City Scherzos: Chopin in Koşuyolu
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...
Construction Fever: Will It Save Us from the Next Big One?
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...
Letters from Istanbul: The Ballad of Angry Çetin
We all have those people who drift in and out of our lives, and years later, we find ourselves musing about them, wondering whatever...
Songs for an Unfinished City (An Istanbullu’s Listening Guide)
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...
My Old Neighborhood
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...
The View from Kuştepe (Life in the Shadow of Trump Towers)
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...
Letters from Istanbul: Avenues & Interludes
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,...
Letter from Istanbul: Looking Back at the Old New World
This month marks my tenth anniversary in the city by the Bosphorus, so I want to go back and remember how it was that...
Letters from Istanbul: In Search of the ‘Real’ English
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...
Observatory Time: With Man Ray in Anamur
It’s always a good idea to get out of Istanbul, to escape the traffic, the noise and endless grind of people and machines.
My wife...
Midnight at the Pera Palace
A young journalist travels back in time to 1919 Istanbul, accidentally disrupting the natural flow of history. She must act quickly to prevent the...
Reflections on “Kulüp”: A Yabancı Perspective
“Do you know why this city exists? So that a guy like me doesn’t take you to the end of the world.” This is...
A Strange Fast
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...
Letters from Istanbul: The Journey of a Tissue Pack
In the city of Istanbul many poor old women sell packets of tissue in the streets, mostly to passing motorists and the people sitting...
Yabancı Abroad: When in Rome…Levitate
When we got off the bus at Rome’s Termini Stazion, the first thing we saw was an Istanbul Kebab Shop.
My girlfriend Ozge laughed at...
Letter from Karaman: Night of the Dervish
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,...
Letters from Istanbul: Surrogate Lives
They were three sisters and they had all grown up together in a small town in the south of Turkey. The oldest, and the...
Beating the Istanblues: A Night at the Spa
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...
Ataşehir and Ümraniye: Portraits of the City’s ‘New Hope’
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...
When the Night Comes Falling
All day long, in fits and waves, there had been blackouts. And not just in one part of Istanbul, but across the whole vast...
City Scherzos: Bukowski in Sultanahmet (and Other Ghosts of Teachers Past)
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...
Autumn Rhythms: Life in the ‘New Normal’
Life begins all over again in the fall: That old saying is particularly apt this year.
In the city by the Bosphorus, students and teachers...
Confused Letters from Istanbul: Rude Sheiks and Mad Rams — A...
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...
Letters from Istanbul: The Anatolian Way
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...