Turkish Armenian: I'd defend Turkey against our enemies as we did in the Battle of the Dardanelles

Cumali Önal The chairman of the Association of Philanthropic Malatya Armenians (HAYDER), Hosrof Köletavitoğlu, is a typical Anatolian man. He defines himself as Anatolian in his heart, his mind and all his emotions. For him, a true Anatolian is a good citizen. He feels himself a stranger everywhere else, even in Armeni...

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Turkish Islamic scholar Gülen rejects any link to graft probe

Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has rejected any link to an ongoing corruption probe in which 52 people, including well-known businessmen, the sons of three ministers, and a number of advisors, have been detained as part of a major investigation into alleged bribery linked to public tenders...

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Professor Ori Z. Soltes: ‘Gülen wants to be an altruistic servant of others’

Aydogan Vatandas Professor Ori Z. Soltes, author of ‘Embracing the World: Fethullah Gülen’s Thought and Its Relationship to Jalaluddin Rumi and Others,’ explains how Gülen’s perception of Sufism is grounded particularly in the work of thinkers such as Jalaluddin Rumi, Ibn Arabi and Said Nursi, but is also grounded in the idea of selflessnes...

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Turkey's Tea Party

Mümtazer Türköne Some civil society organizations known for their religious tendencies expressed full support for the government in newspaper ads titled, “They thought it would last 1,000 years.” The title referred to the Feb. 28 process. This was followed by a second declaration titled, “Declaration of the nation,” which sought to express full and strong support for the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government and the prime minister. The statement in the second declaration, about “attempts to undermine the achievements of the visionary leadership which has been ruling the country for 11 years,” reflects this explicit support. Such declarations target one side. These groups refer to a “group guardianship” as the main source of threat...

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Moved by Syrian refugees’ woes, U.S. mayors initiate blanket drive

Ali H. Aslan The conditions the Syrian refugees in Adana refugee camp are in deeply moved the U.S. mayors on an intercultural trip to Turkey. They have collected over 10 thousand blankets through the drive they kicked off once back home...

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Middle East's Struggle for Democracy: Going Beyond Headlines

Alp Aslandogan The ongoing struggle in the Middle East is not between the so-called Islamists and secularists. It's not pro-Morsi vs. pro-military in Egypt, or even Assad vs. opposition in Syria. The real struggle is between those committed to the core values of democracy and human rights and those who want to maintain a status quo of authoritarianism and domination. Western observers often place Middle East actors and their motives into well-intentioned but partially inaccurate or sometimes misleading categories. For example, the three major groups in Iraq are labeled as Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds. The first two are religious categories, while the third is ethnic. The majority of Kurds are Sunni, and the majority of Iraqi Shiites are ethnically Arabs. So the right, albeit inconvenient,...

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Attacks on free press in Turkey

Abdullah Bozkurt It appears that Turkey's powerful prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has adopted a two-pronged assault on the right to freedom of expression and free press in Turkey against the background of increased criticism of his government amid outrageous revelations that the government has been running a massive profiling program on unsuspecting innocent citizens with no reasonable cause whatsoeve...

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A home for the holiday

By Angel Jennings  Roger Anderson has a lot to be thankful for this holiday season.  After spending more than three decades living on the streets — seeking refuge under bridges, in the woods and most recently on a small, grassy patch by the 110 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles — the 47-year-old moved into his first apartment in time for Thanksgiving. On Tuesday, Anderson was given the keys to a studio inside a sleek apartment complex that opened earlier this month and caters to the city's chronically homeless. The space is modest with a kitchenette, spacious bathroom and comfortable-sized living space. But for Anderson, the apartment is the first place he can set his wallet down without worry since he ran away from an abusive father at 13. "It's like it's a dream," Anderson...

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Turkey: From a bridge to an island in the Mideast

Fadi Hakura* (CNN) -- Egypt expelled the Turkish ambassador and scaled back diplomatic relations at the weekend over Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's vocal and persistent criticism of the interim government that replaced the former short-lived presidency of Mohamed Morsy, who hailed from the Muslim Brotherhoo...

