A Dutch Treat
I heard the sound of traditional music and there was Cemal bedecked in traditional Turkish Cypriot dress leading a similarly dressed young partner in traditional Turkish Cypriot dancing to the obvious delight of her family.
Having learned of many Dutch tourists visiting TRNC this year it was a big surprise when I called in to see an old friend, Cemal Boransel at the Aphrodite Restaurant in Lapta recently.
When I arrived in the heat of the day, I walked through his very impressive garden area full of huge amphora, pots and fascinating memorabilia and as I turned the corner, I heard the sound of traditional music and there was Cemal bedecked in traditional Turkish Cypriot dress leading a similarly dressed young partner in traditional Turkish Cypriot dancing to the obvious delight of her family.
These lucky tourists were from the Netherlands a
nd were Jatina Winkels with her sons Thomas and Sander who were watching their pretty little sister Amber dancing with Cemal. Talking to Jatinaand her partner Eddy Ramaker, I understood they all live in Hardenberg close to the German border. For their 8 day holiday, they had all flown out from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport with Corendon Airlines which started its flights in 2011 to Turkey with an onward link to North Cyprus.
They said they had been travelling around and had seen a number of the wonderful heritage sites of North Cyprus and on their last day they heard talk of Cemal and ventured down to try and meet him.
Like so many others who encounter Cemal, they found a Turkish Cypriot who is a friend 
to all and just loves to sit and talk about his country and its culture and heritage which he believes should be preserved for future generations.
For those of you that want to meet Cemal you will find him at the Aphrodite Restaurant which is just west of the Lapta Hotels and can be found down a lane on the right near Sevket’s Restaurant.
If you want to book a table to have a real traditional Cypriot meal,then call Cemal on 0533 853 8792 or his wife Keziban on 0533 860 6970 and, who knows, Cemal may tell you all about his horses and donkeys.
By Chris ELLIOTT
Click here to read more of Cemel Boransel
HOLLAND ???
I am a Dutchman from the Netherlands, iI thought……….
Sorry Arnold no offence ment Holland is of couse the Netherlands. We perhaps get conditioned to think in terms of our first recollections, I come from the UK and is it Britain or the United Kingdom? I see you live in Ozankoy as do we, and would love to meet up with you. By the way, did you read our article about Sinterklaas and also the German Christmas Market in the past week. If ever you have news you want to share, we are glad to receive it. On another point, unlike the newspapers we can correct facts as you will see now on this article.