Latest Podcasts - Island Talks

Nicosia Uncut – Episode 33: TCs hit by currency, RoC’s illusions on EU sanctions collapsed (20/12/2021)

The Turkish Cypriot economy is badly hit following the meltdown of the Turkish lira. Being an import oriented economy based on services, economy in the north was already fragile due to the pandemic. The depreciation of the Turkish lira affected northern part of the island even more than Turkey since the slider at the volume of trade is almost maxed on the import side, whereas the Turkish Cypriot exports are almost non-existent. In this episode of Nicosia Uncut, Andromachi Sophocleous and Kemal Baykallı also talk about the EU's Green Line Regulation which regulates the crossing of people, goods and…

Nicosia Uncut – Episode 32: Cyprus problem: What do the leaked UN minutes tell us? (3/12/2021)

In this special episode of Nicosia Uncut, Andromachi Sophocleous and Kemal Baykallı discuss and analyse the content, context and the implications of the leaked UN minutes with the delegations on the last day (6 July 2017) of the Cyprus conference in Crans Montana which ended without any agreement. Also known as "Crash Montana", the failure effectively ended the efforts to find a solution to the Cyprus problem, leading to a blame game between the sides since then. The leaked UN minutes, as collected on this episode page - www.islandtalks.fm , demonstrated how the chapter on security and guarantees was the main source of disagreement in an environment heavily fortified with mistrust. The leaked documents also shed some light on the role of the UN and the EU in the latest talks.

Garip Zamanlar – Bölüm 23: Seoul-Berlin hattında mükemmelin imkansızlığı (30/11/2021)

Garip Zamanlar'ın mükemmel dönüşü! Kaç bölümdür gündeme gelen mükemmeliyetçiliğin patolojik halini ele alan Sertaç Sonan, Evren İnançoğlu ve Kemal Baykallı arzularımızın aslında kimin arzusu olduğunu, arzuları gerçekleştirmenin imkansızlığını, rekabetin protestant ahlakla bağını, Kore sinemasını, Almanya mütehassısı Sertaç'ın Berlin'e ilk gidişini ve Almanya'da kurulan trafik ışığı koalisyonunu konuştular.

Figure It – Episode 8: Migration in Cyprus: unpacking the numbers with Nasia Hadjigeorgiou (24/11/2021)

In this episode of Figure It, Sapienta Economics Director Fiona Mullen talks to Dr Nasia Hadjigeorgiou, Assistant Professor in Human Rights and Transitional Justice at the Cyprus campus of the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), about the many and often confusing figures cited by Republic of Cyprus officials about various categories of non-Cypriots: regular migrants, irregular migrants, asylum-seekers, refugees and even non-Cypriot children. What do all these categories mean? Do the government’s figures add up? Are the claims that people are being sent over the UN-monitored buffer zone (Green Line) by the Turkish government credible? And how do various…

Nicosia Uncut – Episode 31: Rivalries in UBP & DISY; Erdoğan’s deteriorating popularity (3/11/2021)

In this episode of Nicosia Uncut, Andromachi Sophocleous and Kemal Baykallı explore the reconciliation initiatives in Cyprus - Home for Cooperation, Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage in Cyprus, Cyprus Dialogue Forum, Famagusta Avenue Garage and The Base by Cyprusinno are few to name. In the local politics, Turkish Cypriot right wing UBP party had a leadership race, electing Dr.Faiz Sucuoğlu as the new leader of the party and the new PM until the early elections which is expected to take place in early 2022. 2023 presidential elections of RoC enhanced the rivalries within the Greek Cypriot right wing DISY party, some independents have already announced that they are running. Last but not least, the West is cautiously waiting for the 2023 elections in Turkey, and it seems that Erdoğan is finally losing steam according to the latest polls.

