News From Turkey

I've just been dipping into the Turkish Daily News online - as you do - and found some amusing quotes. The big story is the smoking ban: "Turkey readies to go cold turkey"! The Queen's visit to Turkey produced a great gaffe: "The gracious queen, who follows the old customs of discipline and stiff upper lip compared to the rest of her family, follows well-set protocol rules, with less experienced Turkish leaders following her lead during landmark trip" (Fulya Özerkan, Ankara, 17/5/08). Compared to the rest of her family? Implication: what a shower the rest of those Brit. royals are! Last but not least, I found a review of Michael Dickinson's play The Rich Young Man at Istanbul's Maya Theatre: "Michael Dickinson, a veteran provocateur known for his controversial collages of eminent religious and political figures..." (Elspeth Metzler, Istanbul, 2/4/06). This poster must be a collage by the "veteran provocateur".