Cyprus-Forum.com

[humanist]

What a great show and a fantastic way to show that people can live and work together in peace and harmony.

[humanist]

Anyway chat soon am off for some souvlakia and a keo in the small tin.

[DT.]

just another way for us to show our "aggression" towards the TC's. We invite them over to the Cybc and then really screw them up by giving them the wrong shade foundation for their skin while on tv.

[Pyrpolizer]

The funny thing there are 3 TCs presenting the show (one middle aged man, one in his 20s and a beatiful woman in her 30s) whereas there is only one GC among them.
The show is bilingual.
Have you watched the interview with the Gc from Lefka/Lefke?That village was 80% Turkish, the man was so revealing as to how their relations were.

[Tim Drayton]

I never miss this programme but if like me you live and Limassol and want a chance to keep your Turkish going, it is a must. I was talking to quite a progressive TC some time ago and he asked me if you could get Turkish-language television in Limassol. When I said if you want to watch television in Turkish there the only option was Biz Emeis, he screwed his face up. I really wonder if any TCs watch this show and what they think of it. It is probably politically impossible for CyBC to do this, but I wish they would sometimes invite some partitionist TCs on and have some really meaningful debate. Instead they constantly harp on about how harmonious intercommunal life once was on this island (and I don't dispute this because I have heard it from plenty of elderly GCs and TCs) so why can't we just go back to those days (why indeed - that is the question which needs to be addressed and which this programme somehow avoids). Still, it is a move in the right direction and shows that the authorities in the RoC haven't forgotten that some of its citizens speak Turkish.

[Sotos]

There is also news in Turkish from CyBC every day, and the CYBC second radio channel has a lot of programmes in Turkish and they play Turkish songs. Tim is it easy for you to understand the Cypriot dialect of Turkish? Because I know many Greeks or people who speak Greek who can not understand much when Cypriots speak in a very heavy Cypriot dialect!

[Kifeas]

I never miss this programme but if like me you live and Limassol and want a chance to keep your Turkish going, it is a must. I was talking to quite a progressive TC some time ago and he asked me if you could get Turkish-language television in Limassol. When I said if you want to watch television in Turkish there the only option was Biz Emeis, he screwed his face up. I really wonder if any TCs watch this show and what they think of it. It is probably politically impossible for CyBC to do this, but I wish they would sometimes invite some partitionist TCs on and have some really meaningful debate. Instead they constantly harp on about how harmonious intercommunal life once was on this island (and I don't dispute this because I have heard it from plenty of elderly GCs and TCs) so why can't we just go back to those days (why indeed - that is the question which needs to be addressed and which this programme somehow avoids). Still, it is a move in the right direction and shows that the authorities in the RoC haven't forgotten that some of its citizens speak Turkish.

Oh Tim, oh Tim! "Why can't we go back to those days," you ask! What a naive question Tim! Haven't you realized yet that Cyprus is occupied by Kemalistan, and since Kemalistan has set foot in Cyprus -after so much effort, anguish and missed chances in the past; it does not want to "waste" the opportunity and the chance to consolidate its permanent presence and suzerainty over the island? Haven't you understood yet what the core essence of the Cyprus issue is? Isn’t it the expansionist megalomaniac, nationalistic and militaristic aspirations of Kemalistan, the country which fantasizes that we are still living in the ottoman era and therefore it has to re-expand back to its “glorious” past size and importance? Haven’t you realized yet that basically the TCs are for Turkey a convenient proxy for this grand fantasy to materialize? What else do you need to read or hear?

[Pyrpolizer]

I never miss this programme but if like me you live and Limassol and want a chance to keep your Turkish going, it is a must. I was talking to quite a progressive TC some time ago and he asked me if you could get Turkish-language television in Limassol. When I said if you want to watch television in Turkish there the only option was Biz Emeis, he screwed his face up. I really wonder if any TCs watch this show and what they think of it. It is probably politically impossible for CyBC to do this, but I wish they would sometimes invite some partitionist TCs on and have some really meaningful debate. Instead they constantly harp on about how harmonious intercommunal life once was on this island (and I don't dispute this because I have heard it from plenty of elderly GCs and TCs) so why can't we just go back to those days (why indeed - that is the question which needs to be addressed and which this programme somehow avoids). Still, it is a move in the right direction and shows that the authorities in the RoC haven't forgotten that some of its citizens speak Turkish.

