North Cyprus’ left wing opposition parties emerged victorious from Sunday’s Local Elections, after their candidates came first in the three big Mayoral races. Incumbent Mehmet Harmancı of the Communal Democracy Party (TDP) won comfortably in the capital Lefkoşa, while candidates for the main opposition Republican Turkish Party, Murat Şenkul and Süleyman Uluçay, won hard fought […]
Türkiye’s Jewish community marked the final day of Hanukkah on Sunday night in Istanbul’s Bebek Park, where the eighth and final candle on the menorah was lit. The ceremony was watched by officials from the Governor of Istanbul’s office and local councils, foreign diplomats serving in Turkiye, and members of the wider Turkish society. The […]
Local elections in the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus will be held on Sunday, 25 December, with election rules hampering Christmas Day celebrations for the country’s many international residents of Christian heritage. The local elections were originally scheduled for June of this year, but challenges to the government’s reforms to merge some local authorities and […]
Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has slammed the Taliban rulers of Afghanistan for banning higher education for women. He said the decision was “neither Islamic nor humane” and stood contrary to Islam, which “encourages education and science”. The Turkish Foreign Minister’s comments came in response to a question asking him what he thought of the ban during a […]
Global football body FIFA has confirmed it is investigating after Turkish celebrity chef Nusret Gökçe managed to get pitch side with the Argentinian team at the end of the World Cup Final in Doha, Qatar, on Sunday. Gökçe, known as ‘Salt Bae’ for his style of sprinkling salt on meat, was seen trying to take […]
A mother campaigning to ensure entertainment venues are better prepared for terrorist attacks after her son was killed in the Manchester Arena bombing has received confirmation the law is set to change. Figen Murray was contacted by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on what would have been her late son Martyn Hatt’s 35th birthday on 15 […]
Detectives investigating the kidnap and murder of Koray Alpergin have made a further arrest. A 33-year-old man was detained on suspicion of kidnap and murder on Saturday, 17 December. He remains in custody at a South London police station. Popular Turkish DJ and businessman Koray Alpergin, aged 43, and his 33-year-old girlfriend, Gözde Dalbudak, were […]
In Turkish, we say, “Ateş düştüğü yeri yakar”. This proverb, which translated means ‘an ember will burn where it falls’, is used to explain that only those who have endured a calamity can truly understand the deep and wretched misery that arises from it. I thought of this phrase as I walked around East Ham Town […]
Since the start of this week, members of the Azerbaijani public and environmental activists have been holding round-the-clock protests on the Lachin-Shusha Road, also known as the Lachin Corridor, against Russian troops. The protesters are objecting to the troops blocking access along this main road in the Karabakh region. The demonstrations, which started on 12 […]
A travel advert promoting North Cyprus as a travel destination was the third most complained about advert in Britain this year. The television advert, placed by the North Cyprus Tourist Board (NCTB), attracted 394 complaints, according to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The National Federation of (Greek) Cypriots had driven the anti-Turkish complaints campaign to […]
