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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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: 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...
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...
Letter from Istanbul: Anlaşma (or ‘The Arrangement’)
When I first arrived in Istanbul, nearly ten years ago, I found a room for rent in Kadıköy. It was on a narrow street...
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...
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...
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...
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: 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,...
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...
City Scherzos: Lahmacuns in the Sky
Ali was a 27-year-old Kurd from the eastern Turkish city of Van. He and his brothers had come to Istanbul nearly a decade before...
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...
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...
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....
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...
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...
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...