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...
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,...
On the Road to Gebze: Surviving in the Industrial Heartland
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...
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...
Letters from Istanbul: Yeldeğirmeni’s Quiet Renaissance
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...
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...
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...
Impressions of Galataport
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...
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...
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...
My Dinner With Gökhan
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...
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....
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...
Letter from Antalya: Border Patrol Agents on Vacation
A group of border agents are sitting on a beach in the southern Turkish seaside resort town of Antalya. It’s a working holiday –...
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...
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...
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...
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: 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...
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...