Ebru sails through to bootcamp on the X Factor 2015

Ebru after being told she's through to the next round on this year's X Factor. Photo: Facebook/EbruMusic

NEWS/UK

A London Turkish singer wowed all four judges during the second week of auditions on this year's X Factor to book her place in bootcamp.

Appearing on the 6^th September show, 27-year-old Ebru Gursoy’s rendition of David Guetta and Emelie Sande’s What I Did For Love received a standing ovation from the audience.

In their post-performance review, Cheryl Fernandez-Versini told Ebru,“I believe you’ve got star quality.”

Ebru received four ‘Yes’ votes from the judges, with Cheryl, mimicking Simon Cowell, adding “I didn’t like it. I loved it!”

The talented singer was tipped for stardom earlier in her career, but decided to change her management and took time out in 2014 to ‘rebrand herself and write new songs’.

You can keep a track of Ebru’s journey on the X Factor and beyond via her Facebook page.

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Five essential questions to ask Kudret Özersay in London this weekend

Put your questions talk to former Turkish Cypriot chief negotiator Prof. Kudret Özersay. Photo: Kerim Belet

NEWS/UK

By İpek Özerim

Since May of this year, Cyprus’ two leaders – Mustafa Akıncı and Nicos Anastasiades – have been working hard on the elusive elements that will pave the way to a peace deal, which could unite the island fifty two years after its division.

It's full steam ahead for the two Cypriot leaders

While the positive atmosphere of the latest round of talks has been well received on and off the island, speculation about how thorny issues such as property, security and territory will be solved are also making many Cypriots anxious.

Londoners with an interest in the Mediterranean’s third biggest island have the chance to grill one of the world’s leading experts on the Cyprus negotiations at two events this weekend.

Professor Kudret Özersay is a former Turkish Cypriot Chief Negotiator with an incredible 12 years of experience of the Cyprus talks. During that time he has sat at the negotiating table with seven different Cypriot Presidents (pictured below): Rauf Denktaş, Glafcos Clerides, Tassos Papadopoulos, Mehmet Ali Talat, Dimitrius Christofias, Derviş Eroğlu and Nicos Anastasiades.

In short, there’s no better man on the planet who understands the processes and the mindsets involved, and what type of deals will need to be struck to get Greek and Turkish Cypriots to agree. 

Unique: Prof. Özersay has sat at the Cyprus negotiation table with all seven of these Presidents

Five key questions for Kudret Özersay

Here are five questions we’d love the Professor to answer:

1. Will Cyprus’ EU membership dilute the principle of bi-zonality?
   For some the prospect of two ethnic zones in a new federal Cyprus is akin to ethnic cleansing and incompatible with the freedoms cherished within EU borders. But Turkish Cypriots argue that after 11 years of brutal oppression, they do not feel safe living among the numerically larger Greek Cypriot community and insist their own zone in the north should preserve its Turkish essence. 

Three generations of Turkish Cypriots in Doğancı village.
Photo: Star Kıbrıs, 2011

2. Is it likely that the residents of Güzelyurt (Morphou) will be uprooted and made refugees again as part of territorial adjustments?
   All previous UN peace plans have included territorial adjustments, with Turkish Cypriots expected to cede land in return for their full political rights. Güzelyurt has been one of those areas traditionally due to come under Greek Cypriot control, so its refugees can return. The current residents are themselves refugees from the South and after 40 years of living in the town and surrounding villages, see this as their home. There are moral and legal challenges in forcing these people out of their homes, essentially making them refugees once again. 

3. Why are individual rights now being favoured over a global property deal?
   Three landmark rulings by the European Court of Human Rights (Loizidou/1998, Arestis/2005, Demopoulos/2010) have mapped out the way this issue should be legally addressed. In the absence of a comprehensive solution, refugees were forced to seek out their own legal remedies. A peace deal should end this piecemeal approach, but apparently not if the leaks from the talks are to be believed. If individual rights do take precedence, property disputes are likely to drag on for years and increase tensions. 

