Opinions

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The day I humiliated a racist without starting a fight

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, so we all prepared for that.It...

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As a resident, I’m fed up with Barnet Council normalising anti-Turkish bias and hate. It’s time to speak out!

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...

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© Murat Deniz / iStock

Those with disabilities need to make their vote count at this General Election

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...

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General Election 2024: We say we Turkish Cypriots exist but do we really?

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 writi...

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How many Palestinians must die before we all say, ‘enough is enough’?

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 that kind of ‘eye for an eye...

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MoJ decision means Tottenham Park Cemetery can finally be turned into a garden of remembrance

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 ope...

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Happy New Year! Small acts of kindness matter – and so does your vote in 2024!

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 start of 2024,...

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Labour's stance on the Gaza ceasefire is not only a betrayal of their voters, but also of their own values

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 civilia...

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“These young men put their lives on the line for their country and made the ultimate sacrifice, it’s essential that, as a whole country, a whole people, we honour their memory”

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...

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We must not divide Palestinians and Israelis in our hearts or our prayers, else the whole world will be torn apart, yet again

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 time...

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