More freedom

‘More freedom of opinion in Turkey’, I read in a newspaper. If only that were true. Another newspaper was more accurate, their headline said: Turkey changes article 301. The changes that have been made to the article that was misused many times to shut up writers, journalists and publishers for ‘insulting Turkishness’, will probably only change the prosecutors strategies in …

Happy

I was in the Netherlands for a few days. One of the reasons: I needed a special sticker in my passport, which could only be obtained from the Turkish consolate in Rotterdam. Well, no point in fighting bureaucracy, so I took a plane and went. In my bag a pile of letters from media I work for and a letter …

Journalist in wheelchair

I saw a guy in a wheelchair on Taksim Square. First thing I thought: that must be a journalist spending a day or two on wheels to discover what it’s like to be bound to a wheelchair in Istanbul. I mean, it must be impossible to actually live your life in Istanbul sitting in a wheelchair. The cobbled streets, …

Buying a house in Turkey temporarily impossible

There is unrest in the Turkish property market because of a court decision that, for the time being, foreigners can not buy property in Turkey. This also has consequences for people who want to buy a holiday house in Turkey.  

“Have I lost my money now?”, asks Dutchman Peter by mail to his advisor on the Turkish property market, Tugrul Sezgin. …

Lost songs of Anatolia

An overwhelming success, Anadolu’nun kayip sarkilari, ‘Lost songs of Anatolia’, premiered last night at the Istanbul Film Festival. A marvelous and touching journey through Anatolia, based on old traditional songs from different cultures with roots on this soil. Village women singing from their hearts the songs they learned from their ancestors, little girls and boys listening and picking …

Violence troubles Turkish universities

Turkish universities are troubled by violence. In one and a half months nine violent incidents, with several wounded victims, made it to the national media. This is assumed to be only the tip of the iceberg. “Violence is a problem in the whole of Turkish society and universities are no exception”, says political scientist Koray Caliskan, a teacher Bosporus University, …

Three children

Turkish women need to give birth to at least three children. So says Prime Minister Erdogan. He said it once, nicely planned to coincide with International Womens’ Day, and that turned out not to be a slip of the tongue because he repeated his advice. Three children, because that’s the only way to maintain Turkish population levels. I have …

Probably next week

Newsflash! Governing party AKP is about to change the infamous penal code article 301! Many papers put it on the front page and the press outside Turkey also picked up the story. I recall how last December the same news was spread around. I rushed to write an article on how different human rights activists …

If nothing else comes up

Today, the Istanbul International Film Festival opens. Tomorrow at 4 p.m. the festival would really start for me: I have a ticket for ‘Kaotik Ana’. It’s on top of a whole pile of tickets I bought beforehand. Finally finally finally I’m going to a film festival in Istanbul. I let a few other festivals pass by, like …

Safiye Ayla

At their protest they carry a portrait of Safiye Ayla. She passed away ten years ago, ninety years old, but in her young years she was Atatürks favorite singer. She became successful also because of her performances on TRT, the Turkish state broadcaster. The portrait says everything about the unrest that has built up at TRT and …