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...
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...
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...
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...
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 –...
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...
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...
Letters from Istanbul: The Sum of Our Travels
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...
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...
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...
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,...
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...
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,...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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....
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...