We chat to jolly Çoşkun Karabulut, and discover a bit more about the man behind the highly successful ex-pat dancers - the Ingiliz Yarenler Dance Group.

Çoşkun was born in 1956 in Sarıkamış, near Kars, in the north east of Turkey. 

In 1980, he graduated from Hacetepe University in Ankara and went on to become a Bank Manager, working in both Adana and Mersin.

In 1995 he was sent to manage a bank in Fethiye and he stayed.

He retired from banking in 2002, and in 2005 became Manager of the Ölüdeniz Sanat Evi, which literally translates as ‘Art House’, but is actually a Community/Cultural Centre offering a range of courses to local residents. 

Not only do many British residents go there for Turkish classes, but the British folk dance/song group, Ingiliz Yarenler, grew out of those classes and was Çoşkun’s idea.

Since his retirement from banking, Çoşkun has become a published poet widely admired in Turkey, with six books of poetry and one of essays to his credit. 

Indeed, one of his poems, which a friend translated into English, made the final of a US poetry competition. A talented individual indeed.