Jan 3, 2018U.S.-Turkey Relations Culminate with a Visa CrisisNOTE: Story originally published on the Diplmatic Courier’s website on January 3, 2018. ISTANBUL, TURKEY — The U.S. State Department and the Turkish government reached an agreement, which the U.S. Embassy in Ankara announced on December 28, 2017, effectively ending the nearly three-month diplomatic dispute between the two countries. It…Turkey5 min readTurkey5 min read
Dec 28, 2017Turkey Invests in Nuclear EnergyStory originally published on December 28, 2017 on Diplomatic Courier’s website. AKKUYU, TURKEY — The Turkish government held a groundbreaking ceremony for its first nuclear power plant in Akkuyu, a small town in the Mediterranean province of Mersin. The Turkish government has tried before to construct a nuclear power plant…Nuclear6 min readNuclear6 min read
Dec 7, 2017NGOs in Istanbul Face Increased Pressure from the GovernmentNote: Story originally published by the Diplomatic Courier on November 21, 2017 on its website ISTANBUL, TURKEY — Deep in the European side of Istanbul, hidden in the historic Fatih district, a volunteer coordinator stood outside his organization’s main center and donned a pair of sunglasses as he lit a…Refugees9 min readRefugees9 min read
Oct 23, 2017U.S. Military Battles with Local Media Over Base Issues in OkinawaNote: Story originally published by the Diplomatic Courier on September 15, 2017 on its website OURA BAY, OKINAWA — One morning in March, kayaks and fishing boats converged to protest in the water outside a U.S. military base on the coast of Okinawa. …Okinawa8 min readOkinawa8 min read
Aug 28, 2017YarımburgazWhen I met with Zeynep, the woman who works with local neighborhood associations, she invited me to help her take food and supplies to refugee families in a town northwest of Istanbul’s city center. …Refugees10 min readRefugees10 min read
Aug 28, 2017Istanbul Pride, Part II: Taksim SquareGay rights occupy a strange gray zone in Turkish society. On the one hand, there are no laws that make homosexuality illegal, unlike some of its neighbors in the region. On the other hand, however, no laws protecting LGBT individuals from workplace or housing discrimination, victims of hate crimes almost…LGBTQ7 min readLGBTQ7 min read
Aug 28, 2017Istanbul PrideThe municipality of Beşiktaş, one of the central districts on the European side of Istanbul, hung a rainbow flag from its government office on Monday, June 19th. Its official Twitter account published an image of the flag with the caption (in Turkish) “We are Freddie Mercury’s Army #WhatIsBetweenUs.” …Refugees5 min readRefugees5 min read
Aug 28, 2017Coffee in KadıköyOne well-connected person I came into contact with was a woman named Zeynep. The only things I knew about her before we met was that she worked with local associations, not international NGOs, and that she had some association with Koç University in Istanbul. …Refugees7 min readRefugees7 min read
Aug 28, 2017Taksim SquareEach morning I’ve been waking up around 8 o’clock to my alarm, and the noise of the city has succeeded in preventing me from falling back to sleep. With the heat of the approaching summer, I’ve been having to sleep with my window cracked, letting echoes of traffic from a…Refugees5 min readRefugees5 min read
Aug 28, 2017Hidden in FatihThe heat really started to set in after my first weekend here. The soft breeze faded into a stale humidity that permeated ever corner of the city, and strolls along the Bosporus began to turn into tests of endurance under the midday sun. With the warming weather, it’s been a…Travel7 min readTravel7 min read
