Entries from August 2006 ↓

I’m leaving for Berlin tomorrow morning and will stay there a night before flying back to the U.S. on Saturday.  Unless I have time to stop by an internet cafe in Berlin, I’ll probably not post again until the weekend when I’m stateside.
Till then…

I turned 29 yesterday, and what better way to celebrate than with chocolate cake.  My mother-in-law whipped one up while Pinar and I were out on the town.
Here are two scenes of birthday cake excitement taken 24 years apart:

In the first I’m getting ready to blow out the candles, in the second I’m getting [...]

The Center for Islamic Studies (ISAM) has a really cool system at its library, and I’m wondering if it would fly in the U.S.
Say you want to photocopy an entire book.  No problem.  They have two guys working there who’ll do it for you really fast.
But if it’s a recently acquired book, chances [...]

I came across a good article in the Chicago Tribune about the Diyanet and state management of religious life in Turkey.  Although a couple years old, the piece is a great primer on religion in Turkey and includes a lot of detail that you’re unlikely to find elsewhere.  There’s even a section on sermons and [...]

I wrote earlier about Turks’ attitudes toward Americans, and there’s no doubting that the Israel-Lebanon war worsened the trend.  I haven’t been surprised to see banners in some parts of town saying “Each of us is Palestinian,” or booths set up with gory war photos where students are collecting signatures against Israel and the U.S.
But [...]

My second trip to Ankara couldn’t have gone better.  First I had a good discussion with Dr. Ali Bardakoglu, President of the Diyanet.  He’s been in charge of the agency since 2003 and many of the people I spoke with last week credit his dynamism and forward-thinking for bringing the Diyanet into a kind of [...]

I got back from Ankara late Friday night, but I’m already planning a trip back there this Wednesday to interview the president of the Diyanet, Dr. Ali Bardakoglu.  He has a tight schedule, so I don’t want to pass up this opportunity to meet while I’m still in Turkey.
It was actually an interview with Dr. [...]