The Turkish national anthem celebrates its centenary today, after the İstiklal Marşı – or Independence March – was formally adopted as the country’s song on 12 March 1921. The words were written by Mehmet Âkif Ersoy, who bequeathed his work free of charge to the Turkish nation, and the music was composed by Osman Zeki Üngör. […]
Two British Turkish Cypriots have created a short film to raise awareness that “Turkish Cypriot” is accepted as an ethnicity under the ‘Ethnic Group, Other’ category on this year’s Census. The 94-second comedy clip by Eray Galip and Aziz Kemal, who are better known by their alter egos Eray Beyi and The Aziz Show, has […]
A new British comedy set in a pupil referral unit (‘PRU’) gets its first-ever airing on BBC iPlayer today. The show will make its terrestrial debut on BBC 1 on Friday night. The 18-minute premiere of PRU is essentially a pilot, but BBC bosses were so impressed with the show that it’s already been commissioned […]
Ironhand Records dig deep into their musical archives to present us with four outstanding tracks from Mustafa Kuş and his band İmece. These classic tracks are a fine, nostalgic blend of jazz, psychedelic funk and classic Anatolian rhythms. Turkish singer-songwriter Mustafa Kuş (top, far left) had originally gone to Germany to further his education. He […]
The Yunus Emre Institute in London’s annual Turkish Community Art Exhibition is now truly embedded in the British Turkish community’s social calendar. Now in its third year, the event is bigger than ever before, showcasing 88 art pieces from 51 artists, whittled down from “a great selection of over 140 artworks from over 70 artists.” […]
The international community and media and many Cypriots often wrongly claim that Cyprus was split in 1974, when in fact the division had occurred a decade earlier. This crucial detail is clear from reviewing historical archives and articles written by journalists present in Cyprus during or immediately after the outbreak of the Cyprus conflict on 21 […]
The election of Ersin Tatar as President of the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus (TRNC) last October resulted in a pivotal change in the Turkish side’s approach to the Cyprus Question: out goes any talk of a ‘federal’ solution to the divided island, replaced instead by a two-state policy. Last month, the British Turkish Cypriot […]
Rock musician Hakan Tuna returns with the second track of the year, Nazlanma Güzel Nazlanma, which in English means ‘Don’t Play Hard To Get Beautiful Don’t Play Hard To Get’ The song, first recorded by Konkurt in 1977, is part of Tuna’s ‘12 Songs 12 Stories’ project, where he pays homage to the UK band […]
Turkey’s award-winning journalist Can Dündar and Sarah Clarke of British human rights group ARTICLE 19 will be in conversation about the downturn in human rights and democracy around the world, and the need for increased co-operation in defending these vital rights. The online discussion takes place in the context of growing populism and autocracy. In recent […]
The organisers of Taste of Anatolia are calling on filmmakers whose films were produced or co-produced in Turkey to contact them so they can be considered for this year’s film festival. Launched in 2018 by Cambridge-based film charity Balik Arts, Taste of Anatolia – Films From Turkey promotes independent films from Turkey. Over a weekend […]
