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Dalia Mortada

Dalia Mortada is a freelance reporter, producer, traveler and eater. A Syrian-American who spent her childhood and summers in Spain, she’s used to not quite fitting in, so she lives in Istanbul, where she definitely doesn’t belong.

In November 2011, I bid tearful farewells to my loved ones in Virginia and hopped on a one-way flight to Istanbul. Not once did it cross my mind that the job I left my life for could be a dud.It was.After just six weeks, I left my gig at a local English-language newspaper. I edited and wrote for local magazines before I jumped into radio in late 2012, when a wonderful friend and colleague told me, “Just do it.” My love affair with audio went from a dream to a reality.About six months after I filed my first radio story, Turkey erupted into protests, and I was in the right place at the right time. Ever since, I’ve reported feature stories on social issues for PRI’s The World, the CBC, Deutsche Welle and others.My choice to go abroad came from a nagging case of wanderlust as I wrapped up a six-month stint at the PBS NewsHour in their desk assistant program. Armed with the skills I learned there and my mentors’ support, I made it to Turkey on two weeks’ notice.I chose Istanbul partly because it was the first place I got a job. But mostly, I did it to be close to aging relatives in Syria, Turkey’s neighbor to the south. Sadly, the continuing violence has made it too dangerous to visit them.When I’m not working, I’m feeding unsuspecting loved ones and street animals my culinary experiments, improving my Turkish by watching dating TV shows, playing fetch with my cats or professing my love for all creatures awkwardly long-necked: llamas, camels, giraffes…

Loury Rasheed

She missed five years of school because of the Syrian war. She won’t let that happen to her little brother.

Conflict

She says it’s too late for her but some Syrian kids finally get a chance in Turkish schools.

The World

Myanmar’s Inle Lake is just one small body of water, but this man is dedicating his life to saving it

Environment

Turkey’s emergency room doctors are tired of getting beaten up

Agence France-Presse

Turkey has stepped in to help Gazans where Arab countries didn’t

Agence France-Presse
A man waves a Turkish flag at Taksim Square in Istanbul on July 16 after a coup attempt.

My local grocer knew the Turkish coup would fail. He’s seen successful coups before.

Global Politics
Banners are hanging all over Istanbul with different messages of unity and anti-terrorism. This one says, "We are one against terror."

Turks ‘will not get used to’ terror attacks in their country

Conflict

Turkey has seen a wave of terror attacks like never before. But Turks refuse to let that be their status quo, and they’re saying so publicly.

Syrian food laid out on a table.

Syrian food is this reporter’s connection to her family’s homeland

Culture

“You may not be from Syria, darling, but you are of it.”

French sign

Is Beirut the codeswitching capital of the world?

Culture

In Beirut, most people don’t just speak one language but three: English, French & Arabic. It’s what many in Beirut call Lebanon’s mother tongue — and speakers will often drift from one language to the next, mid-sentence.

A sleepy cat in Istanbul.

More needs to be done to take care of these ridiculously cute cats in Istanbul

Culture

We’re always taught to be wary of street animals. But in Istanbul, they’re a fixture in the city, whether locals like it or not.

Görkem Şen plays the Yaybahar with the Marmara Sea in the background. He hopes his instrument will soon be as common as a violin or cello.

It’s not Space Odyssey, it’s the Yaybahar

Arts

The Yaybahar was created about six years ago as a mix of all sorts of instruments: the Australian didgeridoo, the Turkish Ney and, most importantly, the thunder drum, a small cylindrical instrument that has two drum-like membranes linked by a spring.