Meet our podcasters

Andromachi Sophocleous

Andromachi is a political theory graduate and political analyst. Besides being one of the founders of UniteCyprusNow movement, working for reconciliation and the reunification of the island, she has also been active in the Cypriot civil society for years.  As a political analyst she is providing political insights and research for international and local clients. Her current fields of expertise lie on the Cypriot political sphere and the rise of the far right, the Cyprus problem and natural gas developments in the Eastern Mediterranean.  

Podcast: Nicosia Uncut

Anna Michael

Anna has been active in the field of personal and professional development for the past 6 years. She has worked with teenagers, adults as well as professionals by helping them develop their life skills, leadership and professional development skills. Anna has over 100 hours of training experience for large and small groups in professional development, career counseling, empowerment, leadership and personal development.  She holds a bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Finance and a master’s degree in Career Counseling. Among her various certifications is Life Coaching, Core Energy Specialist and Mental Health facilitation. At the same time, she has extensive experience in the field of non-formal education through her course as a scout that lasted more than 10 years. Other voluntary activities concern the field of refugees, mentoring of adults and children, support climbing in Cyprus and activism in social solidarity issues.  Finally, she is the founder of Mind-Set.life and Key Account Manager for the European Youthshare project funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA and Norway Youth Employment Grants. During her free time she teaches yoga and climbs.

Podcast: The Life Light Podcast

Aysu Basri Akter

Aysu, former director of Turkish Cypriot public media organ BRTK, is a well-known Turkish Cypriot journalist who have worked and reported for various media organs in and outside Cyprus. She co-produces Zor Meseleler podcast with Esra Aygın.
 

Podcast: Zor Meseleler

Costa Constanti

Costa born in Melbourne, Australia, and moved to Cyprus as an adult.
 
He is the Director of CONSTANTi, a consultancy offering social and political analysis and advice, as well as conducting research and consulting in the fields of international relations, conflict, civil society, public diplomacy and project management. He worked as a European Project Office manager at the University of Nicosia for 2 years working on migrant integration and adult learning projects, and spent 14 years as a policy and public diplomacy manager at the Australian High Commission.
 
Costa is an advocate of the crucial and real power of civil society and social media, as well as being an active campaigner for human rights, gender equality, peace building and conflict resolution. He is a founding Board Member of the peace-building NGO Cyprus Academic Dialogue (CAD) and Head of International Relations at minority rights and empowerment NGO WICZ+ Foundation and an Expert Adviser for Step Up Stop Slavery in the battle against human trafficking. Costa is also the Cyprus rapporteur for Freedom House and produces the Freedom in the World Report for the Republic of Cyprus, focusing on transparency and corruption matters, issues of democratic governance, feeedom of speech, religious and minority rights, gender equality and other key markers for Cyprus.
 

Podcast: Terra Nullius Cyprus

Evren İnançoğlu 

Evren has a Master’s degree in behavioral sciences from Marmara University, Istanbul. He currently lives in Nicosia, Cyprus. He is one of the three creators of the podcast show “Garip Zamanlar” (Strange Times). He writes essays and reviews. He is the admin of the blog named “Bütünsüz”.  He is interested in cinema, TV, literature, philosophy and psychoanalysis.

Podcast: Garip Zamanlar

Esra Aygın

Esra, based in Lisbon, is a freelance journalist reporting mainly on Cyprus related matters. As a journalist her past employers include the Associated Press and Bloomberg. While she is a strong communications professional with experience in politics, she is also an experienced Conference Interpreter with a demonstrated history of working with international institutions including the IMF, World Bank, European Commission and the UN. 
 

Podcasts: Buffering, Decode Cyprus, Zor Meseleler

Fiona Mullen

Fiona is Director of Sapienta Economics Ltd, @SapientaCY, an economic consultancy based in Cyprus, producing analysis for prestigious international and local clients. These include banks, oil and gas firms, big four accounting firms, hedge funds, blue-chips and more than a dozen embassies, including the P5 embassies. She has served as non-executive director on funds regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) and holds the CySEC Advanced Exam. Mullen is committed to independent analysis and has no ties to any government or political party, either in Cyprus or abroad and no investments in Cypriot shares or bonds.

Fiona Mullen @FionaMullenCY has been providing economic analysis and research to an international audience for over 20 years. She was the Cyprus contributor for the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) in 2001-15 and economy adviser to the UN’s Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Cyprus (the UN good offices mission) in 2008-early 2016 and from late 2017 to date. She was Senior Analyst and Director of the EIU’s Country Reports until moving to Cyprus in 2001.

Podcast: Figure It

Kemal Baykallı 

Kemal, business consultant and political activist, is one of the founders and the coordinator of the Island Talks podcast station. As a consultant/project manager, he worked mainly for the EU-funded projects in the fields of business development, communications, advocacy and civil society. He is one of the founders and active members of the UniteCyprusNow movement since May 2017. He co-produces Nicosia Uncut and Garip Zamanlar.

