City Scherzos: Mother-of-Pearl
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...
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.
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Letters from Istanbul: City of the Blind (Or, Why You Shouldn’t...
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...
City Scherzos: This Matter of Medusa
You may have read in the Turkish news recently that archaeologists in Antalya found the head of Medusa … in stone.
The archaeologists told reporters...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Dreaming of Dollars (But Waking Up With Liras)
The other night I was sitting with my son on the sofa, trying to read a book with him, while on the TV the...
In The Shade of Karaköy
“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...
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,...
The Rise and Fall of a Telecommuting Empire in Istanbul
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...
Letter from Istanbul: My Own Private Venice … In Sultangazi
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...
City Scherzos: Istanbul’s Absurdist Heart
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...
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...
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: 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...
The Golden Hour
Nizam walked quickly and nervously through the twilight. The fences and houses along Limon Paşa Boulevard were dark silhouettes beneath the rapidly aging sun....
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...
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...
Inside Devrim Erbil’s Revolution Factory
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...
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...