I don’t really cover sport as a journalist, but this weekend, sport is politics. President Gül will visit Armenia’s capital Yerevan to watch a world cup qualification match between Armenia and Turkey on Saturday. Armenian President Sarkisyan invited him, and how could Gül say no? If he had refused the invitation, Turkey would be seen […]
Anyone who is pro womens’ rights in Turkey is almost automatically against more rights for women wearing a headscarf. Ever since devout Muslims gained political and economic power, Turkish feminists have been in an awkward position. The fact that it was the political party representing devout Muslims that lifted the headscarf ban at universities makes […]
No no no, the youtube ban has not been lifted. Newspapers all over the world announced this on Tuesday, and I was embarrassed about missing it. How can I check almost every day and still not notice, what’s wrong with me? I read about how some parts of the country are taking longer to reconnect […]
I got up early to finish a story I got stuck with yesterday. Around 6 I was already busy typing. Now and then I got up to enjoy some fresh morning breeze at the open window. And then I saw one of my neighbours sitting on the threshold between her living room and her balcony. […]
‘Look at that!’, says S. ‘You don’t believe there are any nurses on board that ship, do you?’ No, I don’t believe so. I’m sitting on a terrace at the Bosporus with Dutch friend A. and her Turkish boyfriend S., while the American warship USS McFaul is passing by. At first Turkey didn’t allow the […]
I was the guest of a Turkish family for a few days. The mother of the family sometimes likes to watch Roj TV, the Kurdish channel that broadcasts from Denmark and has for ages been a pain in the ass for Turkish citizens and the government, which labels it as a PKK propaganda channel. The […]
A picture in a newspaper of a partially ruined appartment block, a young man sitting in front of it on the ground, against a lamppost. The picture accompanies an article about the earthquake that hit the Marmara region (to be more precise: southeast of Istanbul) today exactly nine years ago. Archive picture? No, sadly enough […]
Lots of criticism this week of the Labour Minister, who suggested that the Tuzla shipyards be closed or replaced in a bid to solve the safety problems endemic there. The immediate reason behind his ‘plan’ are three more deaths this week in Tuzla. What happened? A life boat needed to be tested. Officially the test […]
ISTANBUL – With the death of Dursun Karataş, who died in the Netherlands last Monday of cancer, one of Turkey’s most notorious terrorists has left the stage. Karataş, leader of the far-left DHKP-C, lived in various European countries with a false identity since he escaped from an Istanbul prison in 1990. Whether the death of […]
For many people, this is what Turkey is like: dancing in outdoor restaurants, walking on the street practically naked, eating pork wherever you like, beer available everywhere. For me, it’s the first time ever in a typical tourist resort and it feels like a different world. I adapted quickly. As soon as I got to […]