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LMU needs interculturalism

Kellyn Kawaguchi The next time you walk into a room, I want you to notice how many people are the same ethnicity as you. Chances are, if you’re white, you’re part of the majority. While this observation shouldn’t make a difference, it affects the 51 percent of students who make up the non-white portion of LM...

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#BBCtrending: Turkish Twitter war over education

Plans to abolish "prep schools" in Turkey have sparked a huge feud between two of the country's most powerful forces on the micro-blogging website Twitte...

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Islamic scholar Gülen urges followers to stick to path despite attacks

Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen called on his followers on Monday to “just keep walking and not stop” in the face of controversial government plans to abolish privately-funded educational institutions known as dershanes, which assist medium and high school students to prepare for national college and university admission examination...

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"Turkish government defiant as battle over prep schools rises"

The tension recently peaked, with Erdoğan describing the group’s objection to his government’s plans as a “smear campaign...

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Erdoğan launches another war

Mustafa Akyol Last week I wrote a piece in this column titled, “Behind the war over prep schools.” In fact, it was not a full-scale culture war then, but rather a growing tension. But Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan made it obvious to everyone this week by announcing on a TV show that he is determined to close all prep schools and he, as usual, will “not take a step back.”...

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At home and abroad, Erdogan shoots himself in the foot

Mahir Zeylanov “I voted for [Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party] but I feel ashamed for their move,” Nazlı Ilıcak, a columnist with pro-government daily Sabah and long supporter of the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, recently said, referring to a government intention to inspect mixed-gender student housin...

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Kimse Yok Mu becomes first charity to reach Philippines from Turkey

Turkish charity Kimse Yok Mu (Is Anybody There) was the first such organization from Turkey to send aid to the Philippines, which is struggling to recover after being hit on Friday by Typhoon Haiyan. Reaching the area with military helicopters, a team of 10 people began search and rescue activities and 25 tons of food packages were distributed to 6,500 victims in cooperation with Philippine official...

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Hizmet (Gulen movement) contributes to world peace

Following the international Hizmet Symposium in Washington D.C., Rumi Forum held its second day of the conference with academics from more than twenty countrie...

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Professor Wagner: With Gülen, the key is love

In his recent book, “Beginnings and Endings -- Fethullah Gülen’s Vision for Today’s World,” Professor Walter Wagner shares his insights about Gülen’s take on Islamic eschatology and the challenges of the contemporary word. According to the Wagner, the world is faced with a leadership crisis whose resolution could fulfill the prophetic message of love to human beings. In the last century, the world suffered under authoritarian leaders who were unable to meet the needs of the peopl...

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Turkish charities ready to deliver aid during Eid al-Adha

Various Turkish charity organizations have wrapped up their preparations to deliver aid, including sacrificial meat and other forms of assistance, to people in need across Turkey and around the world during Eid al-Adha, an Islamic holiday celebrated by millions around the globe. Turkish charities are especially busy during the Eid al-Adha season, collecting money and sacrificing animals, packaging the meat and distributing it to the less fortunate. The main aim is to help ease the suffering of people in need and promote fraternity among nations. Aid organizations such as Kimse Yok Mu (Is Anybody There), the Humanitarian Aid Foundation (İHH), Doctors Worldwide, Cansuyu, Deniz Feneri, the Aziz Mahmûd Hüdâyi Foundation and Yardımeli are just...

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Fethullah Gulen Deplores Recent Attacks on Christians in Pakistan

Fethullah Gülen I am deeply saddened to learn about the bombing of a Christian church in Peshawar, Pakistan, which cost the lives 85 civilians and injured many others. I condemn this attack unequivocally and on this sad occasion reiterate my condemnation of all forms of terrorism regardless of perpetrators or their stated purpose...