The ECHR's rulings are shaping the Cyprus property issue

4. Is there any chance of agreement over security given Turkish Cypriots want Turkey to remain as a Guarantor, yet Greek Cypriots insist all Turkish troops must leave?
   In the past, both sides have dug their heels in over this issue. With anti-Turkish sentiments in the south an ever-present, Turkish Cypriots are unwilling to trust the EU as their primary protector (Bosnia anyone?), while Greek Cypriots are fearful of a 1974 re-run. 

5. Are the Greek Cypriots really ready to accept Turkish Cypriots as their political equals?
   This goes to the heart of the Cyprus dispute that first broke out in December 1963. The Greek Cypriots did not want to share power with the smaller Turkish Cypriot community and tried to force them to accept minority status. There’s been little change in attitudes since then. The South Cyprus authorities do everything they can to preserve power and deny their northern neighbours the same rights; even simple pleasures like friendly international football matches are banned, while Turkish Cypriots have been excluded from gas exploration deals and EU applications to protect hellim/halloumi. 

  

Kudret Özersay’s London seminars

Professor Özersay will be speaking at two special events organised by the British Turkish Cypriot Association. On Friday, he will be at Bromley Central Library for an English talk, and on Saturday he's at the Hornsey Value Community Centre addressing a Turkish speaking audience.

v      English talk: Cyprus Talks: pushing for a settlement or pushing like Sisyphus
7.45pm, Friday 11 September 2015 Bromley Central Library, large hall (4th floor), High Street, Bromley, Kent BR1 1EX

v      Turkish talk: Nasıl Bir Çözüm? Yarım Asırlık Kıbrıs Müzakereleri?
7.45pm, Saturday 12 September 2015
Hornsey Vale Community Centre, 60 Mayfield Road,
London N8 9LP

Both talks are free and open to all members of the public. 

For more information, contact the group by email, info@btca.co.uk, or call 07828 548 472.

About Kudret Özersay 

Professor Kudret Özersay is a former Turkish Cypriot Chief Negotiator and special representative of the TRNC President. He is also an academic, analyst, and civil society activist.

Born in 1973 in Alaminos village, Larnaca, Özersay lost his father during the 1974 War in Cyprus and his family moved to Nicosia, where his has lived ever since. He studied at Ankara University, specialising in International Relations. He gained his Masters with a paper on The Right of Passage through the Turkish Straits and in 2002 he received his PhD from the same university with a thesis on the 1959-1960 Cyprus Treaties.

In 1997, he was part of an OSCE (Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe) mission to supervise the post-war elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1997.

Kudret Özersay with the UK's Minister of Europe David Lidington, June 2014

Since 2003, he has been a faculty member of the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the Eastern Mediterranean University in Famagusta. An associate professor, he teaches international law, negotiation and mediation, and world politics. In 2008, he spent a semester as a visiting academic at the Oxford University’s Faculty of Law.

Prof. Özersay has three published books and numerous articles in foreign publications. He regularly speaks at international conferences on topics such as the Law of the Sea, Natural Gas, the Cyprus Problem, and International Law.

In 2002, TRNC Founding President Rauf Denktaş invited Kudret to join his negotiating team for the Cyprus talks. He continued on the negotiating teams of two other TRNC Presidents, Mehmet Ali Talat and Derviş Eroğlu. The latter appointed Özersay as his Special Representative and later as his Chief Negotiator. He has represented his side’s views in major capitals such as London, Athens, Moscow, New York, Washington DC, Brussels, Paris and Berlin.  

In April 2015, Kudret was one of seven candidates who stood in the TRNC Presidential Elections. Although he was knocked out in the first round, he secured 21% of the vote – 5.5% less than the eventual winner Mustafa Akıncı.

He is a co-founder of the Turkish Cypriot Human Rights Foundation and the Toparlanıyoruz Movement (The Decent Society). Toparlanıyoruz campaigns against corruption, and champions transparent, accountable politics and politicians.

He is married to playwright Aliye Ummanel.  

PKK kills 30 in 48 hours as violence worsens in Turkey

One of the military vehicles destroyed by the PKK roadside bomb at Dağlıca on Sunday, which killed 16. 