Podcasts: Garip Zamanlar, Nicosia Uncut

Lefteris Adilinis

After ten years with the BBC World Service in London, Adilinis, a Greek national, moved to Cyprus in 2001, where he quickly established himself as the leading analyst on political issues in Cyprus, with unparalleled access to politicians and other policy-makers. Having worked with media organisations in Cyprus across the political spectrum, as editor-in-chief, Adilinis has a reputation for balance and objectivity, and is frequently consulted by the diplomatic and business community. He is currently the Director of the law firm Sinka LLC, having made a career change in 2019.

Podcast: Decode Cyprus

Magda Zenon

Magda Zenon is a human women’s rights activist whose perspective has been influenced by having lived in apartheid South Africa, Greece, and now divided Cyprus.
As an active member of Cypriot civil society, her focus has been on the integration of a gender perspective within peace processes and beyond, both locally and globally and to this end she has both founded and worked with a number of island-wide women’s groups, including Hands Across the Divide, the Gender Advisory Team and the Cyprus Women’s Lobby that is a member of the European Women’s Lobby. She is a member of the Mediterranean Women Mediators Network (MWMN) and the Women Mediators Across the Commonwealth network (WMC).


Finally, Magda has a passion for story-telling that led her to, since 2013, host conversations about peacebuilding with inspiring women from around the globe on her Internet-based women’s forum called kaleidHERscope as well as a 27-podcast series with women from throughout Cyprus supported by Hands Across the Divide called #MeetTheWomenCyprus.

Podcast: KaleidHERscope

Marilena Kyriacou

Marilena Kyriacou is a performer, drama practitioner, youth trainer and activist born in Nicosia, Cyprus. She has led multiple workshops with refugee children and unaccompanied minors, with youth from Turkish speaking Cypriot and Greek speaking Cypriot communities in collaboration with EU House in Cyprus and other NGOs working for peace and unification in the island. She specializes in designing and implementing workshops on peace education, human rights, LGBTQIA+ rights and social inclusion using non-formal education and drama tools. She has also participated and created various theatrical and artistic performances.

She is currently teaching Drama at the English School of Kyrenia. She is one of the founders and co-producers of the queer podcast Ta Adespota and a co-organizer of queer open mic events as member of Queer Collective Cy.

Podcast: Τα αδέσποτα

Meltem Burak

Meltem is an education and media professional. She produces and presents Sesta at Island Talks. She holds a bachelor’s degree in European Studies from Zuyd Hogeschool during which she completed an exchange semester at Sciences Po Lyon, and a pre-master’s at Maastricht University. She holds a master’s degree in Arts and Culture with a specialisation in Politics and Society from Maastricht University. Meltem has been professionally active since 2011 and worked at the Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC-IV), Maastricht University, Interreg Euregio Meuse-Rhine, Zuyd Hogeschool, ARTE and Wonder Media Network.

Podcast: Sesta

Nuné Tunjikian

Nuné is a passionate artist, emotional wellbeing advocate, and psychology enthusiast dedicated to exploring the intricate connections between art, human relationships, and mental health.

Her artistic journey has been marked by creativity and exploration. She began by delving into Illustration at Coventry University in the UK, earning a certificate that ignited her passion for visual storytelling. Her path led her to Yerevan State Academy of Art, where she immersed herself in painting for two transformative years. Nune’s journey ended in HAnze University in the Netherlands, where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts. This diverse education has shaped her into a versatile and expressive artist. 

Her passion for fostering healthy emotional connections led her to organize workshops focused on emotional wellbeing, creating safe spaces for individuals to explore their inner landscapes.

Nuné’s commitment to holistic wellbeing is evident through her pursuit of knowledge in psychology. She completed an online course in counseling psychology, enhancing her understanding of human emotions and behavior. Further, her dedication to addressing mental health challenges led her to obtain another certificate of grounding skills for anxiety and PTSD, adding practical tools to her emotional wellbeing toolkit.

As a hopeful individual, she believes in the transformative power of both art and psychology. Her dedication to shedding light on the impact of trauma and the potential for healing reflects her commitment to making a positive difference in the lives of others. Through her creative endeavors, emotional wellbeing advocacy, and exploration of the human psyche, Nuné continues to inspire and uplift those who cross her path.

Podcast: Facing Love in Cyprus

Sertaç Sonan

Sertac Sonan works in Political Science & International Relations Department at Cyprus International University. His research interests include corruption, Cyprus conflict, and Turkish Cypriot politics and economy. He co-procudes Garip Zamanlar” (Strange Times), a Turkish language podcast on social, political and cultural topics, together with Kemal Baykallı and Evren İnançoğlu.

Podcast: Garip Zamanlar

Yiorgos Kakouris

Yiorgos is the Brussels correspondent of Cyprus News Agency, Kathimerini Cyprus and Alpha TV Cyprus. He co-produces Buffering podcast with journalist Esra Aygın.
 

Podcast: Buffering

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