# INSIDE TURKEY


## Posts

- [Disquiet over new Armenian Patriarch](https://insideturkey.org/disquiet-over-new-armenian-patriarch/): The election of a new patriarch for Turkey’s Armenian community has been marred by accusations of government interference which may cast a shadow on the new leader’s legitimacy.&nbsp; Archbishop Sahak Masalyan defeated his rival, Archbishop Aram Atesyan, after an extraordinary state intervention that barred clerics abroad from running and spurred communal calls for a boycott. “Armenians are under heavy government pressure or, in other words, are subjected to arbitrary intervention,” said Arno Kalayci, a member of the Armenian initiative Nor Zartonk (New Renaissance). Turkey’s Armenian community had been unable to elect a new patriarch since 2008, when then-Patriarch Mesrob Mutafyan&hellip;
- [Islamised Armenians reclaim their religion](https://insideturkey.org/islamised-armenians-reclaim-their-religion/): Gafur Turkay, like his six brother and sisters, was raised as a Muslim. But their upbringing belied a past and hidden identity as the grandchildren of a survivor of the violence of 1915 which led to the deportation and death of thousands of Armenians. In 2010, Gafur decided to reclaim an identity that had been buried for decades; he converted from Islam to Christianity at the St Giragos Armenian Church in Diyarbakir in south-eastern Turkey. “I had lived wearing a garment that hadn’t belonged to me, and I took it off,” the 54-year-old said. Gafur is one of tens of&hellip;
- [Fighting for gender equality: The Istanbul Convention](https://insideturkey.org/fighting-for-gender-equality-the-istanbul-convention/): Women’s rights activists in Turkey warn that hard-earned gains and protections enshrined in the Istanbul Convention are increasingly threatened by conservatives who argue that they contradict social customs. Turkey was the first country to ratify the Istanbul Convention in 2011. Formally known as the European Council Treaty on Violence Against Women and Prevention of Domestic Violence, the agreement seeks to prevent abuse, prosecute perpetrators, and promote gender equality.&nbsp; But the government appears to have grown increasingly lax in enforcing the treaty’s protections, while conservative political groupings have actively promoted new laws that could further entrench inequality. For instance, a new&hellip;
- [The secret life of the ghetto](https://insideturkey.org/the-secret-life-of-the-ghetto/): For many years, the impoverished neighborhood of Hürriyet in the southern Turkish city of Adana was just another inner-city area plagued by crime and gang warfare. Then, in 2016, a ground-breaking TV drama series brought the district into the spotlight.&nbsp; Sıfır Bir – Bir Zamanlar Adana (01 – Once Upon A Time in Adana) was initially conceived and developed by residents, who broadcast the first two seasons for free online. Three more seasons were produced after it was bought by an online streaming service.&nbsp; It followed three childhood friends as they dealt with gang warfare and tried to root out&hellip;
- [Syrian refugees don’t want to go home](https://insideturkey.org/syrian-refugees-dont-want-to-go-home/): Abdullah Ebu Hattab is a Syrian refugee whose biggest dream is to become a Turkish citizen. He wants to live with his children in a safe country, and that’s what Turkey is for him.&nbsp; Ebu Hattab is not impressed with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s plan to build new residences in northern Syria for the refugees who currently live in Turkey. “I’d never return to Syria. If we are forced to do that, we’ll leave Turkey and go to Europe, not Syria,” Ebu Hattab said. Ebu Hattab fled Damascus six years ago. He met his wife in Syria and married her&hellip;
- [Sex workers in Turkey stand up for their rights](https://insideturkey.org/sex-workers-in-turkey-stand-up-for-their-rights/): Melike Arzu Şakiroğlu wanted job security. Like other sex workers in Istanbul, she often encountered disturbed men, was subjected to abuse and had no social insurance.&nbsp; Even though sex work is legal, Istanbul has only one legal brothel, in the Karaköy district near the Galata tower. This has left women vulnerable to violence and exploitation on the streets, consigned to plying their trade in the rougher neighbourhoods of this city. When Şakiroğlu applied to work at the Karaköy brothel, therefore, she felt it was a matter of survival. When her application was rejected, she sued the provincial health department and&hellip;
- [](https://insideturkey.org/3436-2/): Mustafa Gulek is a Turkish photographer who takes photos of Syrian and Turkish children working in the streets and gives them free photography lessons. Gulek spent several years in Iraq and Afghanistan, and after seeing how war affected children he decided to launch projects in Turkey aimed at helping Syrian children. His next project will be focused on child workers.
- [Big changes ahead for Turkey’s arts schools](https://insideturkey.org/big-changes-ahead-for-turkeys-arts-schools/): Turkey’s top education body plans to repeal the aptitude exams that govern entrance to the country’s art and design schools, a decision – apparently made due to government pressure – that has angered students and experts who argue the move will damage the quality of education available. Turkey’s Council of Higher Education (YOK) decided at a general assembly session in October to replace the tests that have been prerequisites for entry into the graphic design, fashion design and animation departments of the country’s universities for the last 50 years. Instead, central placement, through test scores in compulsory subjects like mathematics,&hellip;
- [The Government’s new front in the war on smoking](https://insideturkey.org/the-governments-new-front-in-the-war-on-smoking/): Smokers who light up in their own cars in Turkey now face a substantial fine in the latest salvo in a war on smoking spearheaded by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Thousands of motorists have been fined in recent months and the policy has divided even Erdogan’s supporters in a country where nearly a fifth of the population are smokers. The crackdown follows an interview Erdogan gave in September in which he told reporters, “I see the driver smokes. Sometimes, I point my finger, and I say, ‘such a shame’. “We will include in written legislation that neither the driver nor&hellip;
- [Shadow of Chernobyl: Experts urge stronger safety measures](https://insideturkey.org/shadow-of-chernobyl-experts-urge-stronger-safety-measures/): As construction continues on Turkey’s first nuclear power plant – a cornerstone of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s plans for the republic’s centennial – environmental activists warn that the government’s safety precautions are seriously lacking. Construction began on the Akkuyu plant in the Mediterranean province of Mersin in 2018, ten years after Russia’s nuclear regulator Rosatom signed on to operate the plant. But demands for more transparency in the process have grown as popular opinion swings against nuclear power. The plant in Akkuyu is comprised of four reactors, the first of which is expected to come online in 2023, the anniversary&hellip;
- [How a 12,000 year-old city will be buried underwater](https://insideturkey.org/how-a-12000-year-old-city-will-be-buried-underwater/): For many years, the first thing Süleyman Ağalday used to see in front of his house in the ancient city of Hasankeyf when he left home for work were the remains of two mosques, nearly 600 years old and dating back to the Ayyubid dynasty. But that changed in 2018 when both the Sultan Süleyman and Koç mosques that Ağalday grew up with were moved to a new settlement nearby, because Hasanakeyf will soon be flooded as a result of a dam project conceived and built by the Turkish state. An enormous undertaking that will cost two billion US dollars&hellip;
- [Extinction looms for Foca’s seals](https://insideturkey.org/extinction-looms-for-focas-seals/): When she was a child, Selin Özçelik would sit on her family’s balcony to watch seals frolicking in the bay of Foça, an ancient town on the Turkish Aegean coast. The Mediterranean monk seal is so enmeshed in the city’s history and culture that it has been adopted as its emblem. Özçelik’s grandfather used to regale her with stories of adventures with seals around the Sirens’ Rocks, a legendary site near Foca that featured in Homer’s Odyssey. But now, most of them have disappeared. “When I went sailing to the islands around Foça, we would come upon the seals, these&hellip;
- [Istanbul woefully unprepared for future earthquakes](https://insideturkey.org/istanbul-woefully-unprepared-for-future-earthquakes/): Experts are sounding the alarm over Istanbul’s readiness to respond to an expected major earthquake in the coming years, warning that little has been done to combat overcrowding, strengthen buildings or develop contingency plans that could save lives. A 5.8-magnitude earthquake in September this year, which damaged nearly 1,000 buildings in the city, reinforced fears that the authorities were still unprepared for a repeat of the 1999 Izmit and Düzce disasters – two 7.6- and 7.2-magnitude earthquakes in northwestern Turkey that killed 18,000 people in total. It highlighted the absence of evacuation protocols and assembly areas for those fleeing an&hellip;
- [Is Istanbul Landmark doomed?](https://insideturkey.org/is-istanbul-landmark-doomed/): The future of Haydarpaşa train station, an Ottoman-era neoclassical icon of modern Istanbul, looks uncertain after a tender was awarded to a company owned by an executive close to ruling AKP party that would allow parts of historic station to be redeveloped. The station, once a waypoint for migrants from rural Anatolia, was designed by German engineers and served as the western terminus of the Hejaz Railway. It has been unused since 2012. The government had hoped to integrate it into İstanbul’s suburban Marmaray line after a series of renovations, but the station remained closed after the network’s official opening&hellip;
- [Will Brexit mark end of Ankara Agreement?](https://insideturkey.org/will-brexit-mark-end-of-ankara-agreement/): For decades, Osman Akınhay called Istanbul home.&nbsp; The writer and translator owned Agora Kitaplığı, a bookstore and publishing house in the city’s antiquarian neighborhood of Çukurcuma. But as political instability reigned in the aftermath of the 2016 failed coup attempt – a period that saw thousands of government critics, academics, journalists and intellectuals arrested – he decided to leave. In 2017, he, his wife and their daughter moved to Brighton in the UK. “As a 59-year-old living during very unstable political times, the most positive side to living in Britain is the ability to wipe out most of the anxiety,”&hellip;
- [LGBTI fans of Turkey’s conservative government](https://insideturkey.org/lgbti-fans-of-turkeys-conservative-government/): MM, a gay man from Turkey, describes himself as “not a good Muslim”. Homosexuality, he said, was a test – one that he had repeatedly failed since birth. He stands by his government’s decision, in place since 2015, to ban pride parades in the country, since “the homosexuals use discourse which provokes the Islamic world.” MM, who asked to only be identified by his initials, has sought support for the rights for Turkey’s increasingly embattled LGBTI community in an unlikely place – the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its devout leader, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. “Our cause is&hellip;
- [‘My world was destroyed’: Mothers of Turkey’s disappeared vow to continue their vigil](https://insideturkey.org/my-world-was-destroyed-mothers-of-turkeys-disappeared-vow-to-continue-their-vigil/): Emine Ocak vividly remembers the day her son’s body was found. She was 60, and it was 1995, one of the most violent years in the conflict between the Turkish state and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Political, military and economic crises engulfed the country. Her son, Hasan, a 30-year-old teacher, had disappeared after being arrested. The family spent nearly two months trying to locate him, before tracing his grave to a nearby field. They dug out his badly decomposed body and gave him a proper burial. “I thought I would hear my son’s voice again one day, but when&hellip;
- [Next steps for Netflix in Turkey?](https://insideturkey.org/next-steps-for-netflix-in-turkey/): Online streaming giant Netflix has applied for a license to continue broadcasting in Turkey amid fears that newly-introduced laws may lead to future censorship. Legislation announced in August means that content providers need to both acquire a new license and commit to comply with the guidelines of the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTUK). Just exactly what these guidelines are have not been made public. But broadcasters who do not adhere to them will be given 30 days to change their content or have their activities suspended for three months and then cancelled. According to the independent Turkish press agency&hellip;
- [Turkish people trust local media more than before, report claims](https://insideturkey.org/turkish-people-trust-local-media-more-than-before-report-claims/): A recent international report on digital media and news consumption has shown a surprising increase in public trust in local Turkish media over the past year, despite the government’s growing control over this sector. However, some analysts warn that these findings should be taken with a grain of salt and that more research should be conducted before making final conclusions. According to the report by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism and University of Oxford, the overall level of Turkish citizens’ trust in the news they get from the mainstream and online media has increased by eight per&hellip;
- [Uncertain future for Turkey’s minority language publications](https://insideturkey.org/uncertain-future-for-turkeys-minority-language-publications/): More than 30 minority languages are spoken in Turkey, and there used to be a flourishing sector of specialist publishing houses. Now, however, a combination of rising paper prices, diminishing public interest and a lack of state support is putting the future of this industry in doubt. The economic crisis that hit Turkey last summer affected many businesses that depend on import, including publishing houses. Paper produced in Turkey supplies only three per cent of the country’s needs, which means that almost all the material for books and newspapers is imported, as well as ink and glue. In 2018, the&hellip;
- [Murder video raises ethical questions](https://insideturkey.org/murder-video-raises-ethical-questions/): A recent video showing the murder of a mother by her ex-husband in front of their child has sparked a debate in Turkey on whether sharing such graphic footage can be justified as a legitimate way of raising awareness of violence against women. In August this year, 38-year Emine Bulut was stabbed to death by her former husband Fedai Varan, 43, in a café in the central Turkish city of Kırıkkale. Varan later told the court that the victim “provoked” him by talking about the custody of their ten-year-old daughter, who was present at the scene. In the eight-second video&hellip;
- [Occupational diseases: Turkey’s hidden epidemic](https://insideturkey.org/occupational-diseases-turkeys-hidden-epidemic/): Turkey remains one of the countries with the highest number of work-related deaths in Europe, despite official figures which indicate that fatalities are falling. According to statistics gathered by Turkish NGO the Workers’ Health and Work Safety Assembly (İSİGM), 1,923 people died in Turkey in 2018 as a result of occupational accidents. A further 12,000 were estimated to have died of occupation-related diseases during the same period. https://www.youtube.com/embed/ibwSlLq9bTo In comparison, in the United Kingdom 147 workers were killed in work-related incidents last year. The official body responsible for gathering such statistics, the Social Security Institution (SGK), claimed that the number&hellip;
- [Turkish journalists turn to alternative media](https://insideturkey.org/turkish-journalists-turn-to-alternative-media/): As the space for freedom of speech in Turkey continues to shrink, local journalists are turning to alternative channels in order to keep independent media alive. Turkey is ranked 157 among 180 countries on the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) annual World Press Freedom Index. Since the failed coup attempt in 2016, hundreds of journalists have been fired or forced to resign, while Turkish authorities have closed more than 180 media outlets. There are currently 134 media employees in prison in the country that RSF has dubbed “the world’s biggest jailer of professional journalists”. According to Bianet, an independent Turkish press&hellip;
- [Live-streamed council meetings draw huge interest](https://insideturkey.org/live-streamed-council-meetings-draw-huge-interest/): Live broadcasts of city council meetings in Ankara and Istanbul have sparked huge public interest, with hundreds of thousands of locals regularly watching everything from waterworks tenders to debates on cheaper bus tickets for students. The broadcasts, shown via the city councils’ social media accounts, fulfill promises by newly-elected opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) mayors to increase local government transparency. Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu was the first to initiate the live broadcasts in April this year, with the initial two meetings watched online by 3.5 million people. Commenting on the huge interest in watching the broadcasts, Imamoğlu tweeted that the&hellip;
- [Reading Arabic in Istanbul](https://insideturkey.org/reading-arabic-in-istanbul/): For decades, İstanbul’s central Taksim square has been a magnet for Western holidaymakers and Turkish citizens alike, flocking to enjoy the area’s rich nightlife and cultural events. But in recent years locals complain that the square and the adjacent İstiklal Street have been transformed by the effects of increased tourism from the Middle East and the influx of Syrian refugees. The most obvious feature is the proliferation of Arabic-language signage, with many Turkish residents complaining that they feel as if they are in a foreign country rather than central Istanbul. The objections have even prompted the newly elected İstanbul mayor&hellip;
- [Speaking out for the LGBTI community](https://insideturkey.org/speaking-out-for-the-lgbti-community/): As the rights of LGBTI people in Turkey continue to decline under the conservative government’s rule, the community is using specialised media platforms to help fight hate speech and prejudice in the mainstream media. With the language and editorial policy of most outlets reflecting the position of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), these media challenge a widespread ignorance and prejudices about LGBTI individuals. “If we don’t tell the stories of LGBTI people, no one will,” said Yıldız Tar, media coordinator for online news portal Kaos GL. “Apart from the stigma related to these people, there is a perception&hellip;
- [Turning trash into treasure](https://insideturkey.org/turning-trash-into-treasure/): A library started by rubbish collectors in Turkey’s capital Ankara from books collected from the trash has grown into a social and cultural community hub – with even an orchestra playing discarded instruments. “We started to collect books from the trash thinking that our employees and their children might want to read them,” explained Emirali Urtekin, head of the rubbish disposal unit in the municipality of Çankaya. But after various international media outlets reported on their fledgling library last year, Turkish interest dramatically increased and his unit started receiving large donations of books. The collection quickly got so large –&hellip;
- [Fighting Turkey’s TV culture war](https://insideturkey.org/fighting-turkeys-tv-culture-war/): Nearly a decade after it was shut down, Turkey’s arts and documentary channel TRT 2 has returned to the airwaves. But critics fear that its content will be a far cry from the Western-style highbrow programming it was once famous for. As one of the state-run Turkish Radio Television (TRT) channels, TRT 2 began broadcasting in 1986 and focused mainly on culture and arts, as well as airing popular American and British TV series and sitcoms.&nbsp; However, in 2010 it was shut down by the conservative government led by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) who claimed that TRT 2&hellip;
- [Banned from the beach: Excluding Syrian from public spaces](https://insideturkey.org/banned-from-the-beach-excluding-syrian-from-public-spaces/): A clash over access to public beaches has become this summer’s latest battle in ongoing tensions between the Turkish public and Syrian refugees. In June, the mayor of Mudanya district in north-western Bursa province called for Syrians to be banned from public beaches. Mudanya mayor Hayri Türkyılmaz, from the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), posted a tweet arguing that “No one has the right to disturb other people or curtail their freedom.&nbsp; “I can’t stand watching [Syrians] enjoy and bother our people while our soldiers are being martyred [in Syria], and the economy is deteriorating.” A few days later, the&hellip;
- [No support for refugees in Bolu](https://insideturkey.org/no-support-for-refugees-in-bolu/): One of the first things that Tanju Özcan, newly elected mayor of the north-western city of Bolu, did on taking office in April was to cut all aid to refugees living in this small city. “The municipality of Bolu will stop giving financial support to foreigners because they live more comfortably than our own people,” Özcan said on Twitter soon after he won the March 31 elections. Observers believe that Özcan’s harsh rhetoric was one of the main reasons why the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) candidate managed to wrest control from his predecessor Alaaddin Yılmaz from the ruling Justice&hellip;
- [Educated Turks seeking their future abroad](https://insideturkey.org/educated-turks-seeking-their-future-abroad/): Immigration from Turkey rose by more than 60 percent last year compared to 2017, according to a recent survey, a trend attributed to concerns about unemployment, personal freedom and security.&nbsp; TurkStat’s data, published in May this year, also showed that the unemployment rate in Turkey was 14.9 percent, an increase of 4.1 per cent compared to the previous year. Out of the total number of unemployed, 26.1 per cent are young people aged 15-24.&nbsp; For the last 17 years, Turkey has been ruled by the conservative Justice and Development Party (AKP), led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Although the country&hellip;
- [Fighting for trans rights at university](https://insideturkey.org/fighting-for-trans-rights-at-university/): When Şafak Koç, a 21-year-old trans man, was thrown out of his university accommodation for being the wrong gender, he refused to remain silent. The Istanbul student had recently undergone a partial sex reassignment procedure but, according to his ID, was still officially a female. The management of the state-owned Şafak Ataşehir Dormitory for Girls in Istanbul told him that he nonetheless had to leave immediately. “I said I had nowhere to go, no job and no money, and asked them to let me stay for one more month at least, until I find another solution,” Koç said. “But they&hellip;
- [Can opposition repeat its Istanbul victory?](https://insideturkey.org/can-opposition-repeat-its-istanbul-victory/): Ekrem Imamoglu, the first opposition candidate to beat the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Istanbul for 25 years, spent just 17 days as mayor before his mandate was revoked by Turkey’s election board. With a re-rerun scheduled for June 23, supporters say they are confident he can repeat his startling election win – and even if thwarted, will cement his presence as a serious opposition figurehead. Istanbul is the largest, wealthiest city in Turkey, with 16 million people and an annual budget of four billion US dollars. The country’s president and AKP leader, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was mayor&hellip;
- [Turkey’s new disability legislation signals positive change](https://insideturkey.org/turkeys-new-disability-legislation-signals-positive-change/): Campaigners say that Turkey’s recent decision to recognise people with achondroplasia (ACH) – the most common type of dwarfism – as disabled may signal significant progress in the country’s attitude to disability. Since 2014, Turkey has introduced anti-discrimination legislation including incentives to workplaces employing disabled citizens, such as free loans, tax reduction and subsidies. Although Turkish labour law already requires employers to hire a certain number of disabled workers, implementation is patchy and not all conditions are included. In February this year, ACH was finally categorised as a disability. This means that those affected are deemed to be 40 per&hellip;
- [Turkey’s proposed change in alimony law leaves women more vulnerable](https://insideturkey.org/turkeys-proposed-change-in-alimony-law-leaves-women-more-vulnerable/): Activists are warning that attempts by the Turkish government to change the existing law on alimony risk forcing women to stay in abusive marriages. According to current legislation in place since 1988, a spouse who risks poverty after divorce, and who is not responsible for the marriage’s failure, “has the right to demand alimony for an unlimited period of time”. Article 176 of Turkey’s Civil Code stipulates that this will cease to be paid only after the claimant remarries, or if one of the parties die. The claimant also loses the right to alimony if the risk of poverty disappears&hellip;
- [Cooperatives securing healthier food in Turkey](https://insideturkey.org/cooperatives-securing-healthier-food-in-turkey/): At the small shop run by Kadikoy Cooperative, tempting displays of locally-produced honey, fresh fruits and vegetables and home-made jams line the shelves alongside organic pulses, nuts and spices. The produce sold in this Istanbul shop, which opened in 2016, are more expensive than those in regular markets. But Bürge&nbsp;Abiral, who recently joined the cooperative as a volunteer, explained that everything they stock is high quality, ethically produced and environment-friendly. That comes at quite a cost. “The problem is not that the produce we sell in our shop is too expensive, but that the produce sold in markets and supermarkets&hellip;
- [How Turkish food turned sexy](https://insideturkey.org/how-turkish-food-turned-sexy/): Long, excitable queues form every day outside Ahmet Cicek’s restaurant in Besiktas, one of Istanbul’s busiest neighbourhoods, with locals and tourists alike flocking to try his speciality dish of mussels stuffed with lemon-spiked rice. Outside, the burly Cicek is a familiar figure, posing proudly for photos with customers and passers-by; as many as 400 a day, he says, even more on weekends. Mussels are a very popular Istanbul street food and there are many shops like Cicek’s throughout the city. What marks him out is the highly successful canny social media campaign that has given him his nickname – “Lord&hellip;
- [Fighting Turkey’s “onion” terror](https://insideturkey.org/fighting-turkeys-onion-terror/): The battle over skyrocketing vegetable prices has become a new frontline in Turkish politics, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan blaming various culprits for creating “food terror”. According to data released by the Turkish Statistical Institute last month, prices have risen by more than 70 per cent in just one year. For instance, onions cost one to two Turkish lira (0.15 – 0.30 euro) per kilogramme last year and currently sell for four to six liras (0.60 – 0.90 euro) in the market, and even more in shops and supermarkets. The price of many other staples such as tomatoes, potatoes, and&hellip;
- [#10YearChallenge sparks hijab debate](https://insideturkey.org/10yearchallenge-sparks-hijab-debate/): When 18-year-old Pınar decided to take part in the popular #10YearChallenge – in which people post current pictures of themselves on social media alongside an old photo – the reaction stunned her. In the 2017 photo the textile worker posted on Twitter she was wearing hijab; the new one showed her bareheaded. She received a surge of scathing criticism from complete strangers as well as members of her own family. Pinar, who lives in southern Turkey and asked to remain anonymous for fear of further public censure, immediately deleted her Twitter post. Nonetheless, she insisted that she had no regrets&hellip;
- [Censoring Turkish textbooks harms children’s learning, say scholars](https://insideturkey.org/censoring-turkish-textbooks-harms-childrens-learning-say-scholars/): In late 2017, the ministry of national education announced that evolution was too complex a subject for Turkish high school children. “Our students don’t have the necessary scientific background and information-based context needed to comprehend the debate about evolution,” the New York Times quoted education ministry chairman Alpaslan Durmuş as saying in 2017, shortly after the topic was removed from the curricula of both public and private schools across Turkey. The government claimed that the theory of evolution was better taught in tertiary education. “The topics concerning the beginning of life and evolution… will be explored in universities because they&hellip;
- [Istanbul’s new airport started working with full capacity](https://insideturkey.org/istanbuls-new-airport-started-working-with-full-capacity/): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpGlODfxo6U Istanbul’s new airport, that was officially opened in October 2018, should finally start to operate in full capacity this month. However, critics say that the new airport is too far from the city center and will not be easy to reach. They are also concerned with the environmental impact of this mega project and high costs of its maintenance. Fatih Pinar reports.
