Columnists

Norway, X-ray machines and Didim Animal Shelter

By Chris Evans I’ve mentioned how lucky I am to meet and speak to so many interesting people on my travels around the Didim area. A recent encounter highlighted this more than ever. Oz Cafe in Sagtur seems to be the base where wonderful conversations happen and new friends are made. I’ve had an affinity…

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Didim – The perfect holiday destination?

By Chris Evans I was recently speaking to friends in the UK. They had seen the stories suggesting Turkiye is the cheapest summer holiday destination. Could I advise them of the best place to visit for a couple of weeks over the summer? The requirements were complicated by them being a family of four with…

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Pizza Vs pide

By A.J. Griffiths-Jones Like many Europeans, I can’t resist a traditional Italian pizza with the wide variety of toppings available and we certainly have our fair share of pizza outlets here in Turkiye. However, since moving to the Aegean, I’m beginning to realise that the beautiful boat-shaped Turkish pide is a great alternative, as not…

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Sagtur; Everything’s changing, but some things stay the same

By Chris Evans Last year we published a piece on one of the unsung parts of Didim. Sagtur is beautiful and offers a lot to visitors. We know, from our contacts, the article led to an influx of visitors to the area who got to see caretta caretta nests, meet some wonderfully friendly children of…

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Beach Woes

By A.J. Griffiths-Jones Kaftans, sarongs, cover-ups, call them what you will, but these items of beachwear have two common purposes, to protect from the sun’s harmful rays during high temperatures and to create a degree of modesty when circumstances warrant it. This is especially important during Turkiye’s unexpected heatwave this summer, as intense sunburn on…

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Jumping Through Hoops

 By A.J. Griffiths-Jones There was a flurry of panic last month when the Turkish Government changed their policy requirements for residency visas, causing many expats to decide to sell up and leave. Others took matters into their own hands and fulfilled the legal requisites by getting married. However, fast-forward to June and the guidelines have…

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Closing UK bank accounts leave expats high and dry

By Chris Evans A few years ago Barclays Bank did the reputable thing and led a marketing campaign across Europe informing expat customers their accounts in the UK would be closed. The campaign was sketchy about non-EU countries. It was a warning of events that have affected many in Didim in recent months. My own…

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To our beautiful Ruken

Hasan Bayrak, Voices Publisher My daughter Ruken has been a reporter for our newspaper for the past two years. Thanks to Ruken, Voices brought you great news. She introduced us to many places to visit in Turkey in the Explore column and introduced us to great books and movies in the Book and Film Review…

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To my dear friend Glenn…

Hasan Bayrak, Voices Publisher Glenn Maffia, one of the first editors of our newspaper, died last January 10th at the age of 66. I met Glenn in 2005, when I was a young 26-year-old journalist with plans to launch Voices, but I didn’t know how. And I met Glenn and Gill and together we published…

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Two FREE short stories on offer from Didim author

Didim-based author Maximilian Sam is offering two FREE short stories – alongside the reissuing of his award-winning children’s book, It’s A Stray Dog’s Life. The second, updated edition of It’s A Stray Dog’s Life is available from www.maximiliansam.com. On the website, you will also find two new and free digital short stories: Smokey’s Story, an…

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