Arts, Culture & History

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...

Eleven essentials for the Turkish home: 1. Hamam kit – Regular trips to the hamam are an Istanbul institution. With this in mind it’s no...

To-morrow is Saint Valentine's day, All in the morning betime, And I a maid at your window, To be your Valentine. Then up he...

Now if you have watched Dan Brown’s Inferno, the movie with Tom Hanks, and have been a diligent tourist in Istanbul, you’d recognize the...

One of my family's favorite weekend activities, particularly now that it's gotten warmer, is to spend the morning wandering around neighborhoods, whether it's our...

I remember walking down the large avenues and neatly perpendicular streets of Washington, D.C. not too long ago, longing for old buildings and crooked...

Many of us find doing volunteer work to be a fulfilling way to connect with our community. For yabangees, volunteering can be a great...

A friend of mine from the Czech Republic once told me her feelings while she visited Istanbul one year ago. She said that it...

“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...

Yes, I just did that. Referred to the joke-question we all hear from home: Do they eat turkey in Turkey? Well, yes, yes they...

When Mosul was invaded in June, one of the first announcements made by ISIS was that the civilians within their territory would be treated...

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

In a city whose skyline is spiked with thousands of minarets, it is sometimes forgotten just how many churches are snuggled in the back...

In this month’s ‘Famous Turk’ article, we’re looking at Mevlana – known more popularly in the English-speaking world as ‘Rumi’ – the Anatolian philosopher...

There is a new space for performing arts in Kadıköy’s vibrant Yeldeğirmeni neighborhood: Köşe ("corner" in Turkish). Located on the Asian side of Istanbul, Köşe...

Someone recently described Istanbul to me as a city where you can "have the best day of your life, followed by the worst day”,...

Contemporary Istanbul, the city's premier international art fair, is back for its 18th edition, bringing together art enthusiasts, collectors, curators, and artists from around...

Istanbul sure does have a lot to offer when it comes to the world of books - there are boutique retailers, hidden stores, retail...

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

  Three years ago building of a new mosque began on one of the highest hills of the city, where roosters still crow and visitors...

One of the highlights of my incredible solo backpacking trip around China in the winter of 2012 was seeing a traditional kung fu performance...

I am a concert nerd. And the Zorlu Center Performing Arts Center has been a new paradise found. It has only had one season...

The marriage bureaucrats at the Şişli marriage bureau seem like the unhappiest people in the world. Just a few meters from the miniature theater, where everyday...

The Reggae scene in Turkey has grown exponentially, especially in the last 10 years or so. The last decade has seen an explosion of...