04.06.2021 12:18 Destruction in Istanbul's Palestine Neighborhood Around the same time violence broke out in Israel and Palestine after tensions boiled over due to planned evictions of Palestinians from the East Jerusalem quarter of Sheikh Jarrah, a documentary was released depicting the displacement in a small area on the fringes of Istanbul called the Palestine neighborhood. 13.05.2021 10:53 Chaos, confusion, comfort A group of tourists carouse on a rooftop hotel in the touristic district of Sultanahmet while a Turkish maid clutches a dustpan and broom in the background. This photo symbolizes Turkish government's very clear position on pandemic management: locals have to abide by the restrictions but the country is open to the whims of tourists. 17.03.2021 10:11 Netflix film sheds light on Istanbul's street collectors Lead actor Çağatay Ulusoy and everyone else behind Paper Lives deserve to be commended for shedding light on the lives of Istanbul's collectors, accurately portraying their trade without romanticizing their brutal, grinding working conditions. 05.01.2021 11:31 Turkey's plagiarism pandemic The storm of controversy surrounding the appointment of a ruling AKP politician, as the rector of Boğaziçi University, Turkey's top institution of higher education, who is guilty of extensive plagiarism, is drawing attention to the plagiarism pandemic in Turkey. Plagiarism as a practice runs rampant in Turkey, from the bottom all the way up to the top echelons of power. 30.11.2020 10:41 Grim period awaits Istanbul as pandemic spirals out of control Regardless of whether or not one thinks that all but shutting down Istanbul's (and the country's) restaurants, bars and cafes is a good idea, a harsh blow will be dealt to the sector, one that will be felt for months. This winter and early spring will not go by smoothly. Establishments have already been dropping like flies. 15.10.2020 11:07 Tough times for Istanbul, tougher times for Beyoğlu When things are bad for Istanbul, they are often worse for Beyoğlu. That has been the case at different points in the city's history, and certainly for the past decade, where the district has slowly but surely lost its glory. Modern institutions in Beyoğlu have been dropping like flies one after the other. 14.07.2020 08:34 Remember Sulukule? In 2008, then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan vowed to “save Sulukule from its state of monstrosity” invoking the same word for monstrosity (ucube) he later used to describe the Statue of Humanity, a sculpture built in the eastern province of Kars to symbolize friendship between Turkey and Armenia. Like Sulukule, the statue was torn down. 06.06.2020 11:01 Istanbul, COVID-19, and the importance of balconies As millions of people in Istanbul and throughout the country have been confined to their homes during the COVID-19 epidemic, the balcony has acquired a new status in urban Turkey. 15.05.2020 01:15 Defending Istanbul, defending ourselves As we take preventative measures to protect ourselves from the coronavirus, we must not neglect the obligation we have to protect the city. To protect Istanbul is to protect ourselves. 30.04.2020 10:31 Strange scenes from my Istanbul neighborhood After a series of curfews have ended at midnight on Sunday for the past several weeks, a trend has emerged where people cooped up in their apartments take to the streets as soon as the clock strikes the hour. Many are walking dogs that have been clambering for fresh air and exercise, others are making runs to the convenience stores that open on the dot to sell beer, cigarettes, soda and snacks to those who made the mistake of not stocking up in the days prior to the lockdown. 17.04.2020 09:14 The trap of writing in the coronavirus era As journalists, we must engage with this novel and dangerous virus, as it is the top item on the agenda. The fear of getting the virus, how severely it may affect you, and transmitting it to others is layered upon the existing fear and lack of security that comes along with the job. 04.04.2020 01:59 One last trip outside Istanbul: Nevşehir and Kırşehir Only a few weeks ago I was on a gastronomy trip to the Central Anatolian provinces of Nevşehir and Kırşehir with a group of Lebanese food and travel writers and our excellent Turkish guide who curated everything. That trip now is seared in my mind as one of the last I might take for a very long time. 26.03.2020 00:02 An Istanbul Friday night in the coronavirus age Last Friday, I went out alone to explore the usually-lively districts of Şişli, Beşiktaş, Kadıköy and Beyoğlu. It was a surreal and startling journey. While the three hours or so I spent outside were spooky and unsettling, it was comforting to know that the city is taking coronavirus seriously. 12.03.2020 23:58 Istanbul and Berlin: Two kinetic energies The energies of Istanbul and Berlin are different in substance but equal in exhilaration. Despite rapid change, they both possess resilient characteristics and kinetic energies that preserve their identity as two of the world's great cities. 27.02.2020 00:44 Taksim Square: Meeting point or ideological battleground? Taksim Square's status as an ideological battlefield predated the ascent of the AKP, though it intensified during those years, particularly following the Gezi Park protests. Now that Istanbul is no longer in the AKP's hands but run by opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu, it appears that the government will do what it can to sidestep the municipality and exert its control over the city and its most important spaces, adding a new dimension to the ideological battle over Taksim. 20.02.2020 07:03 Gezi, Istiklal and the never-ending mall On Feb. 18, a court ruled to acquit all defendants in the Gezi Park trial, a bizarre affair where civil society figures and celebrities were charged with plotting the protests for the purpose of toppling the government. While the 2013 protests did stall the destruction of the Gezi park, storied buildings have since made way for garish shopping malls. 12.02.2020 00:24 The people in Turkey who just scrape by Something I have often pondered while walking the streets of Istanbul, by far the most expensive of Turkey's major cities, is how people earning the minimum wage here are getting by. The short answer is that they really aren't. 05.02.2020 00:53 Ten years in The City I realize that this is a privileged perspective, but for me the worst thing about living in Istanbul is not the traffic, the crowds, the noise or the chaos, or the skyrocketing rent, but rather the nonstop and unsettling change and destruction brought about by rampant greed and speculation that pays no heed to heritage, history and humanity. The little I could do was write about these things.