Public opinion was split after news emerged that a Turkish court had ordered the release of prominent journalists Ahmet Altan and Nazlı Ilıcak. The pair had spent more than three years in prison after being arrested in 2016 and charged with aiding FETÖ (Fethullah Gülen Terrorist Organization), wh...
A leading Turkish daily national has come under fire after it sacked 45 of its journalists last week. Hürriyet, one of Turkey’s biggest and oldest newspapers, controversially terminated the contracts of journalists without any prior notice, many only learning of their dismissal when they tried to lo...
Four siblings aged between 48 and 60 have been found dead in a flat in the Fatih district of Istanbul. Police believe they died through chemical poisoning. A note left on their front door, possibly written by one of the siblings, said 'Caution cyanide. Call the police, do not enter'. The police w...
Court orders banning the reporting of four sensitive news stories in Turkey were a violation of the right to freedom of expression and freedom of the press, the country’s Constitutional Court (Anayasa Mahkemesi, AYM) has ruled. The AYM published the judgment in relation to four separate cases on...
On Saturday, 26 October, the Labour members of Enfield North will have the chance to listen to four very able candidates and select which one should represent them as the Labour Parliamentary candidate at the next general election. Among the four is Margaret Greer, one of my oldest and dearest fr...
PEOPLE in Turkey throw away 26 million tonnes of food every year, the head of an anti-waste lobby group has said. The startling figure was revealed by Aziz Akgül, chairman of the Turkey Waste Reduction Foundation [Türkiye İsrafı Önleme Vakfı], in a story published by the Anadolu news agency. T...
A POWERFUL earthquake measuring 5.8 on the Richter Scale shook Istanbul on Thursday lunchtime, causing people to rush on to the streets in panic. It was the city’s second major earthquake in as many days. About a dozen people were injured, but there were no known casualties. However, some struct...
TRIBUTES were paid over the weekend to a young Turkish woman who documented her fight against cancer on social media. Neslican Tay, 21, died on Friday, September 20, at a private hospital in Istanbul where she was being treated since September 15. She was a student at the city’s Bahçeşehir Uni...
Senior ministers from Turkey and North Cyprus, as well as expert speakers from the UK and elsewhere are to take part in a major conference on the Cyprus issue in Ankara this week. The event in the Turkish capital, hosted by the Turkish Bar Association (TBB) and called the “Last Word from Cyprus”,...
Barcelona midfielder Arda Turan has been sentenced to two years and eight months after being found guilty of firing a gun at a hospital and injuring Turkish pop star Berkay, whose nose was broken following a fight with the hot-headed footballer. However, Turan – who is currently on loan at Turkis...
