<a fr-original-style="" href="https://www.instagram.com/thecounterlondon/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(9, 9, 9); text-decoration: none; background-color: transparent; outline: none; cursor: pointer; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; touch-action: manipulation; user-select: auto; box-sizing: border-box;" target="_blank">The Counter</a> describes itself as a contemporary grill. The first time I went here this definition concerned me as Turkish restaurants with elevated adjectives tend to only have cosmetic connections to their cuisine that European diners mistake for thematic. Aesthetically plated dishes with a pseudo-cultural backstory missing the essence of the recipe they are imitating. But The Counter focuses on staying true to the cuisine’s roots with staple Turkish dishes elevated only through technique and not storytelling.The chef behind the grill is Kemal Demirasal, the now-grown Aegean wunderkind with a strong resumé full of fine-dining restaurants in İzmir and İstanbul. Demirasal’s process of building the menu for The Counter, his first brick-and-mortar in London after 4 years, was to research local dishes in Turkey extensively and match the execution in the UK with local ingredients. Dishes from Adana, Antalya, Southeast Turkey as well as İzmir come together to make this holistic line-up. His 'finer' additions to these tend to be non-obtrusive, such as letting the&nbsp;isot&nbsp;pepper shine in&nbsp;kuru fasulye (braised haricot beans) and pairing it with ox cheek instead of traditional cubed brisket cuts.Despite the chef’s background and his elevation of classic dishes, The Counter is not a fine-dining restaurant. It’s more of a bistrot with flair, the sounds of the open charcoal grill behind the counter making it more down-to-earth than pretentious. It’s great for a dinner with close friends, perhaps a weeknight date, or when you want to flaunt your knowledge and the diversity of Turkish food in a lesser-known restaurant to a fellow food lover.<img src="https://images.aposto.com/2022/9/1/1666003991395.jpeg" style="display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center; width: 100%; max-width: 550px; border-style: none; position: relative; cursor: pointer; padding: 0px 1px; box-sizing: border-box;" width="550" ratio="0.78" fr-original-style="display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center; width: 100%; max-width: 550px;" fr-original-class="fr-draggable"><h4 dir="ltr" fr-original-style="text-align: center;" style="text-align: center; margin: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.85); font-weight: 500; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;">Sweetbread kokoreç&nbsp;</h4><hr fr-original-style="" style="height: 0px; overflow: visible; border-bottom: none; clear: both; user-select: none; break-after: page; box-sizing: border-box;"><h3 fr-original-style="" style="margin: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.85); font-weight: 500; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;">What to order?</h3>For starters:&nbsp;The Antalya piyaz, veal tongue, and white chocolate babagannoush. The piyaz deserves extra credit as it is as close as it can get to the originals in Antalya, with the egg yolk being the perfect decadent bonus.Hot appetisers to share: Kokoreç with sweetbread, a fatty and tasty crowd-pleaser. The hummus with pistachios and dates is another banger.Mains: Any of the charcoal grilled meat dishes (satır kıyma, tire köfte, and other rotating kebaps) is a good choice but the ox cheek getting cosy on top of the isot-heavy kuru fasulye (braised beans with smoky Urfa pepper) takes a classic peasant dish to another level.For dessert: The keşkül, a patisserie staple pudding in Turkey, made from superb Cornish milk is the star of the desserts.To Pair: The Counter has a decent wine menu with variety, as well as good Turkish wines, consulted by Michelin’s Sommelier of the Year İsa Bal. The cocktail menu mixes Turkish ingredients with conventionally attractive techniques and recipes. The mezcal şalgam margarita is worth trying. Otherwise, Turkish and Greek spirits are available for the die-hard Aegeans. For non-alcoholic choices, they offer a good tarragon-infused ayran&nbsp;and house şalgam.Where: On Golborne Road with an easy-to-miss sign. 108 Golborne Rd, London W10 5PS.&nbsp;

Aposto London

A contemporary Turkish restaurant true to its roots, dishing one banger after another.