- [The changing face of Istiklal](https://insideturkey.org/the-changing-face-of-istiklal/): Istiklal Street, the pedestrian thoroughfare that runs through Istanbul’s historic Beyoglu district, has been a symbol of the city diverse cultural life for decades. Stretching for a kilometre-and-a-half, this tree-lined boulevard was once filled with bookstores, theatres, nightclubs and bars popular with both locals and tourists in a city of more than 14 million inhabitants. But Istiklal looks very different now, with its specialist shops, cinema halls and pubs being replaced by a growing number of shisha cafes, restaurants that don’t serve alcohol, and clothes shops that cater to the more traditional tastes of Arab tourists and religious Turks alike.&hellip;
- [Inflammatory rhetoric divides Turkey ahead of local elections](https://insideturkey.org/inflammatory-rhetoric-divides-turkey-ahead-of-local-elections/): Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stepped up his already inflammatory political rhetoric ahead of March 31 local elections that some analysts predict may deliver a power shift in favour of the opposition. Erdogan’s aggressive oratory has become a traditional feature of all pre-election periods, and it seems to resonate with his constituency. Analysts say that his tactic of focusing campaigns on supposed enemies threatening Turkish society has been effective in distracting public attention from real problems such as high inflation and unemployment. During this year’s campaign, Erdogan has repeatedly shown graphic footage of the recent New Zealand mosque massacre&hellip;
- [The real housewives of AKP](https://insideturkey.org/the-real-housewives-of-akp/): Funda Tanrıverdi, a stay-at-home mother-of-three from Istanbul, has a clear political hero: Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. “His attitude and rhetoric are powerful. He is able to remain strong in every situation,” the 33-year-old enthused. “Erdoğan is good at ruling the country and managing problems, regardless of their nature – be they economic, political, or social.” Tanrıverdi represents a demographic that may have been crucial in ensuring the Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) ongoing success. A total of 51 per cent of all stay-at-home mothers voted for Erdoğan’s AK Party in last year’s June 24 general election, according to&hellip;
- [Twitter, the Turkish State’s New Political Tool](https://insideturkey.org/twitter-the-turkish-states-new-political-tool/): Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has launched a new political battlefront ahead of upcoming local elections – social media. Until now, it has been Turkey’s opposition groups – who are routinely denied access to state-controlled television, radio and newspapers – that have used social media as their primary tool for communications. But Erdogan’s Justice and Development (AK) Party have announced that their campaign for the March 2019 local elections will be fought largely on social media. “Starting from the 2019 election campaign, we will abandon all methods that cause visual and audio pollution,” Erdogan said on December 6 in Ankara,&hellip;
- [LGBT Muslims struggle to find their place in Turkey](https://insideturkey.org/lgbt-muslims-struggle-to-find-their-place-in-turkey/): Deniz, a 20-year-old observant Muslim who lives in Istanbul, works as a sign language translator and is studying gastronomy in his spare time.&nbsp; But Deniz, who prefers to use the pronoun “they”, also identifies as genderless and pansexual. This means that gender and sex are not determining factors in romantic or sexual attraction.&nbsp; Although Deniz sees no contradiction between devotion to Islam and sexual identity,&nbsp;&nbsp;others are not as tolerant.&nbsp; “As soon as I declare myself to be a Muslim, I begin receiving insults from the LGBTI / queer community because of my faith,” Deniz said. “I am accused either of&hellip;
- [A Muslim Feminist defies tradition](https://insideturkey.org/a-muslim-feminist-defies-tradition/): Rümeysa Çamdereli, the 29-year-old mother of a three-year-old boy, is a devout, hijab-wearing Muslim. She is also a feminist activist who runs a website aiming to empower observant Turkish Muslim women – and says she sees no contradiction between her faith and her belief in gender equality. “Usually, women who define themselves as Muslim say the current male-dominated interpretation of Islam is not the religion they believe in. If these men who create and support such oppression of women justify their actions by Islam, then there is something wrong with their interpretation. The religion I practice is not like that,”&hellip;
- [A Muslim Feminist defies tradition](https://insideturkey.org/a-muslim-feminist-defies-tradition-2/): Rümeysa Çamdereli, the 29-year-old mother of a three-year-old boy, is a devout, hijab-wearing Muslim. She is also a feminist activist who runs a website aiming to empower observant Turkish Muslim women – and says she sees no contradiction between her faith and her belief in gender equality. “Usually, women who define themselves as Muslim say the current male-dominated interpretation of Islam is not the religion they believe in. If these men who create and support such oppression of women justify their actions by Islam, then there is something wrong with their interpretation. The religion I practice is not like that,”&hellip;
- [Internet censorship in Turkey](https://insideturkey.org/internet-censorship-in-turkey/): When two members of the banned communist group DHKP-C kidnapped a district attorney from his office in İstanbul in 2015, they posted photos of their hostage held at gunpoint on popular image-sharing website imgur.com. The kidnappers and their victim, Mehmet Selim Kiraz, were all killed in the subsequent rescue attempt. Later that year, in what has become a familiar pattern for followers of Ankara’s increasing restrictions on freedom of speech, a Turkish court banned the entire Imgur.com website. Since 2014, many websites and social media platforms have been periodically proscribed or restricted by the authorities, who cite counter-terror measures. Wikipedia,&hellip;
- [Controversies surround Istanbul’s new airport](https://insideturkey.org/controversies-surround-istanbuls-new-airport/): Istanbul’s new airport, expected to be the world’s largest when complete, was officially opened by President&nbsp;Recep Tayyip Erdogan&nbsp;on October 29, the 95th anniversary of Turkey’s establishment as a republic. The auspicious date emphasized Erdogan’s message that the 10 billion euro project north of Istanbul was a symbol of Turkish resurgence, a&nbsp;colossal achievement at a time when Turkey faces so many both domestic and international challenges. “We did not build&nbsp;[this] airport for our country. It is a great service we are offering to the region&nbsp;and&nbsp;the whole world,” he told the ceremony. But not everyone shares Erdogan’s pride in the new airport,&hellip;
- [Syrians in Turkey search for home](https://insideturkey.org/syrians-in-turkey-search-for-home/): When Adnan Hacadnan and his family fled Aleppo four years ago and arrived in Turkey, their first challenge was to find accommodation. As refugees, this was not an easy task. “The first question everyone asked was, ‘Where are you from?’” the 48-year-old said, adding that the response was not always friendly. As soon as potential landlords found out his family were Syrians, they refused to rent out their property. “Even if someone agreed to rent us their house, the price was set too high and we couldn’t afford it,” Hacadnan continued. He and his family lived with relatives for a&hellip;
- [Turkey’s mooted Uber ban disappoints both drivers and customers](https://insideturkey.org/turkeys-mooted-uber-ban-disappoints-both-drivers-and-customers/): When the taxi app Uber&nbsp;launched in Istanbul in 2014, locals thought they might have a new alternative to travel in Turkey’s largest – and famously congested – city. More than 17,000 taxis already serve Istanbul, but coverage is patchy, vehicles dilapidated and drivers notoriously rude. Although young people in particular enthusiastically embraced Uber, the service was met with immediate resistance from local taxi drivers who viewed it as unfair competition. Now, with a court case due to deliver its verdict next month, Uber may face a complete ban. Tensions ran so high over the summer, with reports of attacks on&hellip;
- [Turkish crackdown drives home brewers to drink](https://insideturkey.org/turkish-crackdown-drives-home-brewers-to-drink/): For the last year Bikem, a 33-year-old Istanbul-based editor, has been making the traditional – and very potent – aniseed-flavoured spirit raki at home. She adds water and flavouring to pure alcohol, and there is no lengthy distillation necessary. “It’s a short and easy process,” Bikem explained. “I do it in ten minutes and I get an instant, drinkable raki.” It’s also cheap, she continued, taking into consideration the astronomical duties imposed on alcohol in Turkey. “I can get more than two litres of home-made raki for the price I would pay in a store for a half litre,” she&hellip;
- [Syrian LGBTI refugees struggle in Turkey](https://insideturkey.org/syrian-lgbti-refugees-struggle-in-turkey/): Turkish journalist and documentary film maker Ayşe Toprak who made a feature-length documentary on Syrian LGBTI refugees, “Mr Gay Syria”. The film, released last year, followed a group of gay Syrians as they tried to make a new life for themselves in Turkey. – Taken by Emre PekerA scene from the film “Mr Gay Syria” which was screened at more than 60 international film festivals around the world and won the best documentary award in Chicago, Torino, Milan, Sarajevo, and Pristina among others. – – Taken by Bradley SeckerSyrian LGBTI refugees are struggling to make a new life in neighbouring&hellip;
- [Seeking the good life in Turkey](https://insideturkey.org/seeking-the-good-life-in-turkey/): For more than a decade, 42-year-old Tuğba Karahanoğlu led a happy and busy life in Istanbul, where she worked as a software developer. But then a growing interest in organic food and healthy living led her to abandon city life and move to Seferihisar, a coastal district in Izmir province. “I left behind a circle of friends whose subjects of conversation always revolved around physical appearance, or shopping, or the next hip place they’d be at that weekend,” Tuğba said. In Seferihisar, known for its agriculture-based economy, she began a business growing organic seeds with several other local farmers, and&hellip;
- [Turkey: Public outcry over animal rights](https://insideturkey.org/turkey-public-outcry-over-animal-rights/): The case of a mutilated puppy in north-western Turkey that shocked the country this summer has put its inadequate animal welfare legislation in the spotlight. Close to death having had all four paws and its tail cut off, the stray dog was found in woods in the Sapanca district of Sakarya&nbsp;province on June 16. Although the puppy was immediately taken to a vet for treatment, it did not survive its massive injuries and died two days later. After photos of the bandaged puppy went viral on social media, the brutal case even became an election issue, with Turkish president RecepTayyip&hellip;
- [Workers pay high cost for Turkey’s rapid growth](https://insideturkey.org/workers-pay-high-cost-for-turkeys-rapid-growth/): The worst mine disaster in Turkey’s history took place in 2014, when an explosion ripped through a coal pit in Soma, near the small Aegian city of Manisa in western Turkey. A total of 301 workers were killed, with hundreds more injured. Since then, 51 people have been indicted, including executives and staff of the Soma Company, one of the country’s largest coal producers. However, no-one has yet been sentenced. The families of the victims of what became known in Turkey as “the Soma massacre” are frustrated with the apparent slow pace of justice. Others say that the accident itself,&hellip;
- [How a Turkish grandmother turned green ambassador](https://insideturkey.org/how-a-turkish-grandmother-turned-green-ambassador/): Fevziye Buğa looks like a typical 70-year-old retiree from rural Turkey, someone who spends her days working in the garden and baking cakes for her grandchildren. But Buğa’s appearance is deceiving – she is also a fierce and effective environmental activist, whose efforts to prevent a power station being built near her village of Pınarca have made her well-known across the country. In 2016, when the Turkish government decided to build a coal-fired plant in &nbsp;Buğa’s municipality of Çerkezköy in north-western Turkey, she was horrified at the prospect of pollution destroying the local countryside. “We inherited a clean world from&hellip;
- [Yapay zeka terapistlerin yerini doldurmuyor… henüz](https://insideturkey.org/yapay-zeka-terapistlerin-yerini-doldurmuyor-henuz/): İstanbul’da yaşayan 30 yaşındaki gazeteci M, ADHD ve anksiyete bozukluğu teşhisleri sebebiyle yaklaşık 9 yıldır belirli aralıklarla terapi alıyor. Yakın zamanda ise yeni biriyle görüşmeye başlamış: Bir yapay zeka sohbet botu.&nbsp; “Sıkıştığım, içimi dökmek istediğim ama kimseyi meşgul etmek istemediğim anlarda düşüncelerimle baş başa kalmamak için yapay zekaya yazmak rahatlatıyor,” diyor Inside Turkey’e konuşan M.&nbsp; “Özellikle uykusuzluk ve anksiyete yaşadığım ya da karar veremediğim zamanlarda yansıtıcı bir düşünme alanı sunuyor.” Bunu yapan tek kişi elbette M değil. Ipsos’un hazırladığı&nbsp;Ruh Sağlığı Raporu 2024‘e göre, Türkiye’de her 100 kişiden 38’i psikolojik bir sorunla yaşıyor. Sağlık Bakanlığı tarafından yayınlanan&nbsp;Ulusal Ruh Sağlığı Eylem Planı’na&hellip;
- [Kadın tamirciler, Türkiye’de oto sanayiyi yeniden şekillendiriyor](https://insideturkey.org/kadin-tamirciler-turkiyede-oto-sanayiyi-yeniden-sekillendiriyor/): Türkiye’de kadınlar geleneksel olarak sanayi bölgelerinden uzak dursa da, yağ lekeleri ve yoğun eril çalışma kültürünün tanımladığı atölyelerde sessiz bir değişim baş gösteriyor. Kadınlar başkent Ankara’dan Ege kıyılarındaki garajlara giriş yapıyorlar, kendi atölyelerini açıyorlar ve ülkedeki nitelikli işgücü tanımını değiştiriyorlar.&nbsp; Bu kadınlardan bazıları, çocukluğunda makinelere aşık olan Ankaralı motorsiklet tamircisi 22 yaşındaki Mia Uyanık ve boşandıktan sonra lastik değiştirerek hayatını baştan kuran 48 yaşındaki Rukiye Karaman. Kadınların iş gücünün %3’ten azını oluşturduğu bir sektörde varolan bu kadınlar yaptıkları her tamirle sanayinin görünümünü değiştiriyorlar.&nbsp; Uyanık’ın bu işle ilgili ilk hatırası Ankara’daki atölyesinde babasını izlediği, yağ ve benzin kokusu arasında aletlerin tıngırtılarını&hellip;
- [The Galata Tower: A changing face of Turkey – Inside Turkey](https://insideturkey.org/the-galata-tower-a-changing-face-of-turkey-inside-turkey/): Crowded close to each other, the potted trees in slatted wooden containers seem out of place on the steps in front of the Galata Tower, one of Istanbul’s most prominent landmarks. Indeed, the plants are not there for decoration. Their purpose is to prevent people from gathering on the steps to sit and drink beer, a popular nightly occurrence until just three years ago. In 2015, plants replaced the young crowds on the iconic steps. The official explanation was that local residents had complained about the noise the gatherings made. Ever since the trees appeared, the steps have been almost&hellip;
- [Türkiye siyasetinin geleceği kadın mı?](https://insideturkey.org/turkiye-siyasetinin-gelecegi-kadin-mi/): Mart 2024 yerel seçimleri, Türkiye siyaset sahnesinde yeni bir dönemin habercisi oldu. Yalnızca iktidardaki Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (AKP) ana muhalefetin ardında ikinci sıraya düştüğü için değil, seçimler özellikle İstanbul’da kadın liderlerin çıkışına sahne olduğu için. Bir yıl sonra bu değişim, kalıcı olacak gibi görünüyor.&nbsp; Siyaset sahnesine giriş yapan isimlerden biri de, anahtar bir ilçe olan Üsküdar’ı kazanan Sinem Dedetaş’tı. Bazı seçmenler için Dedetaş’ın zaferi cinsiyet konusunda siyasette yaşanan daha geniş bir değişimi simgeliyordu. Dedetaş’ın artan popülaritesi de bir gün genel seçimlerde yarışabileceği düşüncesini yaygınlaştırıyor.&nbsp; Küresel Eşitlik ve Kapsayıcılık Ağı’ndan Dr. Ayşe Kaşıkırık’a göre bu kırılma 2019 yerel seçimlerinde başladı.&hellip;
- [Cinsiyetçi dezenformasyon ve ayrımcılıkla mücadele: İşimiz sabır ve inatla ilgili!](https://insideturkey.org/cinsiyetci-dezenformasyon-ve-ayrimcilikla-mucadele-isimiz-sabir-ve-inatla-ilgili/): İSTANBUL – Haber merkezleri ve medya anlatıları dünya genelinde hâlâ toplumsal cinsiyet önyargılarıyla şekilleniyor. Bu durum, kadın gazetecilerin kariyerlerini sürekli bir tanınma ve var olma mücadelesine dönüştürüyor. Sosyal medyanın yükselişiyle birlikte toplumsal cinsiyete dayalı dezenformasyonun hem yayılımı hem de çeşitliliği artıyor; bu da yalnızca gazetecilik alanındaki kadınlar için değil, tüm toplum için büyüyen bir tehdit oluşturuyor. “Toplumsal Cinsiyet Temelli Dezenformasyon ve Gazetecilik” başlıklı etkileyici panelde, deneyimli gazeteci&nbsp;Banu Tuna’nın moderatörlüğünde sektörün önde gelen isimleri&nbsp;Daniella Peled, Ahu Özyurt, Güldenay Sonumut&nbsp;ve&nbsp;Burçin Gerçek&nbsp;bir araya geldi. Katılımcılar, haber merkezlerinde yaşanan ayrımcılıktan çevrimiçi tacize kadar uzanan kişisel deneyimlerini samimiyetle paylaşırken, cinsiyetçi dezenformasyona karşı sistemsel değişim ve&hellip;
- [No quick solutions for Turkish asylum seekers in Europe](https://insideturkey.org/no-quick-solutions-for-turkish-asylum-seekers-in-europe/): When 28-year-old Turkish journalist Hülya Emeç applied for political asylum in Switzerland this January, she hoped her request would be approved quickly. Five months later, she is not so sure. “I may have to wait for two more weeks, or two more years,” she said. Emeç is one of thousands of Turkish citizens who have applied for political asylum in European countries following the failed coup attempt in July 2016. The Ankara government imposed a state of emergency immediately after the coup attempt, and it is still in force almost two years later. Emeç is currently in a centre for&hellip;
- [Türkiye, tekstil kriziyle karşı karşıya](https://insideturkey.org/turkiye-tekstil-kriziyle-karsi-karsiya/): Türkiye’nin tekstil merkezi Bursa, maliyet artışları ve küresel rekabet sebebiyle yok olma tehlikesiyle karşı karşıya.&nbsp; Mısır bir rakip olarak yükselir ve müşterilerin tercihleri Çin’e kayarken, Türkiye’deki birçok tekstil firması kapanıyor ya da iflas ediyor. Binlerce kişi işsiz kalma tehlikesi yaşarken, bu işçilerin çoğu kayıtdışı veya kötü koşullar altında çalışıyor.&nbsp; İpek Yolu’nun önemli duraklarından biri olan Bursa, milattan önce 550 yılı civarında Çin’den ilk ipek sevkiyatı geldiğinden beri ülkenin tekstil merkezi konumunda. Osmanlı döneminde dokumacılığın merkezi olan kent hala Türkiye’nin tekstil ruhunu yansıtıyor. Ancak kentteki işçilerin çoğunu az ücret karşılığı zor koşullarda çalışan kadınlar oluşturuyor.&nbsp; Türkiye Eylül 2024 itibarıyla dünyanın en&hellip;
- [İçeri girmek ve tutunmak: Ankara’nın kadın muhabirleri](https://insideturkey.org/iceri-girmek-ve-tutunmak-ankaranin-kadin-muhabirleri/): ANKARA –&nbsp; Dünyanın heryerindeki işyerlerinde cinsiyet eşitsizliği kök salmış durumda, gazetecilik de istisna değil. Türkiye’deki kadın gazeteciler gitgide daha baskıcı hale gelen siyasi iklimin ve maddi belirsizliğin zorluklarıyla da karşı karşıya kalıyor. Bu zorlu ortama rağmen Ankara’daki meclis muhabirliği kadınların kendilerine güçlü ve saygıdeğer alan açtıkları bir uzmanlık alanı.&nbsp;&nbsp; Bu kolay elde edilen bir başarı değil. Kritik haber konularını haberleştirmek için yıllarca haber merkezlerindeki önyargılara karşı mücadele eden kadın gazetecilerin mücadelesinin sonucu. Onların direnci sonucunda normlar değişti ve kadınların yalnızca görünür değil, etkili olduğu bir meclis muhabirleri ekibi oluştu. Meclis koridorları daha fazla kadına açılmış olsa da, Türk medyası gerçek&hellip;
- [Syrian children in Turkish sweatshops](https://insideturkey.org/syrian-children-in-turkish-sweatshops/): “When a bomb exploded close to my school, my father told me that I would have to leave and go to Turkey,” he said. “Crossing the border wasn’t really hard. There were many refugees fleeing Syria at that time, and I was one of them.” Once in Istanbul, he was reunited with his older brother who helped him find a job in a shoemaking workshop. Ahmed found himself working long hours in harsh conditions gluing various shoe components together. Four years on, he still works 14 hours a day, six days a week, his fingers now bent out of shape&hellip;
- [LGBTI community determined to protect their rights after Ankara’s ban](https://insideturkey.org/lgbti-community-determined-to-protect-their-rights-after-ankaras-ban/): Gözde Demirbilek, 22, was stunned when she first heard about the decision to ban all public activities of the LGBTI community in Turkey’s capital Ankara. “I had a lump in my throat and felt paralysed,” said the activist and editor, who works at online LGBTI newspaper&nbsp;KaosGL.org. The ban, announced on November 18 last year, applies to all public LGBTI events, including film screenings, theatre plays, exhibitions and round table discussions.&nbsp;Demirbilek described widespread fears that it was only the first step of a wider campaign of discrimination. “What will come next? Will I be prevented from walking down the street, or&hellip;
- [Türkiye’deki fabrika işçisi kadınlar ayrımcılık ve güvensiz iş koşullarından şikayetçi](https://insideturkey.org/turkiyedeki-fabrika-iscisi-kadinlar-ayrimcilik-ve-guvensiz-is-kosullarindan-sikayetci/): Türkiye’de ekonomik sorunlar sürerken son zamanlarda yaşanan bazı olaylar sanayi işçilerine verilen yetersiz ücretlere ve çalışma koşullarına dikkat çekti. Kadın işçiler de bu zorluklardan en çok etkilenen grupların arasında.&nbsp; 2024 yılının Aralık ayında Balıkesir’deki bir mühimmat fabrikasında yaşanan patlamada sekizi kadın 11 işçi öldü. Temmuz ayında ise İstanbul’daki Polonez et fabrikasında çoğu kadın 146 işçi sendikaya üye oldukları için işten çıkarıldılar, altı ay boyunca eylem düzenledikten sonra işverenle uzlaşıya vardılar. Kocaeli’deki bir plastik fabrikasında ise cinsel taciz davası açan iki kadın işçi ile onları destekleyen iki kadın işten çıkarıldılar. Bu durum da toplumsal eylemlerle karşılandı. Gitgide kötüleşen çalışma koşullarına yanıt&hellip;
- [An interpreter’s tweets break media silence over controversial trial](https://insideturkey.org/an-interpreters-tweets-break-media-silence-over-controversial-trial/): Bored one night in a hotel room in a Turkish city, freelance interpreter Sebla Küçük began translating a series of live tweets from American reporters covering a November 2017 legal hearing in New York. The case seemed curious to her, involving a Turkish-Iranian gold trader accused of evading US sanctions against Iran. She never imagined it would turn her into an instant internet sensation. Almost overnight, the 34-year-old’s Twitter followers jumped from 50 to 15,000 and in just one month, her tweets were viewed 80 million times. This massive public interest in a trial deemed a matter of national security&hellip;
- [Milletvekilleri ve aktivistler hükümetin ev içi şiddet konusunda harekete geçmesini istiyor](https://insideturkey.org/milletvekilleri-ve-aktivistler-hukumetin-ev-ici-siddet-konusunda-harekete-gecmesini-istiyor/): “Aile katliamı” kavramı Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi’nin (CHP) yayımladığı bir rapor aracılığıyla ilk kez Türkiye’de meclis gündemine taşındı.&nbsp; Kadınlara ve çocuklara yönelik şiddet medyada ve sivil toplum örgütleri, milletvekilleri ve aktivist gruplar arasında uzun bir süredir tartışılan bir konu. CHP Milletvekili Sevda Erdan Kılıç tarafından hazırlanan, eşlerini ve çocuklarını öldüren erkekleri inceleyen “Kadın Cinayetlerinde Öldürülen Çocuklar” raporu bu konuda toplu bir eylem yaratmayı hedefliyor.&nbsp; 2024 yılının başından beri kadın cinayetlerini kayıt altına alan Kılıç, bu olaylarda öldürülen çocuk sayısını farkettiğinde aile katliamlarını araştırmaya başlamış. Kılıç’ın araştırmalarına göre 2024 yılında 43 çocuk ev içi şiddet olaylarında öldürüldü. İzmir milletvekilinin Inside Turkey’e verdiği&hellip;
- [Enflasyon altın günlerini nasıl etkiledi?](https://insideturkey.org/enflasyon-altin-gunlerini-nasil-etkiledi/): Ev yapımı börek ve poğaçalarla dolu tepsiler ile taze demlenmiş çay eşliğinde arkadaşlarının evinde toplanan kadınların sohbetleri, Türkiye’de dostluk ve beraberliğin sembollerinden biri. Birçok kuşak için bu sahne yalnızca huzuru değil, kadınların maddi, manevi ve sosyal dayanışmasını temsil ediyor. Kocaeli sakini bir grup kadının Şubat ayında yoğun kar yağışına rağmen Altın Gününe gitmesi sosyal medyada geniş çaplı yer bulmuş ve kullanıcıları güldürmüştü. Ancak bir çok kişi de kadınlara hak vermişti, hatta “Kısır, ıslak kek, peynirli börek, sarma, dolma, sınırsız çay… Bence haklılar” yorumu yapılmıştı.&nbsp; Ev yapımı börek ve poğaçalarla dolu tepsiler ile taze demlenmiş çay eşliğinde arkadaşlarının evinde toplanan kadınların&hellip;
- [Depremin ardından Adıyaman’da bir bayram daha zorluklarla geçti.](https://insideturkey.org/depremin-ardindan-adiyamanda-bir-bayram-daha-zorluklarla-gecti/): “Eskiden bayramlarda anneme, babama giderdim çoluğumla çocuğumla,” diyor&nbsp; Seher Yiğit. “Şimdi gidebileceğim bir evin yeri molozlardan temizlenmiş boş bir arsa. Annemi, babamın elini değil artık mezar taşlarını öpüyorum.” Ramazan ayının sonunu müjdeleyen Şeker Bayramı geçen hafta dünyanın birçok yerindeki milyonlarca Müslüman tarafından kutlandı. İki sene önce 6 Şubat depremlerinde sevdiklerini kaybeden binlerce kişi için ise bayram coşkusuz geçti.&nbsp; 37 yaşındaki Adıyamanlı Seher Yiğit için artık “bayram demek yas demek.” 6 Şubat depremlerinde, annesi ve babasının da aralarında bulunduğu 17 akrabasını kaybetmiş. Deprem bölgesindeki yüzbinlerce konut gibi Yiğit’in evi de ağır hasar almış.&nbsp; “Bayramı da heyacanını da televizyonlarda görünce hatırlıyoruz,” diyor&hellip;
