It was the end of 70s and early 80s, when punk became mainstream, and Franco-Turkish combo progressive rock band Asia Minor hit their stride, releasing two albums back to back. Suddenly the band was attracting the attention of all prog lovers and prominent musicians of the era, including Alan Parsons, who was recording an album […]
The cancellation of a concert by renowned DJ Kölsch at Saint Hilarion Castle in North Cyprus has left Turkish Cypriots feeling angry and frustrated. The Danish DJ was scheduled to play a 90-minute live set in the medieval castle atop the Girne / Kyrenia mountain range on Monday evening, 31 May. The concert was being […]
When it comes to the world of Turks, T-VINE loves to cover the cool and the quirky, and so we were intrigued to learn about an American band called Ottoman Turks. Hailing from Dallas, Texas, here are five brilliant things we discovered about these booty-shaking, country rockers. Turkey of old inspires band name The four-piece […]
“Curated by TRNC Consulate General in İstanbul” reads the bio for KKTCIstanbul, the arts and cultural Instagram account of the Istanbul Consulate for the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus (TRNC). Running since the summer of 2020, KKTCIstanbul’s 132 posts to date are a visual feast of Turkish Cypriot life, past and present. A cursory glance […]
Any visitor to Turkey will know how important music is to the local culture. From Turkish pop to Ottoman-inspired classical music (Türk Sanat Müziği), folk (Halk Müziği) and the blues (Türkü), live renditions can be seen and heard everywhere. One of the country’s biggest modern entertainment traditions has been the gazino – a high-end cabaret […]
In March, the world as we know it came to a crashing halt. The coronavirus pandemic was taking hold in all four quarters of the planet, prompting governments to take drastic actions to contain the deadly disease. Borders, air space and businesses were closed, and people were ordered to stay indoors as our hospitals became […]
Roots The effects of the French Revolution in 1789 reached the Ottoman Empire nearly fifty years later. Starting from 1839 until 1876, during the regression period of Ottoman Empire, a set of reforms were implemented to modernise, centralise and improve the legal, economic, social and political structure of the government, which was called the Tanzimat […]
On this day twenty years ago, actor Kemal Sunal suffered a fatal heart attack as he boarded an early morning domestic flight from Istanbul to the Black Sea city of Trabzon. He was just 55 years old. Sunal is said to have had a lifelong fear of flying and had not been on a plane […]
In almost every speech, Gaye strongly asserts she’s fighting the “Geography is destiny” saying, aphorised by Ibn-i Haldun in the 14th Century. Is this a pertinent remark for Turkey and Turkish artists? In a way it is. Turkey has had many economic, social and geopolitical issues over the years. With its central location as a passage […]
For years it was the venue where stars performed, and where ordinary folk could come and watch, rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous. When Taksim’s Grand Maksim Gazino finally closed its doors in 2004, its fate was unknown. Earlier this month, the remodelled site opened to the public as a high-end hotel. Part of […]
