Letters from Istanbul

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...

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...

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...

“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...

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

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...

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...

The other evening, my wife and I were out in our neighborhood of Koşuyolu feeding the cats as is our evening ritual. While we were...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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....

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...

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...

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 other day I was having lunch at Café Nero with one of the new teachers. She said she came from Austin. Since I grew...

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

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...

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...

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...

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

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