Community Sharing in North Cyprus

The Foreign Residents in the TRNC

Community Sharing

Editor´s Note: This website is no longer operated!

For daily news of life and times in North Cyprus – please visit our

partner site CyprusScene.com 

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Many thanks to our regular and faithful readership over recent years!!!

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• cyprusscene.com – please click here

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TFR – The Foreign Residents in the TRNC – Events Calendar 2nd Half Year 2017

TFR – The Foreign Residents in the TRNC

Events Calendar 2nd Half Year 2017

“Because of the heat & usual exodus of members during the hot summer the next event will be in September .

SEPTEMBER 13th (Wednesday)… Evening Sunset Boat Trip from Kyrenia Harbour  with dinner & music. The details will be announced.

SEPTEMBER 23rd… A proposed visit to the CVR (Centre of Visual Arts & Research)
We cross by foot across the Ledra  Street border…..walk the short walk to this very interesting museum where you can freely walk at your own leisure to view the individual rooms. Afterwards  we will dine in one of the many surrounding cafe / bistros to enjoy some good food & liquid refreshment…..details to follow.

OKTOBERFEST 1st OCTOBER (Sunday)… Açmenya Restuarant in Alsancak. There is of course the usual music one can expect at an event like this, also Pete Murray the popular DJ has been booked to also entertain us. German Beer will be brought in especially for the occasion, you can also purchase your favorite beverage at the bar if this is not to your palate !!

AGM  28th OCTOBER…  This year we will hold it in Açmenya restaurant in Alsancak as it was brought to our attention that not everyone could hear what was being said at Silver Rocks. Lunch will be available as usual.

1st WEEK OF NOVEMBER…..a proposed trip to Farmagusta ( Magusa) for a trip to the Old Walled City & surrounding  with our resident president professional tour guide WILLY LINDH  .This of course will be a full day with lunch…date & details are to follow.

[Editor´s note: Click here to learn more about Famagusta (incl. video): http://cyprusscene.com/…/the-medieval-city-of-famagusta-cy…/]

XMAS/YEAR END DINNER & DANCE.. DECEMBER 2nd….Deniz Kizi Hotel with Pete Murray as our DJ for the evening, there will also be accomadation at a good price the same as last year!!!

REMINDERS…

– Our Friday meetings are held at Seapoint restaurant in Lapta from 4 pm – 6pm.
– Our Wednesday meetings are held at Panta Restaurant in Çatalköy, 4 pm – 6pm.
– Canasta is held every Thursday in the Blue Song restaurant in Lapta from 1 pm (12.45) to pick the teams !!
– Bowling at the Kings Bowling Alley, Girne, every 1st & 3rd Wednesday in the month.

If any of these events are of interest to you please contact Pam Tschersich on 05338663564 or email pam.tsch17@yahoo.com“.

Jean Melton – Rest in Peace

We have received the sad news that TFR member Jean Melton passed away on 8^th March.

Jean would have been 97 years old in June and her dearest wish was to leave this world in the TRNC.  She came to the TRNC with her son, Clive, in October 2016 and, with the help of Clive and her very close friend Jeanette Brock to fulfil her wishes, she made her last home in Alsancak.   During her last few months Jean has been looked after by a team of carers, plus her son and regular UK visitor Jeanette.

The funeral will take place at the Girne Cemetery on Tuesday 14^th March at 11am.

The Foreign Residents in the TRNC (TFR) Committee and members send their sincere condolences to Clive and the rest of the family.   Condolences also from Cyprusscene.com.

The Foreign Residents in the TRNC (TFR) – Weekly Meetings East Side of Girne

The Foreign Residents in the TRNC (TFR)

Weekly Meetings East Side of Girne

By Margaret Sheard …..

It has been very difficult for us to travel to Lapta to attend the weekly get-togethers of The Foreign Residents in the TRNC (TFR) so we were delighted to hear that it is intended to hold an additional get-together on the east side of Kyrenia.

History – The Origins of Musical Instruments and the Legacy of Dance and Music – By Ismail Veli

The Origins of Musical Instruments

and the Legacy of Dance and Music

By Ismail Veli…….

To say that music, dance and films have not affected human behaviour and to one degree or another even changed the course of our lives would be an understatement. Instruments dance and music have no doubt changed dramatically over centuries but essentially the excitement and thrill has not. In the last century or so this has taken the form of movies and records, tapes and CD’s have revolutionized availability to the poorest household like no other period in human history. But how did it all start? Not an easy question to answer. It’s not known with any certainty but one of the earliest known form of chanting was known as the ‘Vedas’ written in the ‘Rig-Veda’ which was written in the 4th or 5th century AD, but this was believed to originate from a collection of Hindu sacred verses originating as far back as the 2nd millennium BC and incorporated into the religion much later on. The early Christians sang their prayers in unison with simple melodies that originated from Greek and Hebrew musical tradition. Pope Gregory I ordered a review of Church music in the late 6th century AD which took the form of plainsong and named after the Pope who introduced it and was known as the ‘Gregorian chant,’

Cyprus History – Childhood Memories 1950-1962 -The Cypriots who worked at Government House

Childhood Memories 1950-1962

The Cypriots who worked at Government House

By Sermen Erdogan…….

