As always after drinking too much, I felt like my own ghost trying to take it's first solo walk outside the body.

No one drives me into exile, not even the nationalists.

When something explosive is kept hidden away, a tension builds within that must ultimately be released.

As much as I live I shall not imitate them or hate myself for being different to them

Happiness is laughing together.

Novels are political not because writers carry party cards -- some do, I do not -- but because good fiction is about identifying with and understanding people who are not necessarily like us. By nature all good novels are political because identifying with the other is political. At the heart of the 'art of the novel' lies the human capacity to see the world through others' eyes. Compassion is the greatest strength of the novelist.

Istanbul is certainly in the process of transforming itself into an attractive cultural, tourist and financial center. But there are also millions of sad stories in this giant sea of immigration, poverty, misery and contradictions. So much anger, frustration and fury.