I Really Don't Want To Portray The

The Image That I Remember Most Of All Is Of The Fenerbahçe Players Storming Into The Stadium Before Kickoff. They Were Called The Canaries Because Of Their Yellow Jerseys. It Was As If They, Like Canaries, Were Fluttering Into The Stadium Out Of A Hole. I Loved It. It Was Poetry.

I Sometimes Joke That I Am The First Writer Of Historical Fiction Who Can Look Out His Window And Point To The Objects In His Novels. I Have A View Of The Entrance To The Bosporus, The Old City, Hagia Sophia, The Blue Mosque.

Of Course In Turkey I'm Seen As Being On The 'western' Side, Criticised By The Nationalists, Criticised By The Communitarians As Not Belonging. Even, Sometimes, Criticised For Looking At My Country Through Western Eyes. And In The Western Media I'm Portrayed As Belonging To The East.

...every Person Has A Star, Every Star Has A Friend, And For Every Person Carrying A Star There Is Someone Else Who Reflects It, And Everyone Carries This Reflection Like A Secret Confidante In The Heart.

Let Everyone Know, I Lived A Very Happy Life.