Category: Guest Views

Guest Views
The UK must help end Turkish Cypriot isolation
 

For the best part of 60 years Greek Cypriot governments have, with ingenious guile and commendable tenacity, persuaded most of the world and international institutions to see Cyprus through their eyes, the widely held view being that Turkey is entirely responsible for the current situation, having taken the north of the island for itself and […]

Guest Views
Ankara Agreement suspension – will you stand by or stand up?

Would you like to hear a story? It’s about a forgotten deal between the UK and Turkey, which came to life in the 90s. For the past two decades, the Ankara Agreement has been a strong and vital option in enabling commercial immigration from Turkey to Britain. Recently, the significant rise in new applicants has […]

Guest Views
Cyprus – unilateralism on hydrocarbons will result in permanent division

  The Greek Cypriot position on hydrocarbons exploitation is that as an independent and sovereign coastal state, member of both the UN and of the EU, the “Republic of Cyprus” has the right to exploit her natural resources, including offshore resources, and agree boundaries with other coastal states in accordance with internationally accepted procedures. Greece […]

Guest Views
London gentrification has become “insane”
 

  I’ve been trying really hard not to just be against change and to appreciate the possible positive outcomes of gentrification… but it’s becoming an insane situation! Originally from Turkey, I’ve been living in this city for 16 years and consider it as my ‘beloved’. I find it hard to just ditch or pass London on […]

Guest Views
Charlie’s parents were right to fight – Enis’ case shows doctors don’t always get it right

Originally from Croydon, South London, Ayla Azmi Işık is a married mum of one living with her family in Köyceğiz, Muğla, in southern Turkey. Earlier this year her son Enis, then aged 20 months, nearly drowned. Battling against the odds, baby Enis continues to make incredible progress towards a full recovery at İsparta Hospital. Watching the ordeal of […]

Guest Views
Turkey’s referendum result: reading between the lines

  Turkey’s referendum result is undoubtedly a serious setback for Turkey’s long and torturous process of democratisation – but it’s not difficult to find signs of hope. The mood of NO supporters in the recent referendum on changes to Turkey’s constitution which dramatically expand the powers of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan ranges from manic depressive […]

Guest Views
Britain’s Foreign Office – makes you ashamed to be British

On 31 August, during the hot summer of 1956, two British policemen were standing guard on a well-known EOKA terrorist, Polykarpos Yorgadjis, in Nicosia General Hospital. Suddenly armed men rushed down the corridor. The officers drew their pistols. Shots rang out. ‘The Battle of Nicosia Hospital’ had begun. Four of Yorgadjis’s EOKA gang members were […]