- [After 2,000 years, parchment comes home](https://insideturkey.org/after-2000-years-parchment-comes-home/): In the back yard of a small stone house on the edge of ancient Pergamon’s Acropolis on modern-day Turkey’s Aegean coast, a woman is cleaning a stretched goat skin with a crescent-shaped knife. This is the centuries-old method of producing parchment. While holy texts and philosophical discourse may no longer be written on the material, this particular piece is an important link to humanity’s cultural heritage, since it’s being produced in the place that gave parchment its name. The kingdom of Pergamon, which dates back to the 3rd century BC, is famed in legend as the first civilisation to make&hellip;
- [Why fountains in Turkey’s ‘city of water’ are drying up](https://insideturkey.org/why-fountains-in-turkeys-city-of-water-are-drying-up/): With a 2,000-year history, the western Turkish city of Bursa is famous for the drinking fountains that draw on waters from nearby Uludağ mountain.&nbsp; Today, however, privatisation has turned this water into a commodity, and Bursa’s fountains are under threat. Nestled in the hills of what was known as Mysian Olympus in ancient times, Bursa has been home to the kingdoms of Bithynia and Lydia, and was ruled by the Persians, Alexander the Great, the Byzantines and the Ottoman Empire. The city’s abundant water resources are part of the reason why it has been so appealing to different civilisations across&hellip;
- [Turkey’s battle against anti-vaccine sentiment](https://insideturkey.org/turkeys-battle-against-anti-vaccine-sentiment/): Scientists and doctors in Turkey have become the target of abuse on social media from campaigners against the Covid-19 vaccine. Like in other countries, anti-vaxxers circulate conspiracy theories online – one false claim, that vaccines are responsible for births of “creatures” with three ears and five eyes, was even repeated by the president of a minor Turkish political faction, the New Welfare Party, in September.&nbsp; The country’s scientists have been vocal in their criticism of anti-vaccination rallies that have taken place in Turkey, while a large lobby of doctors is urging the government to make vaccines mandatory. Mehmet Ceyhan, a&hellip;
- [The businesses helping families keep in touch with dead relatives](https://insideturkey.org/the-businesses-helping-families-keep-in-touch-with-dead-relatives/): When Bekir, a 40-year-old entrepreneur, visited the grave of a family member in the western province of Bursa last year, he noted that some of the tombs appeared neglected. Although specialising in events and logistics, Bekir was inspired to set up a gravesite maintenance service, employing musicians who couldn’t find work during the pandemic. “I go to my ancestors’ graves and chat with them whenever I feel off. So this isn’t purely financially-motivated for me. I’m interested in the spiritual part of the business,” Bekir said.&nbsp; Visits to cemeteries are an important religious and cultural ritual in Turkey, and grave&hellip;
- [The stone that aged a city by 3,500 years](https://insideturkey.org/the-stone-that-aged-a-city-by-3500-years/): Retired art teacher Alibeke Özkan was strolling through a new park in his Izmir neighbourhood one Sunday in 2003 when he noticed a small green stone in a pile of landscaping material. As a geology enthusiast and the owner of a large collection of minerals, Özkan knew immediately that this was no ordinary pebble.&nbsp; “[It was] a small hatchet carved out of rock,” he told Inside Turkey. “I started to look closer at the dirt after finding the first piece. There were teeth, sea shells, bones, pieces of ceramics.” Guessing that he had come into possession of an archeological artifact,&hellip;
- [Lockdowns highlight Turkey’s internet connection problem](https://insideturkey.org/lockdowns-highlight-turkeys-internet-connection-problem/): The shift to online teaching during the pandemic has brought one of Turkey’s perennial problems to the forefront of public debate: its frustratingly slow internet speed. Recent speed test data collected from internet users ranks Turkey 99th out of 181 countries, with an average connection speed of 38.03 Mbps. The global average is around 106 Mbps. Internet speed is vital for the economy, which presents a particular problem for Turkey, a G20 country that aspires to be one of the world’s top ten economies by 2023. A World Bank / IFC report states that a %10 increase in internet speed&hellip;
- [Despite a shortage of teachers, graduates can’t find work in schools](https://insideturkey.org/despite-a-shortage-of-teachers-graduates-cant-find-work-in-schools/): Thousands of education graduates in Turkey face an uncertain future after the country’s education ministry announced fewer new positions for teachers than expected. In March&nbsp;2021, the education ministry created a total of 20,000 new posts for teachers at all school levels, as opposed to 440,000 in 2020. Would-be teachers must take the Public Personnel Selection Examination (KPSS) before applying for jobs under the quota scheme. This year’s quota is the lowest level in the 17 years that the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) has held power. After the quota was announced, some prospective teachers held a protest in the&hellip;
- [Years in the making, will Istanbul’s cruise terminal defy its critics?](https://insideturkey.org/years-in-the-making-will-istanbuls-cruise-terminal-defy-its-critics/): By 6pm, as Istanbul rush hour reaches its peak, the office block where security guard Burhan Özen works has emptied out. Sitting in his booth at the entrance, Özen is getting ready for the night shift. Soon he will lock the gate, brew a pot of tea and then watch the horizon from the top of the building.&nbsp;&nbsp; “The view used to be better. I’d get up here and my God, Sarayburnu and the old town on one side, spanning all the way behind the bridge. Now, only one half of the bridge is visible. The rest has disappeared,” 59&hellip;
- [Why TikTok is a hit with Turkey’s working class](https://insideturkey.org/why-tiktok-is-a-hit-with-turkeys-working-class/): Last year, 36-year-old construction worker Müjdat Uğur posted a Tik Tok video of him and his co-workers staging a catwalk show on a building site in the central Anatolian province of Yozgat. The post went viral with seven million views. Uğur, who has been using TikTok for three years and has amassed 69,000 followers, told Inside Turkey that he wants to showcase whimsical moments in the lives of ordinary people.&nbsp; “I really want to show in my videos that people who are treated like second-class citizens, meaning workers and labourers, also have fun, enjoy doing their jobs and that they&hellip;
- [Why Turkey’s dolphin parks are no fun](https://insideturkey.org/why-turkeys-dolphin-parks-are-no-fun/): Melisa Sevim was 12 years old when she first encountered a dolphin, during a birthday trip to the local marine park with her mother.&nbsp; While waiting eagerly to swim with one of the dolphins, she watched the people in front of her. Each one would hold onto the dolphin’s dorsal fin as it moved through the water. After a while, the dolphin would dive away from the passenger, and resurface close to where a trainer was throwing out fish.&nbsp; “When I swam, I insisted on diving with the dolphin. But he hit me hard on the stomach with his tail&hellip;
- [How Aliağa became Europe’s dumping ground for ships](https://insideturkey.org/how-aliaga-became-europes-dumping-ground-for-ships-2/): Turkey’s Aliağa shipbreaking centre – the only location in Europe for processing large passenger vessels and aircraft carriers – has been criticised for threatening the health of workers and nearby residents.&nbsp; Handling an average of 900,000 tonnes of scrap a year, the site’s 22 ship recycling centres are located on Turkey’s western Aegean coast. Environmentalists and local residents claim that asbestos – which can cause cancer – is being dispersed in the air around Aliağa, despite health and safety regulations intended to protect people and the environment from harm. Preventative measures established by the central government fall short of alleviating&hellip;
- [The race to save Turkey’s rare gazelles](https://insideturkey.org/the-race-to-save-turkeys-rare-gazelles/): The UN, Turkish officials and local villagers have joined forces in southeastern Turkey’s Şanlıurfa province to combat poachers targeting an endangered species of gazelle. The Arabian sand gazelle, or&nbsp;gazella marica,&nbsp;is native to parts of the Middle East and southern Turkey. The elegant creatures with curved horns – that in males can grow up to 42cm long – are particularly sought after as pets. Although it is legal to sell the young gazelles within a managed, official scheme, conservationists say that illegal hunters snatching babies from their mothers endanger both the individual animal’s health and the species as a whole. “Gazelles&hellip;
- [Public hospitals hinder women’s access to abortions](https://insideturkey.org/public-hospitals-hinder-womens-access-to-abortions/): Nearly a decade after Turkey’s then-prime minister – and now president – Recep Tayyip Erdoğan dubbed abortion “murder”, it has become harder than ever for women to access the procedure. According to&nbsp;a recent report&nbsp;by Kadir Has University, 54 per cent of public hospitals now refuse to perform abortions for reasons other than a medical emergency. What’s more, public hospitals in 56 provinces refuse to perform abortions because they lack family planning units, which are required by law. Social media is filled with accounts by Turkish women who have struggled to get abortions. One woman, a teacher who posts on social&hellip;
- [Was a Bulgarian pop star cancelled for being gay?](https://insideturkey.org/was-a-bulgarian-pop-star-cancelled-for-being-gay/): The Bulgarian pop singer Vasil Troyanoy, better known by the name Azis, was dropped from the bill at a music festival in north-west Turkey after a right-wing newspaper criticised his sexual orientation. The ultra-conservative daily Yeni Akit described Azis as a “gay pervert” after he was added to the line-up for a mid-September three-day Balkan music festival in Bursa province.&nbsp; “What is the AKP-run Kestel municipality trying to do?” asked a headline in Yeni Akit, in reference to the fact that the festival was organised by a local authority run by the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP). Azis, who&hellip;
- [Why families are crowdfunding for gene therapy](https://insideturkey.org/why-families-are-crowdfunding-for-gene-therapy/): The parents of children in Turkey with a rare genetic disease have been turning to crowdfunding to meet the costs of a revolutionary new treatment. Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a disease affecting the central nervous system that can be fatal if left untreated, has until now been treated in Turkey with Spinraza, a form of medication that the patient must take throughout their life. A new gene therapy treatment, Zolgensma – which only needs to be taken once – was approved in 2019, but it is not yet available in Turkey. To make matters more complicated, the medication must be&hellip;
- [What’s behind the rise of ‘sugar dating’ in Turkey?](https://insideturkey.org/whats-behind-the-rise-of-sugar-dating-in-turkey/): Interviewees’ names have been changed Melisa, a 25 year-old fine arts graduate, first started out as a ‘sugar baby’ – someone who dates a wealthier person in return for money and gifts – after receiving an offer on the dating app Tinder in 2019.&nbsp; Melisa, who identifies as non-binary, now makes their living as a sugar baby and told Inside Turkey that while this is technically a type of sex work, it’s not exactly the same as the more common forms.&nbsp; “While sugar babying has parallels with sex work, it also has differences. In sugar dating, daddies also have an&hellip;
- [Shelter From the Storm](https://insideturkey.org/shelter-from-the-storm/): With the help of outdoor cat houses and volunteer labor, Istanbul seeks to improve the lives of its thousands of stray cats. In the winter of 2008, Didem Gokgoz decided to do something for the stray cats of central Istanbul’s Mistik Park. “It was on my way from home to the office,” Gokgoz recalls. “Every day I passed the park and saw them looking for a place to get some warmth during the winter, and I felt desperate.” The interior architect, 29 at the time, came up with the idea of building small containers in which cats could shelter from&hellip;
- [Saving Turkey’s sea turtles](https://insideturkey.org/saving-turkeys-sea-turtles/): Turkish campaigners are working hard to save two species of sea turtle from the threat of extinction due to human activity on land, overfishing at sea and the effects of climate change. Loggerhead and green turtles mate and lay their eggs on land, finding their way back to the beaches where they themselves hatched. Turkey provides one of their most important habitats: around 80 per cent of green turtles lay their eggs on Turkish beaches, and so do almost half of the loggerhead turtle population.&nbsp; The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classes both species as under threat of&hellip;
- [Airport redevelopment splits opinion in Bursa](https://insideturkey.org/airport-redevelopment-splits-opinion-in-bursa/): Protests at plans to redevelop an old airport in western Turkey have gained greater weight after this summer’s forest fires.&nbsp; Home to Turkey’s first ever landing strip, Yunuseli airport in the city of Bursa has been abandoned and inactive since 2017. Recently, the local municipality – run by the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) – announced plans to turn the site over to the ministry of environment and urbanisation, prompting speculation that the site will be used for construction.&nbsp; Yunuseli, run by the Turkish Air Force between 2001 and 2017, is one of 40 inactive airports in Turkey. On&hellip;
- [Turkey counts the cost of this summer’s wildfires](https://insideturkey.org/turkey-counts-the-cost-of-this-summers-wildfires-2/): The sky was orange, the mid-August wind was blowing across the sea, and a man wearing flip-flops was shouting, “Friends, don’t go further. The fire has reached the road. It is not safe anymore.” On the road between Milas and Bodrum, two coastal towns in Turkey next to the Aegean sea, the winds locals call Deli Mehmet – Crazy Mehmet – were fanning giant flames. Ashes filled the air and the remnants of scorched pine trees were spread all over the area; the roaring flames drowned out the sound of the sea.&nbsp; Four weeks after those frightful scenes, the roads&hellip;
- [Turkey counts the cost of this summer’s wildfires](https://insideturkey.org/turkey-counts-the-cost-of-this-summers-wildfires/): The sky was orange, the mid-August wind was blowing across the sea, and a man wearing flip-flops was shouting, “Friends, don’t go further. The fire has reached the road. It is not safe anymore.” On the road between Milas and Bodrum, two coastal towns in Turkey next to the Aegean sea, the winds locals call Deli Mehmet – Crazy Mehmet – were fanning giant flames. Ashes filled the air and the remnants of scorched pine trees were spread all over the area; the roaring flames drowned out the sound of the sea.&nbsp; Four weeks after those frightful scenes, the roads&hellip;
- [Will construction project ruin “Turkey’s Maldives”?](https://insideturkey.org/will-construction-project-ruin-turkeys-maldives/): Often dubbed Turkey’s Maldives because of its turquoise waters and white sand beaches, Lake Salda is at the centre of heated debate because of an ongoing construction project. The lake, a protected environmental area in southwestern Burdur province, is due to play host to a national park which scientists and some local residents warn is shrinking the level of the lake while discolouring its waters and beaches. Salda, the deepest lake in Turkey at 184 metres, is oligotrophic, which means it is highly alkaline with low levels of salt. Designated a national park, the lake and its surrounding area are&hellip;
- [Women’s volleyball becomes a surprise hit](https://insideturkey.org/womens-volleyball-becomes-a-surprise-hit/): While men’s football – as in many countries – is the most popular sport in Turkey, women’s volleyball has recently been turning heads with the growing success of the national team.&nbsp; A second-place win in the 2019 European championship was followed with a trip to this year’s Olympics, where the team reached the quarter finals for the first time in history. Another strong showing in the 2021 European championship – Turkey finished third – helped fix the team in the public mind.&nbsp; Women’s sport more generally has been attracting increasing attention in Turkey due to a string of successes for&hellip;
- [The village women versus the mining company](https://insideturkey.org/the-village-women-versus-the-mining-company/): A government-backed mining project has provoked fierce opposition in a village traditionally known for its support of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). For the past two years, local residents and environmentalists have organised protests in Kirazlıyayla, in north-western Turkey, at the construction of a zinc, lead and copper processing facility. Protest leaders, many of whom are local women, have been detained and prosecuted.&nbsp;&nbsp; Emine Toy, 69, a Kirazlıyayla-born farmer, told Inside Turkey that construction work has harmed crops and grazing land. “They’re going to poison us,” she said. “They just turned a blind eye to our pleas to&hellip;
- [Ankapark, Turkey’s multi-million dollar junkyard](https://insideturkey.org/ankapark-turkeys-multi-million-dollar-junkyard/): The Ankapark development, billed as the world’s largest theme park, was once a flagship project of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) administration in the Turkish capital Ankara. Having spent just six months operational – and with a change of mayor in Ankara – the park’s gates are shuttered and the project threatens to become a giant white elephant.&nbsp; The fate of Ankapark, which replaced a section of the historic Atatürk Forest Farm, now lies in the hands of Mansur Yavaş, Ankara’s new mayor, who is a member of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP). He faces a choice&hellip;
- [Women demand equal treatement in mosques](https://insideturkey.org/women-demand-equal-treatement-in-mosques/): Zeynep Doğusan recounts how a friend was one day leaning against a pillar in a mosque behind the men’s section, admiring the view of the building. A mosque employee came up to her and said that she was not allowed to be there. “Our friend really felt like she had been kicked out of the mosque,” Doğusan continued. “We couldn’t stay silent, so we carried out a [group] prayer, with an imam’s support, at the mosque where the incident took place.” Doğusan is a co-founder of the Women in Mosques Platform, a campaign group set up in October 2017 in&hellip;
- [Restoration plans spark opposition in historic Bursa](https://insideturkey.org/restoration-plans-spark-opposition-in-historic-bursa/): The cobbled streets of the Osmangazi neighbourhood of Bursa, a city in western Turkey, are lined with buildings dating back hundreds of years. Along with traditional inns, or caravanserais, there are historic hamams and mosques, and many local and international tourists come here to enjoy the atmosphere, drink tea and shop at craft stalls. But recent plans for the renovation of the district by the municipality, run by Turkey’s governing Justice and Development Party (AKP), have sparked local opposition.&nbsp; A plan to pave the cobbled street in front of the Koza Inn, one of the city’s best-known historic caravanserais, was&hellip;
- [Poor conditions and no trade union at Turkey’s first nuclear power station](https://insideturkey.org/poor-conditions-and-no-trade-union-at-turkeys-first-nuclear-power-station/): With 8,000 workers, the size of a large village, Turkey’s first ever nuclear power station is notable for its lack of a recognised trade union. Workers fear losing their job if they join one, while union representatives struggle to exert pressure on employers because of widespread subcontracting and precarious working conditions.&nbsp; Turkey’s 60-year dream of building a nuclear power station moved towards becoming a reality when as a deal with Russia was signed in May 2010. Construction of the Akkuyu plant, on the Mediterranean coast in the southeastern province of Mersin, began in 2015. Building work is ongoing and the&hellip;
- [How Europe’s plastic waste ends up on a roadside in Adana](https://insideturkey.org/how-europes-plastic-waste-ends-up-on-a-roadside-in-adana/): Adana, in the south of Turkey, was once famous for its citrus orchards. Now it is known for its fields full of garbage imported from Europe. Most of the time, this plastic waste is not recycled as promised – but burned or dumped along the roadside. İzzettin Akman, who has a citrus orchard in Küçükçıldırım neighborhood, lives near one of these dump sites.&nbsp; “They are constantly burning the waste. We are breathing in all the smoke. We cannot even open the window because of the smell,” he told Inside Turkey. When the Turkish government banned the import of polyethylene, which&hellip;
- [Who will protect Izmir’s evil eye beads from misfortune?](https://insideturkey.org/who-will-protect-izmirs-evil-eye-beads-from-misfortune/): The belief in the evil eye – or&nbsp;nazar&nbsp;– goes back thousands of years, stretching across cultures and religions in the regions surrounding Turkey. Excavations in Mesopotamia have uncovered the beads with an eye-like design that are supposed to ward off a jealous gaze from as long ago as 3,300 BC, while in the Mediterranean region the custom is dated to at least 1,500 BC. Izmir, an ancient city on the Aegean coast, has long been the centre of evil eye bead production in Turkey. The handmade beads are exported not just to other parts of the country but internationally –&hellip;
- [Forest fires reveal Turkey’s lack of disaster preparation](https://insideturkey.org/forest-fires-reveal-turkeys-lack-of-disaster-preparation/): Turkey is dealing with its worst forest fires in recent years as the scorching hot summer months come to a close. More than 270 fires have been reported in over 53 provinces since July 27, mostly in the Mediterranean and Aegean coastal regions. These are hotter and drier than the rest of the country, which also makes them prime holiday destinations, particularly the areas around cities like Antalya, Muğla and Aydın. Eight people have died in the fires so far, while hundreds have been injured and thousands evacuated from their homes. Some 18 fire planes, along with equipment and firefighting&hellip;
- [A sanctuary makes the difference between life and death for farm animals](https://insideturkey.org/a-sanctuary-makes-the-difference-between-life-and-death-for-farm-animals/): Raphael, a snow-white peacock, was rescued along with his two friends from being one of the courses at a wealthy businessman’s New Year’s Eve banquet last year. Now he walks around happily, ruffling his feathers in all their beauty.&nbsp; Then there’s Patrick. He is a giant bull, weighing more than a tonne. His strength and size once made him the champion of animal fairs, but after falling out of favour was marked for the slaughterhouse. Patrick was rescued just before being turned into pet food. Now he lives among not just cows and peacocks, but with camels, goats and donkeys.&nbsp;&hellip;
- [Has sea snot killed the Sea of Marmara?](https://insideturkey.org/has-sea-snot-killed-the-sea-of-marmara/): Huge overgrowth of marine mucilage threatens to suffocate Turkish coastline near Istanbul. Gizem Örnek, a young woman who lives on Istanbul’s Princes Islands, in the Sea of Marmara, used to love living in the idyllic seaside location. Recently, however, she says that sitting beside the sea has become a depressing activity.&nbsp;&nbsp; “Me and my husband moved here to get away from the city and closer to the water some five years ago. We had a baby who just turned one and whom we named Deniz [sea in Turkish],” she said. “I wanted my child to grow up with the sea,&hellip;
- [Turkey’s stop-start summer](https://insideturkey.org/turkeys-stop-start-summer/): As summer approached, soaring Covid-19 cases prompted Turkey’s government to announce a short, three-week lockdown at the end of April. The measures seem to have brought infections down, with new cases of the virus running at around 5,000 a day in June, compared to over 40,000 a day in April. But the stop-start nature of Turkey’s lockdowns has also exacerbated feelings among some people that the burden of the pandemic is not being shared equally. Ramazan Gözübüyük, a 24 year-old waiter in the southern Turkish city of Adana, has been eagerly awaiting the lifting of lockdown restrictions so he can&hellip;
- [Introducing cirit, Turkey’s traditional horseback sport](https://insideturkey.org/introducing-cirit-turkeys-traditional-horseback-sport/): In a snow-covered field in eastern Turkey’s Kars province, two teams of men on horseback are facing one another in line, waiting for the referee’s signal to start. When the whistle blows, the youngest man on one side calls out to an opponent and throws a wooden stick at him, before galloping back towards his teammates. Now in possession of the&nbsp;cirit, the wooden stick that gives this game its name, the opponent gives chase. Despite the snow kicked up by the horses, and the freezing cold air, both players are sweating heavily. It looks like a scene from a battle.&hellip;