Photo: AFP/Getty

NEWS/TURKEY

A series of deadly attacks has rocked eastern Turkey, claiming the lives of sixteen soldiers and fourteen police officers in two days.

On Sunday night, PKK militants set up an armed ambush by the village of Dağlıca in Hakkâri province, located near the border with Iraq. Bombs were remotely detonated just as two military vehicles passed by.

Earlier today, fourteen police officers were killed by another roadside bomb laid in Iğdır, close to the Armenian border. The attack targeted a minibus carrying officers to the border gate.

Tuesday was marked by further fatalities in eastern Turkey, a predominantly Kurdish area. This morning PKK militants opened fire on a police officer’s car in Tunceli, killing the officer and wounding his daughter.

Also today, a police officer whose vehicle was attacked in another roadside bombing in Mardin succumbed to his injuries. Three other officers in the car were seriously injured.

On Sunday, two police officers were killed and three others wounded in Diyarbakır. Members of the YDG-H (the youth wing of the PKK) used rocket-propelled grenades to attack the police who were trying to cover the trenches dug by the militants.

Fatalities top 100 since ceasefire collapsed in July

More than 100 people, mostly security personnel, have been killed in Turkey since the government’s three-year ceasefire with the PKK collapsed during the summer.

Former Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had been widely praised for seeking a permanent peace deal with the outlawed PKK and his team had conducted talks with its jailed leader Abdullah Öcalan. Each side blames the other for the end of the ceasefire, with government rhetoric hardening in recent weeks.

Following Sunday’s Dağlıca attack, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu vowed that Turkish forces would eradicate the PKK. “The mountains, plains, plateaux and cities of this country will not be abandoned to the terrorists. They will be cleansed; whatever happens, they will be cleansed.”

Ahmet Davutoğlu vows to wipe out the PKK

Turkish air raids against PKK positions

Since the resumption of violence by the PKK in mid-July, the Turkish government has mounted a series of air raids bombing suspected PKK bases in northern Iraq, killing hundreds of militants in the process.

On Monday night, dozens of F-16 and F-4 jets took part in one operation that lasted six hours, targeting PKK bases in Qandil, Basyan Avashin and Zap, hitting the PKK’s weapons and food supplies, as well as its machinegun positions.

Curfews imposed in eastern Turkey

The authorities have also imposed curfews in numerous towns and cities in the east of the country to try to prevent clashes between the predominantly Kurdish locals and state forces.

At the weekend, the Turkish army stormed Cizre, a city located in Şırnak province, to forcibly remove barriers the PKK had erected. Two children were reportedly killed in the crossfire between troops and militants. A curfew was imposed, and telephone and the internet cut. MPs from the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) complained that the authorities prevented them from entering the city to check on the welfare of locals and to try and mediate a ceasefire.

 

Cizre today, still under curfew, with ongoing clashes between troops and locals. Photo: DHA

With the casualties and tensions rising, earlier today HDP co-chairman Selahattin Demirtaş again repeated his call for both sides to lay down their arms. He also accused the AKP-led government of pursuing deliberately confrontational policies. His opponents claim the HDP remains allied to the PKK, with Demirtaş and his colleagues yet to openly condemn the insurgents’ attacks as “terrorism”.

The PKK, which launched its bloody campaign for a separate Kurdistan in 1984, is designated a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the European Union and United States. The conflict has claimed over 40,000 lives to date.

Tensions rise

The PKK attacks have fermented nationalist anger against Turkey’s Kurdish population, encouraged by the inflammatory comments of right-wing politicians and pro-government media.

The Istanbul branch of the HDP said on Twitter that 126 of the party's buildings around the country were attacked on Monday. Earlier today, its Ankara office was pelted with rocks, while protestors tried to storm its Kırşehir bureau. Its HDP flag was replaced with the MHP flag, whose supporters then set fire to neighbouring shops owned by Kurds.

There have also been several reports of Kurds being lynched across the country, including one man who was attacked for posting a picture on Facebook of him proudly wearing the uniform of the Kurdistan Regional Authority military. According to a news report in Hurriyet Daily News, nationalists tracked him down, beat him, ripped off his clothes and made him kiss a statue of Atatürk.

