Alkan Çağlar

Alkan Chaglar (born August 51981 in London) is a Turkish Cypriot journalist and a columnist for the weekly bilingual (English-Turkish) newspaper [http://www.toplumpostasi.net "Toplum Postası"] . Educated at Leicester, Liège, and the School of Oriental and African Studies, with a background in languages, political science and history, Alkan is currently researching a PhD on the phenomena of Crypto Christians in Ottoman Cyprus.

In his weekly column [http://www.toplumpostasi.net/index.php/cat/1/col/85/art/965/PageName/Ana_sayfa Cultural Encounters] Alkan Chaglar writes with a passion for cross-cultural influences and diversity in multi-ethnic countries and the state of minority languages in the World. Coming from a Turkish-Cypriot background, Alkan expressed an interest in the phenomena of Crypto-Christians and the issue of [http://www.toplumpostasi.net/index.php/cat/1/col/85/art/965/PageName/Ana_sayfa conversion to Islam in Cyprus] . On the 5th of May 2006 in "Toplum Postasi" Alkan wrote about the Latins and Maronites in Cyprus who proselytised to Islam during Ottoman rule. He argued that "The fact is a substantial number of today’s Muslim Turkish Cypriots have a Christian past, and are partly descended from those Venetian, Genovese and French families that had estates on the island who proselytised to Sunni Islam. "Cypriot historians from both sides of the divide tend to focus too much on our Greco-Turkish heritage, at the expense of objectivity, but Cyprus has and always will be a convergence of cultures"."

Alkan also writes about political events in Cyprus and Turkey. His articles have been published from time to time in the [http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/ Daily Turkish News] and the [http://www.cyprus-mail.com/news/ The Cyprus Mail] . Among his recent commentary in the [http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/ Daily Turkish News] are: [http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=103949 Cyprus and the Spoils of Peace] , [http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=106265 Dismantling myths in the Cyprus Peace Process] and [http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=103028 Turkey is not an enemy of Cyprus but a potential ally] . Often controversial, his most recent article in [http://www.cyprus-mail.com/news/ The Cyprus Mail] l is [http://www.eurotopics.net/en/presseschau/archiv/archiv_results/archiv_article/ARTICLE19023-Alkan-Chaglar-on-why-Turkish-Cypriots-should-not-celebrate-1974?EUTOPICS=22752a2419d64ecfea93c1e1bfc8a007 Why Turkish Cypriots should not celebrate 1974] and [http://www.cyprus-mail.com/news/main.php?id=31841&cat_id=1 Why Cyprus cannot exclude its Turkish settlers] .

But his interests also extend to the Antipodes. Alkan wrote extensively about the threat of destruction of the New Guinean rainforest, and the tribes and rare species that they provide habitation for. In his article [http://www.toplumpostasi.net/index.php/cat/1/col/85/art/1000/PageName/Ana_sayfa Terra Incognita] published on the 25th of May 2006, Alkan drew attention to the deforestation of the New Guinean rainforest together with the recent discoveries of birds of paradise in the North Western mountain region. He called for greater responsibility on the part of the Indonesian and Papua New Guinean governments and for a switch over to eco-tourism to replace the revenue derived from logging.

Alkan also wrote extensively about [http://www.toplumpostasi.net/index.php/cat/1/col/85/art/999/PageName/Ana_sayfa Inter-planetary Alliances in the Moluccas] or Spice Islands, the plight of the banishment of the [http://www.toplumpostasi.net/index.php/cat/1/col/85/art/949/PageName/Ana_sayfa Acadians] and the formation of the [http://www.toplumpostasi.net/index.php/cat/1/col/85/art/949/PageName/Ana_sayfa Cajuns] . Among his more recent articles are [http://www.toplumpostasi.net/index.php/cat/1/col/85/art/918/PageName/Ana_sayfa Marooned on Tristan] , [http://www.toplumpostasi.net/index.php/cat/1/col/85/art/910/PageName/Ana_sayfa Chastity and Austere living] and [http://www.toplumpostasi.net/index.php/cat/1/col/85/art/935/PageName/Ana_sayfa Ferocious Waterfalls and Guanos] .

References

* [http://www.eurotopics.net/en/presseschau/autorenindex/autor_chaglar_alkan/ Eurotopics Presschau]
* [http://www.cyprus-mail.com/news/main.php?id=31841&cat_id=1 Why Cyprus cannot afford to exclude Turkish settlers in Cyprus Mail]
* [http://www.cyprus.gov.cy/moi/pio/pio.nsf/All/DCAE1FBC719E851FC2257376003EE0C1?OpenDocument Is it still valid to speak of communal rights in EU Cyprus? Cyprus Government Press Office]
* [http://www.zindamagazine.com/html/archives/2006/07.01.06/index_tue.php The forgotten Christians of Mesopotamia, feature in Zinda Magazine]

External links

* [http://www.tcca.org/current_projects/toplum_postasi.php Turkish Cypriot Community Association]
* [http://www.cypriotacademy.com/articles.html Cypriot Academy]
* [http://www.karpasha.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=category&sectionid=1&id=69&Itemid=2 Karpasha Forum]
* [http://www.toplumpostasi.net Toplum Postasi]
* [http://www.cyprus-mail.com Cyprus Mail]
* [http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/Turkish Daily News]