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Fethullah Gulen Condemns Terrorist Attack in Nairobi, Kenya

Fethullah Gülen I am heartbroken by the senseless terrorist attack in Kenya and the loss of lives and horrific injuries to so many innocent people. In the eyes of God, every life is sacred and every person has dignity. The taking of a single human life is an attack on all humankin...

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President Obama Hosts Forum on Civil Society at UN General Assembly

President Obama has hosted a High Level Event on Supporting Civil Society in New York on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly on Monday, meeting with heads of state and leaders of civil society, multilateral organizations, and the philanthropic community to discuss growing restrictions being placed on civil society organizations (CSOs) worldwide. The event marks the beginning of a year-long effort to further intensify our work to support and defend civil society from a rising tide of restrictions. The White House Blog made the following announcement regarding the even...

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Gülen donates Manhae award honorarium to Peace Projects

Well-respected Turkish intellectual and scholar Fethullah Gülen has decided to donate the honorarium that accompanies the Manhae Peace Prize he received to Peace Projects, a grant program launched by the Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV...

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The sisters of the Hagia Sophia

Fatih Sınar There are several namesakes and replicas of İstanbul's Hagia Sophia, which was constructed in A.D. 537 upon the order of Emperor Justinian I of the Eastern Roman Empire, also known as Justinian the Great in Anatolia, Thrace and Macedonia. The soaring Hagia Sophia reflects different periods in Istanbul’s history. (Photo: John Cavacas...

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A Rare Meeting With Reclusive Turkish Spiritual Leader Fethullah Gulen

Jamie Tarabay Fethullah Gulen is a Turkish religious spiritual leader, some say to millions of Turks both in Turkey and around the world, and the head of the "Gulenist" movement. His network of followers span the globe and have opened academically-focused schools across 90 countries, including the U....

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The Journalists and Writers Foundation’s (JWF) response to allegations against Hizmet Movement

In recent days there has been a growing campaign of defamation and misinformation against the Hizmet Movement; this campaign has been directed particularly through social media. Despite the maxim that “the one who makes allegations bears the burden of proof”, it seems that those making them will continue to do so and claim that “such things cannot be proven.” Although such libels have been addressed many times before, the Journalists and Writers Foundation feels obliged to issue this statement to show respect for the public’s right to be properly informe...

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Turkey in humanitarian and development aid

Abdullah Bozkurt Turkey has been a fast-emerging donor country in the last couple of years with grants, loans and donations made to foreign countries on the rise. The three-year average of the official development aid between 2010 and 2012 is calculated as $1.6 billion, which is a new record in Turkey's history in the area of humanitarian and development assistance. Turkey's development aid increased almost 30 percent, by $1.2 billion, in 2011 and 98 percent, by $2.4 billion, in 2012 compared to previous years. As the traditional donors' shares have decreased emerging economies like Turkey have been coming along to make up for the declin...

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How Faith Can Affect Therapy

Ashley Taylor Can belief in God predict how someone responds to mental health treatment? A recent study suggests it might. Researchers at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Mass., enrolled 159 men and women in a cognitive behavioral therapy program that involved, on average, 10 daylong sessions of group therapy, individual counseling and, in some cases, medications. About 60 percent of the participants were being treated for depression, while others had bipolar disorder, anxiety or other diagnoses. All were asked to rate their spirituality by answering a single question: “To what extent do you believe in God...

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Samples of Kimse Yok Mu Ramadan Aid Activities Worldwide

Kimse Yok Mu, set to reach out to 103 countries as a part of its Ramadan campaign, has launched the food aid deliverie...

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5 Tips for Healthy Eating During a Summer Ramadan

Yvonne Maffei I've spent more than 10 years fasting but the last two years Ramadan has fallen in weather that was significantly warmer than in previous years and days when the fast was much longer. That means extra preparation and knowing what to eat during non-fasting hours is essential to good health and endurance during the entire mon...

