Sunday saw a record number of Turks go to the polls to vote in the Presidential and Parliamentary Elections. All eyes were on the incumbent, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and whether, after two decades in charge, he could hold on to the top job. A total of 64.1 million electorate, including 3.4 million citizens abroad and […]
A district judge and a local authority in East London have come under fire for inferring kebab shops are unregulated and unhygienic following a case involving serious breaches of food hygiene at a branch of McDonald’s. The initial problem arose in Judge Susan Holdham’s choice of words when she passed judgment on Leytonstone McDonald’s. The […]
Four serving police officers and a police team leader serving in North London have received commendations from the Metropolitan Police for going above and beyond the call of duty. Police Sergeant Eren Emin, Team Leader Abide Osman, Police Constable (PC) Haldun Huseyin, PC Yiğit Akdağ, and a fifth unnamed member of Turkish Police Association (TPA) […]
Ramiz Manyera, one of the leading business figures in North Cyprus, has died. The sad news was announced by his family on Tuesday. The pioneering Turkish Cypriot entrepreneur made his fortune selling soft drinks. He established Bel-Cola in 1958 – the first carbonated drink produced by a Turkish Cypriot, but it was Bixi Cola nearly […]
The president of the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus, Ersin Tatar was in London last week to meet with a host of British dignitaries and journalists to promote his two-state solution for Cyprus. Arriving in London on Monday, 27 March, President Tatar and his team quickly got down to business, attending a reception with journalists […]
This year marks the 45th anniversary of the Turkish Cypriot Cultural Association. Located in the East London Borough of Hackney, the TCCA aims to preserve and promote Turkish Cypriot culture and heritage to its members and wider society. Its celebrations this year are taking numerous forms, one of which involved planting a tree in the […]
In Turkish, we say, “Ateş düştüğü yeri yakar”. This proverb, which translated means ‘an ember will burn where it falls’, is used to explain that only those who have endured a calamity can truly understand the deep and wretched misery that arises from it. I thought of this phrase as I walked around East Ham Town […]
The Turkish Republic of North Cyprus (TRNC) has been admitted to the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) as an observer member under its full constitutional name – a first in its 39-year history. The decision to accept the TRNC as an observer member was taken at the Samarkand Summit in Uzbekistan on Friday, 11 November […]
Faruk Eskioğlu is one of the most respected writers and journalists from the UK’s Turkish speaking community. Originally from Turkiye, Eskioğlu set up online Turkish newspaper Açık Gazete in 2004 to give an independent voice to stories ignored by mainstream Turkish media. That voice is more important today than ever. As an ethical newspaper, Açık Gazete […]
When Turkish restauranteur Hüseyin Özer left a wreath at Green Park last week in memory of the late Queen Elizabeth II, he described her as “the mother of the nation” and said the Queen’s passing had made him “as sad as losing my own mother”. His red and white wreath, in the shape of the […]
