Turkey is now among the countries whose coronavirus vaccination programme are recognised by the United Kingdom. The expanded list, which includes 37 new countries and territories including Turkey, came into force on Monday 11 October. People fully vaccinated in Turkey with a UK-approved vaccine will no longer have to quarantine when they arrive in Britain. They […]
Last week, Turks finally received the news they’d been waiting for since May, that the British government had removed Turkey from its Covid Red list. From 4am on Wednesday 22 September, Turkey moved to the Amber list, meaning those returning to Britain no longer have to quarantine in a hotel for 10 days at cost […]
The newly published Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2022 includes two universities from the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus (TRNC), Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU) and debutant Near East University (NEU). The two universities are listed under “Northern Cyprus”, while three institutions in the South of the island are tabled as “Cyprus”. According to The […]
Internet funny man and political commentator Çetin Sadeli has used a Turkish Cypriot wedding to protest the latest government-imposed rise in the cost of bottled gas. Foregoing the tradition of pinning money or gold on the married couple Sadeli turned up at the outdoor wedding of Mehmet and Eda Karagözlü with a large bottle of […]
A massive oil leak from a faulty power plant in Syria continues to threaten the eastern coastline of the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus. The Turkish Cypriot government has turned to Turkey for help, while side-stepping offers of assistance from neighbouring South Cyprus. Although the situation appears under control, changing wind and sea currents have […]
Foreigners are increasingly behind crimes being committed in the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus (TRNC), according to a report by Turkish Cypriot daily Yenidüzen (584 mahkumun 315’i, 40 farklı ülkeden!, 21 Aug. 2021). According to the paper, there are a total of 584 offenders currently jailed for crimes committed or are suspects being held on remand […]
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 do so…” I am an MBA […]
Turkish Cypriots have taken to social media to thank a Dutch Member of Parliament who visited the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus recently. Liane den Haan, a newly elected independent politician, tweeted a photo of herself with the TRNC Tourism Minister Fikri Ataoğlu on 12 August. She added the message, “Today I had an informal […]
Last month, was the first in my series on #CelebratingDiversity in the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus (TRNC), helping to unfold the lesser known, yet rich and deeply diverse modern cultural heritage of North Cyprus. My explorations took me to The Academy, in the capital Lefkoşa, where I had the chance to tuck into some […]
Beyond the mainstream news and politics in the local press, there is rich, deep and layered amount of history buried in North Cyprus, and a similar amount of diversity. I’ve set out to explore and tell stories about the latter, such as how a young Filipino woman came to be running The Academy, a pan-Asian […]
