Turkey On The Spot

STATON R. WINTER/GETTY IMAGES for TIME

CROSSED PATHS: Campaign flags from the nationalist MHP festoon a busy Istanbul street

The streets of the ancient city of Diyarbakir in south-eastern Turkey teem with vegetable hawkers and oxcarts, men in baggy cotton pants and women in silver-fringed headscarves. At the Ottoman bazaar, you can sip sugary tea and watch goldsmiths mold trinkets by lamplight. To the south lie the plains of Syria and the Middle East; to the east, the craggy mountains of northern Iraq. It all seems a long way from Europe. As the guidebooks say, here begins Asia.

Don't tell that to the Turks. Suleiman Ates, 57, a grizzled herder from a small village in the hills...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!