There are some people you meet that once you begin to speak you wish the conversation wouldn’t stop, regardless of the topic.As John Ford said, “You can speak well if your tongue can deliver the message of your heart” and indeed Abdullah Nihat Yılmaz was one of those rare people who conducted his ta...
The historic birthplace of a leading Turkish-Azeri intellectual recently returned to Azerbaijani hands following a truce with Armenia. The town of Shusha, the home of the educator, publicist, Pan-Turkist thinker and politician Ahmet Ağaoğlu, who played an important role in the foundation of both Aze...
On this day twenty years ago, actor Kemal Sunal suffered a fatal heart attack as he boarded an early morning domestic flight from Istanbul to the Black Sea city of Trabzon. He was just 55 years old. Sunal is said to have had a lifelong fear of flying and had not been on a plane for many years,...
The jessamine is odorous; so Maid lilies are, and clematis And where tall meadowsweet flowers grow A rare and subtle perfume is;- What can there be more choice than these? – A rose when it doth bud and blow.By Christina Rosetti (1830-1894) When I began interviewing people about t...
Galip Ahmet is one of the first Turkish Cypriots to have come and settled in Britain in the early 1950s. Born in Cyprus on 18 April 1929, Galip Bey recently turned 90. I interviewed him earlier this summer about his experiences before and after his move, as part of my work on ‘Turkish heritage in th...
If you haven’t heard Dilara Fındıkoğlu’s name, where have you been? The London-based Turkish designer hit the headlines in September 2017 following her controversial Satan-themed catwalk show at St Andrew Holborn Church during London Fashion Week. Since then she’s enjoyed a meteoric rise, dress...
It is very difficult to write an obituary if the person was very dear to you and held a special place in your life. You try to put the words together, but after a while the blank paper in front of you remains just the same as you had started, completely blank. This happened to me when I tried to wri...
With two degrees under his belt, former male model Mem Ferda could have secured a steady, well-paid job. Instead the South Londoner plumped for the life of an actor and all the risks that this brings. And he’s never looked back!The first thing that strikes you when you meet Mem is his height. At 6ft...
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world” said Nelson Mandela and indeed the same can be attributed to Kelami Dedezade, who passed away on the 13 July 2018. Dedezade was a huge believer that education is the only tool to make a difference in society. All his...
Abdullah Nihat Yılmaz is a writer and columnist. He was born in Fatsa, Turkey, in 1941 and has been living in Britain since 1981. We met recently to discuss the subject of migration literature and the notion of ‘gurbet’, which is loosely translated as ‘a place far from home’. Abdullah Ağabey*,...
