It’s a warm weekday lunchtime in May when I meet Hassan Redif (aka Hass or J Junior) and Bekir Remzi (aka Ramsey) in the bar of Trent Park Country Club, located at the far end of the Piccadilly Line in Oakwood. The pair are relaxed and in casual attire, with Ramsey tapping at his watch […]
This is story-telling at its brilliant best. Personal, incisive, at times funny, yet also sad and highly thought-provoking. Dreams Die Hard also contains the best-ever explanation of Brexit courtesy of the good old British fry-up. A one-woman show, written and performed by Rachel Karafistan (whose grandfather Mehmet Karafistan was from Yeşilırmak, Cyprus) with direction and […]
A Turkish Cypriot candidate for South Cyprus’ left-wing AKEL party has been elected as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP). Niyazi Kızılyürek was formally declared one of Cyprus’ six MEPs after European elections were held in the southern part of the island yesterday, Sunday 26 May. Following the results, Kızılyürek told the Cyprus News […]
One of Turkey’s most exceptional women passed away ten years ago today, 18 May 2009. Türkan Saylan was a doctor, educator and civil society activist, made famous first for her fight to eradicate leprosy and later for establishing Çağdaş Yaşamı Destekleme Derneği, ÇYDD (Association for the Support of Contemporary Living) to provide education for girls […]
The Council of Turkish Cypriot Associations and the Turkish Language and Education Consortium have announced a special competition for Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day. This year, the day also celebrates the centenary of Turkish military commander Mustafa Kemal’s landing at Samsun on the Black Sea on 19 May 1919, which marked the start of the […]
If you live in or near London, and are looking for something a little different to do with your children this Easter vacation, why not treat them to a performance of one of Turkey’s most famous shadow puppet plays? Dating back to Ottoman times, the story of Karagöz and Hacivat remains a firm favourite for […]
On Sunday, 31 March, voters across all 81 provinces in Turkey head to the polls to select their local representatives, from city council leaders to village heads. It will be the country’s first elections since last year’s Presidential Elections that the incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdoğan won in the first round. Since then the country has […]
It’s been due since the official opening of Istanbul Airport last October, and finally Turkey’s largest air carrier has confirmed it is taking up permanent residence at the city’s newest – and the world’s largest – airport. Turkish Airlines have announced that from 03:00 on Friday 5 April 2019 it will start the transition to […]
Fifty five years ago today, the United Nations (UN) Security Council passed a resolution, the ramifications of which continues to be felt decades later. Three years after the independence of Cyprus from British rule, leaders of the Greek Cypriot community initiated their notorious Akritas Plan, which aimed to overthrow the power-sharing arrangement between themselves and […]
On the eve of a new round of talks between the two Cypriot leaders, one unexpected issue dominated the headlines on the island: the seizure of a Turkish Cypriot’s vehicle at the Metehan/ Ayios Dhometios checkpoint in the capital Nicosia because it contained illegally imported asparagus. Greek Cypriot customs officers stepped in on Monday morning […]
