Talking Round North Cyprus

Levent Soyer is a well known and well respected cardiologist in the TRNC. He is also a highly accomplished musician. Roger managed to chat with him to find out more, during a break in Levent’s busy schedule.

Given the uncertainty across the Middle East, how are people in the TRNC feeling about being so close to the Israel/Iran conflict? Sara and Roger find out from some expats.

Constantinos Emmanuelle has Greek Cypriot heritage and lives in Melbourne Australia. He has been gathering stories from Cypriots, both Greek and Turkish, born before 1940 for his project “Tales of Cyprus”. It provides a factual, historic and fascinating look into a bygone era of life in Cyprus.

Sue Tilt has been with the Tulips cancer charity for over 13 years. She’s decided it’s time to hand the reins to others while she cycles off into the sunset with her guitar! She chats with Roger about the legacy she’s leaving behind and the future of this important charity to the TRNC community.

Martin Derbyshire loves to cycle now he’s retired to the TRNC from the army, with his wife. He’s cycled around the whole island of Cyprus but didn’t count on being hit by a car and spending 3 months in traction. But he’s back on his bike as he’s been telling us.

From rehoming a donkey and two miniature goats on his father's land in Taskent, Kemal Basat has gone on to set up the Cyprus Wildlife Research Institute. They are currently running twenty programmes from donkeys in the Karpaz to turtles to collecting seeds for the seed bank. He chatted with Sara about the work the Institute does on very little money.

Don't worry - you've not gone through a time port hole, we're re-publishing this episode as there was a copyright issue with the very small bit of Christmas music we put at the end of the episode! They would have deleted the whole episode otherwise. Merry Christmas!!!

Former army officer, Steve Heap, and his wife have just moved to North Cyprus - even though he could have lived anywhere in the world. Despite rules changing regularly, they still like it especially as his former boss in the Army - John Scott - happens to live down the road.

The fantastic documentary film about the “Cyprus Problem” - The Divided Island - is now available to view on Amazon Prime Video. Roger and Sara chat with director Cey Sesiguzel about its popularity

This episode isn’t about god but we do hear from someone who started singing in church in Botswana and, since moving to the TRNC, has entertained many people with her beautiful voice. Divine shares her story of combining electrical engineering with singing.

We celebrated our 100th episode, and our four year anniversary, with guests from our podcast at a party in North Cyprus. Thank you to all who came to celebrate with us and to all our listeners over these past four years.

From Rioja to relocation, Laura Özkerimler and her husband shut down their popular wine bar to set up a business helping expats with their immigration and residency. Laura tells us why they did this and how they managing their busy workload.

We catch up with Dean Lewis, an American living in the TRNC, to get his views on what a second Trump term might look like and how it could affect the TRNC.

Our good friend Eltan Halil, Editor in Chief of Cyprus Today, joins us to look back at the big stories that made the news in 2024 and what to look out for in 2025.

Kate Taylor would love to spend all her time in the TRNC but can’t just at the moment. Hear what she loves about the place and how she can beat Roger at table tennis!

Roger and Sara chat about the latest North Cyprus news, the cost of potatoes and being careful about meeting Roger in a bar!!

Darren Stout moved from supporting his beloved Gillingham football club to North Cyprus to support his author wife Kerry-Lee (listen to The After Luke One). Roger met Darren in a bar and got chatting about how life has been for them both after a year in the TRNC.

It’s cool to run one marathon in a day but amazing to run 7 in 7 days. That’s what Kurt Duffield has done, raising money for Tulips cancer charity. We’ll hear from Kurt and also from Roger about how he feels being back in a BBC studio after 12 years!

Sara chats about her first time diving. It was at the only 5 star PADI dive centre in heart of Iskele. Once she surfaced she chatted with owner Mansour Hosseini - an Iranian, living in Sweden, and working in North Cyprus. https://www.instagram.com/scuba_pulse?igsh=MWptdmxxZWthYWhwcQ==

There can be few things worse in life than losing a child. Gulay and Jay Uzun lost their daughter Tanyel to cancer. From a place of darkness comes light as they now help other youngsters in the TRNC who have cancer. Jay tells us how he copes and about his cycle from London to the TRNC.

It’s what everyone is talking about. Getting the title deeds for the property you may own. We hear, in this episode, from Carina Svenson from Sweden and American Dean Lewis with their take on how this is affecting them personally.

It’s what everyone is talking about. The new laws around property for expats. We get the latest information from Caroline Houghton from The Foreign Residents in the TRNC group, who is working hard with the government to make sense of all these new laws. She is a busy lady but found time to chat with Roger.

The Divided Island is a film showing both sides of the Cyprus problem. With historical facts, unbiased commentators and very personal experiences, it hopes to inform everyone about this frozen conflict. Sara went to a private screening and chatted to Director Cey Sesigüzel

From the Isle of Wight via Butlins and cruise ships, Kerry Bowler has a background in entertainment. She has now settled in North Cyprus using her many talents and teaches fitness classes

Munise Keşanlı loves cycling around the villages of North Cyprus so much that she and her partner have set up cycling tours. She tells us about her love of cycling and her country.