By Leonie Kupferschmidt The civil war in Syria plunged the country into suffering and misery in 2011 and triggered a large movement of refugees. Initially known as a welcoming and solidary society, the tone towards refugees in Türkiye has become very heated in past years – but especially during the recent election: strange stares, verbal harassment, violence and even unjustified arrests – these are things … Continue reading A life in constant fear
By Albane Rousseau In the bustling city of Istanbul, a daring project is underway. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is the driving force behind what he calls his “Crazy Canal Project”, a grandiose undertaking designed to relieve traffic on the Bosporus. Nevertheless, for Cemal Saydam, a retired oceanographer, “the proposed channel will not only affect Turkey but will cause an international environmental disaster that will affect … Continue reading The Istanbul Canal: a major environmental challenge
Text and audio y Christiaan Broersma – Istanbul is the city of a thousand noises, but despite that five times a day the inhabitants will hear a sound that outclasses all the others. The Azan is a call to prayer that can be heard from each mosque in Istanbul. Because of the diversity regarding religion, not everyone enjoys the sound. I dived into the world … Continue reading The Azan in Istanbul: love it or hate it
This Metropolitan city contains of over 15 million inhabitants with a wide range of nationalities. The traditional Turkish culture blends with cultures from the many tourists that enlighten the city. What does this mean for their nightlife culture? Text and photo by Sandra Deira Özgür Erdogu (37) is a business owner in Taksim and has seen the many changes the city has been through in … Continue reading Istanbul Nightlife
Istanbul has over 1,000 mosques. If you look closely and compare them with each other, it quickly becomes clear that the vast majority follows the same model and that some characteristics are always repeated. But there are also some of the newly built ones, whose architecture is a bit daring and leaves behind the traditional construction methods of the Ottoman and the master architect Sinan. … Continue reading Building Faith
Animals that live on the street. This evokes images of emaciated, aggressive animals struggling to survive. This is not the case in Istanbul. Many Istanbul inhabitants do not let animals into their apartment but are still crazy about them. They care about them as if they were their pets. Text and photos by Jonas Armbruster Most of the city’s cats live on the streets. Every … Continue reading Istanbul’s most important inhabitants
If you followed the news in the last years, you would know Turkey hosts a lot of refugees. Not only millions from Syria, but also former inhabitants of Iraq and Afghanistan try to establish a new life in Turkey. But how does Turkey tackle such a big stream of asylum seekers? And is it true that migrants are now being deported from Istanbul to the … Continue reading Refugees: the big challenge for Turkey
Being a tourist in a big city like Istanbul can be challenging. I asked around to hear how tourist deal with active scammers and a common lack of English speaking inhabitants. By Sandra Deira Continue reading Podcast: Istanbul’s tourism
Özge Sebzeçi is a Turkish photojournalist who mainly works freelance for several international media outlets. She didn’t feel the changes in the media landscape like other Turkish journalists have. Özge does have a very clear view on how journalists deal with the current working climate in Turkey, as she has a few journalist friends who have experienced it firsthand. Here’s what she had to say. … Continue reading The minefield of press freedom in Turkey
Turkey is home to over 50.000 Uyghurs, people who originate from former East-Turkistan, now known as Xinjiang province in China. 50.000 people eager to talk about what is happening in China. But in Turkey, the media do not cover their story. Text and photos by Julia van den Muijsenberg Since 2017, millions of Uyghur people locked away in Chinese re-education camps. The Chinese government is … Continue reading Please, tell our story