The Counter

Journalist Metin Cihan recently shared documents showing that following FETO's July 15, 2016 military coup attempt, Nurettin Canikli, then Deputy Prime Minister and now AK Party Deputy Chairman, appointed his relatives to the boards of directors of companies that were transferred to the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund of Turkey (SDIF) due to their FETO affiliation.&nbsp;He claimed that the people who took office as a result of these appointments entered into commercial relations worth millions of liras with other companies established at Canikli's address, and that "a robbery network was established" with Canikli at its center.Cihan shared documents showing Canikli's appointments to Koza Holding's board of directors and claimed that Canikli appointed his relatives to the holding's board of directors "to carry out the SDIF robberies." Cihan also shared that Nurettin Canikli's nephew Kemal Canikli had traveled abroad in a car with a parliamentary immunity card just before the coup attempt.<h2 fr-original-style="" style="margin: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.85); font-weight: 500; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;">The allegations are also on the opposition's agenda</h2>Main opposition CHP's leader Kılıçdaroğlu brought the allegations raised by Cihan to his group meeting. And he said that a relative appointed by Canikli as trustee of Boydak Holding, which has transferred to the SDIF, had disappeared with 20 million euros that he had taken out of the country to "make warehouses abroad". Promising to "hold him to account," Kılıçdaroğlu claimed that Canikli had protected this person, Ertunç Laçiner. Future Party leader Ahmet Davutoğlu had also called for an investigation into the assets of Canikli and his relatives.Canikli, who remained silent until the CHP leader brought the allegations to the agenda, later denied all off the claims, saying that "no unfair gain was made to his relatives or anyone not related to him from the companies transferred to the SDIF" and accused Kılıçdaroğlu of "lying".Following the complaints, Cihan's Twitter account had restricted due to "disclosure of private information." After the account reopened, Cihan shared his messages, which were considered a violation of the rules due to the complaints, and stated that "his account may be restricted again".<h2 fr-original-style="" style="margin: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.85); font-weight: 500; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;">Yeni Şafak's news that exposed the crack</h2>Yeni Şafak newspaper, owned by Albayrak Media Group, which is known to be close to the government, published an article with the headline "Mevlüt Uysal's unlawful activities: He uses the names of senior figures." According to the article, Mevlüt Uysal, who became the Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality from AK Party in 2017 after Kadir Topbaş resigned upon President Erdoğan's request, "used his title as former mayor of Istanbul to influence some names in the Council of Judges and Prosecutors and the Council of State". &nbsp;Uysal, was alleged to "made unlawful and illegal demands through his connections in many ministries and bureaucracy and provided unfair benefits and gains". It was stated that Uysal "made efforts to organize tenders delivered to the address or to have the irregularities of some companies cleared in the judiciary" and that this "disturbed many circles in the AK Party".Journalist Metin Cihan claimed that this news was related to the documents he published. Cihan said that Canikli "entered politics from the Albayrak Group's quota and that they are still partners in a dirty business". Cihan also stated that Canikli did not receive support from the party after the leak of the documents and that some AK Party executives wanted Canikli, "who is harming the party," to be "uprooted". He interpreted Yeni Şafak's report as "blackmail against the AK Party and Erdoğan, a small signal about how they can use the media group they own".Uysal confirmed Cihan's interpretation, saying that "someone wanted to send a message to someone through him and that he would file a criminal complaint against the news". Denying the allegations, Uysal said Yeni Şafak should prove the claims.&nbsp;

Spektrum

Following Metin Cihan's documents on Nurettin Canikli, Yeni Şafak's report on former Istanbul mayor Mevlüt Uysal has been interpreted as a "crack in the AK Party".

