‘A campus should not be a trade zone’

(This blog post was written by my intern Zehra Kaya, who studies at the Journalism Academy in the Netherlands. She is currently studying for one semester at Yeditepe University in Istanbul.)

Thanks to banners saying ‘Occupied area’ it’s hard to miss the Starbucks on the huge campus. The branch of the coffee giant has been occupied by students since last week. …

Two coats that don’t fit

And there I found myself, in a café in Istanbul with a book in my hands and tears in my eyes. It was the banned book by Ahmet Şık. I just bought it and really, really wanted to read it. But the first two pages not only took me an hour, they also drove me nuts: …

Sinterklaas for one day in Turkey

ISTANBUL – Dutch Turks who live in Turkey pass the tradition of Sinterklaas (Saint Nicholas) on to their children. ‘I celebrated Sinterklaas in the Netherlands when I was little, so it’s nice to get my children acquainted with it too’, says one of them, Nermin Celik (38). If you want to see ‘Sint’ in Turkey, can go to the Dutch …