1 Day in Northern Cyprus

Today I went to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (follow the link to learn more about Northern Cyprus since it's only recognized by Turkey) to attend a press conference held by the main Turkish cell phone operator Turkcell.

This was my frst time there and it was very interesting to discover a place like that. It used to be under British control so there are still some habits left. They drive on the left side of the road. Even though they used 220V, the plug are british plugs. Etc. People were very nice.
It's under Turkish control so it's like being in Turkey, you pay with Turkish money, everybody speaks Turkish. When you call Turkey you do not need to dial an international code before but they charge international rates !!!

It's very dry even though it's surrounded by water. There aren't high mountains so it doesn't rain a lot and it's in the south part of the the mediterranean. The temperature was 47 degrees celsius (116 degrees Fahrenheit).


Timur getting some rest.




























View from the hotel we were staying at.





Trying a 3G supporting phone.









Lefkosa.









Girne.









Press Conference.

Lenny Kravitz

Concert tonight at the Kuruçesme Turkcell Arena by the Bosphorus.

My 5th 15 mn of Fame

Presenting the Olympus E520 on Teknosohbet.tv

Sad Day

Last Sunday, a bomb exploding in the Güngören District of Istanbul wounded several people. While People of the area came to help the wounded a second explosion occured killing 17 people among which my cousin's wife's brother. He lived in the meighborhood and was carrying a victim from the first blast when the second one happened killing both of them.
A lot of news agencies, TV cameras and political people were present at the funeral.



from rightto left :
My cousin Armagan,
his wife Nalan,
and her brother Halit on the picture.











Halit's daughter.

Today's Picture

Kitten photographed from the car, in a alley near Karaköy.

Metallica in Istanbul

Tonight we went to see the heavy metal band Metallica in concert. It's not that we are fans of the band, neither that we're heavy metal fans but we got the tickets for free and we were wondering what a stadium concert would look like. The concert took place at the Galatasaray Stadium (known as the Ali Sami Yen stadium).

It really was impressive. We didn't stay long but the show was great.




Yalçin came with us.

Kafa Kafaya

A new program has started : Kafa Kafaya (Head to Head). Hosted by Meriç and Burak from Burak.com. With 2 other programs (DanDun and Webrazzi) along the Teknosohbet show. It's all under a main website : Televidyon.

It has the same concept than Revision3.

Arnavutköy

After spending much time at Ikea, We went to Arnavutköy to meet up with some good friends from France Michel and Vildan. The place we went to is called Abracadabra.

Engin sipping a homemade lemonade.





















Engin, Michel & Vildan.









Reyhan.







Me with some nice glasses.

Shopping in the Old Istanbul

Today we went to the Grand Bazaar to look for a kilim and some fabrics and drapes.

some kids selling cell phone cases.








The Nurosmaniye Mosque near the Grand Bazaar.








































Interesting and weird how this minaret got swallowed by this building.





















The Galata Tower seen from Eminönü.









A Panoramic view of the entrance of the Golden Horn by Eminönü.



























We took a small boat to cross the golden horn. Just 1 Lira (80 cents) per person and very fun to do.














































Cowboy Joe selling fish.












A huge Cruise ship 'parked' in Karaköy.

































Some simits.