Features

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UK “single largest foreign investor” in Azerbaijan as new opportunities open up post-Brexit

Brexit has created new opportunities for the UK and Azerbaijan, a leading Azerbaijani MP has said. “In my opinion, leaving the EU opened new perspectives for our mutual cooperation. After Brexit the UK is not limited any more in any way of cooperation with the world, including Azerbaijan” Javansh...

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North Cyprus PCR tests: discrimination at Larnaca and Paphos Airports after ad hoc ban

For the past three weeks, travellers from North Cyprus leaving the island via an airport in the south have faced nervous trips across the Green Line border, unsure whether their PCR tests will be accepted at Larnaca and Paphos Airports. Dozens have been randomly turned away by airport officials w...

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Slavery has been abolished for over 200 years – or has it?

There aren’t many more emotive subjects in society today than to write about slavery and with the UN Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition coming up on 23 August, I wanted to share my thoughts on this with you. As a dedicated UK trade union activist and founding member of...

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The steps the Turkish Cypriot government must take to curb student human trafficking in the TRNC

The United States State Department has released their 2021 report on human trafficking in North Cyprus. Similar to last year’s report, the verdict is pretty much the same: “The TRNC does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to...

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Highlights of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics: Turkey’s record medal haul, Azerbaijan’s successes and more

It’s been a week since the curtain went down on the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games, and there are still so many brilliant memories from this incredible sporting extravaganza to process. There was joy when Mete Gazoz took the gold in the men's individual archery. Gazoz, 22, beat Italy's Mauro Nespoli...

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UK Covid rules: no quarantine-exemption from Cyprus for those with a TRNC vaccination certificate

Differences for those living in the north and south of Cyprus have come to the fore on multiple occasions during the coronavirus pandemic, and it does so again over the issue of Covid-19 vaccination certificates. With the United Kingdom choosing to keep Turkey on its high risk Red country list an...

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Is Pakistan planning to recognise the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus?

Ordinarily, an announcement by an embassy that its consular team is visiting their nationals abroad would not generate much excitement, but a Twitter post on Saturday, 10 July, from the Embassy of Pakistan in Ankara did just that. The embassy said it would be “undertaking a 3 days [sic] visit to...

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Anger as DJ Kölsch and Cercle cave in to “racist” pressure and cancel North Cyprus show

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....

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British Turkish activist James Ozden takes aim at McDonald’s as part of wider action over the climate emergency

A group of activists known as Animal Rebellion blocked access to four McDonald’s distribution centres across Britain this weekend, with group spokesperson James Ozden accusing the fast food chain and wider meat and dairy industry of “destroying our planet”. Animal Rebellion used vehicles and bamb...

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10K signatures and counting: can Kadir Kanizi’s direct flights petition break the travel embargo on North Cyprus?

Somewhere on the internet is a graveyard of petitions for direct flights to North Cyprus. They all start with good intentions, and one last year even got a response from the British government, but they all die a premature death without making a material difference. Kadir Kanizi (pictured top) is...

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