Last weekend’s bomb blast in Istanbul prompted us to delve into the archives to see what our Voices past have written about Turkey.

East goes west.  Jason Sullivan describes the massive overhaul to Turkey’s education system in the 1920s.  “Women in particular benefited from Atatürk’s education reforms. Under the Islamist caliphate, girls had received little or no instruction in reading and writing, instead being prepared for domestic labour. Atatürk famously declared that ‘everything we see on Earth is the product of women’ and stated that ‘there was no logical explanation for the political disenfranchisement of women.'”  Eras in Education – Instant Modernization: Ataturk’s Grand Vision for Turkey, September 25, 2009.

Art in death.  Wanda Waterman reviews the 2011 movie Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, a crime drama filmed in the Turkish steppes.  “As they drive into the night of a bleak Turkish countryside, they become increasingly frustrated with the murderer’s failure to identify the spot where he buried the unfortunate victim. ”  Gregor’s Bed – Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, October 19, 2012.