Letters from Istanbul

We're delighted to announce that long-time contributor James Tressler has recently released the third volume to his Letters from Istanbul series, available for purchase via Lulu....

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

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...

In the city of Istanbul many poor old women sell packets of tissue in the streets, mostly to passing motorists and the people sitting...

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...

At first glance, Ataşehir seems to embody everything you hate about modern Istanbul. At second glance, it doesn’t get much better. You can insert here...

“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...

I was 50. Half a century. How was that even possible? Some years ago, one of my directors Zeynep, a lovely, cheerful Mediterranean woman had...

You may have read in the Turkish news recently that archaeologists in Antalya found the head of Medusa … in stone. The archaeologists told reporters...

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

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...

They were three sisters and they had all grown up together in a small town in the south of Turkey. The oldest, and the...

The city of Karaman stands on the low wheat plains of Anatolia, about an hour south of Konya, the birthplace of Rumi. Arriving from Istanbul,...

I’ve been a teacher for the past ten years, first in Prague and now in Istanbul. Over the years, you get used to seeing...

When I first arrived in Istanbul, nearly ten years ago, I found a room for rent in Kadıköy. It was on a narrow street...

This month marks my tenth anniversary in the city by the Bosphorus, so I want to go back and remember how it was that...

All day long, in fits and waves, there had been blackouts. And not just in one part of Istanbul, but across the whole vast...

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...

When you first arrive in the city, you feel drawn to the riotous spectacle of Taksim, or to the multitudes of the street markets...

Some time back, I decided to try a new approach to my Istanbul stories. Up until that point, the stories, though carefully written, were missing...

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 Özge and I can’t afford many luxuries. We’re a working couple, with different schedules. We don’t even share the same days off. We...

One Saturday afternoon in the autumn of 2012, I was walking around Beyoğlu. I don’t spend much time on the European side of Istanbul,...

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...