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Global peace as a dream to follow

Begüm Burak* Every dream can come true if we have enough courage to follow it. Peace has always been a dream to catch; however, it has always been almost impossible to provide peace and order. Let alone world peace, no single community can fully have peace. From the very beginning of history, the war between good and bad has existed. Famous English thinker Thomas Hobbes puts forward this argument by underlining that human nature is evil and, as a result, conflicts are not abnorma...

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Students give International Turkish Olympiad a moving sendoff

The 11th International Turkish Olympiad, a competition in which Turkish speakers from around the globe recite poetry, write essays and sing songs, wrapped up on Sunday with a ceremony at İstanbul's Atatürk Olympic Stadiu...

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Gülen calls for peaceful coexistence, warns about deceit and oppression

Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has called for living together in peace, echoing similar remarks issued by President Abdullah Gül last week against the background of two-week-long anti-government protests in Turke...

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Archbishop Ateşyan: We are ready to be cultural bridge between people of Turkey, US

Archbishop Aram Ateşyan, deputy patriarch of the Armenian Patriarchate, based in İstanbul, told Sunday’s Zaman after returning from the Los Angeles Anatolian Cultures and Food Festival that Armenians are ready to be a bridge between the people of Turkey and the United State...

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Bottom-Up: Explaining the Success Story of Turkey in the 2000s

Prof. Dr. Mustafa Acar, Strategic Outlook Turkish President Abdullah Gul after a speech at the Turkish Parliament A lot of people around the world are wondering these days how Turkey was able to jump from bottom to the top within a decade and became a shining star of the region. It seems a miracle: starting from a terrible situation it faced with the eruption of 2001 crisis, but ending with a brighter than ever outlook. When the country cleared its external debts to the IMF last week, this outlook became even brighter, urging credit rating institutions to upgrade Turkey’s ratin...

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Hizmet movement: Social movement or political manipulation?

Sadık Çınar* In the last decade, the Hizmet movement has become a phenomenon in Turkish civil and political lif...

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An Armenian from Turkey in Los Angeles...

Markar Esayan Last week I visited Los Angeles to attend the fourth Anatolian Cultures and Food Festival, held between May 16 and 19. I wanted to write about my impressions before the effects of jet lag took hold and while my memories were still fresh. I was enthusiastic as this was my first visit to Los Angeles. I wasn't enthusiastic just because I was making my first visit to a place or because I would see all the major historic or religious landmarks of Anatolia within a 60,000-square-meter area in Orange County. I also have many relatives and friends living in this city and across the state, most of whom I hadn't seen for years. Perhaps it would be possible to catch up with some of them on everything during my tight schedule....

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An Armenian lady, Hrant and April 24

Orhan Kemal Cengiz There is a story that Hrant Dink used to tell on many different occasions that I would like to share with you. Let us listen to the story from Hrant: "An old Turkish man called me from a village in the region of Sivas and said: 'Son, we searched everywhere until we found you. There is an old woman here. I guess she is one of your people. She has passed away. Can you find any relative of hers, or we will bury her with a Muslim service...

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Across the Armenian-Turkish divide

Michael Krikorian For years, the genocide fueled my anger at all things Turkish. Then I met Murat Kayali. In 2001, I wrote a story for the Los Angeles Times about April 24, the annual Armenian Day of Remembrance, that had this lead: "The Armenian genocide." That was it, the entire first paragraph. I was proud of it because it didn't say "the alleged genocide" or "what the Armenians consider a genocide." It just called the 1915 massacre of a million Armenians what it was, even though the U.S. government — in deference to official Turkish denials and our air bases in Turkey — won't use the wor...

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Every American Muslim's Fear After the Boston Bombing

Charles King The Tsarnaev brothers are Muslim. They are homegrown jihadists. But careful, writes Charles King, are these terrorists really any different from Adam Lanza and other mass murderers? Tsarnaev bothers in an image taken before the explosion at the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013. (Handout/UPI, via Landov) The naming of two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing and the manhunt for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was captured alive last night, have made the nightmare scenario for many American Muslims come true. The Tsarnaev brothers will forever be the poster children for a particularly American fear, reflected in everything from blockbuster films to popular fiction: that the English-speaking, dark-haired young men with unpronounceable...