- [How Boğaziçi students found themselves in conflict with the state](https://insideturkey.org/how-bogazici-students-found-themselves-in-conflict-with-the-state/): “I don’t feel safe in this country any more, I don’t think I’m loved. I fantasise about leaving this place as soon as I can,” said 19-year-old Alara Surer, while people-watching in Dostluk (“friendship”) Park in Istanbul.&nbsp;&nbsp; Surer, a student at Boğaziçi University, one of the country’s most prestigious private higher education institutions, has been left feeling bitter after the political clashes that erupted on campus earlier this year. In January, Melih Bulu, a member of Turkey’s governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) between 2002 and 2015, was appointed rector of Boğaziçi by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The decision upset&hellip;
- [Afghan refugees find difficult life in Turkey](https://insideturkey.org/afghan-refugees-find-difficult-life-in-turkey/): As the security situation in Afghanistan deteriorates, an increasing number of Afghans are making their way to Turkey along dangerous migration routes. Most enter the country by crossing Turkey’s eastern border with Iran, a journey that carries the risk of injury or death. According to NGOs, the number of Afghan refugees in Turkey has grown to 600,000 over the last five years, many living undocumented. In 2018, just over 100,000 Afghans entered Turkey without permission, according to the Migration Management Directorate, a figure that doubled in 2019. There is no official data available for 2020 and 2021. “I came to&hellip;
- [How veganism is changing Turkey’s eating habits](https://insideturkey.org/how-veganism-is-changing-turkeys-eating-habits/): Turkey’s reputation for being a country with a meat-heavy diet is well-deserved, but there’s more variety than the stereotype suggests. Vegan cuisine is flourishing in parts of the country, with many chefs drawing on traditional recipes for inspiration.&nbsp; In Ankara, Junk Vegan cafe is one of a wave of vegan businesses that have become more visible in the capital in recent years. Sevgi Gümüşlüoğlu and Kardelen Altun, the two young women who set up the cafe, told Inside Turkey that Junk Vegan’s origin’s lie in a “gold coin day” held by Gümüşlüoğlu’s mother. Gold coin days are traditional social events&hellip;
- [Fears over Turkey’s looming exit from Istanbul Convention](https://insideturkey.org/fears-over-turkeys-looming-exit-from-istanbul-convention/): In March this year, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a decree withdrawing Turkey from the Council of Europe’s convention preventing violence against women. When the withdrawal is complete, on 1 July, it will make Turkey the first country to withdraw from the landmark agreement – better known as the Istanbul Convention, after the city in which it was signed. A decade after Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) government took Turkey into the agreement, it is leaving: so what happened in the ten years in between? In May 2011, Turkey became the first signatory to the Istanbul Convention, joined by&hellip;
- [Can universities pass the online learning test?](https://insideturkey.org/can-universities-pass-the-online-learning-test/): Since the start of the pandemic last spring, Turkish universities have moved much of their teaching online. The switch hasn’t been entirely smooth, however, leaving students facing higher costs and technological challenges as they try to keep learning in a time of Covid.&nbsp; Fatma Atak, who lives in the south-eastern province of Mardin, has still not even visited the campus of Marmara University in Istanbul, where she is taking English lessons in preparation for an engineering degree. Yet the expenses are stacking up, she said. “I need 5,000 liras for a computer. Neither I nor my family have this money,”&hellip;
- [The campaign to silence Turkish Journalists](https://insideturkey.org/the-campaign-to-silence-turkish-journalists/): Prosecutions, house arrest and travel bans among multiple threats deployed by the state. Given that Turkey is one of the world’s leading jailers of journalists, news that the number of media workers currently in prison has fallen could be taken as a sign of increasing press freedom. Yet although the number of journalists serving prison sentences has dropped from 143 in May 2019 to 43 in April 2021, according to the Journalists’ Association of Turkey (TGS), other serious obstacles have proliferated.&nbsp; In the first three months of the year, the TGS reports, 220 journalists were sued, 1,238 had their press&hellip;
- [Turkey’s second-hand boom speaks of deeper economic woes](https://insideturkey.org/turkeys-second-hand-boom-speaks-of-deeper-economic-woes/): Buying and selling second-hand goods has become increasingly popular in Turkey amid the country’s recent economic turmoil.&nbsp; Increasing inflation and astronomical exchange rates, combined with the recession triggered by the pandemic, has placed almost all consumer goods into the “luxury items” category for large numbers of people. As a result, many Turks have explored alternative venues for shopping.&nbsp; Gökhan Yıldız, a 34 year-old writer from Istanbul,&nbsp;describes his income as “inconsistent and insufficient”.&nbsp; He got into second-hand shopping both because he wanted to pay less for goods and to make some money on the side. Selling things from around the house&hellip;
- [Why a growing number of children’s books are being declared obscene](https://insideturkey.org/why-a-growing-number-of-childrens-books-are-being-declared-obscene/): Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls, a children’s book that showcases stories of female role models, has become an international hit since it was first published in English in 2016. In Turkey, however, copies can only be sold to over-18s, hidden in black plastic bags that bear the words “harmful to minors”.&nbsp; In September 2019, the ministry of family, labour and social Services declared the Turkish translation of the book to be an “obscene publication,” one of the growing number of apparently benign books to fall foul of the country’s social conservatives. A month before the ministry announced its decision,&hellip;
- [A life in service of Assyrian culture](https://insideturkey.org/a-life-in-service-of-assyrian-culture/): Dubbed “the fading colour of Mesopotamia” and dwindling in number, southeast Turkey’s Assyrians are in a battle against time to preserve their history. Much of the collective memory of this ancient Christian community is contained in fragile books of scripture held in its churches.&nbsp; These are books that 73-year-old Gabriel Akyüz, who lives in the village of Beth Kustan in Mardin province, is working hard to preserve and copy.&nbsp; Akyüz is a Horoyo, a religious official who ranks above a priest, and he writes in Syriac, the Assyrian language, which was once widely spoken in the region. The plateau that&hellip;
- [Growing up in the fields: will Turkey see an end to child labour?](https://insideturkey.org/growing-up-in-the-fields-will-turkey-see-an-end-to-child-labour/): Thirteen-year-old Elif Küpeli was relieved, although not very happy, that the pepper harvest in Turkey’s southern Adana province had come to an end. “Now, I’ll just be bored staying in the tent,” she said, half smiling, gazing at her feet. Between last summer and January this year, Elif and her family would wake up before sunrise and spend all day picking kilos of peppers. For this they were paid 90 liras a day each.&nbsp; The Küpeli family moved to Adana’s Mediterranean Karataş region in 2010 because of the poverty they faced at home in Şanlıurfa province, in Turkey’s south-east. “What&hellip;
- [Will tourism save one of Turkey’s last shamanic villages?](https://insideturkey.org/will-tourism-save-one-of-turkeys-last-shamanic-villages/): For many years the Woodworker Turkmen who live in Tahtakuşlar, a village on the slopes of Mount Ida in northwestern Turkey, have kept their traditional culture and shamanic beliefs alive. Today, these are under threat, as the population dwindles due to economic difficulties and migration. But a proposal to open the village up to tourism has divided the inhabitants.&nbsp; Known as the “mountain of the gods” in local mythology, Mount Ida has been home to a multitude of cultures throughout history. The Woodworkers are former nomads who lived in forested areas alongside the Mediterranean: according to local history teacher Hakan&hellip;
- [Photo story: A tough landscape and a difficult life for villagers at Turkey’s border](https://insideturkey.org/photo-story-a-tough-landscape-and-a-difficult-life-for-villagers-at-turkeys-border/): Like other villages close to the Iranian border in Turkey’s largely Kurdish province of Van, Yukarı Çili must contend with harsh economic conditions – and with shooting from both sides of the frontier. Border guards are often trying to halt smugglers who transport tea, tobacco and oil from Iran’s Çaldıran district back into Turkey. Some of Çili’s residents make their living this way, but others, such as farmers, can find themselves and their animals caught up in confrontations. Yukarı&nbsp;(“upper”)&nbsp;Çili is a two-hour car&nbsp;journey&nbsp;from the&nbsp;city of Van. The route includes a 30-minute climb along mountain roads to reach the village square.&nbsp;Its&nbsp;bare&hellip;
- [Despite the risks, hammam users mourn their closure](https://insideturkey.org/despite-the-risks-hammam-users-mourn-their-closure/): As the lather ran down my skin, I could see two young women lying on the&nbsp;göbektaşı&nbsp;– a heated marble platform – at the centre of the hammam, with dreamy smiles on their faces. There were six of us in the&nbsp;sıcaklık, the hot room of Istanbul’s Kılıç Ali Paşa Hammam on a day in late August last year, and the only sound came from the mittens being used to scrub the dead skin from our nearly naked bodies. Sunlight filtered through holes in the domed ceiling, and I could hear one of the women whisper to her companion that she wanted&hellip;
- [In Istanbul, a very unusual festive season](https://insideturkey.org/in-istanbul-a-very-unusual-festive-season/): On an unusually sunny December 25, the congregation of the Panayia Greek Orthodox church in Istanbul’s Yeniköy neighbourhood lit candles, said their prayers from behind face masks and filed out of the building. Unable to hug one another, people resorted to waving from a distance. Most held up mobile phones to greet loved ones who could not be with them on Christmas Day. “Taste these cookies from Greece,” shouted Laki Vingas, former chair of RUMVADER, Turkey’s Greek Orthodox community association. “I wanted to be here to celebrate Christmas, despite everything,” he told Inside Turkey. Vingas, a lifelong resident of Istanbul,&hellip;
- [What the Pfizer vaccine tells us about Turkish immigrants in Germany](https://insideturkey.org/what-the-pfizer-vaccine-tells-us-about-turkish-immigrants-in-germany/): Like in many other parts of the world, Sundays in the immigrant neighbourhood of Bonn, Tannenbusch, are quieter than usual. On one recent Sunday, everything was closed except for kebab shops offering takeaways, as local politician Binnaz Öztoprak strolled the empty streets. Yet while the pandemic has brought lockdowns, it has also ignited a debate about migration and integration in places like Tannenbusch. Öztoprak, 49, who moved to Germany from Turkey in 1993, was reflecting on the fact that like her, the inventors of the world’s first approved coronavirus vaccine have Turkish roots.&nbsp; Özlem Türeci and Uğur Şahin, the founders&hellip;
- [Turkey’s minority women find their voice](https://insideturkey.org/turkeys-minority-women-find-their-voice/): Although their numbers have dwindled in recent years, Turkey’s Armenian, Jewish, Assyrian and Greek Orthodox communities date back to the Byzantine era. One way these non-Muslim minorities keep their histories and traditions alive is through newspapers – but women are a startling absence from the staff and contributors of many leading outlets.&nbsp; For instance, Agos, a newspaper founded by the Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink, who was murdered in 2007, employs no women in its newsroom. The same is true for two other Armenian newspapers, Nor Marmara and Jamanak, as well as the Greek Orthodox newspaper Apoyevmatini.&nbsp; At least one publication&hellip;
- [Replacing purple hyacinths with concrete](https://insideturkey.org/replacing-purple-hyacinths-with-concrete/): The recent restoration of one of Istanbul’s most iconic buildings has drawn criticism from experts and history lovers who claim that the work has destroyed the building’s unique character and turned it into an ugly, commercial eyesore. Narmanlı Han (Narmanlı Inn), built in 1831, is located in the city’s central Istiklal Street, a road lined with colourful historic buildings, embassies, bookstores, shops and cafes.&nbsp; In the late 19th&nbsp;and early 20th&nbsp;centuries, the building hosted the Russian Embassy and the Armenian Consulate General, but it was only after it was sold to the Narmanlı siblings in 1933 – who turned it into&hellip;
- [Is Turkey’s furlough scheme masking exploitation?](https://insideturkey.org/is-turkeys-furlough-scheme-masking-exploitation/): As Turkey went into lockdown during the spring of 2020, the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Services announced a Social Protection Shield plan to protect workers’ rights during the pandemic. The measures, which are set to continue until February 2021, include wage support, furlough pay and a temporary ban on layoffs. Some experts, however, say that these measures encourage exploitation, leading to a rise in the number of unregistered workers and masking the true level of unemployment in Turkey.&nbsp; Gökçe Uysal, deputy director of Bahçeşehir University’s Centre for Economic and Social Research (BETAM), told Inside Turkey that making it&hellip;
- [How the pandemic impoverished Istanbul’s cleaners](https://insideturkey.org/how-the-pandemic-impoverished-istanbuls-cleaners/): Nur Babacan, 28, once made her living cleaning apartment buildings in Istanbul. Since the beginning of the pandemic, however, work has dried up and she is struggling to make ends meet. “There are times when I have nothing to cook, and we have to make a meal out of soup and some noodles or bread,” said Babacan, who is separated from her husband and has four children to feed. “Sometimes we skip meals altogether. I try to get our basic needs on credit from the small grocery store.” Like many cleaning workers in Turkey who are paid by the day,&hellip;
- [Another historic site rededicated as a mosque](https://insideturkey.org/another-historic-site-rededicated-as-a-mosque/): In July, Istanbul’s historic Hagia Sophia, the ancient building whose uses have followed the city’s fortunes, was rededicated as a mosque. Now it’s the turn of the Chora Museum. The Church of the Holy Saviour in Chora, also known as the Kariye Mosque, was built during the Byzantine era in what is now the Fatih district. Like the Hagia Sophia, it was converted into a mosque under the Ottoman Empire and then turned into a museum by the Turkish Republic in 1945. The interior of the building boasts some of the world’s most important Byzantine Christian mosaics and frescoes, and&hellip;
- [How Turkey’s parliament was left out in the cold](https://insideturkey.org/how-turkeys-parliament-was-left-out-in-the-cold/): A symbol of the modern Turkish Republic, the parliament building in Ankara holds fewer guests than it once did. Between 2007 and 2011, the Grand National Assembly received an annual average of 550,000 visitors, according to figures from the parliament’s press office. This dropped to 445,000 in 2018 and again to 334,000 in 2019.&nbsp; Turkey’s founding father, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, once described parliament as evidence that “sovereignty unconditionally belongs to the Nation”. But do declining visitor numbers indicate a weakening of the country’s democratic institutions, as the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) pursues a more authoritarian style of leadership?&hellip;
- [In Istanbul, a political row blossoms over gardens](https://insideturkey.org/in-istanbul-a-political-row-blossoms-over-gardens/): The victory in 2019 of Ekrem İmamoğlu, the candidate of Turkey’s opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), in Istanbul’s mayoral election put an end to the 25-year dominance of the city by conservatives. Since then, İmamoğlu has come in for strong criticism from Turkey’s governing Justice and Development Party (AKP), which is perhaps unsurprising, since Istanbul is where the current president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan began his career as mayor in 1994. One of İmamoğlu’s more contentious decisions, however, has been to remove the “wall landscapes”: vertical gardens that were planted along highways by a former mayor, Kadir Topbaş, in 2010. İmamoğlu’s&hellip;
- [Hard times for Turkey’s hospitality workers](https://insideturkey.org/hard-times-for-turkeys-hospitality-workers/): Mustafa Akyurt used to manage a bar in Kaleiçi, a tourist-friendly neighbourhood in Antalya, on Turkey’s southern coast. When the pandemic began earlier this year, he said, business “effectively stopped”.&nbsp; “I’m unemployed at the moment and I don’t have an income,” he said. “I can’t make a living for myself. I’m a member of the entertainment industry, and everyone in the business, from waiters to musicians, is suffering right now. We’re all struggling to make ends meet. We unfortunately have to accept help from our families at this age, and that upsets us. Our living standards have really deteriorated. We’re&hellip;
- [Boomtime for Turkey’s academic ghostwriters](https://insideturkey.org/boomtime-for-turkeys-academic-ghostwriters/): Under the leadership of Turkey’s governing Justice and Development Party (AKP), higher education has been greatly expanded since the early 2000s. Yet this growth has been followed by increased demand for essay-writing services – a development that, as an investigation by&nbsp;Inside Turkey&nbsp;reveals, threatens academic standards.&nbsp; Essay-writing has been offered for a long time by individual freelancers via closed networks, but in recent years firms have been more openly advertising “consultancy” services online. While on the face of it they purport to offer copy-editing, proofreading, translation and other legitimate services, what these firms really offer clients is to write the draft&hellip;
- [‘Mum’s slipper’: harmless fun or a sign of desperation?](https://insideturkey.org/mums-slipper-harmless-fun-or-a-sign-of-desperation/): With the growth of social media, and the rise of the women’s movement, domestic violence has come under increasing scrutiny in Turkey. But when it comes to parenting, “mum’s slipper” – a traditional punishment for naughty children – raises no such objections. Indeed, the idea of a mother beating her child with a slipper still seems like a legitimate, and even amusing, form of discipline to many people in Turkey. But not everybody agrees. In 2016, a&nbsp;court case&nbsp;made this a matter of national debate when 38 year-old Hasan Güzel filed a complaint with police about his mother. Şenay Güzel was&hellip;
- [As pandemic continues, exhausted Turkish doctors are struggling](https://insideturkey.org/as-pandemic-continues-exhausted-turkish-doctors-are-struggling/): The pressures of the coronavirus pandemic are leading to a growing number of resignations among doctors in Turkey.  Unfair distribution of wages and long working hours, the risk of dying from Covid-19 and a perceived lack of government support are all fueling the exodus. “Health workers are exhausted and drained,” said Dr Alpaslan Türkkan, chair of the regional branch of the Turkish Medical Association (TMA) in Bursa. He said that several dozen health workers had resigned in recent months in the north-western Turkish city.&nbsp; Between July and October, according to TMA national chair Şebnem Korur, around 900 medical professionals quit&hellip;
- [Why Turkish millennials have money on their minds](https://insideturkey.org/why-turkish-millennials-have-money-on-their-minds/): As a recently-qualified lawyer, 25 year-old Helin Okçuoğlu should be looking forward to moving out of her parents’ home in Kadıköy, İstanbul, and starting life on her own – but she isn’t feeling optimistic.&nbsp; “The reality facing our generation is that there comes a point when we have to minimise our hopes and expectations,” she told Inside Turkey.&nbsp; Despite her law degree and French and English language skills, Okçuoğlu doesn’t expect to move out any time soon, due to what she described as a “lawyer boom” in Turkey. With more graduates than there are jobs, she said, “you have to&hellip;
- [Karabakh: Will Turkey’s Fierce Support of Azerbaijan Pay Off?](https://insideturkey.org/karabakh-will-turkeys-fierce-support-of-azerbaijan-pay-off/): With Turkey positioning itself as Azerbaijan’s chief ally in the fighting over Nagorny Karabakh, analysts argue that the crisis provides both a useful distraction from domestic woes and the opportunity to pursue broader regional ambitions. Ankara has enthusiastically supported Baku since fresh fighting began over the enclave on September 27 on both the world stage and in the provision of military equipment including armed drones. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also claimed that nearly 1,200 Syrian fighters had been sent by Turkey to fight on behalf of Azerbaijan. “As long as the Karabakh issue is not resolved, and Armenia&hellip;
- [Joy and unease as Hagia Sophia is transformed](https://insideturkey.org/joy-and-unease-as-hagia-sophia-is-transformed/): From early in the morning on July 24, it was almost impossible to move in the streets outside Istanbul’s iconic 1,500 year-old Hagia Sophia building.&nbsp; Thousands of people had headed to the city’s Sultanahmet neighbourhood to witness the rededication of the structure – that had served variously as a church, a mosque and a secular museum – as an Islamic place of worship. Despite the pandemic, vast crowds gathered to wait in the boiling sun until evening prayers. Inside the newly-rededicated mosque, the ceremony began with a prayer by&nbsp;Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and was continued by imam Ali Erbaş,&hellip;
- [The return of the Turkish summer house](https://insideturkey.org/the-return-of-the-turkish-summer-house/): A child, a neighbour’s daughter, screams loudly. I think she wants her inflatable pink flamingo, to take to the beach a few metres away. In between her yelling, I can hear the clinking of cutlery, which means another neighbour is clearing their breakfast table. As the sun rises, my bedroom heats up, and without checking my phone, I know it’s around half past seven in the morning – the time I usually wake up in my mother’s summer house.&nbsp; Once a popular holiday choice in Turkey, summer houses have seen a revival of interest during the coronavirus pandemic. They became&hellip;
- [No backtracking on rights, say women’s groups](https://insideturkey.org/no-backtracking-on-rights-say-womens-groups/): A political row has erupted in Turkey after comments by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan indicated the country might withdraw from a landmark international treaty on women’s rights.&nbsp; Drawn up in 2011, the Istanbul Convention – named after the city in which it was signed – commits states in and around the European Union (EU) to prevent violence against women. Religious conservatives in Turkey criticise the convention as “anti-family” and for allegedly encouraging homosexuality, and in early July it looked as if they had found an ally in Erdogan.&nbsp; “Study it. Get rid of it if that’s the will of the&hellip;
- [Immigrant doctors get a raw deal](https://insideturkey.org/immigrant-doctors-get-a-raw-deal/): Immigrant doctors in Turkey complain that they are working under significantly worse conditions than their Turkish colleagues amid the extra strains of the coronavirus pandemic.&nbsp; Low pay and a lack of health insurance are common grievances, while funds that would normally be used to support trainees from outside Turkey have been diverted to Turkish doctors’ salaries.&nbsp; T, who spoke to Inside Turkey on condition of anonymity, is one of around 4,000 immigrant doctors currently working in the country, according to an estimate by the Turkish Medical Association (TTB). T came to Turkey from Palestine in 2009 to finish his medical&hellip;
- [Covid-19 Aid: Turkey’s new political battleground](https://insideturkey.org/covid-19-aid-turkeys-new-political-battleground/): Turkish government attempts to ban locally-organised aid efforts amid the coronavirus pandemic have intensified conflict between the state and the opposition-run municipal authorities. Unemployment and inflation have both soared since Covid-19 arrived in Turkey in mid-March, prompting the state to launch a range of support programmes for vulnerable people. However, when some municipalities tried to create their own additional schemes, they found their way blocked.&nbsp; On March 31, the interior ministry instructed regional governors to prevent metropolitan municipalities from organising aid drives, and to seize the bank accounts and investigate those local authorities that tried to. Money seized has still&hellip;
