Category: Culture

Film
Serkan Nihat’s debut feature film Exodus to open the London Independent Film Festival

Exodus, the debut feature film of a British Turkish Cypriot director Serkan Nihat, will open this year’s London Independent Film Festival (LIFF). The festival specialises in promoting “first- and second-time filmmakers telling amazing stories with limited budgets”. The festival opening gala and screening will take place at the multi award-winning Genesis Cinema in East London […]

Music
Pianist Ruya Taner and Saxophonist Kürşat Başar will be giving a free concert at St James’s Church

Two Turkish classical music virtuous, pianist Rüya Taner and saxophonist Kürşat Başar, will be giving a free recital at St James’s Church in Piccadilly, central London, later this month. Regarded as one of the finest pianists of her generation, 53-year-old Turkish Cypriot Rüya made her debut at The Wigmore Hall in London, and went on […]

Books
Özlem Warren to sign copies of her new vegetarian cookbook Sebze at Yunus Emre Institute London

The  Yunus Emre Institute London will be hosting an evening with acclaimed Turkish cook and author Özlem Warren, whose latest book ‘Sebze: Vegetarian Recipes From My Turkish Kitchen’ goes on sale in the UK this week. Özlem will be delving into her new cookbook ‘Sebze’, which is packed with delicious Anatolian-inspired easy-to-follow vegetarian recipes that […]

Film
Brighton and Hove Amnesty group to screen The Decree and discuss the impact of the 2016 Turkish coup attempt

An attempted coup in Turkiye on 15 July 2016 resulted in huge repercussions for thousands of ordinary civilians in the country who suddenly found themselves targeted. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan issued an emergency decree in the wake of the failed coup resulted in over 160,000 public sector workers and civil servants being instantly fired […]

Festivals
Elixir Festival 2024: enjoy an uplifting evening of Anatolian music from singer-songwriter Olcay Bayır

Singer-songwriter Olcay Bayır is one of the UK’s foremost artists of Alevi and Kurdish origin. Her the Anatolian songbook is inspired with the rich musical tapestry that spans Turkish, Kurdish, Armenian and Greek, fused with the sounds of the Mediterranean and Balkans, including flamenco and rebetiko. Live at Paddington’s Grand Junction at St Mary Magdalene’s […]

Mind
New York ‘civilizations’ lecture to explore Dersim in the Ottoman Empire and modern Turkish State

New York University will be presenting a talk that will explore the historical journey of Dersim (now called Tunceli), a mountainous region in eastern Anatolia with a predominantly Kizilbash Kurdish population, as it transitioned from the Ottoman Empire to the modern Turkish state. The talk will be by historian Cevat Dargin of Columbia University, who […]

HP Culture
Turkish Cypriot pop star Buray adds London leg to his 2024 European Tour

Lefkoşa born singer-songwriter Buray has rarely been out of the Turkish charts since releasing his critically acclaimed debut album 1 Şişe Aşk [1 Bottle of Love] in 2015, which scored him two number hits “İstersen” and “Sen Sevda Mısın”, and won him multiple awards and a legion of fans. Buray has gone on to release […]

Community
Turkish women’s group appeals for knitters to help produce patchwork quilt for charity auction

Earlier this year, the Turkish Women’s Philanthropic Association of England (TWPA) launched a patchwork bedspread project. The TWPA ladies intend to auction their handiwork to raise money to support those in the care of children’s charity SOS Children’s Village in North Cyprus. TWPA say that “Patchwork quilts symbolise strength, resilience, security and family” which is […]