A staff member of the biology department at Dumlupınar University, located in Turkey‘s province of Kühtaya, has been indicted along with his wife for allegations of blasphemy-namely, posing as a saint to bilk money from pious locals in the search of divine healing. The trial against Dr. Osman Nuri BenlioÄŸlu and his wife Hatice Kübra […]
filed under: World
The Talk In London – A New Yorker’s Report from the Field
“Are you replete?” my British wife wanted to know, her curiosity laced with earnest spousal solicitude. I froze, locked in a semi quaver’s worth of vamp-till-ready until context rolled in and I could brave my reply – a confident, if ever-so-slightly-belated, yes. This was dinner time, and my connubial blissmate had merely wondered, after all, […]
7 Turks arrested in environmental protest
ISTANBUL, Turkey – Seven environmental activists were arrested in Istanbul on Thursday after protesting the construction of new dams in Turkey that will submerge a national park and displace thousands of Kurds. They chained themselves to a tree in front of the Tunceli Association headquarters – a group involved in the infamous Ilisu Dam project […]
An Epidemic
Public awareness for the cataclysmic problems in schools skyrocketed on April 20, 1999. Imagine if you will… or try not to, it might be better for your soul… just a typical high school girl sitting at her desk between classes, talking to friends, enjoying the few free moments she has to not think about homework, […]
Double-entendre Pontiff
Pope Benedict XVI’s trip to Turkey, thanks to being under tight security including shutting down major arteries, snipers and security checkpoints in Istanbul and portions of the public transit system in Istanbul went off with nary a hitch, and the main demonstrations during the duration of his stay were either far afield from his itinerary […]
Shaky beams
Acarkent, an upscale housing division in the suburbs on the Asian side of Istanbul, has been racked with scandal the past week as investigations have shown that the lion’s share of the homes on the gated estate were constructed illegally and to the detriment of the local environment. The first dwellings on the compound, nestled […]