Happy 8th March International Working Women’s Day! Here are some apt words for this day from renowned writer and poet Nazım Hikmet. The faces of our women are the book of our pains. Our pains, our faults and the blood we shed carve scars on the faces of our women like plows. And our joys are […]
Former Culture Minister of Turkey, a cultural historian, poet and translator Prof. Dr. Talat Halman once observed that Osman Türkay’s (16 February 1927 – 24 January 2001) work combined Blake’s apocalyptic vision which Eliot’s gloomy depictions of modern civilisations. Not only does Dr. Halman make this comparison, but he goes further to say that the […]
One of the local Turkish language papers posed an important question for the Turkish speaking communities in Britain. “Are we actually united?” The paper, Londra Gazete/London Turkish Gazette is printed bilingually. In the main Turkish pages the question takes the form of “Are we really one?”Freudian slip, or lost in translation? Being “one” and being […]
A legend of the Turkish wedding circuit, he hit the big time with his group Babutsa. These days, he runs a café in Beckenham and performs weekly at a top London Turkish nightspot, while guiding the career of his singer daughter. Tell us about your family life My parents are from Cyprus (İskele and Karpaz) […]
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 […]
Turks are born with the ability to do one thing perfectly: cook kebabs. There’s nothing worse in life than expecting freshly-made şeftali kebabs and köfte, only to be handed sausages or burgers. It’s imperative we understand the difference between a kebab and a BBQ. It’s not just ditching the ketchup and mustard for humus and […]
One of Turkish cinema’s legendary figures, Yılmaz Güney was an award-winning film director, scenarist, novelist and actor. Of Kurdish origin, he made his mark championing Turkey’s most marginal citizens on and off the screen. During his career, he directed 25 films, wrote 61 scripts, and appeared in 116 movies. He became the first filmmaker from Turkey to win […]
The United Nations estimates that more than 2,000 people have died this year while making their journey from North Africa into Europe. The Mediterranean Sea became the route of hope for many migrants and refugees. It was also a deadly route for many whose boats capsized and sank; for those who couldn’t make it to […]
There was a time when Turkish weddings were THE social event of the calendar: a chance for Turks to come together and socialise and, for some, it was a chance to pick a future bride. Weddings have changed over time, but there are a few traditions we just don’t understand. How comes the bride and […]
With 200 rejections for her first novel, Sibel could have easily given up. She persevered and is now an award-winning, international best-selling author with 16 titles under her belt. 1.Tell us about your background? My mum is English and my dad Turkish Cypriot. Dad’s originally from Girne. He left in 1958 to study in Britain, […]