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Fethullah Gulen Named in TIME Magazine’s “World's 100 Most Influential People” for 2013

“Gulen preaches a message of tolerance that has won him admirers around the world.” Pacifica Institute  today celebrates Mr. Fethullah Gulen, an inspiration for many of our volunteers and donors, being named as one of TIME Magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world in 2013. TIME recognized Gulen for “preaching a message of tolerance that has won him admirers around the world.” The 2013 “TIME 100” includes other noted world leaders such as President Obama and Pope Francis. In the past, TIME has honored global leaders such as the Dalai Lama, Pope Benedict XVI and Aung San Suu Kyi in TIME 100 lists. Last year, TIME’s honorees in education were Salman Khan and Cami Anderso...

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Transnational Conspiracy Theories and Vernacular Visual Cultures: Political Islam in Turkey and America

Pelin Gurel, Ph.D.* “Seeing is believing, but feeling is the truth,” states an epistemological folk theory. Successful theories of conspiracy – those that are ultimately true as well as false – all depend on what Stephen Colbert would call “truthiness”: “the quality by which you know something purely by feeling, without regard to logic, evidence, or intellectual examination.” While visual documentation, including photographs and charts, has long been used as “proof” in conspiracy theorizing, the role unrealistic images might play in generating feelings of truthiness has not been subjected to sustained analysis. This gap is even more jarring in the case of contemporary conspiracy theories regarding political Islam, given the importance of “looking” Muslim to both hate-crimes and conspiracy...

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How Turkey is emerging as a development partner in Africa

Prof. Alpaslan Özerdem* A displaced Somalian man walks away with food  at a centre run by Turkish aid agency in the Howlwadaag district of southern Mogadishu. Photograph: Feisal Omar/Reuters Turkey has emerged as a generous donor for humanitarian crises across the world over the past five years, especially in the context of Africa. In 2011, while official development assistance (ODA) fell in 16 DAC countries, Turkey's net ODA increased by over 38%. Following the 'Turkey – Africa Co-operation summit' in Istanbul in August 2008, the African Union declared Turkey a 'strategic partner' and in May 2010, Istanbul was the venue for the 4th UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDCs...

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New book looks closer into Hizmet Movement with questions, answers

A newly published book by Professor Muhammed Çetin, a sociologist who has done extensive academic work on social movements and who now serves as a lawmaker in the Turkish Parliament, offers comprehensive information on the faith-based Gülen movement, answering hundreds of questions on the movemen...

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The effect of ‘soft power' on Turkey's rapid development

Bülent Keneş While every country in the world has its own sources of soft power, only some are really aware of these sources. As for Turkey -- which possesses a vital geopolitical position and military strength, a deep-rooted history and a rich culture and sees the future of economic and socio-political development as being intertwined with such universal values as basic human rights and freedoms, the superiority of justice and a liberal economy -- it is a country with extremely rich sources of soft powe...

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Exploring Turkey in seven days

Pat Yale It would take years to see all the great sights of a country as large as Turkey. Unfortunately many visitors must make do with a rushed seven days, which makes careful picking and choosing particularly important, especially bearing in mind the long distances between the must-see attraction...

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Muslim Politics Without an "Islamic" State: Can Turkey's Justice and Development Party Be a Model for Arab Islamists?

Ahmet T. Kuru As Islamist parties assume power in Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco, many – in both the West and the region – have turned to the experience of Turkey’s pro-Islamic Justice and Development Party (AKP) for lessons on negotiating the relationship between Islam and the stat...

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Do you really know the monuments of Sultanahmet?

