Al Qaeda suspects arrested in Turkey

ISTANBUL – The police this week arrested more than 150 people in a raid against terror organisation Al Qaeda. The operation was speeded up for fear of terrorist attacks in the country. According to Turkish press agency Anatolia on Friday, around 120 suspects were arrested in more than ten provinces.

Before 2003 Al Qaeda was not known to be present in …

Armenian love

The Armenian community in Turkey consists of about fifty thousand souls. It’s not easy to keep such a small community alive. Especially not for Armenians who live outside the strong Armenian community in Istanbul. A special report.

Cemil and Gülestan have been married now for twenty one years. But when you see them sitting together with their sons …

Church in the closet

It is well known what kind of row can erupt when in Holland a new mosque is proposed to be built. But what happens when Dutch people want to build a church in Turkey? This is a story from the southern Turkish town of Alanya, stronghold of Christians who flock here for the winter months. 

In southern Turkey’s Alanya …

Syrian Orthodox monastery in Turkey wins court case over land

ISTANBUL – A Turkish court has ruled that a Syrian Orthodox monastery in the southeast of the country is the legitimate owner of lands that the monastery has owned for centuries. The land rights case was closely monitored by the international community, including the EU, and thus became a measure of the degree of religious freedom in Turkey.
The 1,600 years …

Turkey translates Koran into Kurdish

ISTANBUL – The Turkish Directorate for Religious Affairs, a state organ that oversees religious life in Turkey, will translate the Koran into Kurdish, daily newspaper Vatan reports today.
After Kurdish the Koran will also be translated into other languages spoken in Turkey, like Azeri and Georgian. The Koran was already translated into Turkish in the nineteen twenties. That translation was initiated …

Turkey gets new Saint Nicholas statue

ISTANBUL – A cloth around his head, trousers to his calfs, a summer coat with sash, a rather short beard, rather big feet in sandals, a boy on his shoulder and a girl standing next to him both with a present in their hand: the typical Saint Nicholas. At least, according to the statue a Turkish sculpturer made …

“My husband was married off”

Mariska married the love of her life, Turkish man Ayhan. He moved to Holland, and everything seemed fine. That is, until he went to visit his family for a vacation and was promptly married off.

Mariska (30): “My husband and I planned to go on a holiday at his family’s place for a month. But he missed his family and his …

Eyüp: Holy grass

When she puts one foot on the grass, she already feels it, says Şerife Bayraktar. ‘The park in Eyüp is not just another park”, she says. “There’s a spiritual atmosphere here. I live quite far away from here, but it’s worth the trip.”
Şerife and her husband Ali and teenage son Osman …

Through the gate, headscarf off

Politicians in Ankara are fighting over the headscarf ban. Many Turkish students are tired of the discussion and would like the ban to be abolished quickly.

While in Ankara, the political centre of the country, advocates and opponents of the headscarf ban are locked in bitter debate, many other Turks are rather tired of the discussion. As are the women it …

To the market you don’t wear glitters

(photography by Allard de Witte, sharpness of the pictures is being worked on!)There are headscarves and headscarves. Take a look at the market in Ürgüp, a medium size village in central Turkey. 
Decoration 

Habibe Akkaya …