It was a scorching day in 2006. England was playing in the World Cup. If I remember correctly, it was a Saturday. I was at work at our fish and chip and kebab shop, located just north of London. I knew we would get a massive rush of customers at half time from the pub, […]
I’m a Londoner of mixed Turkish and Turkish Cypriot descent, who has lived in the London Borough of Barnet for twenty years. Like many other British Turks inside and outside of this north London borough, I have seen my local authority’s relentless anti-Turkish and anti-Turkish Cypriot bias over many years. It’s gotten to the point […]
On Thursday, 4 July, the UK goes to the polls to determine who our next government will be. As a proud British Turkish Cypriot and lifelong Conservative voter, ordinarily, my concerns would be on the economy, crime, and North Cyprus. However, this election my priorities have changed due to a chronic illness that I was […]
Rishi Sunak has sounded the klaxon for the General Election, which will take place on Thursday, 4 July 2024. Most political commentators see no way back for the Conservatives and their miserable period of government lasting 14 years is finally about to come to a crashing end. As much as I enjoy writing about the […]
In the old days, back in the time of Abraham and Moses, there was a law that said “Thou shalt give life for life, eye for an eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot”. It wasn’t a very progressive law – as Mahatma Ghandi was to point out two thousand years later […]
The Government has announced its intention to ban new burials at Tottenham Park Cemetery, except for previously reserved graves. Tottenham Park Cemetery is full. Two Ministry of Justice reports have now confirmed this. From having an original capacity of 6,500 in 1912, when the cemetery was first opened, to now having almost 50,000 people buried […]
A very happy new year to all our readers. We hope 2024 will be a joyful year for each of you, full of good health, peace and love. The past 12 months have been a roller coaster ride of tragedies and triumphs, and everything in between. And, as the clocks struck midnight to indicate the […]
Seeing Conservative politicians vote against the ceasefire in Gaza in the UK Parliament was disappointing, but at the same time expected. However, so many abstentions from Labour Party MPs was totally heartbreaking, as it is because of their silence that this genocide against the Palestinian civilians of Gaza is being allowed to continue. Considering that […]
Although the Cyprus Regiment in World War II has been the community’s major focus of Turkish Cypriots’ bravery and sacrifice for the United Kingdom, they have also fought in modern wars for Britain. A Haringey British Turkish Cypriot, 21-year-old Royal Engineer Patrick Azimkar, was gunned down by the IRA at the Massereene Barracks in Antrim, […]
As Turkish Cypriots, as Cypriots, it is with horror that we watch every day the ghastly events unfolding a couple of hundred miles or so from our island. For me it is particularly painful and personal. Unlike most armchair commentators, I have been to the West Bank, to Gaza and to Israel several times. In […]
