Any Intelligent Person Knows That Life Is

Over Time, I Have Come To See The Work Of Literature Less As Narrating The World Than "seeing The World With Words." From The Moment He Begins To Use Words Like Colors In A Painting, A Writer Can Begin To See How Wondrous And Surprising The World Is, And He Breaks The Bones Of Language To Find His Own Voice. For This He Needs Paper, A Pen, And The Optimism Of A Child Looking At The World For The First Time.

The Bloody Years Of War And All The Atrocities In European History Have Taught The Europeans That Secular Politics Free Of Religious Hatred Is Mainly A Question Of Peace. This Concept Is Not Anchored In The Same Way In The Consciousness Of Turks, Which Has To Do With The Fact That The Secular Was Forced Upon Us By The Army.

Hüzün Does Not Just Paralyze The Inhabitants Of Instanbul, It Also Gives Them Poetic License To Be Paralyzed.

The Beauty And Mystery Of This World Only Emerges Through Affection, Attention, Interest And Compassion . . . Open Your Eyes Wide And Actually See This World By Attending To Its Colors, Details And Irony.

The Real Question Is How Much Suffering We've Caused Our Womenfolk By Turning Headscarves Into Symbols - And Using Women As Pawns In A Political Game.