OBITUARY – THE SUITCASE FROM OMAY GENÇSOY (19.12.1935 – 1.2.2015)

By Semra Eren-Nijhar

I couldn’t even write a single sentence about Omay Gençsoy after she left us for permanent rest. An obituary is normally written shortly after the death of a person, but I couldn’t bring myself to write one. Perhaps I knew, as Irving Berlin would say, “the song came to an end but for me the song continued lingering.”

Now over a month after she left this world, I find the words finally coming together, to summarise my feelings. For me it is significant to write about her not only because, I knew her well personally. The reason for me to write this obituary was very important from a migration point of view as it is vital to acknowledge the people, who became an integral part of the Turkish diaspora in the UK and left a legacy as did Omay Gençsoy. The legacy of Omay Gençsoy is an essential part of the formation of the Turkish Speaking Communities in London, which have enriched and strengthened the multicultural fabric of Britain today.

Omay Gençsoy was born in Yedikonuk and worked for many years in the Royal Air Force in Cyprus. When the turmoil began in Cyprus she came to London in 1966 and worked as an accountant for various firms. In 1974 she started going to the Cyprus Turkish Association (CTA) where she met Mustafa Gençsoy and they later married in January 1975. Sadly she passed away on the same day of their 40^{th wedding anniversary.}

Omay Gençsoy shared the same fate as the Greeks and Turks who lost their homes in Cyprus during the turmoil in 1974, moving from the South to the North or from the North to the South. They all shared a mutual fate and pain.

Marrying Mustafa Gençsoy was the turning point in her life as she became more active at the CTA, along with her husband. Throughout her time at the CTA, for more than forty years, she became a trusting, loving, caring, committed and above all a very supportive person to everyone at the association.

Often people believe that she was the only person who supported her husband, the chair of the CTA, for more than forty years. But in reality she was the female icon of the association who projected her own independent voice whether people agreed with her or not. This was my experience over the last sixteen years in which I got to know her and her involvement in the association.

Omay Gençsoy was not a shadow behind her husband but was walking and standing tall next to him during their time in the association as well as in their marriage. She was a very strong woman, who never stopped doing, what she believed in.

As I continued my research over many years in the archives of CTA, I have seen all the work which was recorded of the association’s activities over the past sixty years. The significance of CTA as the first Turkish association in Europe is of considerable importance which has to be noted.

Omay Gençsoy contributed to the work of the association immediately after she became active, by helping the world to recognise TRNC, by promoting Cypriot poet Osman Turkay (who was also an active member) in the association, by helping setting up new Turkish associations, organisations, institutions, organising cultural events, Turkish balls and by bringing women together through setting up women groups and supporting their cause.

The work of CTA over the past forty years was also criticised time to time by other Turkish associations in London, whether for their political work or individual disagreements or controversy. But that should not stop us to acknowledge CTA’s work and underline the importance of the association and to highlight the impact it made for the Turkish diaspora as one of the leading associations especially in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Putting the political activities of CTA aside, for me the work of CTA as an association was the representation of people migrating from Northern Cyprus to London-UK. Turkish immigrants from Northern Cyprus were the first Turks who came to settle in the UK.

The CTA members and people around the Cyprus Turkish Association have worked on the issues such as the education of Turkish children, by setting up the first Turkish Schools in London, working around issues of health, housing, establishing networks for Turkish businesses, starting football clubs and forming advice groups to help Turkish people with their problems which they confronted through their daily lives as migrants in London. They held meetings, seminars and public events to bring the community together and most importantly they published two magazines in English and Turkish ‘ Toplumun Sesi – The Voice of the Community’ in order to reach out to the wider community other than their own members.

As far as my research goes, the Turkish Community in London is the first ethnic community which expressed all the issues and problems of migrants through writing via publishing the magazine ‘Toplumun Sesi’. I have not yet come across to any other publication voicing migrant issues from any other ethnic community from the 1970’s.

The first generation of people from Northern Cyprus and later from mainland Turkey arrived here more than sixty years ago settled in Britain and made their home. Their experiences, their stories, their live’s have been captured by some social scientists, artists and writers but yet the oral and written history of these generations have not been recorded for the future generations. Thus, it is extremely important to acknowledge and preserve the history of Turkish people living in the UK.

The heritage of Turkish people, by acknowledging the lives of people such as Omay Gençsoy will be a guiding beacon not only for the Turkish diaspora, but also for the diverse cultures and communities of London as they all share the same notion of migration history to Britain. A healthy future can only be provided for the younger generation by teaching them about their past generations. This is the only way they can start to look into the question of their identity as Stuart Hall said once, “We are all in some sense, ethnically located in our ethnic identities and that is important to our subjective sense who we are.”

The politics of ethnicity can be analysed by looking into the legacies of people like Omay Gençsoy. Their voice and contribution should be remembered and valued by future generations in order to give meaning to their own lives in the society they live within. We can only then reach “a functioning multicultural society, as the cultures coexist and interact fruitfully with each other”, as Edward Said quoted.

Omay Gençsoy will be missed dearly. Her smile, her generosity, her warm heart will be missed for a long time to come. But her teachings on life, friendships, kindness and many more issues will always be remembered.

The suitcase Omay Gençsoy brought with her from Northern Cyprus when she came to this country is now left with us. The suitcase is full of her positive attitude towards life, full with the power of her unconditional love, energy and full of hope for the future.

And we can take her suitcase with us anywhere we want to go.