In the run-up to Turkey’s June 12 parliamentary elections, Turkish newspapers have been full of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s “crazy” plans for massive infrastructure projects. Concrete will change everything. Or so the message goes.
When authorities in Kyrgyzstan announce that a terrorism suspect has been detained, the public is rarely given a name or convincing background story. So it came as a surprise that the National Security Committee identified a Turkish citizen detained on suspicion of membership in a terrorist organization bent on overthrowing the Turkish Republic.
Arriving in Kyrgyzstan from Istanbul seven years ago, Orhan Eker found a niche that needed filling. There were already several established Turkish kebab joints in Bishkek. But despite the relatively small market for Turkish food, he opened a now-popular café serving home-cooked favorites: spinach and rice dishes, salads, and chicken cooked in herbs that he imports from Turkey.
