Talk: Turkish Cypriots, the Battle of Gallipoli and the plan to return Cyprus to Ottoman Turkish control

CULTURE / COMMUNITY

Two keynote speakers are taking part in a special talk in North London this Saturday to commemorate the centenary of the Battle of Çanakkale (Gallipoli). Organised by the Cezire Association, speakers Ertan Karpazlı and Mustafa Kureyşi will put the spotlight on the role of the Turks of Cyprus during this famous battle and in the years immediately after.

Journalist and Cezire Association Turkey Representative Ertan Karpazlı will highlight the participation of Cypriot Turks at Çanakkale in 1915, and how their role continued into the Turkish War of Independence, which started in 1919.

The title of the second talk by academic Mustafa Kureyşi, a specialist in Cypriot history and Islam, is: Turkish prisoners of war in Famagusta and the organisation for union with Turkey.

Through newly discovered primary sources, Kureyşi will explain what happened to the Ottoman Turks caught as prisoners of war (PoWs) by the British during the Battle of Çanakkale and brought to British-occupied Cyprus. It includes an incredible plan to rescue them and to start a revolt to return Cyprus to Ottoman Turkey.

Keynote speakers Ertan Karpazlı (left) and Mustafa Kureyşi

Talk: Cypriot Turks and the Battle of Çanakkale

Date: Saturday 21 November 2015

Start time: 2pm

Language: English

Venue address:  Turkish Cypriot Community Association (TCCA), 628-630 Green Lanes, Harringay, London N8 OSD

Admission: Free

More info: via Facebook