The new Member of Parliament for the East London constituency of Barking has used her maiden speech in the House of Commons to highlight her family’s difficult passage, leaving their native Cyprus for a new life as immigrants in the United Kingdom. Nesil Caliskan, who made history at the General Election last month when she […]
From television cooks Nigella Lawson and Sabrina Ghayour-Lynn to food writer Diana Henry and the Stylist Magazine, Turkish culinary expert Özlem Warren has got everyone raving about her brand new cookbook Sebze, which is now available worldwide. ‘Sebze’ translates as vegetables in Turkish and this gorgeous new hardback features a treasure trove of vegetarian recipes, […]
The foodies among you may well have clocked the second series of the BBC’s Young MasterChef show, where nine young budding chefs were aiming to show off their culinary skills to win the coveted title. Chef, author and YouTube food star Hasan Semay, or Big Has as he is more commonly known, joined the show […]
In every community there are hidden talents, not least in the British Turkish community. We recently discovered the immensely gifted multi-instrumentalist Salahi ‘Sal’ Ormandji. This Turkish Cypriot from Islington, North London, has been performing for over 35 years, and, at the tender age of 51-years-old, has just released his first ever solo album Sazmania – […]
If you’re lucky enough to be invited on a state visit to Azerbaijan, you may well get the wonderful Ehtiqad Şükürov as your driver. A proud Azerbaijani who reflects the warm hospitality of his incredible country, loves all things Turkish, and drove us around in his fabulous disco-like minibus with all the skills of a […]
Last month, Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made history when he appointed Hafize Gaye Erkan as the governor of the Central Bank of Turkiye – the first ever woman to head the 93-year-old financial institution. Erkan enters the financial fray in her motherland armed with an impressive biography as she bids to find the optimum […]
Turkiye has a long history of male entertainers dressed as women. Under Ottoman times, they were known as köçek. More recently the country has had renowned drag artists such as the iconic Seyfi Dursunoğlu, better known by his stage name and drag character Huysuz Virjin (The Grumpy Virgin). Two young pretenders to Seyfi’s crown, Akış […]
Tributes have been paid to one of Turkiye’s greatest musicians, violinist Suna Kan, who died at the weekend aged 86. The virtuoso enjoyed a celebrated solo, orchestral and teaching career in Turkiye and abroad. Kan was described as “The symbolic name of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s ‘music revolution’” by Andante Magazine. Paying tribute with a series […]
Young people are often encouraged to go down the higher education route; to study for a degree, ideally one that sets you up on a vocational path, in order to achieve a secure and successful career. One young woman from North London decided to turn that approach on its head. Despite graduating with a psychology […]
On Sunday morning, the British Turkish community woke to the tragic news that broadcaster Hülya Nur Özdemir Alişoğlu had passed away. She was aged just 41. The popular presenter of ATV’s long-running television lifestyle show, Londra Aktüel, which she created with her producer-director husband Sevgin Alişoğlu, had been battling breast cancer for a number of […]