There is a whole lot of stories written about the building or history of Government House of Cyprus, now the Presidential Palace. Probably the reason for this is the political connotations and being the residence and headquarters of the British Colonial Government of Cyprus. The Palace was the focus of Cypriot’s political attention in protests and actions against the British. But not much information exists on the Cypriot people who worked and lived there.

Government House Grounds in 1950s. Palace with the dome to the slightly left of the photo / English School on right and the Nicosia Horizon up to the Five Finger Mountains.

Ulvi Keser in his book Katırcılar: The Muleteers which is about the Cypriot Regiment in World War 2, he interviewed a returned serviceman Ali Tilki, who explained that he worked in the Government House until 1939. Ali Tilki said that he was working in the Government House as a waiter, until the war started. There was also another person named Hasan working with him. As my father was called by his surname Hasan by the British I am wondering if this person was my father as a very young man. However, I am not so sure as no other name was given for Hasan by Ali Tilki. There were two more Hasans who are mentioned below who worked at Government house later on. There was also another Turkish Cypriot named Kişbir Dayı who was responsible for the horses although there were only donkeys there then…… 

North Cyprus – Animal Care – Day in the Life of a KAR Meeter and Greeter

Animal Care

Day in the Life of a KAR Meeter and Greeter

By Patricia Garrod…

When I returned to North Cyprus in July this year, I was asked whether I would be interested in a new volunteer role at the rescue centre.

My day starts around 8am at the new visitors’ portacabin and making it look presentable for the visitors, giving a quick dust around and sweep of the floor.Not only would it be helpful to have someone ready to meet the visitors that came to the centre, they also needed someone to help with the admin, so that Elaine, the supervisor could devote her time to the dogs and cats, without having to worry about paperwork as well. It sounded like a good idea to me!  I get to spend time with the animals and stay reasonably clean into the bargain.

Visitors come in many guises:

• People who have never been to the centre before and want to have a good look round and perhaps take some dogs for a walk.
• The wonderful people who sponsor dogs and visit whenever they are in North Cyprus, taking their sponsor dog(s) out for a run.
• The lovely people looking to offer a forever home to a dog or puppy, cat or kitten.
• Others may have found abandoned puppies or injured/sick dogs and bring them to us.
• Some come along to donate food and toys for the dogs and cats.
• And we must not forget our regular dog walkers.
• Sadly, we also get people who for whatever reason, no longer want their own dogs and think they are doing us a favour by offering to give them to us.
• Recently we had a lady called Carole, who came to visit and take some photos of our dogs for an exhibition she is holding. We can’t wait to see the photos!

So that’s the Meeter & Greeter part of my role.

On to the admin – this involves:

• Compound moves/changes, neutering, vaccinations, vet records, homings, new sponsors – all have to be recorded.
• Keeping the centre database up to date
• Naming and entering new puppies, dogs, cats and kittens on to the system. Taking descriptions of them can be time consuming, a dog of one colour is easy but you would be surprised how many different colour combinations one animal can have!
• I get the occasional assistance from Fletcher or Evie who like to pop into the portacabin, plonk their paws on to the keyboard and make a mess of what I’ve just typed. Mumble comes in for a tummy tickle and Freddy wants to sit on my lap. Life is hard sometimes!

The centre is open every day between 9am and 1pm, please come along and see us as the dogs and cats would love to meet you!

North Cyprus – Animal Care – KAR catches Karmi Dog – Sadly not a “Lucky” one

KAR catches Karmi Dog

Sadly not a “Lucky” one

By Kim Betts…

Please note there are “sad” pictures included in the article!

Concerned residents of Karmi have, this week, contacted KAR about a dog that had been seen in and around the village. Based on the very useful information that they provided, which included photos, it was very clear that the poor dog needed urgent help.

Karmi Dog

The Community Warden (Yulian) went to Karmi, but despite him searching, the dog had disappeared. He left a KAR trap there, with someone who knew how to use it, in the hope that the dog would be lured in, and Yulian set off to try and locate another desperate dog in the Çatalköy area.

The following day came the news that the Karmi dog was in the trap, so Yulian went back up to Karmi, to collect the dog and trap. The dog was brought to the office for a further visual assessment and logging for the report and was then taken immediately to a local vet.

Sadly the vet, after examining the dog, felt that his condition was so poor and he was in such pain that there was not real alternative, but to put him to sleep. If there had been any chance of treatment and full recovery then KAR would have agreed to pay for the treatment – as they do with many other cases – however, sadly, for this little dog there was no happy ending.

