Analysis
Smart, independent reporting on Turkey's politics, economy and foreign affairs.
Nasreddin Hoca, the wise and witty Turkish folk hero, once arrived at a dinner in his ordinary clothes and discovered that nobody thought him worth much attention. He went home, put on his finest fur coat and returned. This time he was welcomed warmly, seated at the table and offered the best food. So Hoca began dipping the sleeve of his coat into the dishes.
The word of the week is tayt, one of those treacherous little linguistic friendships the French call faux amis. It sounds almost like the English tights, though Turkish politely drops the final hiss.
Haluk Levent is a musician who rose to fame in the early 1990s, performing what is known as Anatolian Rock.
For a country surrounded by seas, Turkey has made remarkably turbulent use of the name Deniz. It means “sea,” of course. Calm, blue, generous, occasionally treacherous.