Category: ENGLISH

When the taxi app Uber 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

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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

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Syrian LGBTI refugees are struggling to make a new life in neighbouring Turkey, where growing conservatism means that  their rights are increasingly under threat. “[LGBTI individuals] are the biggest outsiders among the refugees in Turkey,” Turkish journalist and documentary film maker Ayşe Toprak explained. “These are the people whose relatives and friends died in the

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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

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A stray dog which had its paws and tail severed has sparked a new debate over welfare.

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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

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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

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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,

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Applications have soared since the 2016 failed coup attempt.

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