Sibel Utku Bila

Sibel Utku Bila is a freelance journalist based in Ankara who has covered Turkey for 15 years. She was a correspondent for Agence France-Presse (AFP) from 1999 to 2011, and articles she wrote during that period have been published in many newspapers around the world. She has worked also as an editor at the Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey’s oldest English-language newspaper.

Turkey | Aug 10, 2015

After 500 years, Turkish coffee percolates in popularity

On the brink of oblivion about a decade ago, Turkey’s ancient coffee culture is revived by a vibrant new generation of entrepreneurs and young consumers.

A waiter carries two cups of Turkish coffee at a coffee shop in Istanbul October 19, 2007. Turks are turning their backs on traditional Turkish coffee as they acquire a taste for the cappuccinos and espressos served at global coffee chain outlets opening up across this economically booming Muslim country. Picture taken October 19, 2007. To match feature TURKEY-COFFEE REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY) - RTX7D

Turkey | Feb 19, 2015

Is Twitter giving in to Turkish censorship?

Turkish cyber rights activists warn Twitter of legal action for acting as auxiliary to Ankara’s censorship machine.

Syria | Jan 9, 2015

Turkey faces demining delays

Having stalled for a decade, Turkey risks further delays in meeting its international obligations to clear vast minefields, most of them along the Syrian border.

Turkish soldiers use mine detectors to search for landmines during a patrol on a road outside the south-eastern Turkish town of Sirnak bordering northern Iraq February 24, 2008. Turkey began sending thousands of ground troops across the mountainous border into northern Iraq on Thursday to crush PKK guerrillas who use the region as a base from which to attack targets inside Turkey. REUTERS/Fatih Saribas (TURKEY) - RTR1XHU0

Turkey | Dec 22, 2014

Under crackdown, Turkish media close ranks

Under government attack, Gulenist journalists are seeking support from colleagues whose imprisonment they once supported, warning that they could be next.

Supporters of the Gulen movement wave Turkish flags as they gather outside the Justice Palace in Istanbul December 19, 2014. A Turkish court kept a media executive and three other people in custody on Friday pending trial on accusations of belonging to a terrorist group, in a case which President Tayyip Erdogan has defended as a response to "dirty operations" by his enemies. Hidayet Karaca heads Samanyolu Television which is close to the president's ally-turned foe Fethullah Gulen, a U.S.-based Muslim cleri

Syria | Dec 12, 2014

Businesses boom as Syrians put down roots in Turkey

Ankara has acknowledged the prospect of at least 1 million Syrian refugees never leaving, as many set up companies, buy property and open schools.

A money changer calculates the exchange rate of Turkish lira to Syrian pound at his office in the southern Turkish town of Reyhanli November 29,2012. REUTERS/Laszlo Balogh (TURKEY - Tags: BUSINESS POLITICS) - RTR3B0WS

Syria | Nov 25, 2014

Syrian link suspected in Chechen murder in Ankara

The 2013 murder of a prominent ethnic Chechen in Ankara may have been a retribution for his opposition to Chechen involvement in the jihadist war in Syria.

Protestors hold images of Medet Unlu, a Chechen activist based in Turkey who was killed on May 22 as they protest his death outside the Russian embassy in Ankara on May 25, 2013.
AFP PHOTO/ADEM ALTAN (Photo credit should read ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Turkey | Dec 17, 2013

Alevi jitters worsen in Turkey

Turkey’s Alevi community fears that the government’s ostracizing rhetoric and policies are encouraging discrimination and physical attacks.

Demonstrators set barricades on fire as they clash with riot police during a protest in the Tuzlucayir neighbourhood of Ankara September 9, 2013. Billed as a symbol of peace between two faiths, a new place of worship has turned Tuzlucayir, a poor suburb of Ankara, into a battleground and exposed wider sectarian tensions within Turkey. The project's blueprint envisages a Sunni mosque rising side by side with a new cemevi, or assembly house, to be used by Alevis, Turkey's biggest religious minority. But with

Turkey | Sep 23, 2013

Alevi Anger Boils Over in Ankara

Simmering anger in Ankara’s iconic Alevi neighborhood of Tuzlucayir suggests that the prime minister might be too late in addressing Alevi grievances.

A demonstrator gestures as he stands behind burning barricades during a protest in the Tuzlucayir neighbourhood of Ankara September 9, 2013. Billed as a symbol of peace between two faiths, a new place of worship has turned Tuzlucayir, a poor suburb of Ankara, into a battleground and exposed wider sectarian tensions within Turkey. The project's blueprint envisages a Sunni mosque rising side by side with a new cemevi, or assembly house, to be used by Alevis, Turkey's biggest religious minority. But with its c

Turkey | Jul 28, 2013

Protest Aftermath Stokes Anti-Government Anger in Turkey

A judicial clampdown on demonstrators and lenient treatment of deadly police conduct hardens anti-government sentiment in the wake of Turkey’s protests.

Mothers of slain Turkish protesters lead a march in Ankara on July 26, 2013 to demand justice.

Turkey | Jun 15, 2013

Erdogan Cheered, Criticized In AKP Stronghold

A crowd rallies for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a show of force against the protests, but not without a sense of apprehension even in one of his party’s main strongholds.