1. I read two books of you, one in English and one in German.  Which language are you using and to what is it depending to? Are you mixing your languages while you write? Do you think this is possible?

I have always had a passionate interest in language. Today I write fiction in two languages, Turkish and English. I am a commuter, a nomad. I like to travel between languages as much as I enjoy travelling between cultures. This is not common, but it is not rare either. There are several writers in the world who have written in more than one language. Although it is not easy to write in two languages, I find the experience stimulating. I feel connected to each language in a different way. English, for me, is more mathematical. Turkish, for me, is more emotional. Depending on my mood, depending on the story, I choose one or the other.

2. In your books, you are using Turkish daily talk with ottoman expressions. Is the Turkish language sometimes insufficient?

I have a deep, strong love for the Turkish language. At the same time, I like to expand the boundaries of daily language. I mix old Ottoman words with new words and I also use many Sufi terms. I mix the irrational, superstitious, magical world of oral culture (which is usually in the hands of women) with the written culture(which is usually male dominated). My Turkish is rich and diverse. I think vocabulary and language play a very important role in expanding our imagination. When our language is limited, our imagination shrinks.

3. In your novels, transformation and changes are often an important topic. Why?

As a writer I am intrigued by transformations and movements. I also like to show the connections between things because in my opinion we are all deeply interconnected. It is a writer’s job to show the connections. It also intrigues me to observe the dialectics of life. I like to explore the bond between humour and sorrow. My writing has a lot of humour. “Humour without arrogance” is my motto.

4. I used to live in Istanbul from 1988-1996. In 2003 I came back and I am really surprised how much Istanbul/Turkey changed.  What is for you the most striking change today in Turkey?

Turkey is a very dynamic, young society that has an amazing ability to change and move forward. From one week to another, from one month to another the country moves so fast. Turkey is not easy to put into categories. It is a society of syntheses and mixtures, which can be very good and fertile for art and artists.

5. In European discussions, the "Clash of culture" (between “seculars” and “islamics”) is mentioned very often. Regarding the society, what do you think of it?

It all depends on which lens we are looking through. If we focus solely on politics, then Turkey might seem polarized. But if we see things through the perspective of art and literature, we will see that there are no black-and-white divisions. I do not believe there is a clash of cultures in Turkey. I think there is rather an “interplay of cultures”, sometimes more harmoniously sometimes less. But it is not a clash. It is a synthesis.

6. Regarding the cultural life in Turkey, what are, in your opinion, the most important changes now? Are there any changes? What will happen in the future and what has to happen?

There are changes every day, every minute. Turkey is not a stagnant society. Not at all. I think if Turkey joins the EU, this will have far-reaching positive consequences not only for Turkey but also for Europe. Can Islam and Western democracy coexist? Yes they can. But now it is time for everyone in Europe to ask himself sincerely: What kind of Europe do we want for the future? Do we want a privileged club of elite members where everyone is alike? Or do we want to create a rich and new cultural energy by opening the doors to Turkey and let Islam and Western democracy blend? I think it will be a sad mistake to distance Turkey away from Europe. But unfortunately not many European popular politicians can see this.

7. You said once, that literature is for you like tracking something. Tracking has got something to do with identity. What do you mean with tracking and what has literature to do with identity in your opinion?

I am a storyteller. And stories travel the whole wide world without passports and visas. My writing is both local and universal. I like to go beyond the boundaries of identity. Literature, good literature, can transcend mental boundaries.  In Turkish literature there is a tradition of “father novelists” –male writers writing with authority, as if their readers were their sons, and they had to teach or give a message. This is not my style. I do not write like an engineer, planning everything beforehand. I write by letting the story and the characters and the language carry me and surprise me. I write with less “intellect” than with “intuition.”


8. Can you tell me about you new novel AŞK? Will it be translated into German? When?

Yes, it will be translated into German, I hope. But translation process is never easy. It always takes time. I have nine books published in Turkey. Not all of them have been translated into German. But I like the German readership very much and I look forward to doing more book tours in Germany.

Aşk will be named “The Forty Rules of Love” in English. It is a book within a book, a novel within a novel, a love within a love. It is the story of a Jewish-American housewife who falls in love with a modern Sufi living in Amsterdam. She reads the novel he has written about the great Sufi mystic Rumi and his beloved Shams. So my novel deals with different aspects of love –spiritual and mundane, East and West, past and present. And everything is interconnected.

Thank you so much…