Communist sympathies: in 1951 that was something that could result in your Turkish citizenship being taken away from you. And for decades it was why Nazim Hikmet, one of Turkey’s most famous poets, could not get his citizenship back, not even after his death in 1963. But now the time seems to have come: Hikmet […]
Coal. These days it’s mainly coal that municipalities hand out to the poor, who don’t have a gas connection and cannot afford to use an electric heater, and who also find coal too expensive. Luckily there is the AKP holding some stock – it’s mainly AKP municipalities where the poor receive these gifts. Prime Minister […]
ISTANBUL – Turkish state television has opened a Kurdish channel, TRT6, on the first of January. Prime Minister Erdogan caused some excitement by declaring in Kurdish in a recorded interview for the channel that he hopes it will be beneficial. Various Kurdish artists will collaborate in the opening programme. The channel, which will be broadcasting […]
At the time of writing, one euro is worth 2,14 ytl. I am never too interested in matters of finance, but a friend pointed out to me that the value of the euro is rising quickly. True: not so long ago it was, I guess, something like 1,70 ytl. So when I get 70 ytl […]
ISTANBUL – For the second time in four years the Turks have to get used to new money: on the first of January, the ‘yeni Türk lirasi’ (new Turkish lira), which was introduced at 1 January 2005, will be a thing of the past. The word ‘yeni’ will be removed and the notes will have […]
The bright light bulbs lighting the fish market make the little hamsi fish shiny as if they were made of pure silver. The levreks are placed in neat rows, their bright red gills turned inside out to show their freshness. The fishmonger praises the quality of his produce, shouting out Kalite Kalite Kalite Kalite Kaliteeee! […]
ISTANBUL – A cloth around his head, trousers to his calfs, a summer coat with sash, a rather short beard, rather big feet in sandals, a boy on his shoulder and a girl standing next to him both with a present in their hand: the typical Saint Nicholas. At least, according to the statue a […]
‘We are all Turks! We are all Muslims!’. I still see it scrawled on a wall somewhere in Istanbul. Yeah, sure, I thought, Armenians, Christians, Jews, Arabs, Kurds, never heard of them, in this country we are all just Turks and all Muslims… But then again, how can you really criticise such graffiti in a […]
I’m in the middle of writing an article about Turkish women who grew up in the Netherlands but who decided as adults to move to Turkey. Well, decided…, that’s not the right word in some cases. A few women moved to Turkey for a year and planned to return to the Netherlands after that year. […]
You can ridicule it as an election gimmick, but that would be too easy. Opposition party CHP has published a report on the Kurdish question, which makes far-reaching proposals, like recognising the Kurdish identity, giving people the right to an education in their mother tongue and even to give some sort of amnesty to PKK […]