Arts, Culture & History

There are a number of phrases that Turks use in daily life that you may not find properly explained in your Intro to Turkish...

Vendors and commuters criss-cross in front of the gates of the dock. My friend and I use the akbil dangles with the circular buttons...

Turkey has an incredibly rich tradition in electronic music, stretching back to the late ‘50s and early ‘60s when Bülent Arel was king. Arel was a pioneer...

By Bairma Kihoro People have always been crossing borders. Not just geographical, but social, cultural and psychological ones as well. Everyone has their own dramas,...

At a gathering of the elite doctors of the world, speaker after speaker demonstrates a miracle of medical science. An operation able to change...

After moving from Istanbul to the small village of Turunç in southwest Turkey’s Muğla region, I finally had the time and energy to explore...

Salon İKSV’s one daylong festival Gezgin Salon, in which concerts are spread all over the city rather than taking place at only Salon İKSV,...

Like many of history’s greatest culinary discoveries, that of coffee stemmed from a noisy, restless goat and his attendant farmer’s desire for an undisturbed...

Camel wrestling is, in a word, raucous. Smoke permeates every inch of the earthen amphitheater, so much so that it is difficult to make...

In November, Yabangee contributor Devanshu Bawa and I were invited to the Indian Diwali Festival that is organized annually by the Friends of India...

While it's safe to say that Turkish TV series have always been widely popular domestically, recent years have seen a dramatic increase in the...

From the organizer: Organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV) with the support of the Republic of Turkey Ministry of Culture and...

With the Children’s and Youth holiday coming up on 23 April and warmer weather upon us, many of you may be wondering where to...

Let me say straight away that this is not an encyclopedic or historical article on Turkish music. Rather, these are my observations on the...

As a dweller of Nişantaşı, I am lucky enough to be located in one of the centers of the Istanbul arts and cultural scene....

“Light is more important than the lantern, The poem more important than the notebook” ― Syrian poet, Nizar Qabbani To the general public, Syria has become...

Do you recall the days when uncle Google was not only a click away? The days when most knowledge was hidden in those big,...

Perched on the hill of Çamlıca is a spiritual gem that combines Ottoman and modern architecture, where the breeze carries both the sounds of...

There are more than 3000 active mosques in Istanbul and, in terms of architectural style, they can generally be categorized as either Byzantine (ancient...

On warm nights in Istanbul everyone is out. Restaurants open their doors onto the sidewalks of back streets, creating a maze of tables and...

How does one explain Barış Manço?  He is kind of like the Turkish John Denver, but with the notoriety of John Lennon and a...

Learning Turkish while living in Istanbul can be an experience both painstaking and profoundly exciting. There is an undefinable moment in this adventure -...

“Zeytinyağı gibi üste çıkma!” or “Don’t stick out like olive oil!” This time last year, my husband and I were sipping olive oil at a...

“Çilesiz bir günüm olmadı gitti Bilmedim ömrümün suçu ne usta Allah'ın gücüne gider mi bilmem Verdiği bu candan ben bıktım usta My carefree days never came I don’t know,...