Loud and Proud – Istanbul

Published in Monocle Issue 31 Vol 3

Journalism in Turkey has always been a political contact sport. Even so, the size of the tax penalty given to the Dogan Media Group – Turkey’s largest – had global reverberations. The conflict between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Dogan first surfaced when the papers dug into the allegations swirling around the premier of corruption. Erdogan publicly accused the group’s founder, 73-year-old Aydin Dogan, of blackmailing the government for policies favourable to his investments. Continue reading “Loud and Proud – Istanbul” →

Crunch time for Romania’s ‘New Wave’

From the hipsters of Williamsburg in Brooklyn to the cinephiles of France, Romanian cinema is developing a global cult-like following that in 2010 should make Romania famous for something far more meaningful than Dracula, Ceaucescu and Nadia Comaneci.

The so-called “New Wave” Romanian cinema is producing film-lovers’ films. They tell stark, lonely stories of micro-human-scale dramas, in impressive defiance of all the mega trends and commercial might of the global film industry, which tends to favour big stories, grand, sweeping tales of heroes, wars and disasters and the great processes of history. Continue reading “Crunch time for Romania’s ‘New Wave’” →

The Race is On – Bulgaria

An oddly fast-paced race is on to boost the global snail supply. Demand has been boosted by recent pharmaceutical and cosmetic applications for snail flesh and shells. Plus, the free-range snail population is decreasing and they are becoming harder to find. Continue reading “The Race is On – Bulgaria” →

The Boyko Borisov show

November 16, 2009 — Sofia
Writer: Matthew Brunwasser

The professional CV of the Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov does not read like your standard head of government: firefighter, private security company owner, black belt in karate, trainer of the national karate team, bodyguard of the former Tsar Simeon II and communist dictator Todor Zhivkov and head of the national police. Continue reading “The Boyko Borisov show” →

Relationship breakdown

October 29, 2009 — Istanbul
Writer: Matthew Brunwasser

There are good reasons to condemn Israel for its incursion into Gaza last December: some 1,400 Palestinians were killed as Israel got tough on Hamas a month before parliamentary elections. But Turkey’s diplomatic response has snowballed to enormous proportions – leaving Turkey-watchers wondering whether Gaza wasn’t just a convenient excuse for the Islamist government in Ankara to shed a historical ally it really considered distasteful all along. Continue reading “Relationship breakdown” →

Taking offence, Turkish style

Offending Turkishness and common sense

October 14, 2009 — Istanbul

Writer: Matthew Brunwasser

Turkey is schizophrenic about human rights. The country has made important steps towards protecting minority rights at home and reducing conflict in the region. But at the same time it continues to brutally silence critics – unable to tolerate either political opposition or those who challenge the myths of the Turkish nation. Continue reading →

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