Türkiye’ye gidiyoruz
“Turkey, here we come,” that says. I expect to write some blog posts and possibly a more ambitious article on some of the big changes going on there, continuing a fascination that began on our first visit, nearly 20 years ago, when we explored İstanbul and then, by ferry to İzmir and then in a rented car, explored most of the south and center of the country.
To prepare, I wanted to review my notes from past readings and visits, and here are those I found in my old blog archives.
We plan to fly to İstanbul (from Málaga) on Turkish Airlines on Friday, and return on November 9. Susana will be delivering a talk at an international conference for one day of the trip, but the rest of the time will be for us to enjoy one of our favorite cities.
Backgrounder on Turkey. 2013/06/28 Review of Turkey: What Everyone Needs to Know by Andrew Finkel (Oxford University Press, 2012)
Blog Hop … The Next Big Thing 2012/12/05. A self-interview about my novel and its recently published translation into Turkish .
Honoring the Enemy, A Lesson From Gallipoli. 2011/11/22. An article by our friend César Chelala
Edirne : music therapy, 2011/11/07. The ancient Roman city of Adrianopolis, renamed Edirne by the Ottomans, on the westernmost border of Turkey with Greece and Bulgaria, and its magnificent mosques and 17th-century hospital and medical school.
In İstanbul: a 5-star jail and other wonders 2011/11/06 Literary and art excursions in İstanbul, including the Blue Room of the Sultanahmet Four Seasons Hotel (former Sultanahmet Jail), where I spoke to a gathering of the Harvard Club of Turkey and even attempted a few sentences in Turkish.
Among the Turkish Kurds 2011/11/01 On our visit to southeastern Anatolia, the region with Turkey’s densest concentration of the Kurdish population.
Türkiye’ye gidiyoruz 2011/10/21 On my excited preparations for the trip, including learning enough Turkish to say, “We are going to Turkey”.
Art meets politics in Istanbul and the Armenian diaspora 2011/08/31. Review of The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak
Researching “Sultan” 2011/06/22 The investigation behind my novel A Gift for the Sultan.
Istanbul memories 2011/04/08. My review of a novel about the early years of the Turkish republic that impressed me deeply, A Mind at Peace by Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar (Tr. by Erdağ Göknar)
Turkey’s Red Crescent does good 2006/07/27. On Turkish rescue work in Aceh, Indonesia, after the destruction of the tsunami.
Writing ‘A Gift for the Sultan’ 2003/01/19. How I got the idea of writing a novel about Turkey in 1402.
Movie review: “Ararat” 2002/11/25 On filmmaker Atom Egoyan’s story of atrocities committed by Turkish troops against Armenians around Lake Van, in Eastern Anatolia in 1915.
Adult education among the Oghuz 1999/01/11 From the folklore of the Oghuz Turks of Central Asia, ancestors of the Ottomans.
