Author: Edward Rowe

HP Reviews
Review: “an outstanding display” by cast of Bliss

A new musical stage adaptation of Bliss or Mutluluk, a novel of the same name originally written by the politician, singer and artist Zülfü Livaneli, played at the Arcola Theatre in Dalston, East London last week. A joint production with Istanbul’s experimental theatre Talimhane, this was an outstanding, emotive and powerful performance. This UK run […]

News - Features
We Remember: the anniversary of Atatürk’s abolition of the Ottoman Caliphate

  Today, 93 years ago on 3 March 1924, under the leadership of President Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Turkey’s Grand National Assembly passed three bills that would change the country irreversibly. Of these, the first abolished the Ministry of Religious Law and Pious Foundations, the second established a single education system, and the third—the most revolutionary […]

News - Features
We remember: Turkey’s accession to NATO 65 years ago today

Feeling the chill of the Cold War, Turkey signed the Washington Treaty and joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, commonly referred to as NATO, on 18th Feb. 1952 – exactly 65 years ago. Twelve founding members, among them the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Belgium, Iceland, France, and Italy, had originally signed the Washington or […]

News - Features
We remember: The Ottoman Empire’s First Constitution, established 140 years ago

In January 1877, the Constantinople ‘Tersane’ Conference, attended by the Great Powers including Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, and Austria-Hungary, came to an end. The Conference had started in December 1876, and was intended to address the Ottoman Empire’s problems, commonly referred to by European politicians and diplomats as the “Eastern Question”. The year 1876 had […]

News - Global
Turkey: from out of the game to critical player in Syria

Rewind to the beginning of 2016. Ankara was at odds with many of the key actors in the Syrian conflict, including Washington and Tehran. And, after shooting down a Russian jet in November 2015, the temperature with Moscow was certainly below zero. Turkey became estranged from Iran and Russia because of its insistence on the […]