Well obviously Biz/Emeis is not an alternative to having access to the so many 24/7 Turkish channels. Nevertheless I don't think it has high ratings either among Tcs/or Gcs although it is the best program that deals with tradition. It also informs the other community of everyday problems of the other side.

I was also wondering whether it is watched by even some TCs... I don't have a clear answer for that. However I noticed that when the Tc presenters make quick polls in the streets at the Northern area, they say "hello we are from Biz/Emeis" then TC people in the streets seem to know the program.

[Tim Drayton]

There is also news in Turkish from CyBC every day, and the CYBC second radio channel has a lot of programmes in Turkish and they play Turkish songs. Tim is it easy for you to understand the Cypriot dialect of Turkish? Because I know many Greeks or people who speak Greek who can not understand much when Cypriots speak in a very heavy Cypriot dialect!

That ıs true, CyBC has had a TV news in Turkish and half a day's radio broadcasting in Turkish for a long time.
I learnt Turkish in Turkey and I can easily understand the language spoken by anybody in mainland Turkey, but the Turkish spoken by the older generation of TCs, especially if they are from villages, is very different. I don't think the difference is as great as that between Greek Greek and Cypriot Greek. Sadly, the younger generation who have grown up under a stronger mainland Turkish influence and in an education system in which there are a lot of teachers from Turkey seem to speak much more standard Turkish. This makes it easier for me to understand, but it is sad in that they are losing pasrt of their unique Cypriot identity. I still notice even young people in the north use certain features to distinguish their speech as Cypriot, such as saying "gideceğik" rather than "gideceğiz", and I will never forget the academic TC who appeared on Biz Emeiz and who spoke in a very formal language, but constantly insisted on saying "dolayısınan" rather than "dolayısıyla" (sorry, thse examples will mean nothing to non-Turkish speakers, I know, but Tcs will know what I mean). There is still hope for Cypriotness, then.
Another thing that makes me sad is that there used to be distinct Limassol and Paphos dialects of Cypriot Turkish, and these are now dying. I believe that, for example, "gabag doğramak" used to mean "exaggerate, tell a lie" amongst Limassol TCs (correct me if I am wrong) and such expressions are now dissapearing with the demise of aged TC migrants from Limassol.
One the ocassional delights for me of watching Biz Emeis is when they interview ordinary TCs on the street and I get the chance to hear some real Kıbrıslıca from older respondents.
To return to my point about seeing some partitionists on this programme, my dream would be to see Rauf Denktash interviewed by Niyazi Kızılyürek. This will remain a dream, I am sure. For one thing, would Denktash have the guts for this, I wonder?

[Tim Drayton]

I never miss this programme but if like me you live and Limassol and want a chance to keep your Turkish going, it is a must. I was talking to quite a progressive TC some time ago and he asked me if you could get Turkish-language television in Limassol. When I said if you want to watch television in Turkish there the only option was Biz Emeis, he screwed his face up. I really wonder if any TCs watch this show and what they think of it. It is probably politically impossible for CyBC to do this, but I wish they would sometimes invite some partitionist TCs on and have some really meaningful debate. Instead they constantly harp on about how harmonious intercommunal life once was on this island (and I don't dispute this because I have heard it from plenty of elderly GCs and TCs) so why can't we just go back to those days (why indeed - that is the question which needs to be addressed and which this programme somehow avoids). Still, it is a move in the right direction and shows that the authorities in the RoC haven't forgotten that some of its citizens speak Turkish.

Oh Tim, oh Tim! "Why can't we go back to those days," you ask! What a naive question Tim! Haven't you realized yet that Cyprus is occupied by Kemalistan, and since Kemalistan has set foot in Cyprus -after so much effort, anguish and missed chances in the past; it does not want to "waste" the opportunity and the chance to consolidate its permanent presence and suzerainty over the island? Haven't you understood yet what the core essence of the Cyprus issue is? Isn’t it the expansionist megalomaniac, nationalistic and militaristic aspirations of Kemalistan, the country which fantasizes that we are still living in the ottoman era and therefore it has to re-expand back to its “glorious” past size and importance? Haven’t you realized yet that basically the TCs are for Turkey a convenient proxy for this grand fantasy to materialize? What else do you need to read or hear?

You missed my point, sir. I said "Why indeed". This is the question that needs to be addressed.