A Kurdish politician from Diyarbakır is aiming to change the law so schoolchildren can be educated in their native tongue. İmam Taşçıer, an MP for the Peoples' Democratic Party (Halkların Demokratik Partisi, HDP), has submitted a draft bill to the Turkish Parliament for Kurmanji and Zazaki, the t...
Dear Dr Sivri, I hope you are well. I know you help with all types of problems, so I am looking for some advice please. I work in an office in the City of London, and we deal with international insurance, so it’s a pretty high-end and stressful job, but I take it in my stride and am well-reg...
Adil Aydın won first prize in this year’s watermelon competition in Diyarbakır, eastern Turkey, with a massive watermelon weighing 56.2 kilograms. Judges for the event said it was the heaviest watermelon recorded in the region in seventy years. Mr Aydın was participating in the 10th Culture an...
A Turkish court has sentenced a gunman to life in prison without parole for carrying out a deadly attack on an Istanbul nightclub in 2017 that left 39 people dead and dozens injured. Istanbul’s Heavy Penal Court No. 27 handed Abdulkadir Masharipov forty aggravated life sentences on Monday, 7 Septemb...
All flights into Ercan Airport will stop from midnight tonight, Wednesday 9 September, as the authorities seek to contain the spread of coronavirus in North Cyprus. The suspension of flights will run until the end of this week. The sudden announcement was made by KKTC Sivil Havacılık Dairesi – th...
A pioneering female pilot has made history again after being promoted to the rank of Colonel. Berna Şen’s promotion was announced by the Turkish Air Force Command at the end of August. Şen joined the Turkish Air Force (TAF) 26 years ago. She entered into the Turkish history books in 2000 for flyi...
Despite coronavirus pandemic restrictions, this year’s Zafer Bayramı, or Victory Day, went ahead as planned with events held throughout Turkey to commemorate the country’s final victory in its War of Independence nearly a century ago. In line with tradition, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan led pol...
The opposition Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) Ahmet Ünal Çeviköz has pressed the AKP government for answers on how many members of Hamas have been given Turkish citizenship. The MP’s questions, formally tabled in Parliament to the Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay on Tuesday, follow press spec...
Without a doubt, 2020 has been a strange year. An unknown virus, millions dead or infected, international travel bans, and government-imposed lockdowns for our protection, which have separated us from our loved ones and put a stop to many of our favourite pastimes in a bid to minimise human contact....
Dear Dr Sivri, I am really embarrassed about my problem. Actually, it’s more to do with my lifestyle really. I feel so ashamed, I don’t know where to start. I am a 39-year-old woman who has been married and divorced twice. I married very young the first time around – I was 18 years old....
