Turkish Cypriot athletes film now on YouTube

UNSEEN: The Athletes of Northern Cyprus was released in full on Monday on the Freedom and Fairness for Northern Cyprus channel. It follows a gala screening at The Soho Hotel in London on 1 November, attended by Türkiye’s Ambassador to the UK, Koray Ertaş, and TRNC Ambassador Aysan Mullahasan Atılgan.

The hour-long film features 21 participants from nine sports, including athletics, tennis, boxing, wheelchair basketball, open-water swimming and football. Among those featured are Olympic high jumper Buse Savaşkan, European under-18 800m champion Ada Kafa, two-time EuroLeague champion Erten Gazi, professional boxer Sugar Atahasan, open-water swimmer Doğukan Ulaç and TRNC National Olympic Committee President Orçun Kamalı.

The documentary tells the stories of athletes who say they were denied visas or turned away from competitions because they were born in North Cyprus. It also profiles Turkish Cypriots who went on to represent Türkiye or other countries because they had no opportunity to compete internationally for North Cyprus.

The film was directed by NoPlayBook’s Afzal Choudhury, presented by Mert Ahmet and executive-produced by Eren Ramadan.

“These athletes aren’t invisible because they lack talent. They’re invisible because the world chooses not to look at them,” Ramadan said. He urged viewers to watch and share the film to help bring the athletes’ stories to a wider audience.