For the past few weeks Turkish owned mosques in Northeast London, like many others across the British capital, have been calling the faithful to prayer (ezan in Turkish) from their roofs and minarets at sunset every day. Yet in these extraordinary times none have been able to visit Aziziye Mosque in Stoke Newington, Shacklewell Lane Mosque […]
British citizens with homes in the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus (TRNC) but currently stranded in the UK were given a massive boost today. Speaking live on BRT television, TRNC Foreign Minister Kudret Özersay said that foreigners with residency would be able to return on a date “close to 1 June.” Dr Özersay was speaking […]
Every 19 May, the people of Turkey commemorate Mustafa Kemal’s landing at Samsun, on the Black Sea, on May 19, 1919, which marked the start of the Turkish War of Independence. The Turks emerged victorious from the four-year war, expelling numerous foreign powers which had invaded the crumbling Ottoman Empire, among them Britain, France, Italy, […]
This Tuesday, 19 May, is the holiest night of the year in the Islamic calendar and occurs during the last ten days of Ramazan. Known in Turkish as Kadir Gecesi and in English as the Night of Power, this is the night when the first verses of the Holy Kuran were revealed to the Prophet […]
A wild fire that broke out by a village in northwest Cyprus earlier today has quickly spread, threatening thousands of acres of forest and other settlement areas. There has been no reported loss of life, but the fire has scorched the forests around Tepebaşı, Akdeniz, Kalkanlı, and Koruçam (also known as Kormacit) in the Turkish […]
After an absence of three years, British Turks make a return to this year’s Sunday Times Rich List, which lists the country’s richest one thousand individuals. Mustafa and Fatma Kiamil are joint 923 on the 2020 list with an estimated fortune of £130 million from their food business. The Turkish Cypriot couple were one of […]
This week’s London Mevlit programme features a special guest appearance from Imam Muhittin Aydın. The muezzin at Stoke Newington’s Aziziye Mosque will be reciting Koranic prayers alongside programme host Husayn Hashim El Bakayi, the UK’s most prominent Turkish Cypriot hoca (pastor) on Sunday, 17 May. The London Mevlit programme will start straight after Kanal T’s iftar […]
A British Turkish Cypriot chef has featured in an international series of Recipes for Ramadan (‘Ramazan’ in Turkish). Hulya Erdal appears in a ten-minute online clip cooking homemade Tepsi Kebabı, the perfect meal for iftar (breaking of the daily fast). Speaking entirely in Turkish, Hulya first wishes Muslims worldwide a happy Ramazan and also reflects […]
Turkish Cypriot businessman Ersu ‘Eddie’ Ekrem, currently recovering in hospital from Covid-19, has featured on the BBC’s main evening news discussing his “terrible hallucinations” after being induced. The short clip, broadcast on Tuesday 12 May, opens with Mr Ekrem being helped to sit up in bed by nurses in full personal protective equipment (PPE) at […]
Pope Francis has called on “believers of all faiths” to unite in a day of fasting, prayer and acts of charity on a single day during the holy month of Ramadan (Ramazan in Turkish), when Muslims fast from dawn to sunset. On Thursday, 14 May, the Pope wants the world to come together through the […]
