Of course, in the end it’s Abdullah Gül who’s going to be the next president of Turkey and not his wife Hayrünnisa. But the country is talking about her. About her headscarf, to be more precise. It’s a religious one, tight around the head, no hair to be seen – a political scarf, many Turks […]
The African community in Istanbul has a high turnover: most of the Africans only stay a few months. Then they leave for Europe, the US or Canada. Their time in Istanbul consists mainly of waiting. Makiyo Ahmed (25) is counting the days. Twentynine since she arrived in Istanbul. She doesn’t want to talk too much […]
There are hardly any independent newspapers in Turkey. The exceptions are satirical weekly magazines, which seem to have more freedoms and say they have a journalistic aim. “ Leman isn’t meant to make people laugh or to cheer them up. Leman is pure journalism.” Istanbul – No, Zafer Aknar, editor in chief of Turkish weekly […]
There are more independent candidates than ever before in the Turkish parliamentary elections next Sunday. Ayse Tükrükçü (40) and Saliha Ermez (37) are two of them. They were both forced to work as prostitutes but managed to escape. ISTANBUL – She will never forget the first time she was brought into the brothel she was […]
Women’s rights are a serious issue in the early elections in Turkey on the 22nd of July. The political crisis is focusing on the separation of religion and state, and secular parties fear that the ruling Islamic AK Parti will not respect women’s rights. Women can gain from that. “Parties now want to show how […]
Emigrating is still popular. Freelance journalist Fréderike Geerdink (36) made the decision too: a few months ago, she moved to Turkey. With the help of some psychological research and an ’emigration-coach’, she reflects on her reasons to go and her future. On the left the lights of the mainstreet, a bit further to the right […]
(photography by Sinan Coskun) Get eight cups of tea and make a dance Education institute ROC in Eindhoven as a first education centre gives Dutch lessons in Turkey. For business people, for students and for immigrants. The first course just started. It mainly attracts people in love, engaged and married. “My name is Okan. My last […]
Today in Istanbul Hrant Dink’s funeral will be held. The Turkish-Armenian journalist was killed last friday. Dink was, together with his weekly newspaper Agos, the voice of the Armenian community in Turkey. How will this comunity go on without Dink? It’s too early, many Armenians say. To early to ask them what it means to […]
Turkish lawyer Fethiye Çetin wrote a book about the experiences of her grandmother, who witnessed the mass killings of Armenians during a death march of women and children in 1915 as a little girl. ‘My grandmother’ is now in its 7th re-print in Turkey. On the 24th of April, Fethiye Çetin will again visit the […]
(photography by Hanneke Geerdink) They might be less modern than women in Istanbul, but still: three generations of women in an average village show how fast life in Turkey has changed. As described by journalist Fréderike Geerdink and her sister Hanneke, photographer. Leave from the congested bus station in Istanbul and get off the bus […]