A left-wing newspaper in North Cyprus has reverted to its former name ‘Avrupa’ [‘Europe’] after African students accused the paper of “encouraging racism and stereotyping” for calling itself ‘Afrika’ and using a monkey in its logo. On Thursday, 25 June, the paper’s front page bore the new Avrupa masthead, complete with a new animal icon, […]
“I can’t breathe”. The last words George Floyd uttered, just before he was murdered in cold blood in Minneapolis, USA. George Floyd has entered into the statistics of those many killed by this cruel State. Neither his family, nor anti-racists around the world will allow him to be just another American statistic. The cries of […]
A young British footballer of mixed Barbadian-Turkish Cypriot heritage has issued a statement calling for “justice” and “a level playing field” for people of colour. Liverpool striker Rhian Brewster, who is currently on loan to Swansea, made his comments on social media earlier today, writing that “For years & generations we’ve been screaming out for […]
The Prime Minister of the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus (TRNC) has come under fire after making controversial comments about foreign students and workers while discussing his government’s new coronavirus Economic Aid package on television. Appearing on one television programme on 24 March, Prime Minister Tatar spoke about African students in the TRNC and said […]
A Turkish court has sentenced Kıvanç Ağaoğlu to 16 years and 8 months in prison for killing Sevag Şahin Balıkçı. Ağaoğlu was found guilty of ‘voluntary manslaughter with eventual intent’. Balıkçı, 25, a Turkish-Armenian citizen, was shot dead by Ağaoğlu on April 24, 2011 when they were both doing their compulsory military service in Batman […]
Greek Cypriot authorities were slammed for preventing a bright young student from collecting her exam certificate. When Berilsu Meral, 15, a high school student at Bülent Ecevit Anadolu Lisesi, heard she had scored the highest mark in the world in her IGCSE Turkish exam, she was delighted. But her joy turned to frustration when the […]
The Sunday Times newspaper has apologised for a story that described Turkish-speaking councillors in the north London borough of Enfield as a “clan” and that accused its leader, Nesil Çalışkan, of nepotism. The paper has also agreed to pay a “considerable sum of money in legal costs”, Cllr Çalışkan said on Sunday, after she launched […]
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Mustafa Akıncı has called on the ‘Greek Cypriot administration of South Cyprus’ to take action after a coach picking up a group of tourists from Larnaca airport was reportedly targeted in a “racially motivated attack”. Mr Akıncı raised the issue with the UN’s top official in Cyprus, Elizabeth […]
Ekrem İmamoğlu, the main opposition candidate fighting for a second time to become mayor of Istanbul, has hit out at a “smear campaign” targeting his ethnicity. Supporters of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his AK party’s candidate Binali Yıldırım have reportedly been suggesting that Mr İmamoğlu is of “secret” Greek heritage, with less than three […]
The head of the Greek Orthodox Church in Cyprus courted controversy when he issued an anti-gay, anti-abortion, anti-Turkey, anti-TRNC Easter message, which also condemned Greek Cypriots who went shopping in North Cyprus and used Ercan airport. The diatribe by Archbishop Chrysostomos II, which sparked a storm of protest on social media, was issued on Easter […]
