by Dr A. Mesut Erzurumluoğlu | Principal Bioinformatician at Bicycle Therapeutics (formerly at Boehringer Ingelheim, and Univs. of Cambridge, Leicester & Bristol) – blogging since 2006. All views mine unless stated otherwise
University of Leicester Turkish Society 2016 logo – Not used for financial gains (all our events are ‘not-for-profit’). However, it will be changed soon as it is an infringement of the University’s own logo (we did not realise at the time the logo was designed).
I am extremely proud to have had the chance to lead the University of Leicester Turkish Society for the 2016 season; and am grateful to the following committee members for their excellent work in organising some great events – especially our annual ‘Turkish Day’ event at the Queens Hall (University of Leicester):
President: A. Mesut Erzurumluoglu Vice-President: Kevser Sevim Secretary: Halil Ibrahim Egilmez Treasurer: Turkan Ozkent Event coordinator: Ufuk Barmanpek and Yasemin Alpdogan IT Manager: Muhammet Ziya Komşul
More information about the Turkish Society can be found at the below links:
There is a great deal of suspicion about consanguineous unions in the world. Whether this suspicion relies on health issues or not, we still have to be aware of possible genetic effects of consanguinity on heritable disorders and socio-cultural impacts.
Consanguinity itself does not make an individual “sick,” but it affects the probability of an autosomal recessive disorder (which requires two copies of the same mutation) if there is such a mutation which runs within the family (with the word “if” emphasized). Consanguinity should be regarded as a complex issue due to socio-economic factors and health concerns.
In clinical genetics, unions between individuals who are second cousins or closer are considered “consanguineous” (inbreeding coefficient, F=0.0156). Incestuous unions (e.g. brother-sister, father-daughter) will not be included in the description of consanguinity in this article, and are obviously outlawed in every society and faith.
Speaking from a statistical geneticist’s perspective, consanguinity affects the probabilities of certain genotypes occurring in offspring.
Department for Education and Skills’ (DfES) report for Children of Ethnic Minority in 2006/07 showed a bleak picture for students of ethnic minorities living in the UK – as they were all performing below the national average. However the picture was even more disturbing for Turks/Kurds because their children were the least performing out of all the groups that had a considerable size in the UK. I am hoping things have gotten better for the Turkish community since then as there have been many steps taken to stop this rot, especially by the Turks themselves. They have opened many supplementary and/or weekend schools all over the UK especially in London and Leicester where there is a considerable amount of Turkish/Kurdish migrants. In one of these weekend schools, called the Horizon supplementary school (located in Leicester), I obtained the Keystage 2 (KS2) and Keystage 3 (KS3) results of nearly 30 students (years 6 to 9) attending their classes and compared them with DfES’s findings. The results were surprising:
Overall, the Horizon school’s pupils had achieved higher in all subjects compared to the national average let alone other ethnic minority groups. The difference is greater in Maths and Science.
These results make it clear that given the opportunity, children of Turkish/Kurdish/Turkish-Cypriot background can perform as good as anyone, if not better. Therefore the Turkish/Kurdish community must carry on supporting the existing supplementary schools; and if possible improve on what they’re doing by opening more schools. This is why I’d recommend all ethnic minorities in the UK to follow the Turks’ example and support their children in achieving their academic potential. Educated children would not only be the source of good for the corresponding ethnic minorities, but also the British society as a whole.
Best wishes!
PS: To add to the comments above, the below newspaper article portrays my views in 2006 (when I had just turned 18). I do not agree entirely with it nowadays; would have worded some things differently… 🙂
Anatolia FC was established with the help of Anatolia Cultural and Educational Society (ACES), to help the youth with Turkish/Kurdish background living in Leicester to blend together and keep them away from bad habits by encouraging them to engage in sports…
The team enrolled to The Leicester Sunday League. For more details, please see Anatolia FC’s webpage.