Talha Uğurluel The German fountain was commissioned by Kaiser Wilhelm II to honor the friendship between the Ottomans and the Germans. (Photo: Today's Zaman) This week we continue our tour around Sultanahmet Square. But this time, let's listen to some more stories about the history surrounding some of the monuments that call this place home. What, for example, are some of the things that have happened to the famous Yılanlı Taş, or Snake Column, which has witnessed both Aristotle and Alexander the Great in its lifetime? Or how about the story behind the German Fountain? And where now are all the statues that have been stolen from this square over the years? Last week we told the founding story of the Hippodrome. We touched on efforts...

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How to cook the food you miss while abroad

Charlotte McPherson A Turkish saying reads: “First appeal to the eyes, then fill the stomach.” Turks place much emphasis not only on the presentation of food, but also on the flavor. I love the taste of Turkish food. The best cookbook around when I first came to Turkey was a simple cookbook published by Redhouse Press. The original title was "An American Cook in Turkey," but later more recipes were added and the book was republished under the title "Cooking in Turkey" (An American Cook in Turkey, 5th Edition...

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Islam is not the real issue we are facing in Africa

Eliza Griswold Christians and Muslims have co-existed here for centuries. Corruption and climate change are much more pressing problems Stretching from west to east across Africa – from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea – the Sahel today is a militant's dream. Despite the French military's recent routing of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and its allies in northern Mali, the threat of safe haven for the west's enemies is not going to end there any time soon. Although, for the moment, the militia have melted from sight, the latest battles in Algeria and Mali are harbingers of a larger catastrophe: the Sahel, the vast grassland north of the equator, has become the latest battleground in the west's war against Islamist militant...

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How expatriates can support Turkish charities

Klaus Jurgens A person moving abroad is traditionally an open-minded busy kind of person, yet there are a few items that may need urgent attention before being able to really enjoy life overseas. Think finding a new flat or house, consider uncharted professional territory. Once the first few months have hopefully satisfactorily elapsed, though, there is no better way to really "go native" than engaging in charitable work. All it needs is just that little extra effort with regards to fact-finding and establishing first contacts eventually resulting in some well-spent hours each week, or less frequently should you so decid...

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US ambassador says terrorism cannot damage Turkish-US relations

US Ambassador to Turkey Francis J. Ricciardone stated on Tuesday that Turkish-US relations deepened even further after an attack on the US Embassy in Ankara last week, adding that terrorism cannot damage the relationship between the two countries. Speaking at the opening of a conference on Turkish-US ties hosted by the Ankara-based International Strategic Research Organization (USAK), Ricciardone said the attack brought the Turkish and US peoples closer and that the terrorists who carried out the attack had failed to reach their goa...

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Turkey's finest: Istanbul is the most popular kid on the 21st-century global block

John Walsh If you want a metaphor for modern Istanbul, look no further than the Marmaray tunnel. It's currently being dug under the Bosphorus to link Sirkeci Station, near the Grand Bazaar, with the ferry port of Uskudar on the Asian shore. The work will take three years to finish; maybe more because workmen keep discovering ancient objects that have to be removed and lovingly catalogued. These objects aren't just shards of pottery: they include the world's oldest medieval galley, and the remains of a fourth-century port. How neat it is that the modern project linking east k and west Istanbul – but also linking Europe to Asia, and bringing the Western world closer to the Middle East – keeps tripping over its own awe-inspiring historical...

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Islamophobia no longer works as political tool in US

Islamophobia, which was on the rise as a result of the 9/11 attacks in the US, no longer works as a political tool for American political figures to win elections, according to Wajahat Ali, a well-known playwright, attorney and activist in the US. “In the latest elections in US, most of the Islamophobic political figures lost. It has been realized that using Islamophobia as a political tool does not make you win,” said Al...

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Obama Talks Climate Change. California Is Acting on It

Bryan Walsh* The Salton Sea area of California's Imperial Valley was once a thriving tourist destination, but it deteriorated and dried up from the effects of global warming (Brian L. Frank / Redux) It’s not the happiest time to be an environmentalist. Climate change hit home last year with brutal force: 2012’s historic drought singed much of the Midwest, turning farms to dust and withering the corn crop. Other parts of the U.S. suffered through storms like Sandy and massive wildfires. Average annual temperatures in the continental U.S. beat the previous recorded high by a full 1°F (1.8°C). And the future is uglier still: over the weekend, British economist Nicholas Stern warned that climate change could be even worse than he predicted...