- [Volunteer efforts flourish amid pandemic](https://insideturkey.org/volunteer-efforts-flourish-amid-pandemic/): In the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, Nagehan Tokdoğan posted a note at the entrance to her apartment block in Ankara.&nbsp; “I can shop for neighbours over the age of 65 … feel free to ask for help at number 7,” it read. Tokdoğan, an academic researcher, came up with the idea when she saw an elderly neighbour struggling with shopping bags on her way to the local market; at the time, those over 65 had been put under strict curfew.&nbsp; “We need small but effective means of social solidarity,” Tokdoğan wrote on Twitter later that day, attaching a&hellip;
- [Mourning in the time of coronavirus](https://insideturkey.org/mourning-in-the-time-of-coronavirus/): When Deniz Şenol Sert lost her 75-year-old father during the pandemic, she and her family found themselves denied all the usual rituals of mourning common to Turkish and Muslim tradition. Sert, an academic who lives in Istanbul, said that the family had not been able to stay with her father when he died on April 4, having been taken to hospital on March 21 with breathing difficulties. Her brother had asked to carry out the ritual washing of the body before burial, but that request was also denied. The only concession officials would make was to let the family see&hellip;
- [Turning to Twitter for justice](https://insideturkey.org/turning-to-twitter-for-justice/): Frustrated by the way Turkey’s legal system and news media treats gender-based violence, survivors and victims’ families are increasingly turning to social media to campaign for justice.&nbsp; But while online campaigns have helped bring justice in some cases of murder and sexual assault, the phenomenon has highlighted wider failings in the way Turkey deals with these issues. When 11-year-old Rabia Naz Vatan was found dead outside her home in the Black Sea city of Giresun in April 2018, her family did not accept the police’s view that it was a suicide. Suspecting she had been murdered, they asked journalist Metin&hellip;
- [After the purge, it’s back to work for some](https://insideturkey.org/after-the-purge-its-back-to-work-for-some/): Following the coup attempt of 2016, the Turkish government sacked thousands of public employees it accused of links to the plot. The opposition accused the government of acting unconstitutionally, and of trying to silence political opponents. Four years on, some people have been reinstated and are trying to rebuild their lives, despite what one former trade union activist described as “an atmosphere of fear”. Ayşe (not her real name), is one of several reinstated employees who spoke to Inside Turkey under condition of anonymity. In 2016 she was sacked from her job as a school counsellor in the south-eastern province&hellip;
- [The village that came back to life](https://insideturkey.org/the-village-that-came-back-to-life/): One of the first things you see when you enter the village of Kafro in south-eastern Turkey, as you make your way past its traditional brown stone buildings, is Nail Demir’s restaurant. Its wood-lined interior feels warm and cosy, which recalls a saying among the region’s Assyrian population: these people have poured all their pain into their coffee. Kafro, which sits 14 miles outside the town of Midyat in Mardin province, was historically an Assyrian village, inhabited by followers of the Syriac Orthodox Church. Many Assyrian Christians regard the surrounding Tur Abdin region, a hilly area that forms parts of&hellip;
- [“Like a walking coronavirus”: Turkey’s elderly in lockdown](https://insideturkey.org/like-a-walking-coronavirus-turkeys-elderly-in-lockdown/): On 21 March, Turkey’s interior ministry announced an enforced curfew on people aged over 65, as well as anyone with a chronic disease. The targeted lockdown, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, was aimed at protecting vulnerable people and it lasted for almost 2 months. These measures were partially lifted in May, and as of this week, those over 65 are allowed to be outside between 10 am and 8 pm.&nbsp; According to the US-based Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resources Center, Turkey has so far reported more than 173,000 COVID-19 cases with 4,746 deaths.&nbsp; Last week, Turkish lawmakers expressed opposing views&hellip;
- [Domestic violence soars under lockdown](https://insideturkey.org/domestic-violence-soars-under-lockdown/): Women’s rights advocates are warning that Turkey’s government has failed to take action over rising domestic violence during the coronavirus lockdown.&nbsp; Official figures released in late May by the interior ministry report a fall in assaults and murders of women. However, advocates disagree, saying that many incidents are going unreported, and that lockdown measures have forced women to share living space with potential abusers.&nbsp; According to data collected by We Will Stop Femicides, a campaign group that runs a domestic violence hotline, calls to their service increased by 44 per cent in March, the month that social distancing measures were&hellip;
- [The man behind Istanbul’s “toy house”](https://insideturkey.org/the-man-behind-istanbuls-toy-house/): Ecevit Çalışkan’s family home has become a landmark in Yeldeğirmeni, a coastal neighbourhood on the Anatolian side of Istanbul. The walls of the crumbling five-storey house are completely covered in stuffed toys, and passers-by often stop to look or take photos. Çalışkan, meanwhile, is known locally for the parties he throws for his neighbours.&nbsp; Çalışkan and his family don’t own the building or pay rent: they are squatters. The story of how they ended up there also illustrates a familiar tale of how Istanbul’s working-class neighbourhoods are being transformed by gentrification.&nbsp; Born in Yeldeğirmeni in 1974, Çalışkan left school at&hellip;
- [Coronavirus, a working-class disease?](https://insideturkey.org/coronavirus-a-working-class-disease/): Yusuf Savur, 28, a construction worker since the age 15, lives in a caravan on an Istanbul building site that continued to operate throughout the Covid-19 lockdown. Although the World Health Organisation recommends hand-washing as an essential precaution against the virus, Savur said that he did not even have access to soap.&nbsp; “When the outbreak started, the company we work for dropped off some soap at the site,” he said. “That ran out in a week and they never replaced it.”&nbsp; Savur said that he and his colleagues now have to wash their hands with just water, and that they&hellip;
- [Why women are the last protesters left standing](https://insideturkey.org/why-women-are-the-last-protesters-left-standing/): With the first COVID-19 case diagnosed in Turkey on March 11, rallies across the country for International Women’s Day on March 8 became the last large public protests to be held before lockdown.&nbsp; Similar restrictions have been enacted in many other parts of the world – but in Turkey, feminist activists were already one of the few groups still able to protest in an increasingly hostile political climate.&nbsp; The Istanbul rally, dubbed the Feminist Night March, was officially banned by Turkey’s District Governorship of Beyoğlu in November 2019. However, thousands of protesters nonetheless gathered in the city centre on March&hellip;
- [Is Istanbul’s culture capital under threat?](https://insideturkey.org/is-istanbuls-culture-capital-under-threat/): On Friday evening, the normally packed streets of Istanbul’s Beyoglu district feel like a ghost town. Bars and restaurants in Turkey have been closed since March 16 as part of the measures taken to curb the coronavirus outbreak – and for Beyoglu, a cosmopolitan district famed for its nightlife, that means a lot of closed shutters. “Every day is like a Sunday morning now,” said Hakan Gür, owner of Kiki, one of the oldest and best-known nightclubs in Beyoglu. “The streets are empty and the only places where you see more than three people are the supermarket queues.” For Gür,&hellip;
- [Migrants face Covid-19 crisis](https://insideturkey.org/migrants-face-covid-19-crisis/): Refugees and migrants in Turkey have been left with little access to healthcare in the face of the growing threat from coronavirus. The crisis was exacerbated by Ankara’s February decision to open its western border with the EU, leading to another mass displacement as thousands of migrants tried to reach Greece. Soon after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that he would break the 2016 agreement to keep refugees from entering the EU unless he received greater support for Turkey’s military action in Syria, several thousand migrants arrived at the Greek border in the province of Edirne. Although few made it&hellip;
- [Photo story: Public workers on the frontline against Covid-19](https://insideturkey.org/photo-story-public-workers-on-the-frontline-against-covid-19/): On a rainy day in Istanbul, people queue in front of Bakırköy Sadi Konuk Research and Training Hospital to get tested for Covid-19. Only the sound of sirens breaks the eerie silence. Ambulance vehicles are parked outside the hospital, ready to respond to emergency calls. When a parked car catches fire and paramedics start spraying it with fire extinguisher, it at least provides a distraction for those waiting in front of the hospital. By April 20, confirmed cases in Turkey rose to more than 90,000, making it the seventh-most affected country in the world. There have been more than 2,000&hellip;
- [Coronavirus boom for single-use plastics](https://insideturkey.org/coronavirus-boom-for-single-use-plastics/): Demand for single-use plastics has shot up in Turkey as a result of hygiene concerns during the coronavirus pandemic, raising fears among campaigners over the future environmental impact. According to the Turkish Plastic Industry Foundation (PAGEV), demand for single-use plastics increased by 25 per cent in the last two weeks of March. Much of this has been for gloves and masks, but PAGEV chair Yavuz Eroğlu told Inside Turkey that many people, particularly health workers and those in at-risk groups, have also started to use disposable kitchenware to avoid contamination at home. Turkish e-commerce platforms indicate the popularity of these&hellip;
- [Emergency room workers on the frontline](https://insideturkey.org/emergency-room-workers-on-the-frontline/): Başak Bayram, head of the pandemic clinic at 9 Eylül University in İzmir, a coastal town in Turkey, has just finished an extended shift. Outside the hospital, municipal workers clad in white jumpsuits and masks, wash the empty street with jets of bubbling water. “There is a battle ahead of us, a war against the virus,” Bayram said, exhausted. “And the emergency room workers are on the frontline.” As the novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, spreads around the world, doctors, nurses, and other health workers are becoming heroes to many.&nbsp;But like in many countries, in Turkey these heroes are&hellip;
- [Happiness in the time of Coronavirus](https://insideturkey.org/happiness-in-the-time-of-coronavirus/): For A, a 28 year-old living in Istanbul, the coronavirus outbreak has brought mixed blessings. Subjected like millions of other people around the word to restrictions on her movement, she has found the time to focus on other aspects of her life. “With the coronavirus outbreak, I faced up to my own mortality. Being reminded that we all die affected me negatively, of course, but it also gave me the power to say: ‘I can do anything I want.’” Over Skype, A – who works in the legal department of a large company – said that she had dreamed of&hellip;
- [Turkish women avoiding gynecological examination](https://insideturkey.org/turkish-women-avoiding-gynecological-examination/): Ceren Yıldız was 19 when she first went to visit a gynecologist. A young woman with an active sex life, she did not expect the experience to turn into a life-changing trauma. “During the examination, he looked at my vagina and said, ‘Your uterus is flipped upside down, there are germs everywhere, you’re covered in filth,’” she said. “He said that the hymen was protective against germs, and that I was now vulnerable to all kinds of sexual diseases. I thought I had a serious disease and I was terrified.” The doctor, a friend of the family, did not prescribe&hellip;
- [Sham marriages for women with Down’s syndrome](https://insideturkey.org/sham-marriages-for-women-with-downs-syndrome/): The guests are waiting in the hall, all dressed up, with the customary gold coins and jewellery ready to be pinned to the bride’s sash. The band is playing and the bride is about to enter the room, but there’s one thing missing: the groom. There is no husband at this pretend wedding of a woman with Down’s syndrome. Such symbolic celebrations, traditionally organised by the families of people with Down’s syndrome, have become increasingly popular in Turkey. Most are thrown for women – the bride usually dances with her brother or father instead of a groom – although there&hellip;
- [Being a refugee in Turkey is expensive](https://insideturkey.org/being-a-refugee-in-turkey-is-expensive/): “Free to soldiers, 1 TL for Turks, 5 TL for Syrians,” reads the sign advertising poğaça, a traditional bread similar to focaccia, in the window of a bakery in İzmit, a city in the western Turkish province of Kocaeli. The sign, a photo of which was widely shared on Twitter, has come to encapsulate the discrimination that Syrian refugees experience in Turkey.&nbsp; Around 3.7 million displaced Syrians currently live in Turkey, which along with Lebanon and Jordan hosts the majority of refugees who fled the civil war that began in 2011. Among the challenges they face in their new home&hellip;
- [Trapped by the EU-Turkey border crisis](https://insideturkey.org/trapped-by-the-eu-turkey-border-crisis/): Tens of thousands of refugees and migrants have arrived at the Turkey-Greece land border since Ankara announced on February 28 that it would no longer prevent them leaving for Europe, in an attempt to pressure the West into supporting its military operations in Syria. People of all ages, from children to the elderly, are now stuck in limbo as they wait on the border in the hope of making it across. Around the Pazarkule crossing alone, near the city of Edirne in north-western Turkey, tens of thousands of people are waiting to enter Greece.&nbsp; “It’s hard to live here. Maybe&hellip;
- [The war against Academics for Peace](https://insideturkey.org/the-war-against-academics-for-peace/): “They took my job, my career and my home from me,” said Serdar Değirmencioğlu, a former head of the psychology department at Istanbul’s Doğuş University. “That wasn’t enough, so they took my wife hostage. But they weren’t able to take my hope for peace and my power to fight back.” Değirmencioğlu is one of hundreds of academics to have come under pressure from the state since 2016. Many have received prison sentences, or lost their jobs and their reputations – and all for signing a public statement calling for peace. Their problems began in early 2016 when a group of&hellip;
- [Turkey’s economic crisis hits home](https://insideturkey.org/turkeys-economic-crisis-hits-home/): Inside a dark and narrow second-hand shop in Istanbul, a man sits in front of a barely-burning heater, wrapped in a dark coat with a homemade scarf dangling around his neck. Old refrigerators, sofas, and coffee tables – all unlikely to be sold any time soon – are piled up in the cold room.&nbsp; The man, who asked not to be named, said that his life had been devastated since the currency crisis of August 2018. “I had a business – a shop – and I had to close it,” he said, bowing his head a little. “Now I hang&hellip;
- [Custodian policy proves unpopular](https://insideturkey.org/custodian-policy-proves-unpopular/): The Turkish government policy of taking control of dozens of municipal authorities run by the left-wing, pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) and handing them over to state-appointed “custodians” looks set to continue. The interventions began four years ago, justified as an anti-terrorism measure in the wake of the failed 2016 coup attempt. More recently, when the HDP won back many of these seats in last year’s local elections, the government promptly took them away again. Amid allegations of corruption, the policy is proving unpopular with both opposition voters and supporters of the ruling Justice and Development (AKP) party.&nbsp; After 2016,&hellip;
- [Is pollution strangling Dilovası?](https://insideturkey.org/is-pollution-strangling-dilovasi/): Dilovası, a coastal town and accompanying district in Kocaeli province on the Sea of Marmara, is a 40-minute drive from Istanbul. Before chemical plants moved there from Istanbul in the mid-1970s, it was a rural area dominated by farming. Since then, industrialisation has picked up speed: Dilovası was made a township municipality in 1987, then a district municipality in 2008; its population is now 47,663. Today a throat-itching, unpleasant smell welcomes you to the district, thanks to air pollution from its six industrial parks. The parks, known by their Turkish acronym OSB, are home to metal, coal and chemical plants&hellip;
- [How suspended sentences increase self-censorship](https://insideturkey.org/how-suspended-sentences-increase-self-censorship/): When Gizem faced trial and a prison sentence over her social media posts, she realised there was no way she could afford to go to jail. The 26-year-old Kurdish woman was prosecuted after she shared quotations from jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan online and posted news reports from the Kurdish Firat News Agency. Her family relied on her to provide for them. So Gizem took advantage of an article in the Turkish penal code, which allows a court to suspend a prison sentence and ultimately strike it from the record if the defendant is not convicted of a crime for&hellip;
- [Embracing the homeless in Istanbul](https://insideturkey.org/embracing-the-homeless-in-istanbul/): The Embrace Life restaurant is tucked away on a side street in Istanbul’s central Beyoglu district. A tiny place, it serves the usual fare of soups, stuffed vegetables and schnitzels to customers until 6pm every evening – after which all food is free for the city’s homeless. Staffed largely by volunteers, the restaurant also offers its homeless patrons psychological support and help finding jobs. Celebrity chefs regularly run cooking workshops there and there are plans to expand services to include a new facility with showers and laundry services. The project is the brainchild of Ayşe Tükrükçü, a prominent social activist&hellip;
- [Istanbul’s Mayor struggles to get funding](https://insideturkey.org/istanbuls-mayor-struggles-to-get-funding/): Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu is seeking European investment to finance stalled infrastructure projects in Turkey’s commercial capital due to what he claims is a politically-motivated refusal by local banks to lend the city money. İmamoğlu defeated the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) candidate in the second round of voting in June, a crucial victory for the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP). İmamoğlu dubbed his win “historic” and it was seen as a rebuke of the ruling party and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s political and economic mismanagement. The CHP now controls the mayoralty of the major Turkish cities, including the&hellip;
- [Turkish matriarchs fight for the mother tongue](https://insideturkey.org/turkish-matriarchs-fight-for-the-mother-tongue/): When Esra Kırkavak moved to the United Kingdom, she began fretting that her son would soon lose his Turkish language skills. Indeed, by age three, he was speaking a language that was a mix of mostly English with some Turkish. Kırkavak, a former journalist, soon found that many other Turkish migrants in her social circle were facing the same challenge; how to raise expat children who remembered where they came from. In response, Kırkavak launched Fiyu and Pupa, two Turkish magazines aimed at toddlers and elementary school kids that are now read by migrant children across Europe.&nbsp; The popular bimonthly&hellip;
- [The local fightback against geothermal power](https://insideturkey.org/the-local-fightback-against-geothermal-power/): Ayşe Çetin and her family have tilled the soil in Aydın, a picturesque town on Turkey’s Aegean coast, for decades. But the idyllic beauty of this holiday destination, known for its olive groves and fig harvests, is under threat, with residents warning that local geothermal power plants built with failing technology are doing irreversible damage to the environment.&nbsp; “They say that olive oil flows from Aydın’s mountains and honey from its plains, but right now, poison is the only thing flowing from its mountains or plains,” Çetin said.&nbsp; “Cancer is on the rise. Three people in my family alone have&hellip;
- [‘Istanbul is alive 24 hours a day’: how an all-night metro service is breathing new life into the city](https://insideturkey.org/istanbul-is-alive-24-hours-a-day-how-an-all-night-metro-service-is-breathing-new-life-into-the-city/): Istanbul residents have welcomed a new round-the-clock weekend subway service that as well as being hugely popular has also sparked debate on how good urban planning can make their city more equal, environmentally friendly and efficient. The extended service has been used by more than three-quarters of a million passengers since its inauguration in late August, filling the municipality’s coffers with badly-needed revenue. &nbsp;“I use the subway every weekend,” said İdil Aydınoğlu, 31, a lawyer. “Going out at night is part of social life. I think this practice is very valuable for including women, LGBTI individuals and people who are&hellip;
- [Why are doctors leaving Turkey?](https://insideturkey.org/why-are-doctors-leaving-turkey/): An unprecedented number of doctors are leaving Turkey to pursue careers abroad, an exodus that medical professionals warn could lead to a public health crisis. The numbers leaving, described as “horrific” by the Turkish Medical Association (TTB), reflect deep-seated worries over job security. The government crackdown on public employees meant that thousands were laid off over alleged links to the Fethullah Gulen network, accused of masterminding the 2016 coup attempt. The layoffs and other measures such as mandatory security checks, along with preexisting problems like discrimination against ethnic minorities and verbal and physical violence against healthcare professionals, have helped fuel&hellip;
- [How Başakşehir, a state-sponsored super team without fans, rose to the top](https://insideturkey.org/how-basaksehir-a-state-sponsored-super-team-without-fans-rose-to-the-top/): The Başakşehir football club has enjoyed a sensational rise in recent years in Turkey’s top football league, competing for the top national title as well as in the playoffs for European club championships. The only thing it lacks is very many actual fans. The eponymous club is based in the new-build suburban neighbourhood of Başakşehir on the far outskirts of Istanbul. Its meteoric success in recent years has fuelled ongoing criticism due to its links to the ruling Justice and Development (AKP) party and alleged favouritism.&nbsp; The club’s hugely influential president, Göksel Gümüşdağ, is related to Recep Tayyip Erdoğan by&hellip;
- [‘Suça karışan çocuklar’ ile ilgili gerçekte neler oluyor?](https://insideturkey.org/suca-karisan-cocuklar-ile-ilgili-gercekte-neler-oluyor/): Türkiye, son dönemlerde gençler tarafından işlenen bir dizi cinayet vakasıyla sarsılıyor. 15 yaşındaki Mattia Ahmet Minguzzi&#8217;nin Ocak 2025’te sokak ortasında bıçaklanması, 23 yaşındaki Hakan Çakır&#8217;ın Ağustos 2025’te 14 ve 17 yaşındaki iki gençle çıkan tartışma sırasında öldürülmesi ve 17 yaşındaki Atlas Çağlayan&#8217;ın Ocak 2026’da 15 yaşındaki başka bir çocuk tarafından bıçaklanarak öldürülmesi, kamuoyunda büyük bir tepki yarattı. Ülke son olarak da 15 Nisan&#8217;da 14 yaşındaki bir çocuğun Kahramanmaraş Ayser Çalık Ortaokulu&#8217;ndaki silahlı saldırısıyla sarsıldı. Olayda saldırgan çocuk dahil 10 kişi hayatını kaybetti. Ancak bu olayların yarattığı tartışmalarda, suça karışan çocukların sesi duyulmuyor. Inside Turkey’e konuşan 17 yaşındaki O.T. “suça karışan”&hellip;
- [Youth crime is a hot topic. What’s really going on?](https://insideturkey.org/youth-crime-is-a-hot-topic-whats-really-going-on/): Turkey has been shaken in recent years by a series of murders involving young people. Incidents such as the stabbings of 15-year-old Mattia Ahmet Minguzzi in January 2025 on a busy Istanbul street and of 15-year-old Atlas Çağlayan in January 2026, or the killing of 23-year-old Hakan Çakır in a fight with two teens in August 2025, have prompted public outrage. Most recently, Turkey was shaken by a shooting at a middle school in the southeastern province of Kahramanmaraş on 15 April. 10 people, including the 14-year-old perpetrator, were killed. Yet amid the debate, the voices of children who get&hellip;
- [Dokuz taksitle ölüm: Türkiye’de ruhsatsız silaha erişim](https://insideturkey.org/dokuz-taksitle-olum-turkiyede-ruhsatsiz-silaha-erisim/): &#8220;Kızımı öldüren silah internet üzerinden 9 taksitle satın alınmış,” diyor Nihat Palandöken. İstanbul’un Pendik ilçesinden lise öğrencisi Helin Palandöken 13 Ekim 2017’de Mustafa Yetgin tarafından kaçak bir otomatik pompalı silahla öldürülmüştü. Helin Palandöken 2017 yılında öldürülen 409 kadından, aynı yıl ateşli silahla öldürülen 175 kadından biriydi. Nihat Palandöken, kızını vuran kaçak silahın temin sürecinin peşine kendisi düşmüş. “İnternetten silah satan yeri ben de aradım” diye anlatıyor Palandöken. Silah almak istediğini söylemiş ve nasıl alabileceğini sormuş. “Amca, sen adresi ver, iki güne kapına teslim dediler. Herhangi bir evrak gerekli mi, yakalanınca cezası var mı diye sordum. ‘Yok,’ dediler. Yemeksepeti ya da&hellip;