The Life Light – Επεισόδιο 11: Οι τρόποι σύνδεσης μας στο χώρο της εργασίας – Ιωάννα Ξενοφώντος, Ψυχολόγος (27/10/2021)

Ιωάννα Ξενοφώντος, Ψυχολόγος Μια συζήτηση για τα στυλ σύνδεσης στο χώρο εργασίας. Η Ioanna Xenophontos διευρύνει τις γνώσεις της για το πώς σχετιζόμαστε μεταξύ μας και πώς αυτό μπορεί να επηρεάσει ή να μην επηρεάσει την επαγγελματική μας εξέλιξη. Ioanna Xenophontos is a Cypriot, licensed Counseling Psychologist in Cyprus and Illinois (U.S.A.), and a Project Manager and Researcher at CARDET. She pursued her Master’s degree in The Chicago School of Professional Psychology and worked at the Intensive Outpatient Program of AMITA Health Saint Joseph Hospital Chicago. She received training on REBT by Terry London, CBT, and DBT, where she…

Nicosia Uncut – Episode 30: More elections, more tensions (14/10/2021)

Summer is over and all sides are now focused on upcoming elections on both parts of the divide in Cyprus and in Turkey. Turkish Cypriot minority coalition finally collapsed the day after this episode was recorded. Both Turkey and the Republic of Cyprus have presidential elections in 2023 and the tension around the waters of Cyprus is likely to rise again. Turkey put its diplomatic skills at test on multiple fronts but the prospects for Turkish-American and Turkish-Russian relations do not look very promising. In the meantime, both communities are feeling the economic effects of the pandemic, Turkish Cypriots…

Garip Zamanlar – Bölüm 22: Siyasi doğruculuk, me too ve James Bond; seyahat ettiğimiz güzel günler (4/10/2021)

Evren İnançoğlu, Kemal Baykallı ve Sertaç Sonan'dan oluşan Garip Zamanlar ekibi bu hafta bir değişiklik yaptılar: Cumartesi sabahı kayıt cihazlarını Rüstem Kitabevi'ne kurarak programı dış mekanda canlı kaydettiler. Dualiteler, siyasi doğruculuğun sinemaya etkisi, seyahat ettiğimiz güzel günler, açlıktan ölmek istemeyen Evren'in Alman otobanında 200 km hızla seyahat edilmesine itiraz etmeyişi, havaalanında eleştirel düşünce egzersizi, Almanya seçimleri ve bir oğlan çocuğunun en iyi arkadaşı! Hepsi bu bölümdeki Garip Zamanlar'da!

Garip Zamanlar – Bölüm 21: Duvara asamadığınız resim (18/9/2021)

Aslında herşey Matrix! Paris'in havasını şişeleyip satan egzantrik abimiz, resim olmayan resim, duvara asamadığın sanat eseri, alkışlar arasında uçağa girişen James Bond, kendi mutluluğu için film çeken Lana Wachowski ablamız, Benim Adım Kırmızı'nın Kara'sı, değişmez simalar Bukowski ve Orhan Pamuk, The Economist'in kardeşi 1843 dergisi, Avrupa'nın annesi Angela Merkel, sosyal demokratların önlenemez yükselişi... Garip Zamanlar'ın bu bölümünde Evren İnançoğlu, Kemal Baykallı ve Sertaç Sonan, bu aralar sokaklarımızda gördüğümüz sanat temalı panolardan esinlenerek plastik sanatlar özelinde sanatı, EMAA'yı, Lefkoşa'daki yeni enstalasyonları, NFT'yi, sinemayı, siyaseti ve edebiyatı konuştular.

Nicosia Uncut – Episode 29: Back to the 1960 constitutional order? Really? (2/9/2021)

Anastasiades invited the Turkish Cypriots back to the 1960 constitutional order as a response to Tatar's statements in a never-ending tit-for-tat blame game. This caught everybody by surprise, including his own cabinet members. In this episode of Nicosia Uncut, Andromachi Sophocleous and Kemal Baykallı discuss the latest in Cyprus politics with a particular focus on the upcoming elections on both sides of the divide.