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Islam and Science: The road to renewal

After centuries of stagnation, science is making a comeback in the Islamic world. The sleep has been long and deep. In 2005 Harvard University produced more scientific papers than 17 Arabic-speaking countries combined. The world’s 1.6 billion Muslims have produced only two Nobel laureates in chemistry and physics. Both moved to the West: the only living one, the chemist Ahmed Hassan Zewail, is at the California Institute of Technology. By contrast Jews, outnumbered 100 to one by Muslims, have won 79. The 57 countries in the Organisation of the Islamic Conference spend a puny 0.81% of GDP on research and development, about a third of the world average. America, which has the world’s biggest science budget, spends 2.9%; Israel lavishes 4.4%. Many...

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A Muslim's Perspective on the Inauguration, MLK and the Universal Story of Hope and Fear

Alp Aslandoğan * Billions of people around the world of all races, religions, nationalities and political persuasions were inspired by the second inauguration of President Barack Obama. It was not only President Obama's message but the message of hope that underscores everything that America can represent for the world, including peaceful affirmations of power, progress and opportunit...

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The tastes of Turkey

Rhiannon Davies I was taken aback recently when a fellow expat friend said to me, “I like Turkish food but I find it all a bit… samey.” I was quick to point out that he clearly wasn't looking hard enough. Being an expat in Turkey has allowed me to scratch beneath the surface of Turkish food. Kebabs are Turkey's most famous edible export; their popularity being such that seemingly every small town in the UK along with Germany and other countries now has at least one döner joint, and when I tell people who have never visited Turkey that one of the reasons I moved here is for the food they often raise an eyebrow, wondering how I haven't managed to tire of these yet (or managed to avoid doubling in size). The longer I live here, the more...

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The best of Anatolia’s Phrygian sites

Pat Yale Of the many peoples who have inhabited Anatolia in the pre-Greco-Roman period the best known are probably the Hittites whose ancient capital, at Hattuşa, is now one of Turkey’s world heritage sites. Not quite so well known are the Phrygians who took over power from them in much of Central Anatolia from the 12th century B.C. onwards. Indo-Europeans who probably first emerged in the Balkans, the Phrygians may have been included amongst the mysterious “Sea Peoples” who are thought to have overwhelmed the Hittites. Alternatively, they may just have stepped into the void created by the collapse of the Hittite Empire. The full story is yet to be tol...

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The Importance of Family Travel

Lisa Belkin Among my most memorable vacation moments with my kids was the phone call I made from a peak in the Grand Tetons one summer. The boys were 7 and 10, and they had not taken to the majestic scenery with quite the enthusiasm I'd hoped. I believe the word "bored" was uttered once or twice, and someone actually whined "are we there yet...

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Environment and economy on collision course

Rolf Wenkel Photo: Fars The world is confronted with mounting threats, the World Economic Forum has warned in its Global Risk Report. Among the risks are income disparity, the burden of sovereign debt and damage caused by climate change. The 2013 Global Risk Report compiled by the World Economic Forum (WEF) is based on a poll of over 1,000 economists, policy makers, scientists and civil society activists. The majority of respondents singled out increasing income disparity as the risk which was most likely to manifest itself over the next ten year...

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The New United States-Turkey Partnership: A View From Washington

Richard Weitz* Recto | Verso Blog's Note: This is a summary of a 20-page document. Full analysis is available for download. After several years of tense ties between Turkey and the United States, Turkey has been deepening security cooperation with Washington, leading to the advent of a “Golden Era” in Turkish-U.S. relations. The expectation is that, with much of Europe paralyzed due to the Euro crisis and with U.S. attention drifting eastward, Turkey could become one of the most influential NATO countries as well as one of the most important U.S. allies in coming year...

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