Turkish Cypriot fashion mogul Touker Suleyman (pictured far left above) returns for his third series of Dragons’ Den – the BBC’s popular business show where budding entrepreneurs pitch their ideas and a stake in their business for cash investments. He is joined by long-standing Dragons and fellow business gurus Peter Jones and Deborah Meaden. […]
Reality TV shows are like marmite: you either love them or hate them. Those featuring semi-naked participants that jump into bed at every available opportunity generate even stronger opinions, with opponents claiming such programmes objectify contestants, while others label them as “sneak porn” due to their overtly sexual nature. So when Figen Cetinay found out […]
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has again accused the European Union of being “insincere” over Turkish accession, claiming they were just “wasting” Turkey’s time. The Turkish President’s remarks came during an interview with HARDtalk’s Zeinab Badawi, who asked whether Turkey is better in or outside of the EU. Pointing to the country’s $11,000 per capita income, Mr […]
Tonight, BBC 2 will televise Selin Kiazim as she serves her spectacular dessert at a dinner celebrating 140 years of the iconic Wimbledon Championships. Her Turkish-inspired dish Honouring Venus Rosewater Champions, described by former British tennis champion Annabel Croft as “one of the most beautiful puddings I have ever had”, beat seven other desserts […]
A new game show for Ramazan on Turkey’s flagship state broadcaster channel has incensed many conservative religious groups across the country. The show, Kur’an-ı Kerim’i Güzel Okuma Yarışması [Kuran: Beautiful Recital Competition], televised each night, shows men competing by reciting passages from the Kuran. A panel of three judges give feedback to the competitors, […]
Selin Kiazim is a rising star on the London food scene and this week she goes head-to-head against two other talented young chefs for the 12th series of BBC 2’s Great British Menu. The young Turkish Cypriot chef will be vying for a place in the finals where winning dishes will feature on this […]
There doesn’t seem to be a day when Turkey is not in the news and for the most part, it’s often pretty negative. These days the UK, like the rest of the West, is preoccupied with lambasting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for his authoritarian ways and inflammatory comments, a far cry from a […]
On Wednesday night, TRT will air a documentary about the last surviving members of the Ottoman dynasty. It centres around Bilûn Alpan, the sole survivor of the royal family that was exiled from Turkey in 1924 when she was aged just six. Now aged 99, the granddaughter of Sultan Abdülmecid I recounts the difficulties […]
As Eurovisions go, it appeared that Australia (yes, we know it’s not in Europe) had it sown up this year. Way out in front with votes from the juries of the participating countries, we were looking at a comprehensive Aussie win. Though Ukraine was picking up a few 12 points, Australia was more consistent with […]
With no Turkey again in this year’s Eurovision, millions of Turks across Europe may be struggling to find a reason to watch the annual TV song contest. Fear not, there are at least three good reasons to tune in. First, support the contender from the country you are based in – in our case, UK […]
