A strange way to spend my 38th birthday, holed up in a small hotel round the corner from Taksim Square, waiting to see what comes next in the struggle for Turkey's soul. But then these are heady days to be alive in Istanbul. Last night I went to one of the city's parks where protestors had gathered to discuss their next move. Hundreds sat packed together, listening to a succession of speakers, while others sat in groups under the trees as night fell, drinking beer, laughing, sharing the sense … [Read more...]
Tear Gas and Laughter
June 19, 2013 by 1 Comment
Quieter days in Istanbul. And while the tear gas clears from the streets, it's worth mentioning the other side of the protests, that doesn't always come through on the television pictures: the side that is by turns crazy, weird, absurd and joyful. The other day, for instance, the police arrested a piano. Its owner, Davide Martello, came all the way from Germany to serenade the protestors in a series of open air recitals in Taksim Square. That was back when the square was full of young people … [Read more...]
A Night in Istanbul
June 16, 2013 by Leave a Comment
As night fell over Istanbul, the tear gas drifted across the city and everywhere there was the sound of people banging pots and pans in protest at the government. I write from a friend's apartment. On his ancient stereo, The Clash are playing Know Your Rights, which seems appropriate. I have a glass of home-made cider by my side. For much of the evening we have been holed up here, unable to move because of the riot police on the street outside. They frequently fire tear gas. At one point … [Read more...]
Marching to Taksim
June 15, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Tens of thousands were on the march in Istanbul tonight. Perhaps hundreds of thousands. They came onto the streets all of a sudden, in a spontaneous outpouring of anger when they heard the police had moved in to Gezi Park. They came unarmed and peaceful, offering nothing but their voices and their presence. And the police answered them with violence, with tear gas and batons, with rubber bullets and charges. This was Recep Tayyip Erdogan's application for the presidency of his country, … [Read more...]
Daily Mail calls Burden of the Desert “an absolute must”
April 12, 2013 by Leave a Comment
My novel Burden of the Desert is reviewed in today's Daily Mail, which says "This tense, thought-provoking and extraordinary book is an absolute must". You can read the full review on the Daily Mail's website here. … [Read more...]
The Quiet Heroes of the Iraq War
March 23, 2013 by Leave a Comment
At the end of the week that the world marked the tenth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, it's worth pausing to remember the quiet heroes of the occupation. I wish I had got to know Marla Ruzicka. I used to see her in the Al-Hamra Hotel in Baghdad, organising some party or other, charming everyone she met, setting a table of journalists laughing by the pool. She would smile as she passed -- she had a smile for everyone, even a bad-tempered correspondent like me, fighting with his editor … [Read more...]
Why the Iraq war failed: the Hospital from Hell
March 20, 2013 by Leave a Comment
If you want to know why the American occupation of Iraq was such a disaster, you need look no further than the story of the former Saddam Hussein Central Children's Hospital in Baghdad. When I first saw the hospital in 2004, it was beyond belief. There was sewage dripping from the roof of the premature babies' ward, leaking from pipes above, spattering down to the floor between the cots, where it gathered in foul stinking puddles. Downstairs in the leukaemia ward, the toilets had … [Read more...]
Tony Blair: the Messiah and the Monster
March 20, 2013 by 1 Comment
Sometimes I think the only way Tony Blair could ever be truly happy is if he managed to get himself crucified. A big Calvary moment, complete with movie cameras, crowds of extras, make-up and lighting, is the only thing that could ever satisfy his Messiah complex-- But no, Blair was always a bargain basement Messiah, and he was always happy to pay in some one else's blood. Astonishingly, this week he declared he had no regrets over the decision to invade Iraq ten years ago. Well, he did … [Read more...]
Book Review: Back to Blood
March 13, 2013 by Leave a Comment
[amazon_image id="0316221791" link="true" target="_blank" size="medium" ]Back to Blood: A Novel[/amazon_image] Back to Blood by Tom Wolfe ★★★★ There's a scene towards the end of Back to Blood when we finally get inside the secret studio of the elusive Russian artist Igor Drukovich. In public an arch-devotee of realism, Igor has hidden away in his studio a series of copies of modernist, surrealist, abstract and cubist masterpieces by the likes of Picasso, Matisse, Kandinksy and … [Read more...]
Iraq through various eyes
March 13, 2013 by Leave a Comment
I have a piece in today's Bookbrunch, the UK publishing industry daily news service, about the challenges of writing a novel set in the Iraq war. You can read it on Bookbrunch's website … [Read more...]