Canikli papers and Yeni Safak's "strange" news

• <a fr-original-style="" href="https://www.yenicaggazetesi.com.tr/emin-capa-kilicdaroglunun-aklindaki-adayi-acik-acik-yazdi-okuyanlar-cok-sasirdi--482793h.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(9, 9, 9); text-decoration: none; background-color: transparent; outline: none; cursor: pointer; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; touch-action: manipulation; user-select: auto; box-sizing: border-box;" target="_blank">Gazeteci Emin Çapa,</a> cumhurbaşkanı adayı hakkında CHP lideri Kılıçdaroğlu'nun partilerle ilişkisi olmayan bir isimle görüştüğünü öne sürdü. Bu aday adayı hakkında İYİ Parti lideri Akşener ve Saadet Partisi lideri Karamollaoğlu'nun bilgisi olduğunu aktardı. Çapa şu ifadeleri kullandı:<blockquote fr-original-style="color: rgb(9, 9, 9); border-color: rgb(37, 44, 60); border-width: 4px; font-style: italic; padding-left: 10px;" style="color: rgb(9, 9, 9); border-color: rgb(37, 44, 60); border-width: 4px; font-style: italic; padding-left: 10px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; border-left-style: solid; box-sizing: border-box;">“Oradaki aday İmamoğlu değil. Şu anda hiç kimsenin konuşmadığı, adı kamuoyunda bilinmeyen, tanınmayan bir aday. Partilerle ilişkisi olmadığı için "bu adım tutar" denen bir aday var. Kendisinden onay almadan adını açıklayamam. Ama liderlerin kafasındaki birçok girdiye yanıt veriyor. Ama o girdilerin büyük kısım halkın umurunda değil. Seçmen beğenir mi? Ben ciddi bir şok yaşadım. Henüz emin değilim.”</blockquote>Emin Çapa’nın bu açıklamasının ardından dün <a fr-original-style="" href="https://www.hurriyet.com.tr/yazarlar/abdulkadir-selvi/imamoglu-cumhurbaskani-aksener-basbakan-modeli-41925642" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(9, 9, 9); text-decoration: none; background-color: transparent; outline: none; cursor: pointer; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; touch-action: manipulation; user-select: auto; box-sizing: border-box;" target="_blank">Hürriyet yazarı Abdülkadir Selvi</a> köşesinde bu kişinin akademisyen Özgür Demirtaş&nbsp;olduğuna dair bir yazı paylaştı.&nbsp;<blockquote fr-original-style="color: rgb(9, 9, 9); border-color: rgb(37, 44, 60); border-width: 4px; font-style: italic; padding-left: 10px;" style="color: rgb(9, 9, 9); border-color: rgb(37, 44, 60); border-width: 4px; font-style: italic; padding-left: 10px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; border-left-style: solid; box-sizing: border-box;">"Bir süredir siyasi kulislerde Özgür Demirtaş’ın cumhurbaşkanı adayı olduğu konuşulmaya başlandı. Hatta Özgür Hoca’nın görüştüğü bazı isimlere Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu’nun adayı olduğuna dair bir izlenim verdiği söyleniyor. Kılıçdaroğlu kendisi aday değil mi? … Özgür Hoca’yı aradım. 'Cumhurbaşkanı adayı olduğunuz konuşuluyor' dedim. Şaşırmadı. Ama konuşmadı da. 'Ailede bir prensip kararı aldık. Siyaseten hiçbir şey söylemeyeceğiz' dedi."</blockquote>İddiaların ardından Özgür Demirtaş Twitter’da Türkiye Gündemi’nde yer aldı. Demirtaş konu hakkında henüz bir açıklama yapmadı; ancak aday olabileceğini söyleyenlerin yanı sıra “şaşırtmaca” olabileceğini söyleyenlerin de sayısı hayli fazla.&nbsp;<img src="https://images.aposto.com/2021/9/4/1635416712962.jpeg" style="display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center; width: 100%; max-width: 550px; border-style: none; position: relative; cursor: pointer; padding: 0px 1px; box-sizing: border-box;" alt="Özgür Demirtaş" width="550" ratio="Infinity" fr-original-style="display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center; width: 100%; max-width: 550px;" fr-original-class="fr-draggable">Twitter

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