What is even more so very upsetting about the Karmi dog, is that a group of people were aware of his plight. They took photos of him and some other dogs in the same pack and posted them onto their Social Media site, as they wanted to help him and the others BUT this was in early December!

It was not reported to KAR, as if it had been then maybe KAR could have caught him over a month ago. The end result for the poor Karmi dog may not have changed, but at least he would have had a month less of suffering. The other dogs at the site are now being followed up by KAR, but they still have not been reported to KAR.

Sadly, there are many animals here that are stray – some may look thin, some may look disheveled, some may be cold and dirty, but they maybe are the “lucky”ones – they are being fed, they are not ill, they have a life albeit it is a life on the streets…… 

North Cyprus – TRNC Drivers, do they drive with due Care and Attention?

TRNC Drivers

do they drive with due Care and Attention?

By Chris Elliott…….

Road Safety has been very much in the news here in the TRNC recently with 2 high profile road traffic accidents  which prompted us to publish 2 articles on a number of websites and in social media pages.  The first “Drive with care in Northern Cyprus and save lives!” (click here) which was read by many hundreds of people with comments being made where the article had been pasted and in response to requests from Turkish speaking people, this article was translated into Turkish and published again with even greater readings. This article has a widely watched UK road safety video portraying the horrendous consequences of using a mobile phone whilst driving.

In our second article “ Don’t be a Lemming, Drive Safely and be Safe in Northern Cyprus” click here this had included  a dash/cam video sent to us by a reader showing the mad risks that drivers are taking on TRNC roads and the reading of this article far exceeded the other articles. The video we published was played 833 times and I know the owner of the video has told me it has been played 2 to 3 times more than 833 plays where he has shared it.

Morbid curiosity or what?

No doubt most of us could be guilt y of taking a chance when driving but that puts others at risk. Last week I was driving westward in the evening and as I was driving across the Pia Bella roundabout in Girne, a woman driving a white sports saloon drove in front of me from the left. Not uncommon you might say!

The real scary fact was that there was a child in the rear of the car standing up with its head out of the offside  window. Can you imagine if I had not been driving with due care and attention, that child could have been badly injured if I had collided with the car driving dangerously in front of me and worse still killed or even decapitated.  I wish I had a dash-cam in my vehicle as this incident could have been recorded.

What was that lady be thinking of. “Ohhhh I think I can beat this vehicle coming from the right”, and dashing forward just like the Lemmings.

Driving with due care and attention plus acting responsibly is a must for any driver who drives any form of vehicle on TRNC roads and a concerned reader sent us his views of an article published in a local TRNC newspaper which again highlights the need for everyone to act responsibly when driving….. 

North Cyprus – Charity – Events in Aid of CESV (Civil Emergency Service Volunteers)

Events in Aid of CESV

(Civil Emergency Service Volunteers)

By Laurence Floyd …..

Many of you based full time here in TRNC will be aware that the Children in Need Foundation is being wound up, and as such ceased operating at the end of last year (2016).

With the amazing support of Supper Club attendees and many others we were able to achieve and fulfil most of our objectives focused on improving the lives of needy children here in the TRNC, and Delia and I are both very proud of our involvement with Mally Torris and the rest of the team over the last 8 years.

However, life goes on, and we have agreed to support Steve Collard’s team at the CESV (Civil Emergency Service Volunteers), the guys in the orange jackets who do a wonderful job instructing in first aid practise for both schoolchildren and adults. In particular we are keen to support their initiative aimed at schools with respect to road accident prevention….a very topical matter on an ongoing basis here in the TRNC.

There will be 1 Supper Club event only in 2017 – Wed June 21st, at our favourite venue, the Colony Garden, and featuring the Funky Weekend show…a group of amazing singers who deliver a really up tempo show designed to get you dancing from the off!

On Saturday September 16th 2017 we will be bringing the Beatles show ‘BeatleMania‘ to the Girne Amphitheatre, together with support, for a truly memorable night out singing and dancing to some of the finest music ever created.

More details to follow in due course.

North Cyprus – Classic Film Evenings at The Food Lodge in Catalköy – February 2017

Classic Film Evenings

at The Food Lodge in Catalköy

February 2017

By Ralph Kratzer

The Classic Film Evenings at The Food Lodge Bakery and Bistro in Catalköy continue and have become a regular popular event! Our TFR-members Sonja and Latifa just sent me the latest programme for February.

So, come and enjoy a good old blockbuster and tasty snacks together with friends and like-minded movie fans!

You´ll find The Food Lodge easily on the main road Girne – Catalköy after Tempo Supermarket on the right hand side.

Note: Starting time during winter is 6:30 pm, reservation only!

Get more information about The Food Lodge – click here!