- [Why demands for gun control are getting louder](https://insideturkey.org/why-demands-for-gun-control-are-getting-louder/): “The gun that killed my daughter was bought online and paid for in nine installments,” says Nihat Palandöken. A high school student who lived in Istanbul’s Pendik district, Nihat’s daughter Helin, was killed in October 2017 by Mustafa Yetgin, who used an unlicensed automatic air rifle. Palandöken was one of 409 women killed in femicides in Turkey in 2017. 175 women died by firearms that year. Nihat Palandöken took it upon himself to identify how the unlicensed firearm that killed his daughter was supplied. “I called the online firearm seller myself,” he says. Palandöken pretended that he needed a gun&hellip;
- [Enflasyondan antidepresana: Geçim derdi ve baş etmenin bedeli](https://insideturkey.org/enflasyondan-antidepresana-gecim-derdi-ve-bas-etmenin-bedeli/): Sabah işe yetişmeye çalışan kalabalıklar, ay sonunu getirme hesapları, borçlar, belirsiz yarınlar… Türkiye’de hayat çoğu zaman zorluklarla dolu. Birçok insan sadece fiziksel olarak değil, ruhsal olarak da yorgun. Bunun en büyük göstergelerinden biri de son yıllarda artan antidepresan kullanımı. Türkiye Psikiyatri Derneği verilerine göre Türkiye’de 2014 yılında yaklaşık 39 milyon kutu olan antidepresan satışı, on yıl içerisinde 65 milyon kutuya ulaştı. OECD verileri de ülkedeki antidepresan kullanımının 2014’ten bu yana yüzde 60,55 oranında arttığını gösteriyor. Inside Turkey’e konuşan uzmanlara göre on yıl içinde yaşanan bu artışı sadece psikiyatrik tanıların yaygınlaşmasıyla açıklamak mümkün değil. Psikolog Pelin İnan, artışın temel nedenleri arasında&hellip;
- [Why antidepressant use is on the rise](https://insideturkey.org/why-antidepressant-use-is-on-the-rise/): A crowded commute, money that doesn’t stretch until the end of the month, uncertainty about the future – life in Turkey is often hard. And for some, it comes with a psychological cost that is showing through in the growing use of antidepressants. Data from the Psychiatric Association of Turkey shows that the sale of antidepressants rose from 39 million boxes in 2014 to 65 million in 2024. OECD data similarly shows a 60.55% increase in the use of antidepressants in 11 years. Experts told Inside Turkey that the change can’t be explained solely by higher rates of diagnosis. Therapist&hellip;
- [Gıda zehirlenmeleri: Yüksek enflasyon midenizi nasıl bozuyor?](https://insideturkey.org/gida-zehirlenmeleri-yuksek-enflasyon-midenizi-nasil-bozuyor/): Uçak İstanbul’a iniş yapmadan kısa süre önce Sibel’in durumu iyice kötüleşti. Hatay’da öğle saatlerinde tavuk döner yedikten birkaç saat sonra midesi bulanmaya ve kusmaya başlamıştı. İstanbul’a yaklaşırken durumu o kadar kötüleşti ki pilot öncelikli iniş istedi ve uçak acil iniş yaptı. “Ellerimde kasılma başladı, tansiyonum düşmüştü. Nabzımı zor alıyorlardı; o an öleceğimi düşündüm” diyor uçaktan sedyeyle indirilen Sibel. Tıbbi müdahaleden sonra Sibel’in durumu hızlıca iyileşti, ancak yaşadığı gıda zehirlenmesi, yalnızca o günü değil sonraki alışkanlıklarını da değiştirdi. Hatay’daki dönercide daha önce de yemek yemiş ancak artık bildiği yerlere bile tereddütle yaklaşıyor. Benzer bir deneyimi 2025 baharında İstanbul’da yaşayan Elif ise&hellip;
- [Is the inflation crisis causing a rise in food poisoning?](https://insideturkey.org/is-the-inflation-crisis-causing-a-rise-in-food-poisoning/): Shortly before her flight landed in Istanbul, Sibel’s condition took a turn for the worse. She’d been feeling sick since eating a chicken shawarma in Hatay earlier in the day, and had started vomiting. By the time the plane was nearing Istanbul, it had become so bad that the cabin crew alerted the pilot, who made an emergency landing. &nbsp;“My hands started cramping up, my blood pressure dropped. My pulse was apparently weak, I thought I was going to die right then and there,” says Sibel, who was carried off the plane in a stretcher. After receiving medical treatment, Sibel&hellip;
- [Umut ve korku: İran’daki savaşı Türkiye’den izlemek](https://insideturkey.org/umut-ve-korku-irandaki-savasi-turkiyeden-izlemek/): Türkiye’de yaşayan İranlılar için savaş, aile fertleriyle yapılan gergin telefon görüşmelerini, sosyal medyada geçirilen sonsuz saatleri ve değişime dair zor tartışmaları da beraberinde getiriyor Serin bir Ramazan akşamı bir kafede toplanan İranlı arkadaşların bir gözleri hep telefonlarında, sosyal medyadaki güncel gelişmeleri takip ediyorlar. Türkçe ve Farsça arasında gidip gelen sohbet fincan tıkırtıları ve telefonlardan gelen kesintisiz bildirimlerin sesini bastırıyor. “Gece 3’te bile haberlere bakmak için uyanıyorum,” diyor 37 yaşındaki mühendis Nima. Ortadoğu’da yaşanan savaş Türkiye’de yaşayan birçok İranlı için yalnızca jeopolitik değil, aynı zamanda oldukça kişisel. Savaş aile üyeleriyle yapılan gergin telefon görüşmelerini, sosyal medyada geçirilen sonsuz saatleri ve değişime&hellip;
- [War ignites hope and fear among Iranians in Turkey](https://insideturkey.org/war-ignites-hope-and-fear-among-iranians-in-turkey/): For many, the crisis is shaped by bitter arguments over what kind of change &#8211; if any &#8211; should come next In a coffee shop on a chill Ramadan evening, three Iranian friends scroll through their phones and share the latest news with each other. The clink of cups mixes with the constant buzz of phone alerts as their conversation shifts between Turkish and Farsi. “I even wake up at 3 am to check the news,” said Nima, a 37-year-old engineer. For many Iranians living in Turkey, the Iran crisis is not only a geopolitical story but an intimate one,&hellip;
- [Van’da hayvancılık: Yakılan yünler, küçülen sürüler](https://insideturkey.org/vanda-hayvancilik-yakilan-yunler-kuculen-suruler/): Van’ın kırsalında bir ahırın kapısı sabah henüz ağarmamışken açılıyor. Hava soğuk, keskin bir soğuk. Toprak donmuş, nefes buhar olup havaya karışıyor. Yıllardır hayvancılık yapan Recep Yolak yeni doğan kuzunun başında bekliyor. Doğum bitti ama iş yeni başlıyor. Bu coğrafyada bir hayvanı dünyaya getirmek kadar onu yaşatmak da zor. Bir zamanlar Türkiye’nin tarım ve hayvancılıkta öne çıkan kentlerinden biri olan Van’da hayvancılık yapan Yolak’a dedesinden ve babasından kalan bu meslek sadece bir geçim kaynağı değil, kuşaktan kuşağa aktarılan bir yaşam biçimi. Ancak bugün bu hayatı sürdürmek çok da mümkün değil. Artan yem fiyatları, kuraklık, borçlar ve hayvansal ürünlerin değer kaybetmesi Van’da&hellip;
- [A sheep farmer asks: can Turkey’s wool industry be revived?](https://insideturkey.org/a-sheep-farmer-asks-can-turkeys-wool-industry-be-revived/): Before dawn breaks on a chilly morning in Sakal, rural Van province, a barn door creaks open. The soil is frozen and breath mists in the air. Recep Yolak waits next to a newborn lamb. The delivery is complete, but the work is just beginning in a region where keeping a young animal alive is almost as hard as bringing it into the world. Yolak is a livestock farmer in eastern Turkey’s Van, once one of the country’s capitals of agriculture. His skills were passed down from generations of men before him; it’s not just a source of income, but&hellip;
- [Bir çatı altında üç kuşak: Nereye kadar?](https://insideturkey.org/bir-cati-altinda-uc-kusak-nereye-kadar/): Van kırsalında tek avlulu bir ev, aynı çatı altında üç kuşak yaşıyor: Dede Mustafa Harun, eşi Emine Harun, oğulları Ali, gelinleri Şennur ve torunlar. Bu evde hayatın yıllardır sorgulanmayan bir akışı var: Kararları büyükler verir, küçükler uyar. Kalabalık olmak bir yük değil, bir güven duygusudur. Ancak bugün, bu evde ilk kez başka bir soru dolaşıyor: Ayrı yaşamak mümkün mü? Bu soru yalnızca Harun ailesinin iç meselesi değil; Doğu Anadolu’da uzun yıllar boyunca kendiliğinden süregelen geniş aile yapısının neden çözülmeye başladığını gösteren küçük ama güçlü bir işaret. Psikolojik danışman Ferhat Men, bu tür aile içi gerilimlerin temelinde kuşaklar arasındaki ihtiyaç farkının&hellip;
- [Three generations under one roof, but for how much longer?](https://insideturkey.org/three-generations-under-one-roof-but-for-how-much-longer/): A house in rural Van province, south-eastern Turkey, is built around a small courtyard. Three generations live under its roof: grandad and grandma Mustafa and Emine Harun, their son Ali and their daughter-in-law Şennur, and finally, the grandchildren. This way of life has gone unquestioned in the home for years. The elders would decide and the younger family members would abide. The crowded home was not a burden but a safety net. Today, a new question is whispered around the house: is it possible to move out? It’s not just the Harun family. These questions are being asked in traditional&hellip;
- [Aşı karşıtlığının bedeli: Çocuk felci ve engellilik riski](https://insideturkey.org/asi-karsitliginin-bedeli-cocuk-felci-ve-engellilik-riski/): Vahide Çakır Ankara&#8217;da yalnız yaşadığı evinde güne erken saatlerde başlıyor. Akşamdan banyosunu yapmış, hazırlıklarını tamamlamış, sabaha sadece makyaj yapmak kalmış. Evden çıkmadan önce son kez aynaya bakıyor ve sonra dışarıda kullandığı “aktif” tekerlekli sandalyesine geçiyor. Çakır arabasına binip de sandalyesini katlarken oturduğu sitede çalışan güvenlikler de sandalyeyi bagaja kaldırıyor. Çalıştığı televizyon kanalına ulaştığındaysa bu sürecin tam tersi yaşanıyor. Çakır üç yaşında geçirdiği çocuk felci sebebiyle hayatını tekerlekli sandalyede geçiriyor. Ailesi Çakır’ı çocuk felcine karşı aşılatmamış. “Oysa ağzımdan damlatılacak üç damlalık çocuk felci aşısı yapılsaydı ben hayatımı engelli olarak sürdürmeyecek, çocukluğumu yaşıtlarım gibi yaşayacaktım,” diyor Çakır. Küresel çapta artan aşı karşıtlığı&hellip;
- [When vaccines are missed: Polio, disability, and the cost of hesitancy in Turkey](https://insideturkey.org/when-vaccines-are-missed-polio-disability-and-the-cost-of-hesitancy-in-turkey/): Vahide Çakır starts the day early in her apartment in Ankara, where she lives alone. She’s showered the night before and has her morning prep done: make-up is the only thing she has left to do before work. She takes a final look in the mirror before leaving the apartment and moves over to her “active” wheelchair, which she uses outdoors. She gets into the driver’s seat of her car and the security guards in her apartment complex fold the wheelchair and put it into the boot. At the other end of her journey, at the TV station where she&hellip;
- [Plaiting As Protest](https://insideturkey.org/plaiting-as-protest/): Women’s willingness to alter their hair in solidarity with those suffering violence is “an alternative method of writing history”. In early 2026, as Syrian government troops retook territory held by Kurdish-led forces in the north of the country, a chilling video circulated online. A Syrian government soldier was seen holding plaited hair in his hand, claiming he cut it from a female member of the SDF, the Kurdish-led army, who had been killed. “This is what’s left of her,” he said. The shocking footage prompted Kurdish women and their allies to protest, sharing videos of themselves weaving their hair into&hellip;
- [Depremlerin ardından Antakya’da kazanlar yeniden kaynıyor](https://insideturkey.org/depremlerin-ardindan-antakyada-kazanlar-yeniden-kayniyor/): Eski Antakya’nın kalbinden geçen Kurtuluş Caddesi’nin Roma döneminde meşalelerle aydınlatıldığı ve dünyanın ilk ışıklandırılan caddesi olduğu söylenir. Ancak bu kış gecesinde cadde karanlık. Tek ışık, iki yanı inşaatlarla çevrili yolun etrafında kamp kuran inşaat işçilerinin yaktığı küçük ateşlerden geliyor. Bir zamanlar Roma askerlerinin ve tüccarların cirit attığı bu görkemli cadde bugünlerde çamur ve çukurlarla kaplı. Bata çıka ilerlenen yolda uzanan ahşapların üzerinden yürüyünce yol Eski Antakya Meyhanesi’ne çıkıyor. Karanlığın ve soğuğun ortasında bir tek burası sıcak. Kısa bir süre önce açılan meyhanenin içini anason kokusu kaplamış. Kadehler tokuşturuluyor, mezeler elden ele geziyor ve içerideki sohbetin sesi elektrikli ısıtıcının cızırtısını bastırıyor.&hellip;
- [After the earthquake, Antakya cooks again](https://insideturkey.org/after-the-earthquake-antakya-cooks-again/): Eating and drinking together, locals are healing after the devastating disaster that decimated 90 percent of the city. Local legend has it that Kurtuluş street, the spine of Antakya’s old city—what was the ancient city of Antioch—is the world’s first illuminated street, once lit by Roman torches at night. But on a winter evening, it is dark, with the only light coming from small fires lit by construction workers camping out beside the road. Once trodden by traders and warriors in their ancient glory, the street &nbsp; &nbsp; is now covered with mud and gaping holes. At the end of&hellip;
- [‘Komşu anne’ler çocuk bakım hizmetindeki yetersizliğe çare olabilir mi?](https://insideturkey.org/komsu-anneler-cocuk-bakim-hizmetindeki-yetersizlige-care-olabilir-mi/): Türkiye’de hükümet doğum oranlarını artırma ve aile yapısını güçlendirme yönündeki arzusunu saklamasa da çalışan annelere verilen 16 haftalık doğum izni ve kamu kreşlerinin yetersizliği bu amaca hizmet etmiyor. Cumhurbaşkanı Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’ın ‘Aile Yılı’ ilan ettiği 2025’te açıklanan Komşu Anne Projesi, bu sorunu çözmeye yönelik çabalardan bir tanesi. Mahalle-bazlı çocuk bakımı fikri üzerine kurulu proje kapsamında 65 yaşın altındaki kadınların evde bakım hizmeti sunarak özel kreşlerden ya da bakıcılardan daha uygun fiyatlı bir alternatif sunması öngörülüyor. Bazı uzmanlar projeye temkinli ama iyimser yaklaşsalar dahi daha kapsamlı adımlar atılması gerektiğini düşünüyor. Yaşar Üniversitesi Kadın ve Aile Çalışmaları Merkezi Direktörü Huriye Toker’e&hellip;
- [Are “neighbourhood mums” the answer to a childcare shortage?](https://insideturkey.org/are-neighbourhood-mums-the-answer-to-a-childcare-shortage/): Turkey’s government has made no secret of its desire to boost birth rates and strengthen the traditional nuclear family. But its ambitions clash with the relatively meagre maternity leave working mothers receive – just 16 weeks paid leave as standard – and a lack of publicly-funded daycare centres. Its proposed solution, unveiled last year as part of a wider initiative that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan dubbed the Year of the Family, is the “neighbourhood mum” project. This pilot for community-based childcare allows women aged under 65 to offer childminding services at home, charging lower fees than either private daycare or&hellip;
- [Mahkumlar anlatıyor: ‘Kuyu tipi’ cezaevlerinde yaşam](https://insideturkey.org/mahkumlar-anlatiyor-kuyu-tipi-cezaevlerinde-yasam/): “Buralar canlı insan mezarları” diyor yüksek güvenlikli hapishaneden tahliye olan Serkan Onur Yılmaz. Türkiye’nin 2021 yılında uygulamaya aldığı yüksek güvenlikli Y ve S tipi ceza infaz kurumları, mahkumlar ve insan hakları savunucuları tarafından “kuyu tipi hapishane” olarak nitelendiriliyor. “[Hücreme] hiç güneş girmiyordu” diyor eski mahkum Ali Hasan Akgül. “Şansınız varsa bir güneş damlası girebilir. Camdan bakabilmek ise mümkün değil. Üç kat tel var. Sivrisinek bile giremiyor. Sürekli bir kafesin içinde gibisiniz.” Geçen yaza kadar kuyu tipi hapishanelerde kalan Yılmaz ve Akgül tecrit ve sürekli gözetim uygulamalarını protesto etmek için açlık grevi yapan onlarca mahkumdan yalnızca bazıları. “Bizi uyurken, yemek yerken,&hellip;
- [Inmates speak out about conditions in Turkey’s “well-type” prisons](https://insideturkey.org/inmates-speak-out-about-conditions-in-turkeys-well-type-prisons/): “These places are graves for living humans,” says Serkan Onur Yılmaz, a former inmate of one of Turkey’s new high-security prisons. Introduced in 2021, they have been labelled “well-type prisons” by inmates and human rights advocates – who compare incarceration in such structures to being stuck at the bottom of a well. “[My cell] didn’t get any sun,” says Ali Hasan Akgül, another former inmate. “You got maybe a single ray if you were lucky. It’s not possible to look out the window, it has three layers of screens over it. Not even a mosquito could get in. It’s like&hellip;
- [‘Kadınlar matinesi’nin dönüşü](https://insideturkey.org/kadinlar-matinesinin-donusu/): İstanbul’un işlek caddelerinden birinde, dışarıdan sıradan görünen bir düğün salonunun ağır demir kapıları kapanıyor. Dışarıdaki şehrin gürültüsü kesiliyor, yerini içerideki ağır bas seslerine bırakıyor. DJ kabininin başında şık tesettürü, payetli abiyesi ve dokuz yıllık tecrübesiyle DJ Tuğba Dağlar duruyor. Karşısındaki yüzlerce kadına, geceyi başlatan o kritik manifestoyu okuyor: &#8220;Bütün kimliğinizi, anneliğinizi, iş hayatınızı, eşinizle olan sorunlarınızı şu kapının arkasında bırakın. Burada kimliğimiz yok, burada sadece &#8216;kadınız&#8217; ve çığlık çığlığa eğleneceğiz!&#8221; Bu komutla birlikte salon, Türkiye’nin sert gerçekliğinden koparılmış, erkeklerin girişinin yasak olduğu geçici bir cumhuriyete dönüşüyor. Işıklar karartılıyor ve çarşaflar çıkarılıyor, feracelerin altından mini etekler, pardösülerin altından en şık gece&hellip;
- [The return of the ‘women’s matinee’](https://insideturkey.org/the-return-of-the-womens-matinee/): The heavy gates of a seemingly ordinary wedding hall close on a busy street in Istanbul. The city’s bustle is shut out, replaced by the bass indoors. With her chic headscarf and sequin dress, Tuğba Dağlar stands at the DJ booth. To kick off the evening, she reads out a manifesto to the hundreds of women standing in the hall. “Leave your identity, your motherhood, your career, your marital issues beyond those doors. Here we are just women – and we are going to have a raging good time!” With that, the hall is turned into a temporary sovereign republic,&hellip;
- [Depremden sonra futbolla iyileşmek: Adıyamanlı kadınların “halı saha günü”](https://insideturkey.org/depremden-sonra-futbolla-iyilesmek-adiyamanli-kadinlarin-hali-saha-gunu/): “Bazen bir saatliğine bile olsa maça gelmek nefes aldırıyor, kendimi daha güçlü hissediyorum,” diyor Sakine Özelci. Binlerce başka Adıyamanlı gibi, Özelci de 6 Şubat depremlerinden beri dört kişilik ailesiyle beraber konteynerde yaşıyor. Onu hayata bağlayan şeylerden biri futbol. Özelci’nin takımı Gökyüzü Şutlayıcıları, depremden sonra bölgeye gelen sivil toplum üyeleri tarafından kurulmuş ve zamanla Adıyamanlı kadınlar da gruba katılmış. Depremden sonra kurulan Hayata Destek Derneği’nde çalışan Özelci için bu takım, iyileşmenin önemli bir parçası. “Kendimi daha güçlü hissediyorum” diyor. “Eskiden tek başıma sokakta yürümeye cesaret edemezdim, şimdi o cesaretim var. Bu takım bana bunu kazandırdı.” Depremlerden en çok etkilenen illerden biri&hellip;
- [Building self-confidence through football in post-earthquake Adıyaman](https://insideturkey.org/building-self-confidence-through-football-in-post-earthquake-adiyaman/): “Life after the earthquake has been really hard, but coming to a game even for just an hour gives me a breather – it’s empowering” says Sakine Özelci. Like thousands of others, Özelci has been living in a container home – with her family of four – since the earthquakes that struck southern Turkey in February 2023. Football is one of the things that has kept her going. Özelci’s team is called the Gökyüzü Şutlayıcıları (“Sky Shooters”). It was established by women aid workers, and local Adıyaman women joined later. For Özelci, who works for Hayata Destek (“Life Support”) &#8211;&hellip;
- [Depremde hayatta kalan Hataylılar şarkılarla iyileşiyor](https://insideturkey.org/depremde-hayatta-kalan-hataylilar-sarkilarla-iyilesiyor/): Hatay’da bir arka bahçede bir araya gelen kadınlar en güzel giysilerini giymiş, heyecan içinde aylar süren hazırlığın ardından ilk kez verecekleri konsere hazırlanıyorlar. Şarkı sözlerine son bir defa göz atılıyor, oturma düzeni netleştiriliyor, enstrumanların akoru kontrol ediliyor ve konser başlıyor. “Biz bir zamanlar çocukken” diye başlıyor koro şefi Abir Naeseh Bilgin ve korodakiler eşlik ediyor: “Ne güzel el ele yürürdük sokaklarda…” İsmi Arapça “merhaba” anlamına gelen Yahala Arap Müziği Atölyesi, Türkiye ve Suriye’de 50.000’den fazla insanın hayatını kaybettiği 6 Şubat 2023 depremlerinin ardından Hatay’da kuruldu. Hâlâ 200 binden fazla insanın konteynerlerde yaşadığı şehirde elektrik sık sık kesiliyor, ulaşım zor, sokaklar&hellip;
- [How singing is helping earthquake survivors heal](https://insideturkey.org/how-singing-is-helping-earthquake-survivors-heal/): In a courtyard in Hatay, southern Turkey, a group of women are dressed in their best clothes as they get ready for their first concert, after months of practice. They look over the lyrics one last time, the seating chart is finalised and the instruments are tuned. Then, the music starts. “When we were young,” the conductor Abir Naeseh Bilgin starts singing, as the choir&nbsp; joins in, “how we used to stroll hand in hand on the streets…” Named after the Arabic word for “hello”, the Yahala Arabic Music Workshop was founded in Hatay after the devastating earthquakes of February&hellip;
- [Cuma hutbeleri muhafazakarlaşıyor mu?](https://insideturkey.org/cuma-hutbeleri-muhafazakarlasiyor-mu/): Diyanet İşleri Bakanlığı’nın yakın geçmişte yaptığı bazı açıklamalar kadın hakları ve dinin toplumsal yaşantıdaki yerine dair bazı tartışmaları yeniden alevlendirdi. Her hafta aynı anda neredeyse 90,000 camide okunan Cuma hutbeleri ülkedeki milyonlarca kişi için dini bir kılavuz teşkil ediyor. Ancak yakın zamanda okunan bazı hutbeler kadınların giyiminden kişisel özgürlüklere, miras hakkından LGBT+ kimliklere uzanan birçok toplumsal konuda iktidarın duruşunu yansıtıyordu. Gitgide sertleşen bu söylemler hem muhafazakar hem de seküler çevrelerden eleştiri topladı. Feminist yazar Berrin Sönmez ile ilahiyatçı Emine Yücel geçtiğimiz aylarda Diyanet’in söylemlerini protesto etmek için başörtülerini çıkarma kararı aldı. Sönmez’in kararını tetikleyen, Diyanet’in 1 Ağustos tarihli hutbesinde “uygunsuz&hellip;
- [Are Friday sermons becoming more conservative?](https://insideturkey.org/are-friday-sermons-becoming-more-conservative/): Recent statements by Turkey’s state-backed Islamic authority, the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), have inflamed long-running debates about women’s rights and the role of religion in public life. The Diyanet’s Friday sermons, delivered simultaneously in nearly 90,000 mosques each week, function as a religious guide for millions in Turkey. Yet recent sermons have carried messages that appear to align with the government’s stance on a range of social issues, from women’s clothing and personal freedom, to inheritance rights and LGBT+ identities. Significantly, the increasingly strict tone has drawn criticism from some prominent religious commentators, as well as secularists. In recent&hellip;
- [Adamlar Kulübü: Sadece erkeklerden oluşan yayınlar bitecek mi?](https://insideturkey.org/adamlar-kulubu-sadece-erkeklerden-olusan-yayinlar-bitecek-mi/): Medyada toplumsal cinsiyet eşitliği için verilen küresel taahhütlerin üzerinden neredeyse otuz yıl geçmesine rağmen kadınların haber içeriklerinde temsili hâlâ çok yetersiz. Medyada toplumsal cinsiyet eşitliğine dair dünyanın en uzun soluklu araştırması olan Küresel Medya İzleme Projesi’nin (GMMP) son raporuna göre, 2025’te kadınlar dünya genelindeki tüm haber özneleri ve kaynaklarının yalnızca yüzde 26’sını oluşturdu. Bu, 2005’tekiyüzde 14’lük orana kıyasla kademeli bir iyileşmeye işaret etse de yapısal bir dengesizliğin hâlâ sürdüğüne de işaret ediyor. GMMP’nin 2025 bulguları, dünya genelinde medyadaki uzman seslerinin yalnızca yaklaşık dörtte birini kadınların oluşturduğunu ortaya koyarken Türkiye’deki uçurum televizyon haberlerinde daha da görünür hâle geliyor. Siyasetten halk sağlığına&hellip;
- [How to end the all-male panel](https://insideturkey.org/how-to-end-the-all-male-panel/): Nearly three decades after global pledges for gender equality in the media, women remain severely underrepresented in news content. According to the latest Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) &#8211; the world’s longest-running study on gender in the news &#8211; in 2025, women accounted for only 26% of all news subjects and sources worldwide. Although this is a gradual improvement from 2005, when the figure stood at 14%, it still reflects persistent structural imbalance. While GMMP’s 2025 findings also reveal that women constitute only about a quarter of expert voices globally, in Turkey, the gap is even more visible on television&hellip;
- [Terapistler neden cinsiyetçilikle ilgili konuşmaya başlamalı?](https://insideturkey.org/terapistler-neden-cinsiyetcilikle-ilgili-konusmaya-baslamali/): &#8220;Kadınsanız hiçbir hâliniz tam olarak yerini bulmuyor” diyor mesleğinin zorluklarından bahsederken psikolog Ece Önder. Türkiye’de kadın terapistler ruh sağlığı alanının görünürdeki omurgasını oluştursalar da cinsiyetleri yüzünden zorluklarla karşılaşıyorlar. Travma ve afet alanlarında uzmanlaşan Önder kadınların genç olduklarında “deneyimsiz”, yaş aldıklarında “katı” görüldüklerini, şefkatli davrandıklarında “fazla yumuşak”, mesafeli olduklarında ise “soğuk” bulunduklarını söylüyor. Klinik psikolog Berçem Göktürk de Önder’e katılıyor. Kadın terapistlerin özellikle gençken danışan veya meslektaşları tarafından “yetersiz” veya “şefkatli ama klinik yeterliliği sorgulanabilir” olarak görülebildiğini söylüyor. Erkek danışanlarla yaşanan yanlış anlaşılmalar da kadın terapistler için oldukça yaygın bir deneyim. Afet bölgelerinde sık sık çalışan Önder “niyet okuma”ya maruz kaldığını&hellip;
