Published Articles

Murdered journalist Dink wins court case

news agency ANP, August 2010

ISTANBUL – The European Court for Human Rights has ruled in favour of the (murdered) Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink and his family. Dink filed the case almost four years ago. The Turkish state didn’t do enough to protect Dink’s life ...

Will the real Turkey please rise?

weekly magazine HP/De Tijd, August 2010

The Turkish government of Prime Minister Erdoğan keeps saying it still wants to be an EU member. But in the meantime, they become friends with Iran and Syria and agitate in strong emotional words against Israel. What does ...

Dutch in Turkey: ‘I want to go home’

weekly magazine HP/De Tijd, July 2010

Live in Turkey with your loved one: very romantic of course. Or is real life tougher than that? Yes. For Maaike, Ralph, Barbara and Charlene there is hardly any romance left. They want to return to Holland. (more ...

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Blogs

Aug 28

Defending the AKP

Two weeks to go, and the referendum on the constitutional changes as proposed by the AKP will be held. Even though it’s not an election, the campaigning is intense. So is the debate on the street, even going as far as physical fights between supporters and opponents of the changes. Whenever I join the debate, whether online or in real …

Aug 25

Get healthy by fasting!

There it was, on a huge rock in the middle of a village: oruç tut sıhhat bul, meaning ‘Get healthy by fasting’. It seems the connection between fasting during Ramadan and getting healthy is being made more and more often.

In the first place, it is of course crap to say that fasting during Ramadan makes you healthier. On the contrary: …

Aug 16

Unprofessional journalism

Every, really every foreign journalist working in Turkey, writes about the Kurdish question. It’s one of the most urgent topics in the country, there are a lot of interesting developments to report about and the stories are usually pretty sellable as well. And I haven’t heard of any foreign journalist getting into trouble (the last couple of years) with the …

Aug 11

A blessing in polygamy disguise

So, is Prime Minister Erdogan against adultery and polygamy or not? As far as I know, Erdogan hasn’t reacted yet to the debate that is going on. The subject: an advisor he appointed earlier this year, Ali Yuksel, who has three wives and intends to marry a fourth. It’s not possible to officially marry more than …

Aug 03

Oops, the historical view

It would have been too cruel, of course, to take Istanbul off the World Heritage List in the year that the city is European Capital of Culture. UNESCO decided not to transfer Istanbul to the World Heritage in Danger List. Just like last year, and the year before. And it doesn’t look like the yearly decision-making meeting of UNESCO is …

Jul 28

Who is behind the provocation?

That’s the big question these days in Turkey. There has been violence on the streets in two cities, resulting in four dead policemen, a few dead civilians, burnt police cars, roads blocked with overturned cars and angry crowds. Some person or some group, it is believed, must have provoked the violence. What makes emotions heat up as much as they …

Jul 24

Stone throwing kids: problem unsolved

Kids that throw stones at the police during demonstrations in the south east of Turkey (and in other places where many Kurds live, like in Adana and Mersin) will no longer be charged with being a member of a terrorist organization or for making propaganda for terrorists. The 196 children now serving a prison sentence for that offence will be …

Jul 19

Bye bye home office!

This is the first blog post that I have put online working from an office. It was weird this morning, after my morning run: I showered, got completely dressed, put my computer in a bag along with the files of stories I’m working on at the moment, and closed the door of my apartment behind me.

I’ve been working from home …

Jul 15

Night clubbing

It’s the beginning of the end for Istanbul’s famous night life, some say. The municipality has announced that they want to reduce the noise pollution that night clubs alongside the Bosporus create, and make them turn off all the music after midnight. You see, the Bosporus has two sides when it comes to music and dance. One: it offers a …

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