according to a Hürriyet news:

Turks don’t need condoms, Universiade organizers say

and a social fabric roundup:

Nearly 4 million Turkish women illiterate, report says

Sculptor Mehmet Aksoy to sue prime minister

Polygamy widespread in Turkey, study shows

Drink until you burst

Let’s drink to that! Till we cough it out?

Turkey?s new Alcohol Law: This Land was Made for You and Me?

Apologies for the thesis-wonderful title on this, but I have Guthrie on my mind.

I was locked in conversation last week with a friend of mine about what foreigners who?ve settled down in Istanbul think of Istanbul. How our biases shape our view of the city, how the city shapes our biases, and all of that sort of fun stuff. I won?t begin to hedge on his project, but it?s a fun late-night conversation, for sure.

Türkan Saylan (December 13, 1935 ? May 18, 2009)

The Times (UK)

July 14, 2009, p. 53

Türkan Saylan, leprosy researcher and women?s rights activist, was born on December 13, 1935. She died of cancer on May 18, 2009, aged 73 Professor Türkan Saylan was one of Turkey?s most distinguished medical academics who did much to help to eradicate leprosy as a serious medical problem in her country. In response to increasing fundamentalism in Turkey,

Sibel Kekilli?s new reality

The Wall Street Journal (USA), January 14, 2011, W3

By Rhea Wessel

Just when actress Sibel Kekilli thought she had been accepted for who she is?a talented German actress?she is being asked once again to explain the norms and behavior of Turkish-German immigrant families.

Thousands of polygamous marriages in Turkey: study

CHP condemns deputy Turkish PM’s remarks on sex, alcohol

Protest Against Animal Cruelty in Istanbul

I am writing tonight to let you all know about a protest against animal cruelty that’s taking place in Istanbul tomorrow. If you will be in Istanbul on Sunday, January 23, might you consider joining the 2000 or so people who have pledged to protest against the Istanbul Municipality’s barbaric treatment of the street dogs in their care?

High fashion and high drama at Ani

Alright, I was sitting here all set to write my 5-year retrospective on Turkey and how it and I have changed since I first stepped off a plane in Ankara on Jan. 22, 2006 ? five years ago last weekend, but then as I was procrastinating I saw a post on Jezebel referencing Elle Turkey.

Darwin Not Allowed in Turkish School

So much for Turkey?s future as an educated, science-literate  society. (Dorothy, or rather Ayse, you ARE in Kansas!) Click here. Excerpt:

?Süleyman Biçer, who has been teaching for more than 14 years, received a warning for talking about Darwinian evolutionary theory in response to a question posed by one of his students. Biçer, a teacher at the Mamak Trade Chamber Elementary School in Ankara, replied to a question from one of his students on the subject of whether human beings came from monkeys. The teacher reportedly told the class how human beings and other species have evolved over many years.

The Quote of the Week: ?Minority Rights in Turkey? by Gozde Yilmaz

Excerpt from Gözde Yilmaz(2010) ?Is There a Puzzle? Compliance with Minority Rights in Turkey (1999-2010)?, KFG Working Paper Series, No. 23, January 2011, Kolleg-Forschergruppe (KFG) ?The Transformative Power of Europe? Freie Universität Berlin.

La vie d?un enfant kurde ne vaut pas cher à Semdinli, décide la justice turque.

from YOL (routes de Turquie et d’ailleurs) by anne

Recep before Recep

Before Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan there was another Recep from Kasimpasa, Yılmaz Güney

These days, Kasımpaşa (the Istanbul semt; district that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Singer Seda Sayan call home), is also home to a substantial community of gypsies. But it wasn’t always so…