After attacking the HDP Kırşehir office, ultranationalists set the neighbouring Kurdish bookshop on fire. Twitter/@DemGencF

Turkey is due to go to the polls on 1^st November following the failure of the four elected parties to form a coalition government. There are concerns on how the election campaign and voting will be conducted in eastern Turkey if the violence continues. 

Really sorry Aylan Kurdi

Aylan Kurdi (L) with his older brother Galip, both killed when their boat capsized off the coast of Bodrum

PEOPLE/COLUMNISTS

By Ertanch Hidayettin

I sincerely apologise Aylan, but we shall forget you too.

You, your brother Ghaleb, your mum.

We shall forget you all.

We human beings are like that.

We forget all too easily.

We have forgotten many children before you.

Do you remember those poor people who met a horrible death

in an airless truck the other week?

There were four children among them, one a baby.

They have already been forgotten.

Their names were  even been published.

At least I haven’t heard that they have.

They remain nameless.

Like we have forgotten those kids murdered in wars, raped, enslaved,

forced to live in unimaginable circumstances in refugee camps,

we shall forget you too.

Tears we spill for you will dry all too soon.

We shall say “life goes on” and;

We’ll watch silly programmes on our 50 inch TV sets.

Like The X Factor.

We’ll post holiday snaps on Facebook and show off, share silly anecdotes.

We’ll have a Thai massage in 5-star hotels and relax.

Do you know that beach your lifeless, sad body was found?

The Aspat Bay. These hotels are only a stones-throw from there.

We’ll have meaningless theoretical discussions,

to prove how intellectual we are.

We’ll rush to football grounds to watch matches.

We’ll cheer millionaire football stars.

We’ll deliriously celebrate goals scored.

Do you know what some of these footballers are planning to do Aylan?

They’ll each walk on the pitch holding a refugee child’s hand.

Aylan, don’t read too much into the fact that your sad photo shocked the world.

In a few days those papers, glossy magazines,

will be full of titbits about film stars and galacticos.

Who did what, with whom.

Our Prime Minister has agreed too let in a few thousand more refugees.

Hooray! I know. Its too late for you.

Anyway, you and your family would not have benefitted from this.

We’ll be marching on 10 Downing Street on Saturday, 12 September.

To tell Cameron what we think of him. After that?...

Before I forget dear Aylan,

Canada is willing to grant your dad asylum.

They said he can go and live there.

I hope he will seek out their ambassador in some land and spit at his face.

I am truly sorry Aylan.

We human beings are like that.

We forget far too easily.

I am afraid, we will forget you too.

T-VINE columnist Ertanch Hidayettin is a Cypriot Turk of African heritage who came to the UK in 1970. A qualified teacher he chose to pursue a career in local government, working for local authorities in a variety of posts including as an Equality Officer for Islington Council, before retiring in 2007. Since then he has worked with the National Resource Centre for Supplementary Education (NRCSE). He is a community activist and a commentator in Turkish and Cypriot media.

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Jobs: f/t graphic designer required by East London printer

 CLASSIFIEDS / JOBS

·   Type: permanent, full-time

·   Hours: Monday-Friday, 9am-6pm

·   Location: Leyton, East London

·   Salary: salary negotiable based on experience

·   Start: immediate

A reputable and busy East London printing firm with over 20 years of experience is seeking a full-time graphic designer to work with its diverse client base.

Leyton-based Fine Printers requires a person who is familiar with design software such as Adobe InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator, to create, check and edit a wide-range of marketing and corporate materials so they are ready for print. These include leaflets for restaurants and takeaways, brochures and catalogues for vendors, business directories, magazines, corporate identity (business cards, letterheads etc), and calendars.

You will be the sole in-house designer working with a small team, which includes an account handler and the print manager, to ensure the timely delivery of all works agreed with clients.

Along with proven graphic design experience, the ideal candidate should also have good creative flair, an excellent eye for detail, and strong communication and organisational skills. They must be able to work on their own initiative, as well as part of a team, adhering to client briefs while offering up alternative design solutions if required. Speaking Turkish is not essential, but would be advantageous.

