Letters from Istanbul

I live in Kadıköy, the “city of the blind.” Have you heard this one? Well, in ancient times, the first Greeks who arrived from Megara set...

Traffic is a daily grind for some 14 million Istanbullus. That’s not even counting the outskirts, which include several million more. You get used to...

For those of you who haven’t been there, Sultangazi sits on the furthermost outskirts of Istanbul, out near the highway that heads up to...

A friend of mine, whom I’ll call Gökhan, loves eating. It is one of his great passions in life. As the son of an...

Nizam walked quickly and nervously through the twilight. The fences and houses along Limon Paşa Boulevard were dark silhouettes beneath the rapidly aging sun....

We were getting married. We couldn’t believe it. It was unbelievable. We didn’t consider ourselves the marrying type. We were too lazy to get...

The Galataport has finally opened – some of it anyway. This immense 1.7 billion-dollar project along the shores of Karaköy on the city’s European side...

Author’s note: Last week, I wrote about the stories behind some of Istanbul’s street names, and the week before that I traced some of...

It is almost a cliché to say that behind every name in Istanbul there is a story; nevertheless, the saying is true. For instance, I...

It’s hard to miss the Trump Towers in Istanbul. The twin tower complex, bearing the signature brand name in large letters, commands your view as...

As a yabancı, you probably have your own first impressions of the city. One of my own was made while coming from Ataturk International Airport...

A young journalist travels back in time to 1919 Istanbul, accidentally disrupting the natural flow of history. She must act quickly to prevent the...

On the way to work the other morning, the taxi driver, noticing I was a yabancı, asked the usual, inevitable question. “America,” I answered. “Amerika?” the driver...

The word “devrim” means revolution. Does Devrim Erbil consider himself a revolutionary? “Of course,” he says, without hesitation. “Every day. Every night. I work constantly.” Indeed, at...

Every great city has its own soundtrack, or at least, deserves one. If it doesn’t, you should think about moving somewhere else. I think of...

Bağdat Caddesi is a long, wide shopping avenue on the Asian side of the city, Istanbul’s equivalent of 5th Avenue or Rodeo Drive. Nearby are...

We all have those people who drift in and out of our lives, and years later, we find ourselves musing about them, wondering whatever...

On the road to Gebze, where I teach twice a week, I have a lot of time to contemplate the passing landscape. Out on the...

With the start of the holy month of Ramazan this past week,  many Turks have been fasting and praying. It’s not easy, especially  in...

My wife wants to buy an apartment. That’s a pretty common goal for many people in this city, since it’s a sound investment. The...

“I’m steppin’ out, steppin’ ou-ou-ou-out!” The chorus to the old John Lennon song was bouncing in my ears as we boarded the ferry at...