Turkey’s diplomatic efforts to produce a ceasefire in Libya remain stalemated, but a high-profile humanitarian mission sponsored by Ankara ended successfully April 5 when a ferry with hundreds of wounded Libyan fighters docked at a small port on the Turkish Aegean Sea coast.
Not only is Afghanistan a center of opium production, it has one of the world’s most serious drug addiction problems. An estimated 1 million Afghans, out of a total population of 28 million, are battling substance abuse. For some, the Wadan Drug Rehabilitation Center in Kabul offers the last chance to kick a drug habit.
Ramadan is the month-long festival considered to be the most important in the Islamic faith, during which many fast throughout the day in order to reflect and worship. Ramazan, as it is called in Turkish, is celebrated in Istanbul as a joyous festival with daily events held around the city peaking at Iftar, the meal at sundown that signals the end of the daily fast.
Many Istanbulites have been taking Iftar outside to beat the summer heat, making this a very difficult and long Ramadan. Due to the long summer days of August, those who fast are not supposed to eat, drink or smoke from roughly sunrise at 5 a.m. until sunset after 8:30 p.m.Though not all Turks fast, the trend seems to be growing.
Monique Jaques is a freelance photojournalist working in Turkey and Afghanistan.
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