One thing I remember from the time I lived for two months in the Istanbul mahalle (neigbourhood) Kuzguncuk, is when my doorbell rang a few times and a man appeared to ask if ‘that car is yours and if so could you remove it?’. The man was maybe working for one of the film crews […]
Now, is the number of women wearing a headscarf rising or not? The conclusion of a survey seems to be a clear “yes”. In short, 69 percent of women cover their heads, against 64 percent in 2003. Of these women, 16 percent wear a ‘turban’ (a ‘religious scarf’ as apposed to a ‘traditional’ one), against […]
The fight against the PKK is a boost for the Turkish flag industry. Flags are everywhere: they hang outside houses, stick to car windows or hang giant-sized on public buildings. “Everybody who waves the flag is convinced that he is defending the only true Turkish values.” The Turkish national flag is constantly visible. In enormous […]
She earns 500 liras per month, working six days a week, eight to twelve hours a day. Her rent is 300 liras, bills around 40 liras, transport to and from work about 75 liras. It’s obvious: she is seriously short of money. Now, I remember times when I too was seriously short of money. But […]
Due to fighting with the PKK in the southeast of the country, flag sales are booming in Turkey. Last week, I visited the biggest flag company in the country and they had a growth in sales of nearly a hundred percent this year – and still couldn’t meet the demand. You see the red flag […]
So, if you are a journalist and you write a report about something involving a crime, you have to immediately call the authorities and report it. That’s what the lawsuit against reporter Emin Bal makes clear. He wrote a story about a funeral of PKK combatants, and during the funeral slogans supporting the PKK and […]
A friend from Holland came to visit me this weekend. We were having dinner at Kanaat Lokantasi and after dinner of course we wanted tea. I ordered it ‘açık’. Friend asked what sort of tea I ordered. Well, normal Turkish tea, but then ‘açık’, meaning light. That’s the nice thing about a traditional Turkish teapot: […]
You could have seen it coming: Turkey’s highest prosecutor will start a procedure to close down the pro-Kurdish DTP (Democratic Society Party). They are accused of taking orders from the PKK and promoting its aims and therefore being a threat to national unity. The DTP denies having ties with the PKK and says its aim […]
Life in Üsküdar is slower than around Taksim on the European side of town, where most foreigners live. Friendlier too, I think. Now that I hop around on one healthy foot and the other one broken – (three weeks ago, I ran to catch the last boat to Üsküdar and stepped into a hole in […]
It’s quite a mystery what happened during the abduction of eight Turkish soldiers by PKK militia a bit more then two weeks ago. They have now been released, but were soon afterwards arrested because questions arose about their loyalty to the Turkish state. Were they really kidnapped, or were some of them moles for the […]