- [Why therapists need to start talking about sexism](https://insideturkey.org/why-therapists-need-to-start-talking-about-sexism/): “As a woman, you are always out of place,” says psychologist Ece Önder, reflecting on the pressures of her job. Although women therapists form the backbone of Turkey’s mental health services, they still face obstacles on account of their gender. Önder, who specialises in trauma and disasters, tells Inside Turkey that women are deemed “inexperienced” when they’re young, “strict” when they are older, “soft” when they are compassionate, and “cold” when they are detached. Berçem Göktürk, a clinical psychologist, shares the same view. Women therapists, she says, are more likely to be treated by clients and colleagues as “incompetent” or&hellip;
- [Ne işte ne okulda: Türkiye’nin ev gençleri](https://insideturkey.org/ne-iste-ne-okulda-turkiyenin-ev-gencleri/): &#8220;Ev genci olmak, kendine bile yetemeyen ve ailesine bağlı yaşamak zorunda kalan biri gibi hissettiriyor,” diyor 24 yaşındaki Atlas Ay*, Beşiktaş’ta bir kafede buluştuğumuzda. Gözlerini önündeki ince belli bardağa dikmiş, omuzları çökük; konuşurken sesi hafifçe titriyor. “Bu durum çoğu zaman bende depresyon ve öfke yaratıyor, önce kendime, sonra da yaşadığım ülkenin koşullarına karşı.” Üniversite mezunu Ay, diplomasının iş bulma konusunda eskisi kadar büyük bir avantaj sağlamadığını söylüyor. “Bugünün Türkiye ekonomisinde hem üniversite mezunu sayısı çok arttı hem de iş havuzu daraldı. Bu yüzden artık üniversiteliler eskisi kadar değerli görülmüyor.” Ay iş sahibi olmak yerine, ülkenin ev gençlerinin arasına katılmış. Bir&hellip;
- [No work, no school: meet Turkey’s ‘stay-at-home youth’](https://insideturkey.org/no-work-no-school-meet-turkeys-stay-at-home-youth/): “Being a stay-at-home youth makes me feel like I’m not self-sufficient, like I’m dependent on my family,” says 24-year-old Atlas Ay in a cafe in İstanbul’s bustling Beşiktaş district. Staring at a cup of tea in front of him, shoulders hunched over, his voice trembles when he speaks. “It makes me depressed and angry, first at myself and then at the circumstances of the country where I live.” Ay is a university graduate – but, he says, that’s no longer the route into a career it once was. “In the current Turkish economy, the number of university graduates has risen&hellip;
- [Türkiye’nin son Kürt göçer aileleri](https://insideturkey.org/turkiyenin-son-kurt-gocer-aileleri/): “Örgü peynir olmadan kahvaltı olmaz. Soframızda o peynir yoksa sanki hiçbir şey yememiş gibi hissediyorum” diyor 58 yaşındaki Nermin Akay, Diyarbakır’ın Tarihi Peynirciler Çarşısı’nda elindeki taze peynir tartılırken. Biraz ileride, aynı çarşıda 60 yaşındaki Sinan Kutlu da tezgâhın önünde durmuş, elindeki örgü peyniri dikkatle inceliyor. “Karacadağ’ın sütü bir başka,” diyor. “Tadı çocukluğumdan kalma gibi.” Otuz yıldır aynı çarşıda peynir satan Şehmus İla da meşhur Karacadağ peynirinin tadını sütten aldığına katılıyor: “Karacadağ’da otlayan koyun ve keçinin sütü başka olur; daha yağlı, daha yoğun. Bu sütle yapılan peynir, erirken bile kendini belli eder. Bir kez alırsınız, bağımlısı olursunuz…” Diyarbakır örgü peyniri, kentin&hellip;
- [Life for Turkey’s last Kurdish nomads](https://insideturkey.org/life-for-turkeys-last-kurdish-nomads/): &#8220;You can’t have breakfast without braided cheese. I feel like I haven’t eaten if it isn’t on the table,&#8221; says 58-year-old Nermin Akay as cheese is weighed out in a shop in the historic bazaar of Turkey’s south-eastern Diyarbakır province. A couple of shops down, 60-year-old Sinan Kutlu examines a slab of braided cheese he is holding. “Karacadağ Mountain milk is just different,” he says. “It tastes like my childhood.” A vendor of 30 years in the cheese bazaar, Şehmus İla, agrees that the milk is what gives Karacadağ cheese its flavor. “The sheep and goats that graze there have&hellip;
- [Enflasyonla canlanan gelenek: Kışlık kavanozlar](https://insideturkey.org/enflasyonla-canlanan-gelenek-kislik-kavanozlar/): &#8220;Hepimiz ailemize daha temiz, daha uygun maliyetli gıda yedirebilmenin derdindeyiz” diyor İstanbul sakini emekli öğretmen Yaşar Kaygısız. Kaygısız’ın bu sözleri Türkiye’de birçok kişi için sonbaharın bir özeti: kışlık hazırlık mevsimi. Gıda fiyatlarının kış mevsiminde keskin şekilde artması sebebiyle sonbahar Türkiye’deki birçok mutfakta yoğun bir tempoya geçiyor. Birçok evde gıdaları geleneksel yöntemlerle saklamak için salça, turşu, kuru meyve ve reçel hazırlıkları yapılıyor, mevsiminde nispeten ucuz olan ürünler fiyatlar artmadan stoklanıyor. Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu (TÜİK) verilerine göre Türkiye’de gıda enflasyonu uzun süredir manşet enflasyonun çok üzerinde seyrediyor. Özellikle sebze-meyvede yıllık bazda yüzde 400’e varan artışlar görülüyor. Düşük ve orta gelirli ailelerin çözümü&hellip;
- [Inflation revives an old tradition: preserving food for winter](https://insideturkey.org/inflation-revives-an-old-tradition-preserving-food-for-winter/): “The only thing we care about is finding cleaner, more affordable food for our families,” says Yaşar Kaygısız, a retired teacher in Istanbul. Her words sum up what autumn means to many people in Turkey: the season of food prep. As food prices soar each winter, autumn becomes the busiest time of the year in Turkish kitchens. Many households turn to age-old methods for preserving food: making tomato paste, pickles, dried vegetables and jams. People stock up before prices rise again. According to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK), food inflation has long outpaced overall inflation. In some cases, fruit and&hellip;
- [Tandır alevini canlı tutan emek](https://insideturkey.org/tandir-alevini-canli-tutan-emek/): Sabah saat 05.00. Güneş henüz doğmamış, hava serin. Evlerin uykuda olduğu bu sessiz saatte, Gülçin hırkasını üzerine alıp tandır evine doğru yola çıkıyor. Cebinden anahtarını çıkarıp kapıyı açıyor, ışığı yakıyor ve işe koyuluyor: Tezek ve odunları tandıra yerleştiriyor, ardından çakmakla ateşi yakıyor. Ortadoğu ve Güney Asya’nın birçok yerinde yapılan tandır ekmeği, Türkiye’deki mutfağın da vazgeçilmezlerinden. Gülçin’in yaşadığı Van’da kadınlar tandır ekmeğini hala geleneksel yöntemlerle pişiriyorlar. Bu da oldukça zahmetli bir iş. Kadınların güneş doğmadan önce uyandığı Van’da tandır evinden duman yükselmeye başlarken Gülçin bir taraftan da hamur yoğuruyor. Tandırın kapağını açtığında yüzüne çarpan sıcak duman, içerideki kıpır kıpır yanan alevlerle&hellip;
- [The hard work of keeping the tandırs burning](https://insideturkey.org/the-hard-work-of-keeping-the-tandirs-burning/): It’s 5 a.m. With the sun still down, it still feels cool outside. At this quiet hour when most people are still asleep, Gülçin grabs a cardigan and heads over to the tandır house. She takes the key out from her pocket, unlocks the door, turns on the light and gets to work, placing wood and cow dung underneath the oven and lighting a fire. Tandır &#8211; or tandoor &#8211; bread, cooked in the large enclosed ovens found across the Middle East and South Asia, is a much-loved staple of Turkish cuisine. In rural Van, the eastern Turkish province where&hellip;
- [Why children are going to school hungry](https://insideturkey.org/why-children-are-going-to-school-hungry/): It’s a new school year in Turkey, but for thousands of children that means going to lessons hungry. With around 29.3% of Turkey’s population at risk of poverty – and free school meals still not an option for most children, despite having been debated by politicians for years – malnutrition is a pressing issue. “My daughter has lost so much weight in the last two years because of malnutrition,” one mother, who asked not to be named, tells Inside Turkey. “Even though she didn’t really want to, she even considered wearing a hijab and dressing conservative to hide how skinny&hellip;
- [Türkiye’nin okula aç giden çocukları](https://insideturkey.org/turkiyenin-okula-ac-giden-cocuklari/): Türkiye’de 2025-2026 eğitim-öğretim yılı başlarken sınıfların kapısından içeri giren milyonlarca çocuk, derse boş midelerle oturuyor. Türkiye’de nüfusun neredeyse yüzde 30’u yoksulluk veya sosyal dışlanma riskiyle karşı karşıya ve ücretsiz okul yemeği programının yıllardır kapsamlı şekilde hayata geçirilememesi, çocuklarda yetersiz beslenmeyi toplumu tehdit eden bir sorun haline getiriyor. “Kızım çok zayıfladı son iki senedir doğru düzgün yemek yememekten” diyor bir anne. “Sırf zayıflığından utandığı için örtünmek bile istedi içinden gelmediği halde. İnsanlar zayıflığıyla alay ederler diye…” Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu’nun (TÜİK) verilerine göre çocuklar, yoksulluk riskiyle karşı karşıya kalan en büyük grup. Türkiye’de neredeyse dört çocuktan biri düzenli olarak kırmızı et, tavuk&hellip;
- [Why AI isn’t replacing therapists… for now](https://insideturkey.org/m-a-30-year-old-journalist-in-istanbul-with-adhd-and-anxiety-disorder-has-been/): M, a 30-year-old journalist in Istanbul, with ADHD and anxiety disorder, has been seeing a therapist on and off for the past 9 years. More recently however, she’s been seeing someone else: an AI chatbot.&nbsp; “In moments when I feel stuck, when I want to pour my heart out but don’t want to bother anyone, writing to AI to avoid being alone with my thoughts is relieving,” she tells Inside Turkey. “It offers a reflective thinking space, especially during times of insomnia, anxiety, or indecision.” M isn’t the only one. According to a 2024 survey by Ispsos, 38 per cent&hellip;
- [Women mechanics: Reshaping Turkey’s male-dominated industry](https://insideturkey.org/vehement-capital-partners-with-acme-to-bring-its-podcast-platform-to-europe/): In Turkey’s industrial zones, where oil-streaked floors, shop talk, and a deeply masculine work culture long kept women at the margins, a quiet shift is underway. From the capital, Ankara, to İzmir on the Aegean, women are stepping into garages, running their own workshops, and changing how the country sees skilled labour. Among them is 22-year-old Mia Uyanık, a motorcycle mechanic in Ankara who fell in love with machines as a child, and 48-year-old Rukiye Karaman, who rebuilt her life after divorce by learning to change tyres. While they remain outliers in a field where women make up less than&hellip;
- [For Turkish politics, is the future female?](https://insideturkey.org/the-biggest-shifts-and-trends-driving-short-and-long-term-growth-in-the-future/): The local elections in March 2024 may have marked the beginning of a new era in Turkish politics – and not just because the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) was overtaken by its main opponent. In the country’s largest city, Istanbul, the elections saw the emergence of a new generation of female politicians. More than a year on, the changes look set to last.&nbsp; Among the new entrants to the political scene was Sinem Dedetaş, who won the key district municipality of Üsküdar. To some in Turkey, her victory signaled a broader transformation in gender relations – and her&hellip;
- [Fighting Against Gendered Disinformation: Our Job is About Patience and Persistence](https://insideturkey.org/credit-bank-which-offers-loans-to-people-without-credit-score-has-raised-15m/): Panel in Istanbul spotlights the rising tide of gender-based disinformation and the women fighting back STANBUL – Gender biases continue to shape newsrooms and media narratives worldwide. This reality turns the careers of female journalists into a constant struggle for recognition and survival. With the rise of social media, the spread and diversification of gendered disinformation pose a growing threat—not only to women in journalism but to society as a whole.&nbsp; In a powerful panel discussion titled&nbsp;“Gendered Disinformation and Journalism”&nbsp;moderated by veteran journalist Banu Tuna, the event brought together leading voices in the media industry, including Daniella Peled, Ahu Özyurt,&hellip;
- [Turkey’s looming textile crisis](https://insideturkey.org/abcs-head-of-ai-research-outlined-the-7-areas-the-bank-is-looking-to-apply-the-tech/): The textile industry in Turkey’s historic production hub Bursa is facing extinction due to rising costs and global competition.&nbsp; Many Turkish textile companies are shutting down or declaring bankruptcy as Egypt emerges as a competitor and buyers’ preferences shift to Chinese products. Thousands of workers are at risk of unemployment, especially those who are unregistered or work under precarious conditions. Located in western Turkey, Bursa has been the country’s textile hub since it received its first shipment of silk imports from China in 550 AD. A centre for weaving during the Ottoman period, Bursa still represents the heart and soul&hellip;
- [Breaking in, holding on: Women reporters of Ankara](https://insideturkey.org/credit-suisse-just-rehired-a-specialty-finance-dealmaker-whos-a-double-boomerang/): In a tough media landscape, parliamentary reporting has become a rare stronghold for women – but true equality remains elusive. Across the world, gender inequality remains deeply rooted in workplaces, and journalism is no exception. In Turkey, women journalists face additional hurdles from an increasingly restrictive political climate and economic instability. Yet within this difficult environment, parliamentary reporting in Ankara stands out as a rare space where women have carved out a strong and respected presence. This achievement didn’t happen overnight. It’s the result of years of persistence by women journalists who pushed against newsroom biases to claim critical beats.&hellip;
- [Women in Turkey’s factories speak out over discrimination and unsafe conditions](https://insideturkey.org/dynamic-capital-ltd-ipo-gets-oversubscribed-by-over-five-times-on-day-20/): Amid Turkey’s ongoing economic turmoil, a series of recent incidents have highlighted poor pay and conditions experienced by industrial workers, with many of the effects felt most strongly by women.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In December 2024, an explosion at a capsule production facility in Balıkesir killed 11 employees, eight of whom were female. In July the same year, 146 workers, most of them women, were dismissed from the Polonez Meat Products factory in Istanbul after joining a union, sparking a six-month protest that ended only after a legal settlement.&nbsp; Meanwhile, at a plastics factory in Kocaeli, two women who filed sexual harassment complaints&hellip;
- [MPs and campaigners urge government to act on domestic violence](https://insideturkey.org/news-aggregation-app-initech-raises-100-million-from-existing-investors/): For the first time in Turkey, the concept of “family massacre” has been formally addressed in the Turkish parliament, with the recent publication of a report by the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP). Violence targeting women and children has long been a topic of discussion in the Turkish media and among civil society organisations, MPs and campaigners. But “Children Killed in Femicide”, a project of CHP member of parliament Sevda Erdan Kılıç that investigates men who kill their partners and children, aims to prompt more concerted action.&nbsp; Kılıç, who has been tracking femicides in Turkey since the beginning of 2024,&hellip;
- [How inflation is forcing women’s traditional “Gold Day” gatherings to adapt ](https://insideturkey.org/onlineeasypay-arrives-on-the-online-shopping-platform-shoponline-com/): In Turkish households, few things signal care and community as much as a tray filled with homemade pastries and fresh tea, and the chatter of women catching up in a friend’s living room. For generations, this scene has meant more than comfort – it has also served as a way for women to support each other financially, emotionally and socially. Recent local news reports of a group of women in Kocaeli, western Turkey, who defied a snowstorm to attend a traditional gathering at a friend’s home sparked amusement online. “They’re right not to skip it,” social media users joked, praising&hellip;
- [Turkey’s earthquake survivors mark another difficult Eid](https://insideturkey.org/launches-surge-investors-seek-alternatives-to-the-industrys-biggest-names/): “We used to visit my mum and dad with my children on the first day of Eid,” says Seher Yiğit. “Now, the only place I can visit is the empty lot where their home used to stand. I kiss gravestones, instead of my parents’ hands.” Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan, has just been celebrated by millions of Muslims all around the world. But for thousands of people who lost loved ones in the massive twin earthquakes that struck Turkey just over two years ago, the festival was less joyful. For 37-year-old Yiğit, who lives in the southern&hellip;
- [For women archaeologists, the dig is not the only challenge](https://insideturkey.org/for-women-archaeologists-the-dig-is-not-the-only-challenge/): It was 1960 when the prominent archaeologist and feminist Sally Binford said, “I’m not here to cook; I’m here to dig.” Yet 65 years later, gender inequality in archeology persists.&nbsp; Despite an increase in the number of female archeologists in Turkey and around the world, women continue to face obstacles both in the field and in universities. Professor&nbsp;Çiler Çilingiroğlu, a member of the Ege University archeology department, tells Inside Turkey that during digs, women are often assigned documentation and menial duties, while men are selected for tasks that require physical strength. “Female students are often encouraged to take on indoor&hellip;
- [A life dedicated to education: Teacher builds 120 libraries in village schools](https://insideturkey.org/a-life-dedicated-to-education-teacher-builds-120-libraries-in-village-schools/): “City children can get hold of books one way or another,” says Devran Sinanoğlu as he neatly shelves books in a brand new high school library, built at the foot of a mountain in Ovabağ, rural Diyarbakır province. “But the children in the village don’t have that opportunity. So, we try to enrich their worlds with books.”&nbsp; This is not the first library that Sinanoğlu has built. The 36-year-old author and biology teacher has contributed 120 libraries to Diyarbakır in Turkey’s south-east, donating over 1,000 books in the process.&nbsp; Relying on revenue from his own book sales, donations and gifts&hellip;
- [Surviving as a single woman in Turkey](https://insideturkey.org/surviving-as-a-single-woman-in-turkey/): Selda Çelik, a 35-year-old who lives alone in Turkey’s western coastal province of İzmir, says that she feels most vulnerable at night.&nbsp; She assiduously follows steps she hopes will keep her safe; always double-locking the door of her ground floor flat, closing the shutters on the windows and checking her surroundings to be sure no one follows her home. Çelik even tries not to park her car too close to the house, to make it harder for strangers to know where she lives. “I don’t spend a lot of time outside during the night, because I don’t feel safe,” Çelik&hellip;
- [The women helping Turkey’s famous black figs conquer the world](https://insideturkey.org/the-women-helping-turkeys-famous-black-figs-conquer-the-world/): Black figs, which happened to be a favourite delicacy of the UK’s Queen Elizabeth II, are a traditional agricultural product of Turkey’s north-east. In recent years, women farmers have been making inroads in a historically male-dominated industry – but several tell Inside Turkey that obstacles remain.&nbsp; Agricultural engineer Sıla Özkan comes from a rice farming family. She started her own business upon completing her graduate degree and has exported black figs to Moldova for the last year. Özkan successfully applied for state funding for female entrepreneurs, which is how she finances her production and sale of black figs. “As an&hellip;
- [Two years after the earthquakes, why Hatay’s churches are still in ruins](https://insideturkey.org/two-years-after-the-earthquakes-why-hatays-churches-are-still-in-ruins/): Two years after devastating earthquakes struck Turkey’s Hatay province, many of the region’s churches remain in ruins, leaving the local Christian community without vital spaces for worship and community life. For Father Nikola Papasoğlu, the grief is still unbearable. “I try not to go there,” he says, talking about the St. Nicholas Church in the city centre of İskenderun, a coastal district of Hatay province in southern Turkey. “Seeing our church in ruins gives me a sorrow that I still can’t handle.” The 150-year-old church, once the central worshipping place for the district’s Greek Orthodox community, is still partially in&hellip;
- [How health workers can help abuse survivors heal](https://insideturkey.org/how-health-workers-can-help-abuse-survivors-heal/): “When I went to the hospital, my friend, who is a doctor, welcomed me. Because of this, I personally did not encounter the bad treatment that we often hear about from others. The real damage I suffered was from my boyfriend, both physically and psychologically.” With these words, 29-year-old Aysel* described the violence she endured and the aftermath. Aysel, who lives in Turkey’s capital Ankara, struggles to express her emotions due to her trauma. However, she says that being welcomed by a familiar face at the hospital made the process somewhat easier. Unfortunately, not every woman subjected to violence has&hellip;
- [Syrians in Turkey want to go home – but how?](https://insideturkey.org/syrians-in-turkey-want-to-go-home-but-how/): Despite jubilation over the fall of the Assad regime, many refugees fear the uncertainty of return to a war-ravaged country. On the first day of Eid last year – when it is traditional to visit the graves of loved ones – relatives were searching for their loved ones’ resting places at a cemetery for victims of the 2023 earthquake in Hatay, southern Turkey.&nbsp; Rainfall had caused some of the graves to move, and the visitors were wading through puddles of mud. The graveyard was divided in two; one side for Turkish citizens and the other for Syrians. Halime El Hammadi&hellip;
- [How TV is bridging the secular-conservative divide](https://insideturkey.org/how-tv-is-bridging-the-secular-conservative-divide/): The split between secular and conservative religious values may be one of Turkey’s great political divides, but it’s also proving to be the source of must-watch television. In recent years, popular drama series like “Cranberry Sorbet” and “Red Roses” have attracted viewers by placing this divide at the centre of their plot lines.&nbsp; “Cranberry Sorbet” focuses on the relationship between Fatih, a conservative man, and Doğa, a secular woman, and their efforts to establish a family. The show handles the conflict with absurd comedy and hyperbole, an approach that is a hit with viewers who identify with the issues it&hellip;
- [Is Turkey taking the health risks of HPV seriously?](https://insideturkey.org/is-turkey-taking-the-health-risks-of-hpv-seriously/): Vaccines against the human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes genital warts and can lead to cancer, are offered to girls free of charge in 125 countries worldwide. Yet despite government promises, Turkey has yet to add the vaccine to its national immunisation programme.&nbsp; In November 2022, the then-health minister Fahrettin Koca promised that the HPV vaccine would be offered free of charge in Turkey. Experts believe that the vaccine, rolled out globally, could save the lives of 340,000 women a year. But no action followed, and Turkey’s recent price hikes in medicines have seen the cost of the vaccine rise to&hellip;
- [The tattoo enthusiasts keeping a Kurdish tradition alive](https://insideturkey.org/the-tattoo-enthusiasts-keeping-a-kurdish-tradition-alive/): A group of women sit and chat in front of their stone-walled homes, wearing brightly-coloured floral dresses and traditional white headscarves. When the setting sun hits them, it lights up the lines inked onto their hands and faces – as well as images of the sun itself, tattooed onto their foreheads.&nbsp; A common practice in the Mesopotamia region that straddles Turkey, Iraq and Syria, especially among Kurds, “deq” is the Kurdish word for tattoo. Prevalent in Turkey’s south-eastern provinces of Mardin, Diyarbakır and Şanlıurfa, it involves injecting a special mix of ink, which includes breast milk, under the skin. It’s&hellip;
- [For Turkish women, what’s in a surname?](https://insideturkey.org/for-turkish-women-whats-in-a-surname/): “After I got married, I looked at my ID card to see that there was nothing left of mine except my first name,” says Oya Ersoy. Ersoy, now 54, is a human rights lawyer. In the 1990s she became a figurehead for women who want to keep their maiden names after marriage, taking her case all the way to the European Court of Human Rights.&nbsp; Decades later, that struggle continues. Today, when women in Turkey marry, they are automatically given their husband’s surname and their census records transferred to his family tree. It is technically possible for a woman to&hellip;
- [‘I feel alone’: women in quake-hit Hatay struggle with a rise in domestic violence](https://insideturkey.org/i-feel-alone-women-in-quake-hit-hatay-struggle-with-a-rise-in-domestic-violence/): In a dimly lit hookah and coffee house in southern Turkey’s Hatay province, a middle-aged woman sits with her head bowed. Her eyes tear up before she even begins to speak.&nbsp; The scars of the devastating earthquake that struck Hatay in early 2023 are still visible – not only in the collapsed buildings, but in the lives of women like Selma*, who are facing an epidemic of violence amid the chaos.&nbsp; “We were always cautious around him,” Selma says of her husband of 31 years. “But after the earthquake, it became really bad.” On 6 Feb 2023, two colossal tremors&hellip;
