Category: Features

Features
My World: Olcay Bayır
 

Blessed with a heavenly voice, Olcay Bayır has been singing for as long as she can remember. She was born in Gaziantep to a Kurdish Alevi family steeped in the âşık (wandering minstrels) tradition, and her career as a classically-trained singer-songwriter is a perfect marriage of her roots and global music experiences following her move […]

Exhibitions
Looking through the lens of the ‘Eye of Istanbul’

The passing last year of Ara Güler, one of the greatest photojournalists of our time, at the age of 90 was mourned worldwide. His talent for documenting the people and places around him earned Güler many accolades. Today, his incredible archive bears testament to a bygone era and the huge transformation Turkey has undergone, immortalising […]

Features
Turkish TV series Diriliş Ertuğrul takes Britain by storm

Turkish soap operas have been appealing to global audiences for some time, but seldom have any generated the levels of fandom that Diriliş Ertuğrul (Resurrection Ertuğrul) has. Even more significantly, it is the first to have seriously penetrated the UK. From talks up and down the country, to arranged travel tours to the set, there […]

Features
Mem Ferda: ‘to the Manor born’

With two degrees under his belt, former male model Mem Ferda could have secured a steady, well-paid job. Instead the South Londoner plumped for the life of an actor and all the risks that this brings. And he’s never looked back! The first thing that strikes you when you meet Mem is his height. At […]

Features
New star Adnan Mustafa on playing Engin in Idris Elba’s new film Yardie

There has been a big buzz around Yardie, the directorial debut of screen legend Idris Elba, which hits UK cinemas this weekend. Giving a close-up view of Jamaican culture, the film also features two Turkish Cypriot actors: Akin Gazi and Adnan Mustafa, who play onscreen brothers Arif and Engin. Based on Victor Headley’s bestselling book […]