Five Awesome Turkish TV Shows From the 90s
The 90s was a unique period all over the world and the same goes for Turkey. In Turkey, alongside its distinctive music genres and...
Anatolian Travel Archives: Hattusha/Hattuşa
Once there was a time when Hattusha was reached by foot, through a dense forest that flourished near the Red River or Kızılırmak and...
We Cut Yogurt With a Knife
Last week, my husband brought home a 5-liter bag of raw milk. He secretly stuck it in the refrigerator and then surprised me by...
Gold Day Recipes: Delicious Eats for a Day of Socializing and...
Like every other Turkish kid who grew up in the 90s, I have been to many “gold days” (altın günü) hosted by my mother...
Sketching Istanbul’s Hans Part 2: Rüstem Paşa Han
Emilie Varlet and Gabrielle Reeves began exploring Istanbul's hans in the summer of 2014, when they first started their sketching adventures in the city. They have...
The Dönme: A Profile of a Hidden People
“A Doenmeh friend of mine told me his father had informed him that his father’s mother used to go to the beach every Friday...
How to Fit Istanbul in One Book: Reşat Ekrem Koçu’s Istanbul...
Do you recall the days when uncle Google was not only a click away? The days when most knowledge was hidden in those big,...
Insider Trading: Cook’s Corner for Expats in Turkey
I discovered a great passion for cooking when I started traveling around the world. I couldn’t believe what I’d been missing! I wanted to...
Istanbul’s Hidden Architecture: Şemsi Pasha Mosque
Mimar Sinan was, without a doubt, the greatest architect of the Ottoman empire. His importance and influence are often compared with his contemporary Michelangelo, and it's an established...
Ancient Love Affair: Carian Project, a Self-Initiated Artist Residency
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...
Live Music in Istanbul: 9 of the City’s Best Venues
There's nothing like a great concert, especially when life is stressful. The catharsis of listening to a live band and perhaps even dancing has...
An Expat’s Guide to Hamams
Sometimes the grit and grime and non-stop pace of the city just get overwhelming. You need a break from the packed Metrobus and the...
Tophane-i Amire Culture & Arts Center
Tophane is a very pleasant area to spend an afternoon smoking nargile and playing tavla. Or, if you are more into art than the...
A Beginner’s Guide to Turkish Hip Hop, by Ege Çubukçu
As a follow-up to our interview with rapper and all-round nice guy of Turkish hip-hop, Ege Çubukçu, we asked him to put together a playlist for those...
Top 5 Bookshops in Istanbul
Istanbul sure does have a lot to offer when it comes to the world of books - there are boutique retailers, hidden stores, retail...
The Sunken Palace: Basilica Cistern
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...
Discussing the Dönme with Artist and Researcher C.M. Kösemen (Part 1)
It is well known that the Ottoman Empire was a place of incredible cosmopolitanism. What is often overlooked is the existence of “syncretic” peoples,...
Ani: A Timeless Beauty on the Edge of Turkey
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...
In Conversation with Ray Cullom, Executive Director of the Zorlu Center...
For the second part of our interview, I asked Ray about his work at Zorlu Center PSM and how the project has developed over the...
Turkish Electronic Music: A New Breed of Artists
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...
Turkish Literature 101: Nazım Hikmet Ran
Born on the 15th of January 1902 in Thessaloniki, where his father was serving as an Ottoman government official; Nazım Hikmet Ran, commonly known...
16th Istanbul Biennial: The Seventh Continent
IKSV has announced the title and conceptual framework of its 16th Istanbul Biennial. The Biennial will be taking place between September 14th and November...
8000 Years of Istanbul: Review of ‘Again, and New: World City...
Artifacts have been found in Istanbul (previously home to some of the world's largest empires, the city has also been known as Byzantion, Nea...
Turkey’s Pickle Culture
For a long time there has been a culture struggling to make itself known, to have its voice heard. Often relegated to the sidelines,...