Yabangee Feature

I have been a regular performer and audience member at Spoken Word since coming to Istanbul four years ago. At the time, the founder,...

Just a few minutes after saying goodbye to Enes, I met some truckers eating breakfast by the side of the road. They invited me...

It’s that time of the year again when the countdown to the Istanbul Jazz Festival begins and our anticipation heightens as the promised day...

Take Me Up the Bosphorus (TMUTB) is an exciting new project bringing English stand-up comedy to Istanbul. Thanks to the dedicated work of founder and...

There is no debating that tea is central to the very fabric of life in Turkey. A quick meander through any bustling neighborhood will...

The time has come for our fourth Instagram photo competition! After a successful photography exhibition following the conclusion of our last theme, “hidden gems,”...

Istanbul was the capital of the Ottoman Empire for centuries. Sultans and their wives, princes, viziers and pashas loved to show their power and...

It was 2014, when I realized that the last time that I had filed taxes was the year that George W Bush decided he...

I started going to Ayaküstü Masaj (literally, “massage on the run”) for foot reflexology after being diagnosed with a foot deformity earlier this year....

I have received a mixed bag of reactions from Turkish people when I explain that Kiralık Aşk is “my dizi.” It’s a barely-realistic technicolor drama...

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...

Home-cooked Turkish food. I’ll say it again: home-cooked Turkish food. In a restaurant, surrounded by family. Sounds like a dream come true for expats...

This review is for the true Harry Potter fans. I am not here to decide who fits into that category; you know who you...

As a vegetarian or vegan, by now you may have realized that Turkish people love their meat! Walking through the city you’ll see families...

Taksim Square is a place that is planned into almost every trip to Istanbul, one way or another. The name “Taksim” means “division”, from...

OK, I’ll admit it: I hate these lists. They’re usually a shortcut to thinking. Besides, I’ve always fancied myself more an impressionist than medievalist,...

Before coming to Istanbul I worked at restaurants in some capacity for over a decade. There are certain things I miss about working in...

When you first arrive in the city, you feel drawn to the riotous spectacle of Taksim, or to the multitudes of the street markets...

On the morning of February 6th 2023, the citizens of Turkey woke up to the tragic news of a 7.6 magnitude earthquake affecting major...

Disclaimer: This interview is a work of fiction. Several months ago I had the idea to try and contact the legendary John Freely, about...

In this better frame of mind, I continued walking through Denizli. My gait was slowed by the pain in my foot, and by mid-afternoon,...

That Istanbul is a force to be reckoned with in the contemporary art world is undeniable. You just need to look at spaces like...

It was bound to happen sooner or later. But it happened much sooner than the citizens of Istanbul were ready for. And it happened in...

If you are an expat living in Türkiye, a language enthusiast watching every single Turkish drama, or a university student researching about Turkish history,...