Founded: 17th August 2007 Ended: 28th February 2010
All time statistics
Player Statistics Most Appearances: Mesut Erzurumluoglu (54), Erol Nas (51), Ozer Kircicek (47), Fatih Gaygusuz (46), Sefa Macit (43), Esat Erzurumluoglu (40) Most Goals: Mesut Erzurumluoglu (59), Erkan Ozbek (24), Sefa Macit (23), Fatih Gaygusuz (15), Serkan Pala (7) Most Goals in a Single Match: (3) by Mesut Erzurumluoglu, Erkan Ozbek, Serkan Pala and Sefa Macit Scored in How Many Games: Mesut Erzurumluoglu (35), Sefa Macit (17), Erkan Ozbek (16), Fatih Gaygusuz (13)
Youngest Player To Play: Hoshang Ibrahim (15 Years, 171 Days) Youngest Player To Score: Hoshang Ibrahim (15 Years, 348 Days) Oldest Player To Play: Kenan Tunc (38 Years, 251 Days) Oldest Player To Score: Dean Ramsey (32 Years, 279 Days)
Team Statistics Total Games Played: 54 (including Cup matches & Friendlies) Total Games Played (League): 45 Total Results: W19, D11, L24 Total Results (League): W19, D10, L16 Total Goals Scored: 160 Total Goals Scored (League): 143 Total Goals Conceded: 195 Total Goals Conceded (League): 143
Biggest Win: 7-0 (The Alliance – 3 Feb 2008) Heaviest Loss: 1-10 (G.T. FC – 26 Oct 2008) Highest Scoring Game: 4-9 (Aylestone Utd – 23 Nov 2008)
Longest Unbeaten Run: 14 Games (From 12 Nov 2007 To 20 Sep 2008) Longest Period Without A Win: 6 Games (From 2 March 2009 To 10 Oct 2009)
Captains (2007-2010) – at least one game Fatih Gaygusuz (1st) Idris Ciftci (2nd) Erol Nas Erkan Ozbek Mesut Erzurumluoglu
Milestones
First
Silverware
Anatolia FC were awarded the ‘Fair Play’ Trophy in an International Tournament based in London (Summer 2009) for reaching the knockout stages without a single yellow card. The team qualified to the Quarter Finals as Group Winners (beating Teams from Holland and Turkey in the process), before losing to the eventual runners-up Xanthi FC (from Greece) on penalties after the game finished 1-1. The team was managed by Kenan Tunc
Lucozade
Sport Performance League
Anatolia FC has been picked out of the draw (also announced in talkSPORT radio) to become one of the 80 Teams in the whole of the UK to be given the chance to participate in the first ever Lucozade Sport Performance League (Season 08/09)
First
Season Summary
Anatolia FC finished the 2007/08 Season in 3rd place, scoring the most goals (79) and with a 17 game unbeaten run! Also, Mesut Erzurumluoglu finished the season as Top Goalscorer of Division 4 (with 28 goals)
First Win
Anatolia FC convincingly defeated Leicester Echos 4-0 at home to record the first win in the Club’s history – the second game of the 2007/08 Season… Goals came from Ramazan Aslan (2), Mesut Erzurumluoglu & Sefa Macit
First
Match & Goal
Mesut Erzurumluoglu was the first
Scorer in the Club’s history, scoring the only goal against Shoemakers FC (A)
in the 3-1 Loss – first game of the Season 07/08…
Foundation Date Anatolia FC was setup on the 17th August 2007 – starting in Division 4 of The Leicester Sunday League
Video from one of our games:
Anatolia FC were also chosen to be one of the eighty teams throughout the UK to take part in the first Lucozade Sport Performance League (LSPL, Sept 2009). Click here for picks from the weekly LSPL newsletter mentioning Anatolia FC.
A snapshot from my personal player page. I was the top goalscorer of the club in all three seasons I played there and was the top goalscorer in Division 4 in 2007/08 season when we finished 3rd in the league (Note: Assist info lost for 2008/09 season due to acquisition of Club Website by Pitchero)Top goalscorers in the 2007/08 season of The Leicester Sunday LeagueMy ‘Top Goalscorer of TLSL Division 4 (2007/08)’ award
An ordinary blog by an ordinary bloke 