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 – […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
The Illegal Migration Bill is now on Britain’s statute book. A total of 289 MPs voted in favour of the bill, giving the Home Secretary unprecedented powers to make arrangements for the detention and deportation of migrants, while 230 MPs voted against. Sensationalism rather than ‘virtue’, in Aristotle’s use of the term, has won again. […]
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 […]
