Tag: Turkey

Diyarbakır: Contested City in Turkey’s Kurdish heartland

.Reading time 38 minutes.

By William Gourlay If you present a map of Turkey to a traveler and ask them to pinpoint key cities, chances are they will immediately identify İstanbul, the great metropolis on the Bosphorus. Some would also be able to highlight Ankara, the capital, but beyond that choices may be limited. Few cities in Turkey’s Anatolian […]

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İzmir’s Century: A “Cosmopolitan” Turkish Port City Comes Full Circle

.Reading time 36 minutes.

By William Gourlay In February 1923, following the demise of the Ottoman Empire, the founders of modern Turkey assembled to formulate their next steps. Mustafa Kemal, the leader of the Turkish Nationalist Movement that had recently defeated an invading Greek force, delivered the opening address at a “national conference” in the Aegean port city of […]

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