Sacrificing your life

I passed Yeni Valide Cami today at prayer time. The mosque was full of people, the imam was giving his sermon. I heard what state religion can do – they don’t call it state religion here, but in fact the ministry for religious affairs trains all the imams and tells them every week what to focus on in their Friday

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Ramadan is politics

With Ramadan about to start, I was talking with a Turkish friend about whether or not to eat in public during Ramadan. I have mixed feelings. On one hand, I want to show respect to people who fast, on the other hand, I don’t fast so why should I not eat something when I’m on the street and hungry? My …