For years it was the venue where stars performed, and where ordinary folk could come and watch, rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous. When Taksim’s Grand Maksim Gazino finally closed its doors in 2004, its fate was unknown. Earlier this month, the remodelled site opened to the public as a high-end hotel. Part of […]
Four siblings aged between 48 and 60 have been found dead in a flat in the Fatih district of Istanbul. Police believe they died through chemical poisoning. A note left on their front door, possibly written by one of the siblings, said ‘Caution cyanide. Call the police, do not enter’. The police were alerted on […]
A POWERFUL earthquake measuring 5.8 on the Richter Scale shook Istanbul on Thursday lunchtime, causing people to rush on to the streets in panic. It was the city’s second major earthquake in as many days. About a dozen people were injured, but there were no known casualties. However, some structural damage has been reported, including […]
Europe kicked off the new football season with its annually held Super Cup – its equivalent of England’s Charity Shield. Played at the BJK Vodafone Park stadium – the home ground of leading Turkish club Beşiktaş – Liverpool, the winners of the Champions League, took on Chelsea, the holders of the Europa League Cup. Liverpool […]
The passing last year of Ara Güler, one of the greatest photojournalists of our time, at the age of 90 was mourned worldwide. His talent for documenting the people and places around him earned Güler many accolades. Today, his incredible archive bears testament to a bygone era and the huge transformation Turkey has undergone, immortalising […]
European champions Liverpool will take on UEFA Europa League winners Chelsea on 14 August at Beşiktaş Park in Istanbul. The all-English rivalry kicks off the new season pretty much as it ended last season, when history was made with four English teams contesting the finals of the UEFA Champions and Europa Leagues. Liverpool emerged victorious […]
On 5 April, the world witnessed the single biggest move in aviation history. Dozens of aircraft, each weighing 44 tons, and 10,000 pieces of equipment weighing approximately 47,300 tons were transported on five thousand trucking rigs from Atatürk Airport to Istanbul Airport. Less than 48 hours later, Istanbul Airport was formally open for business, while […]
Binali Yıldırım conceded defeat just two hours after counting started, such was the gulf between him and Republican People’s Party candidate Ekrem Imamoğlu, who won Istanbul’s Mayoral election re-run with 54% of the vote on Sunday, 23 June. The former AK Party Prime Minister was aiming to overturn a slender defeat of some 13,000 in […]
Ten million Istanbul residents are returning to the polls today, Sunday 23 June, to elect a mayor after opposition candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu’s surprising win in the March Local Elections was annulled. The relatively unknown İmamoğlu, 49, beat political veteran Binali Yıldırım by 30,000 votes, later whittled down to 13,000 votes after several recounts. Unwilling to […]
Ekrem İmamoğlu, the main opposition candidate fighting for a second time to become mayor of Istanbul, has hit out at a “smear campaign” targeting his ethnicity. Supporters of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his AK party’s candidate Binali Yıldırım have reportedly been suggesting that Mr İmamoğlu is of “secret” Greek heritage, with less than three […]
