Month: January 2012

A very sad day for the TRNC – the State Funeral of Rauf Denktaş, the founding President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

Funeral Denktaş laid to rest

A Great Loss for the Turkish World

 

RIP RAUF DENKTAŞ

More rain, all night and Rosie and I got drenched when we went for a walk in the morning. Log burner alight and I stayed in.

The first goodbye to Rauf Denktaş seelink

This was today’s service as they moved his body from the hospital to the Presidents house in Lefkoşa. His body will remain guarded for 24 hours until tommorrow’s funeral service when he will finally be laid to rest  in the Cumhuriyet Park in Lefkoşa.  The State funeral will be held tomorrow at Lefkoşa Cumhuriyet Park.

 

 

Thought for the Day – “We will not compromise on our sovereignty.” ~ Rauf Denktaş

Rain, rain and more rain! The ‘river’ and waterfall are back in the ravine. It’s hard to believe just a couple of years ago, we used to walk this path before the water parted it. Of course on our walk Rosie loved it getting wet and muddy. I can’t say I was impressed.

When I went shopping, as usual I compared the price of fruit and vegetables with the UK.  Potatoes 40 kurus, lemons 60 kurus, mandarins 1.50tl, oranges 1.50tl, broccoli 1.40tl (all for a kilo).

I spoke to Mal and the temperature has dipped since I left the UK, he had all the heat on in the caravan.

I watched the Swansea v Arsenal match in the afternoon. Well, Swansea won! That was a surprise.

In the evening I spoke to all the Cardiff boys. Tariq had a very good report from school with all A’s apart from two B’s. He has worked really  hard. Even Oscar came on the phone to speak to me. They evidently had a ‘jungle day’ at school on Friday and he went as a monkey! Three of the boys painted me pictures while I was there, which are now of course on my fridge.

I also spoke to Torin who had been having a difficult day with Scarlet as she was ill with her chicken pox, poor thing.

Cyprus Today, mainly about Rauf Denktaş, see link

The State Funeral will be held on Tuesday. Please note that ALL state and government offices, schools and other workplaces (apart from essential services) will be closed on Tuesday see link State Funeral.

 

 

Thought for the Day – “Just to come to the negotaiting table I cannot say that my state does not exist. I demand the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is either recognized  or taken into account.” ~ Rauf  Denktaş

I collected Rosie from Lena’s. She looked very happy to see me back. She ran indoors and searched everywhere for Mal. For the first time she didn’t tip her water bowl over (her protest!)

I did some washing, sorting things out and searching for more bargains as I had got a bit behind! A really good one, which I was going to buy for Scarlet and Jacks birthdays BUT they had sold out of the boys one and I couldn’t get one without the other. But the girls one is still there electric bike.

A very sad day for North Cyprus. Rauf Denktaş, the founding President of the TRNC, died this evening. I remember when we first bought our land, he drove along and stopped at the edge of our land to take photos. He obviously appreciated the view as mcuh as we did. He was a very keen photographer. A great loss for North Cyprus. May he rest in peace.

 

 

Thought for the Day – “The sovereignty and equality of the Turkish Cypriots and the guaranteed right of Turkey are not negotiable subjects.” ~ Rauf Denktaş

It was 2.00am when Claire and I went to bed! By the time I got up later, Scarlet had more spots and so couldn’t go to nursery.

I collected my things together and headed off for the airport. Thankfully I had weighed my luggage as they were being very hard on people with any extra kilos, in fact one person was only one kilo over and they asked them for £9! I think if it were me I would have dumped a kilo worth of luggage.

The Pegasus flight left on time and I sat next to a couple who have a house in Dalaman, so chatting to them the journey went really quickly. I always buy a sandwich at Stansted. They were shocked when they bought 2 rolls on board and 2 small wines and it was £20!

It was raining when I arrived at Ercan and Ozy (Ozy’s taxis) was there waiting for me. He is so good and drives very carefully.

It was good to be back but wish Mal were here with me.

 

Time for Mal to get down to some work which I had been distracting him from! I had arranged to spend the last night with Torin as I don’t seem to see him for long and it is also nearer the airport. So, I packed and left Mal working and drove to Torin’s.

We took his dogs for a long walk in the afternoon and then collected Scarlet and Jack from nursery. Scarlet seemed very quiet for her. Having been with Jack when he started his chicken pox, now Scarlet was coming out in spots. Must be something about me visiting! Poor thing now has a lot more spots.

In the evening Claire, Torin and I went back to the Bangkok Lounge (with my £50 voucher) and I have to say this time around it was totally different. The service was excellent and the food superb. They may have remembered us but I didn’t mention the voucher until the bill came, just in case they wanted to spit in our food..ha ha!

This time I was impressed and I think maybe our first visit may have been because they were newly opened and busy. Torin drove and so Claire and I had a bottle of wine. A really good evening and then Torin gave us more wine when we got back to his. He went to bed and Claire and I went to bed very late, chatting as we do! Well, not even today!

 

 

 

Thought for the Day – “The idea that no one is perfect is a view most commonly held by people with no grandchildren.” ~ Adair Lara