- [What’s behind Turkey’s high caesarian birth rate?](https://insideturkey.org/whats-behind-turkeys-high-caesarian-birth-rate/): A government campaign to encourage women to give birth via vaginal delivery has drawn criticism on the grounds that it stigmatises mothers who choose caesareans.&nbsp; In October 2024, Turkey’s Ministry of Health launched a “Normal Birth Action Plan” to encourage women to give birth via vaginal delivery. The campaign, announced in a public service ad titled “Mum, we did it”, prompted a backlash on social media. The Turkish Psychiatric Association also criticised the public service ad for being unscientific and portraying vaginal births as a “success”, making women who have caesareans feel guilty and inadequate. Turkey leads the world in&hellip;
- [Journalists under pressure don’t want to be seen as victims – they want to do their jobs](https://insideturkey.org/journalists-under-pressure-dont-want-to-be-seen-as-victims-they-want-to-do-their-jobs/): Amid a difficult environment for media in Turkey, with both economic challenges and political repression, journalists are often forced to move abroad to continue their work. Fellowship programmes and grants, which offer resources such as professional training, funds to cover relocation and living costs, or psychological and legal support, can be a vital lifeline. But do these initiatives come with their own limitations too – particularly for women? “I find that the most crucial issue is that the visa provided under these programmes does not include a work permit. That leaves you stranded from your profession,” says journalist Özgür Şimşek,&hellip;
- [What’s behind the child murder that has shocked Turkey?](https://insideturkey.org/whats-behind-the-child-murder-that-has-shocked-turkey/): Since late summer, the abduction and murder of Narin Güran, an eight-year-old girl from Diyarbakır in south-eastern Turkey, has captured public attention. Güran’s body was discovered in a stream near her home village of Tavşantepe on 8 September, 19 days after her family initially reported her missing and a lengthy police search.&nbsp; The case took a further twist, however, when Güran’s uncle, mother and brother – and a neighbour – were among the suspects arrested in connection with her death. The four are now on trial for her murder, accused of conspiring to hinder search efforts. The murder and subsequent&hellip;
- [Nevşin Mengü: “Women journalists are trolled more often”](https://insideturkey.org/nevsin-mengu-women-journalists-are-trolled-more-often/): Nevşin Mengü, one of Turkey’s few powerful female journalists, has been broadcasting on social media for some time now after a long career in mainstream media. Moreover, Mengü, who seems to have broken free from the oppressive cycle of ratings-bosses-power, is making a success of it: she is among the most-watched journalists in Turkey.&nbsp; Mengü’s experience of social media, however, shows that success doesn’t nt her an escape from sexism in journalism, or in society at large. Being a woman journalist in Turkey means being something of an open target.&nbsp; We talked to Mengü about what it means to be&hellip;
- [Are Turkey’s hardline Islamists all talk?](https://insideturkey.org/are-turkeys-hardline-islamists-all-talk/): Women’s rights campaigners warn there’s no cause for complacency over the AKP’s parliamentary allies Gonca Kuriş, abducted and murdered in 1998, lies in the same cemetery in the southern coastal province of Mersin as two other symbols of women’s rights in Turkey. Also buried there are singer Bergen, murdered by her husband in 1989, and Özgecan Aslan, killed in 2015 while resisting a bus driver’s attempt to sexually assault her.&nbsp; Kuriş, a 38-year-old women’s rights campaigner, was tortured and killed by members of the armed islamist group Kurdish Hezbollah. Her case, along with dozens of other assassinations carried out by&hellip;
- [Turkey: “Media can show solutions”](https://insideturkey.org/turkey-media-can-show-solutions/): Women journalists working in the Turkish media face multiple challenges, including prejudice, exclusion and harassment. İdil Engindeniz, vice dean of Galatasaray University’s faculty of communication, explains how representation, solidarity and support – and workplace organisation – are key to addressing sexist attitudes and discrimination. How can women journalists best struggle against sexist attitudes and discrimination in the workplace? Journalists are not independent of society. Women face various forms of discrimination in work and social life, and we have developed coping mechanisms. The same is true in the field of media. Compared to the past, there are now units in professional&hellip;
- [For Afghan women, finding refuge in Turkey is not the end of the struggle](https://insideturkey.org/for-afghan-women-finding-refuge-in-turkey-is-not-the-end-of-the-struggle/): I had a huge house and I had guests all the time, we never had any financial concerns,” says human rights activist and doctor Hameeda Sharifi about her former home in Afghanistan. “Now, there’s nobody around, and we have to think twice before buying anything.” After decades of fighting for women’s rights, Sharifi was forced to flee Afghanistan, with her husband and their two children, due to threats from the Taliban. She arrived in Turkey, via Iran, in 2018. But although Sharifi thinks of herself as “lucky”, her struggles didn’t end there.&nbsp; Aside from the emotional and financial costs of&hellip;
- [Antakya’s teenage athletes struggle to carry on in the aftermath of earthquakes](https://insideturkey.org/antakyas-teenage-athletes-struggle-to-carry-on-in-the-aftermath-of-earthquakes/): Eda Kaboğlu, a 15 year-old from Turkey’s southern Hatay province, didn’t lose any of her immediate family in the earthquakes that hit parts of Turkey and Syria in February. But many of her friends were killed, including a close friend she was due to meet just a day after the first quake hit.&nbsp; In order to get over the losses – or at least to forget them for a while – Kaboğlu threw herself into kickboxing, a sport she’s been practising for the past four years.&nbsp; Now, Kaboğlu trains at a sports field set up in the container camp she&hellip;
- [Women’s co-ops help earthquake survivors rebuild from the ground up](https://insideturkey.org/womens-co-ops-help-earthquake-survivors-rebuild-from-the-ground-up/): With the deaths of 18 family members and dozens of friends, Nesrin Burç Deli felt defeated by the February earthquakes that devastated parts of Turkey and Syria. The collapse of her clothing store, the source of her livelihood for over two decades, dimmed in comparison to the loss of her loved ones.&nbsp; “We lost on all fronts. We lost people, goods, our lives, our city,” says Burç Deli, who lives in Antakya, in southern Turkey’s Hatay province. Yet just four days after the first quake, when she arrived at the premises of the Defne Women’s Cooperative for agricultural producers where&hellip;
- [The women keeping Turkey’s fishing industry afloat](https://insideturkey.org/the-women-keeping-turkeys-fishing-industry-afloat/): On a sunny day in Finike, a district of Turkey’s southern province of Antalya, fisherwoman Suheyla Alp explains the origins of her close relationship with the sea. “I used to live on the Karaoz coast in Antalya and my father had a small rowing-boat,” she told Inside Turkey. “The first time he took me out on the water, I dropped in a line with a hook. The next thing I know, the line was pulling so I took it in. I’ll never forget how surprised I was when a massive fish came out on the end.” Jobs linked to the&hellip;
- [Adana’s only female köfte chef shows the obstacles faced by women entrepreneurs](https://insideturkey.org/adanas-only-female-kofte-chef-shows-the-obstacles-faced-by-women-entrepreneurs/): A variety of small businesses line the historic streets of Karasokulu, a neighbourhood in Turkey’s southern coastal city of Adana. Among the limestone buildings near the city’s old clock tower, in a cosy shop decorated like a family sitting room, Fatma Arınç serves “mum’s köfte” – her own take on Adana’s famous speciality.&nbsp; There are many other köfte restaurants in Adana, known as Turkey’s “city of the kebab”. But “Sister Fatoş”, as she is known to her customers, stands out because she’s the only female köfte chef in town.&nbsp; Arınç began her career 20 years ago, on a small flat&hellip;
- [Behind the wheels in a macho city](https://insideturkey.org/behind-the-wheels-in-a-macho-city/): Turkey’s southern Adana province is famous for delicious kebabs, hot summer weather, and its jittery people – especially when they’re in traffic. It’s hard to drive in this city: Adana’s mostly male drivers are impatient, merciless to the inexperienced and a little bit, well, lawless.&nbsp;&nbsp; Yet there are some women who face the city’s traffic chaos for a living. One of these is Sevim Kaya, who drives city buses for the Adana Metropolitan Municipality.&nbsp; A bus driver of 16 years, 58-year-old Kaya is known to her passengers and colleagues as “Welcome Sevim” for her diligent greeting of everyone who boards&hellip;
- [Fighting Turkey’s tampon taboo](https://insideturkey.org/fighting-turkeys-tampon-taboo/): When Çiğdem Mater, a Turkish film producer jailed last year during a government crackdown, asked for an alternative to the menstrual pads on sale at her prison shop, she received a blunt response.&nbsp; “A Turkish woman doesn’t use tampons,” wrote a male gynaecologist in a medical report dismissing the request. Mater’s experience, which was reported in Turkish media this summer, touched on a sensitive subject in Turkey. Many women experience difficulty obtaining tampons, and the story prompted others to share their experiences on social media.&nbsp; Unlike other period products such as sanitary towels, tampons are used internally and some people&hellip;
- [The new wave of female stand-up](https://insideturkey.org/the-new-wave-of-female-stand-up/): Women aren’t funny, don’t push it&nbsp;…&nbsp;Auntie, you really should quit this job&nbsp;…&nbsp;You’re repulsive&nbsp;…&nbsp;I didn’t laugh once&nbsp;– welcome to the world of female stand-up. Despite the sexist attitudes faced by women who take up comedy, a growing number of performers are fighting back.&nbsp; Whether it’s in the mainstream or on Turkey’s alternative comedy scene, the leading names are all men. Stars like Cem Yılmaz, Ata Demirel and Yılmaz Erdoğan have been around since the 90s, while the younger generation is represented by Doğu Demirkol, Mesut Süre and Hasan Can Kaya. Yet while female comedians don’t yet generate the box-office numbers of&hellip;
- [Price rises make contraceptives unaffordable for many](https://insideturkey.org/price-rises-make-contraceptives-unaffordable-for-many/): Public health experts have told Inside Turkey that a combination of economic and political factors is making it increasingly difficult for women in Turkey to access contraceptives, posing long-term health risks.&nbsp; The rising cost of medication, due to the country’s economic crisis, is making one of the most widely-used treatments – the morning after pill – unaffordable for many. The cost of the medication, 90 liras at the start of 2023, had risen to 416 liras by August. The birth control pill, meanwhile, rose from 34 to 270 liras over the same period.&nbsp; Turkey’s health ministry, which sets prices for&hellip;
- [Meet the former teacher growing hi-tech strawberries](https://insideturkey.org/meet-the-former-teacher-growing-hi-tech-strawberries/): Until two years ago, Nilgün Öz Ünsel worked as a schoolteacher in the Aegean city of Aydın. Now she’s pursuing her lifelong dream as a strawberry farmer – and is using some of the latest technology to do it.&nbsp; “They’re like my children, I give them love and affection every day,” Öz Ünsel says of her strawberries, which she grows with hydroponics, using nutrient-rich water instead of soil to raise her crop.&nbsp; A significant Turkish agricultural product, strawberries grow in the northwestern Marmara and western Aegean regions and along the southern Mediterranean coast. The country produces an average of 546,525&hellip;
- [Do more to warn women about HPV, doctors say ](https://insideturkey.org/do-more-to-warn-women-about-hpv-doctors-say/): Doctors and patients have told Inside Turkey that Turkey’s health system needs to do more to warn women about the dangers of human papillomavirus (HPV) and offer them protection from it. HPV is a common infection, which affects around 80 per cent of sexually active adults. It is symptomless, but some types of the virus can cause cancer. For women, cervical cancer is a particular risk.&nbsp; Vaccinating and screening women for HPV during regular cervical smear tests are the two main ways of protecting people against the effects of the virus. But on both counts, say experts, Turkey’s health system&hellip;
- [Will Turkey’s entertainment industry face up to its male violence problem? ](https://insideturkey.org/will-turkeys-entertainment-industry-face-up-to-its-male-violence-problem/): On 15 August, columnist Sina Koloğlu broke the news on Twitter that actor Ahmet Kural would be appearing in a new “family comedy” this autumn, “after a year filled with health problems”. The series is the first new project the Turkish TV star has signed up for since his conviction for domestic violence was upheld by an appeal court in January 2022. In 2019, Kural was given a 16-month suspended sentence for the violent abuse of his former partner, the pop singer Sıla. Kural’s return to the screen might be expected to raise eyebrows, but to some observers it’s a&hellip;
- [Erdogan’s new Islamist allies raise fears over domestic violence protections](https://insideturkey.org/erdogans-new-islamist-allies-raise-fears-over-domestic-violence-protections/): Two years after Turkey withdrew from an international treaty on women’s rights, allies of the governing party have their sights set on amending the country’s domestic violence legislation.&nbsp; In this May’s parliamentary and presidential elections, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) returned to power at the head of the People’s Alliance coalition. Among the pre-election demands of two smaller Islamist parties was that the government repeal law No 6284, which offers protections against domestic violence.&nbsp; The law was passed in 2012 after Turkey ratified the Istanbul Convention, a major international treaty on preventing violence against women. Erdogan&hellip;
- [The gluten-free bakers adding flavour to Ankara](https://insideturkey.org/the-gluten-free-bakers-adding-flavour-to-ankara/): On a busy street in Ankara’s Çankaya neighbourhood, in a prime spot outside a metro station, a small patisserie is showing what women can achieve in a traditionally male-dominated business environment. Ankara Pastası’s 11 members of staff, who were all stay-at-home mothers until 18 months ago, are simultaneously managers and employees of the firm, which is run as a cooperative. Trading exclusively in gluten-free produce, the business has reached profitability and a turnover of 1 million lira since it opened in September 2022.&nbsp; Each morning follows a familiar routine. At 5am, the women open the shop and start making products&hellip;
- [How women market traders are revitalising village life in Izmir](https://insideturkey.org/how-women-market-traders-are-revitalising-village-life-in-izmir/): The village of Ulamış, in the coastal Seferihisar district of western Turkey’s Izmir province, bears the typically charming characteristics of the Aegean. Amidst its snow-white houses, narrow streets, colourful murals and olive trees, Ulamış now hosts festivals and events that attract visitors and keep time-honoured traditions alive.&nbsp; Although agriculture has long underpinned the rural economy here, a farmer’s market that opened in 2009 has enabled women producers to take the lead. Black bread, armogalo cheese, condiments, and other local delicacies are among the goods on sale.&nbsp; Many of the vendors are women, and their entrepreneurship has helped revitalise local production.&hellip;
- [Grown-to-Order Veggies](https://insideturkey.org/grown-to-order-veggies/): When Fatih Gulec, a 54-year-old retired government agricultural engineer, realized he would go bankrupt, the potato plants in the fields he had rented in the central Anatolian city of Sivas were blanketed with green leaves. The potatoes were growing under the earth, but the money buyers offered for them was just enough to cover the soaring costs.&nbsp; Looking at the finances after the 2017 harvest, Gulec decided that being a small farmer was not sustainable in Turkey. “I was a little depressed, and I told everyone that if even I went bankrupt with my years of experience, it is not&hellip;
- [Cooperating to make a difference](https://insideturkey.org/cooperating-to-make-a-difference/): A network of determined parents in Turkey wants to do education differently, and schools throughout the country are showing how. “You make the pavement, but how will the turtles cross the street?” Leyla, who defended the rights of turtles against a construction worker building a road in front of her school, is just four years old.&nbsp;She attends Colorful Forest Kindergarten in Bornova, a district in Izmir, Turkey’s third-largest city. Some might consider her comment presumptuous, but others could argue that in the face of ecological threats such as the climate crisis, the world will be in safer hands with such&hellip;
- [Meet the women helping keep Turkey’s largest city running](https://insideturkey.org/meet-the-women-helping-keep-turkeys-largest-city-running/): “They thought women couldn’t handle the job. Then they saw that we are well able.” Nurcan Degirmenci is one of 37 women to have become the first female firefighters in Istanbul’s fire service. “We are stronger together,” the 37-year-old says. “I was nervous at first, but now I have more confidence in myself. We should start employing people for their skills, not their gender.” She says her male colleagues were surprised to find a woman within their ranks at first, but got used to her over time. They have had to – the streets of Turkey’s largest city are changing.&hellip;
- [Leveling the Playing Field in Turkey](https://insideturkey.org/leveling-the-playing-field-in-turkey/): With just a tiny fraction of the country’s women and girls involved in its most popular sport, the only way to go is up. Professional women’s football has taken off in some countries thanks to bigger investment in the sport and wide media coverage of events like the 2019 Women’s World Cup. But female players still lag behind in many ways – see for instance the U.S. national team’s unresolved struggle&nbsp;for equal pay. What of Turkey, a country where football is by far the most popular and lucrative sport – for men only? Judging from the media and sports participation&hellip;
- [Turkey Bets on Green Card](https://insideturkey.org/turkey-bets-on-green-card/): Several cities are combating low public interest in recycling with a cash for trash scheme. Muratpasa, a district of Antalya on Turkey’s southern coast, aims to attract consumers to better environmental practices by fattening their wallet. If they recycle their waste, they receive points that earn them money. Muratpasa’s&nbsp;Green Neighbor Card&nbsp;got its start in 2014 as a campaign pledge by then-candidate, now mayor, Umit Uysal. Uysal, a lawyer by training, wrote the initial project, and in 2016 it was ready to launch, says environmental engineer Ercan Turan, the program’s coordinator. Muratpasa contracted out the recycling program to a local company.&hellip;
- [Istanbul’s municipalities want to take action on the climate – but find their options limited](https://insideturkey.org/istanbuls-municipalities-want-to-take-action-on-the-climate-but-find-their-options-limited/): Officials in Istanbul say they want to slash the city’s carbon emissions in line with international agreements, but are being held up by a lack of state legislation and action. Last October, Turkey’s parliament ratified the Paris Climate Agreement on reducing emissions, which the government signed in 2016. The Paris Agreement’s primary goal is to limit global warming to two degrees higher than pre-industrial levels, which calls for a series of restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions.&nbsp; According to climate expert Ümit Şahin, the greatest portion of carbon emissions in Turkish cities are byproducts of the energy industry – but municipalities&hellip;
- [Turkey’s “honey forests” boost the country’s honey production](https://insideturkey.org/turkeys-honey-forests-boost-the-countrys-honey-production/): Beekeeper Zuhtu Sezer specializes in producing royal jelly, a rich secretion that worker bees produce to feed the queen bee. His 130 hives sit in a forest near the village of Demirci in western Turkey’s Bursa province. The forest’s biodiversity and favorable climate used to provide his bees a perfect home. But increases in housing, deforestation, pesticides, and climate change have changed things.&nbsp; “We used to get 33 kilos of royal jelly; now it’s 15 kilos at most,” said Sezer, who’s been a beekeeper for 27 years. “We long for the old days. Our bees used to work all the&hellip;
- [Istanbul’s canine commuter causes controversy](https://insideturkey.org/istanbuls-canine-commuter-causes-controversy/): A stray dog named Boji has become the focus of political and cultural polarisation in Turkey after finding fame for his use of Istanbul’s public transport network.&nbsp; Boji is often spotted riding on the city’s trams, metro trains and ferries, and has become a star among many Istanbul residents, who post pictures of him on social media, and even won international media attention.&nbsp; His popularity led to the Istanbul city authorities taking Boji for a health check-up and fitting him with a microchip so he can be tracked. “We figured that since he’s such a good passenger, which is a&hellip;
- [Meet Diyarbakır’s only woman muhtar](https://insideturkey.org/meet-diyarbakirs-only-woman-muhtar/): “I thought to myself: is it even possible? Can a woman be elected&nbsp;muhtar?” said Dilek Demir, a politician in Diyarbakır’s Muradiye neighbourhood. She was recalling the series of events that led to her becoming the only female&nbsp;muhtar, or neighbourhood head, in this south-eastern Turkish province, which bears the same name as its main city.&nbsp; At the age of 49, Demir has served two terms so far, but her journey to office was fraught. Taken out of school one day as a young girl, she was forced into a marriage to a man 13 years her senior and taken to live&hellip;
- [Can Turkey escape Covid-19 by turning down the music?](https://insideturkey.org/can-turkey-escape-covid-19-by-turning-down-the-music/): Like elsewhere in the world, cafés and bars were closed during Turkey’s lockdowns. But some restrictions, such as a ban on selling alcohol during the period of curfew, have prompted criticism that the government was more interested in changing people’s lifestyles than protecting public health. A ban on playing music in public spaces – which has not yet been fully lifted – has proved particularly controversial.&nbsp; On July 21 this year, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced on live television that restrictions would be mostly lifted, allowing Turkey to nearly return to normal. But he went on to tell viewers that&hellip;
- [Hens in Turkey don’t have room to spread their wings](https://insideturkey.org/hens-in-turkey-dont-have-room-to-spread-their-wings/): Forty leading brands in Turkey’s hospitality and food distribution industries recently announced that they would be changing their sourcing practices for eggs, to promote animal welfare. The move has drawn attention to the conditions in which the 120 million hens used for egg production in Turkey are kept. Almost all are held in cages too narrow for them to spread their wings, where they are unable to carry out basic needs like perching, digging around and laying eggs on nesting boxes.&nbsp; To maximise profits, egg producers give each bird a space that’s the equivalent of a sheet of standard-sized letter&hellip;
- [Breaking Chains, Forging Links](https://insideturkey.org/breaking-chains-forging-links/): A women’s collective in Istanbul is teaching women to ride bikes and giving them a new option to get away from it all. Every weekend for the past year, about a dozen women have gathered in front of a tiny, colorful shop in Istanbul’s Kadikoy district at 8.30 a.m. and walked down to the Bosphorus. On a helicopter landing pad nestled inside a massive open air parking lot, they have taught and learned from each other how to ride bikes. Led by 35-year-old Hande Karaca, the Chain Breaking Women collective has been offering women cycling lessons, a skill that’s not&hellip;

## Pages

- [Events](https://insideturkey.org/events/): Events WJN
- [About WJN](https://insideturkey.org/about-wjn/): About Women Journalists Network ABOUT WJN The Women Journalists Network was established in 2024 as a result of Inside Turkey’s training activities conducted with local journalists. The Network aims to address the structural barriers faced by women journalists; strengthen the knowledge, resources, and support mechanisms that enhance their visibility, impact, and resilience; promote equitable working conditions within newsrooms; and advance journalism grounded in gender equality.As a solidarity-based network, it operates independently from institutions and political actors. The Women Journalists Network is open to the participation and contributions of all women journalists, and fosters collaboration, mutual learning, and professional support among&hellip;
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