“All great transcendental art is not merely symbolic or imaginary: it is a direct invitation to recognize and realize a deeper dimension of our very own being,” wrote Ken Wilber in the foreword to The Mission of Art by Alex Grey. And so it was with a stunning piece of performance art by Sumer Erek on […]
One of the biggest bugbears for British Turkish Cypriots wanting to travel to the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus during the coronavirus pandemic has been entry restrictions into the country. If it’s not a complete ban on flights to North Cyprus to keep the virus out, then it’s a mandatory stay in a single room […]
Hundreds of people queued to enter Maraş, or Varosha in English, in the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus (TRNC) on Thursday, 8 October, to see part of the deserted seaside resort. The historic moment came after the Turkish Cypriot Prime Minister Ersin Tatar, backed by Turkey, decided on Tuesday to partially open the ghost town […]
Any visitor to Turkey will know how important music is to the local culture. From Turkish pop to Ottoman-inspired classical music (Türk Sanat Müziği), folk (Halk Müziği) and the blues (Türkü), live renditions can be seen and heard everywhere. One of the country’s biggest modern entertainment traditions has been the gazino – a high-end cabaret […]
For the past week, the British government has come under intense pressure over its plans to go against the European Union Act (Withdrawal Agreement), which it signed into law in January of this year. Prime Minister Boris Johnson says the government needs to counter a loophole in the Agreement which, he claims, the EU is […]
Are you aware that Turkey and North Cyprus are no longer on Vodafone’s roam-free list? I have three lines with them and only found out by chance when my father, currently in North Cyprus, couldn’t use one of them. All last week he was unable to call or FaceTime my sister and I in Britain. […]
Ahmet Cemal Gazioğlu, who represented Turkish Cypriots in Britain after the collapse of the power-sharing Republic of Cyprus, has died aged 89. The researcher, journalist and author passed away on Friday, 4 September, and was laid to rest in Lefkoşa Municipal Cemetery this morning. The one-time advisor to Rauf Raif Denktaş, the founding President of […]
It’s not every day you discover a bit of family history you share with the British Prime Minister, but it happened to me late last summer. I was flicking through family photo albums with my father, Oktay Hamit, when I came across a large black and white one of him and seven other men. I […]
The Mid Summer Ball (MSB) is one of the most famous club nights in modern Turkish Cypriot history, helping to bring a slice of the London underground to North Cyprus since 2004. Every summer, this mega event, attended by thousands of people, flies in dozens of leading House and Garage DJs and MCs to perform […]
Today, Arsenal take on Chelsea in the FA Cup Final, the climax of what has undoubtedly been the strangest football season in living memory, primarily due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The two London sides will battle it out at Wembley Stadium without any fans in order to prevent the further spread of […]
