People

©

OBITUARY: Prof. Salahi Ramadan Sonyel, 19 April 1932 - 25 December 2015

“I took early retirement to concentrate on my research and writings” said Prof. Salahi Sonyel, who sadly passed away on Christmas Day 2015, in an interview I had conducted with him back in 1998. And indeed his writings and all the research he conducted over many years made him one of the most respec...

  • 185
©

FOCUS: Chanel fashion show and fake feminism: do women really need to see that

The famous fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld turned the show for Chanel’s Spring/Summer Womenwear 2015 Collection during this autumn’s Paris Fashion Week into a staged rebellion, using leading supermodels such as Gisele Bündchen, Cara Delevingne and Kendall Jenner to mimic a feminist protest.&nbs...

  • 146
©

Yet again we march

Yet again we march. With arthiritic knees, painful backs, we march on. What are these compared to the suffering of refugees, victims of wars, destruction. Victims of Western foreign policy, western greed.   We march to demand compassion, justice and humanity for refugees. Refugees, facing...

  • 95
©

Really sorry Aylan Kurdi

I sincerely apologise Aylan, but we shall forget you too. You, your brother Ghaleb, your mum. We shall forget you all. We human beings are like that. We forget all too easily. We have forgotten many children before you.   Do you remember those poor people who met a horrible death in an air...

  • 104
©

Ask Yonca abla: Is she too young to holiday alone?

Dear Yonca abla,  I’ve been having furious arguments with my youngest. She is 18-years-old and if she passes her exams, could be starting life at university in September. I thought I was being progressive letting her go away from home to study, but now, as if that wasn’t enough, she wants...

  • 148
©

Levent Büyükuğur on Frescobaldi and his never-ending Italian love affair

Since forming Istanbul Doors in 1993, Levent Büyükuğur has quietly revolutionised Istanbul’s nightlife and restaurant scene. His diners and clubs, Changa, Lucca, Kitchenette and Angelique among them, are bywords for sophisticated quality, while his compatriots have also been treated to new culinary...

  • 135
©

How Ted & Mus conquered Turkish barbering

We may be living through the austerity years, but one sector that is booming is men’s grooming. Men’s desire to splash the cash to look good has propelled the sector to be worth some £1 billion. It’s not just about buying moisturiser and bronzers. Guys are also bypassing the cheap and cheerful...

  • 251
©

Marching against racism

A bitterly cold March day. Only yesterday [Friday 20th], on a warm, sunny day I sat on a park bench at Ally Pally and watched little children feed the ducks. This is England. It is possible to witness a few seasons in a few day. I leave home, my wife’s warnings to be careful ringing in my ears....

  • 120
©

FOCUS: Happy 8 March International Working Women's Day!

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 ar...

  • 98
©

FOCUS: Remembering Osman Türkay on his 88th birth anniversary

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 t...

  • 131