To apply please send your CV and cover letter to info@fineprinters.co.uk

Closing date: 15 September 2015

Dr Dre samples Turkish folk singer’s classic protest track on new album Compton

NEWS/GLOBAL

A song by Turkey’s Selda Bağcan features on Compton – the new chart-topping Hip Hop album by Dr Dre that was released worldwide earlier this month.

The superstar producer samples the psychedelic guitar riffs from Bağcan’s 1976 classic İnce İnce for Issues, which features Ice Cube, Dem Jointz and Anderson Paak. It’s the eighth of 16 songs on Compton that has so far topped the album charts in ten countries, including Britain, Holland and the USA.

Dr Dre says he was inspired to make Compton during the filming of Straight Outta Compton, a biopic that charts the rise and fall of his former band N.W.A. The seminal 1980s Gangsta Rap outfit, whose hits included F*ck the Police and 100 Miles and Runnin, propelled Dre, Ice Cube and Eazy-E into the musical mainstream.

Regarded as one of the icons of Hip Hop, Dre has become one of the most sought-after producers, launching the careers of Eminem, Snoop Dogg and 50 Cent. An astute businessman, he also developed global audio brand Beats Electronics, which he sold to Apple in 2014 for $3 billion.

Dr Dre, who first found fame as a member of seminal rap band N.W.A.

In an interview with Hurriyet Daily News Bağcan candidly says she did not know who Dr Dre was: “He is not a singer that I know very well…I sing folk songs, how would I know about him? I know Madonna and Michael Jackson.”

It’s not the first time the music of the Turkish Folk and Blues singer has been sampled. In 2009, another Hip Hop star and Muslim convert, Mos Def (aka Yaasin Bey), also used İnce İnce for his song Supermagic, which was the opening title of his critically acclaimed album The Ecstatic.

İnce İnce was first released on Bağcan’s album Selda (2) on the Türküola label in 1976. She adapted the lyrics penned by Aşık Mahzuni Serif, a popular Alevi folk musician, composer and poet. The song highlights the plight of the poor in Turkey, particular those in the country’s East, and pleads for help.

A recording artist for 44 years, Selda Bağcan continues to perform across Turkey and abroad. An important figure in Turkish protest music, her lyrics and desire to champion the rights of the poor frequently landed her in jail between the 1960s and 1980s. Undeterred, the multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter has produced some of Turkey’s most memorable Folk songs, experimenting with a wide-range of sounds from Rock and Roll, to Psychedelic Folk and Electronica. 

Selda Bağcan remains a prolific figure in Turkey's folk and protest music scene. Photo: Facebook

Irish tourist fights an entire neighbourhood in Istanbul

Irish tourist on left in white, gears up to defend himself against more locals in Aksaray

NEWS/TURKEY

An Irishman on holiday in Turkey has become an internet sensation after he inadvertently ended up in the centre of a huge brawl in Aksaray, central Istanbul. The middle-aged man managed to keep a score of men at bay as they rushed to attack him for no good reason.

The incident, which took place at the beginning of August, was captured on CCTV and shows the tourist visiting a local shop to buy a bottle of water. As he pulls open the well-stocked fridge, lots of bottles accidently fall out.

An angry shopkeeper, armed with a wooden bat, then strikes the tourist, who hits back. Very quickly the fight spills on to the street and escalates. In shocking scenes, other shopkeepers and local men, some with poles, stools and other blunt items, try to attack the unarmed tourist, said to be a professional boxer.

See the clip here.

In the ensuing fight, the plucky tourist takes all the hits in his stride, and punches and kicks his attackers back, flooring one man with a single punch. The Turk is seen staggering away, with Turkish TV reporting that he lost two teeth following the punch.

According to a news report by Show TV, following the fight the tourist and the local men visited a local police station where they each made a complaint about the behaviour of the other.

Since being made public a few days ago, the two-and-half-minute footage of the fight has been widely broadcast on Turkish TV and reposted by tens of thousands on social media. Turks have universally criticised the tourist’s attackers for their shocking behaviour, many claiming they had ‘shamed Turkey’, while others praised the bravery of the Irishman, dubbing him a 'hero'.