We Fall In Love More Deeply When

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.

Sometimes I Sensed That The Books I Read In Rapid Succession Had Set Up Some Sort Of Murmur Among Themselves, Transforming My Head Into An Orchestra Pit Where Different Musical Instruments Sounded Out, And I Would Realize That I Could Endure This Life Because Of These Musicales Going On In My Head.

Turks Have A Dismissive Phrase: He Works Like A Clerk. I Have Turned This Insult Around: I Am Proud To Say That I Work Like A Clerk.

I Very Much Enjoy Reading Other Writers' Diaries, Mainly Because It Makes Me Ask Myself: Are They Like You? How Do They Think?

To Savour Istanbul's Back Streets, To Appreciate The Vines And Trees That Endow Its Ruins With Accidental Grace, You Must, First And Foremost, Be A Stranger To Them.