
Uzay’ın Şairi Osman Türkay, Ozan Publication, 2023.
References
External links
Söz Bizde – We Have the Voice
Söz Bizde – "We Have The Voice" Turkish Youth in London – Documentary by SEMRA EREN-NIJHAR Part 1 on YouTube
Söz Bizde – "We Have The Voice" Turkish Youth in London – Documentary by Semra Eren-Nijhar Part 2 on YouTube
Söz Bizde – "We Have The Voice" Turkish Youth in London – Documentary by Semra Eren-Nijhar Part 3 on YouTube
Evrenin Sairi Osman Turkay on YouTube
Photographic exhibitions in Britain
Exhibition about Turkish migrant women in London coming to Waltham Forest
Semra Eren Nijhar'dan 'Artık Gurbet Yok' sergisi
Semra Eren Nijhar’dan ‘Gurbet Yolculuğu’
Photographic exhibitions in Türkiye
Kaş'ta 'Beş Kadın Beş Sergi' Açıldı
Beş kadın beş sergi Yeşilköy beldesinde düzenlenen 3. Köy Seyirlik Oyunları ve Köy Tiyatroları Buluşması çerçevesinde 5 kadın sanatçı sergi açtı.
Turkish Heritage in Europe
Türkiye Cumhurbaşkanlığı himayelerinde 27–29 Kasım arasında organize edilen 10.Bogaziçi Zirvesi’nde bu yıl ilk defa ‘Turkish Heritage in Europe – Avrupa’da Türklerin Politik, Ekonomik ve Tarihsel Mirası’ konulu panel düzenlendi ve Avrupa’da yaşayan Türklerin tarihsel konumu ele alınarak, konu ilk defa uluslararsı platformda tartışılmış oldu.
Semra Eren Nijhar; Avrupa’da Türklerin Tarihsel Mirası
London Turkish Heritage Day
Kurduğu güçlü kadrosuyla Türk Ligi 1.Küme’nin en büyük favorisi Dumlupınar, sahasında konuk ettiği Doğan TB’yi 4-1 yenerek, rakibine ilk yenilgisini tattırırken, zirveden de indirdi.
Boris Johnson backs new London Turkish Heritage Day
London Turkish Heritage Day, Enfield
‘Biz Londralıyız’
