10. Public hospitals hinder women’s access to abortions | Gözde Yel
Nearly a decade after Turkey’s then-prime minister – and now president – Recep Tayyip Erdoğan dubbed abortion “murder”, it has become harder than ever for women to access the procedure.
9. The businesses helping families keep in touch with dead relatives | Zehra Nur Değirmenci
When Bekir, a 40-year-old entrepreneur, visited the grave of a family member in the western province of Bursa last year, he noted that some of the tombs appeared neglected. Although specialising in events and logistics, Bekir was inspired to set up a gravesite maintenance service, employing musicians who couldn’t find work during the pandemic.
8. A life in service of Assyrian culture | Mehmet Salih Bedirhan
Dubbed “the fading colour of Mesopotamia” and dwindling in number, southeast Turkey’s Assyrians are in a battle against time to preserve their history. Much of the collective memory of this ancient Christian community is contained in fragile books of scripture held in its churches.
7. The village women versus the mining company | Zehra Nur Değirmenci
A government-backed mining project has provoked fierce opposition in a village traditionally known for its support of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). For the past two years, local residents and environmentalists have organised protests in Kirazlıyayla, in north-western Turkey, at the construction of a zinc, lead and copper processing facility. Protest leaders, many of whom are local women, have been detained and prosecuted.
6. Turkey counts the cost of this summer’s wildfires | Gonca Tokyol & Burak Ütücü
The sky was orange, the mid-August wind was blowing across the sea, and a man wearing flip-flops was shouting, “Friends, don’t go further. The fire has reached the road. It is not safe anymore.”
5. A sanctuary makes the difference between life and death for farm animals | Baha Okar
Raphael, a snow-white peacock, was rescued along with his two friends from being one of the courses at a wealthy businessman’s New Year’s Eve banquet last year. Now he walks around happily, ruffling his feathers in all their beauty.
4. Why TikTok is a hit with Turkey’s working class | Emel Altay
Last year, 36-year-old construction worker Müjdat Uğur posted a Tik Tok video of him and his co-workers staging a catwalk show on a building site in the central Anatolian province of Yozgat. The post went viral with seven million views.
3. How Europe’s plastic waste ends up on a roadside in Adana | Elif Ünal
Adana, in the south of Turkey, was once famous for its citrus orchards. Now it is known for its fields full of garbage imported from Europe. Most of the time, this plastic waste is not recycled as promised – but burned or dumped along the roadside.
2. Growing up in the fields: will Turkey see an end to child labour? | Nimet Kıraç
Thirteen-year-old Elif Küpeli was relieved, although not very happy, that the pepper harvest in Turkey’s southern Adana province had come to an end.
1. Ankapark, Turkey’s multi-million dollar junkyard | Çınar Özer
The Ankapark development, billed as the world’s largest theme park, was once a flagship project of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) administration in the Turkish capital Ankara. Having spent just six months operational – and with a change of mayor in Ankara – the park’s gates are shuttered and the project threatens to become a giant white elephant.
