KaplanGeorge's intro thread
 

Next year my love affair with Turkey will be 50 years old. I first came in 1972 during a road trip after university with a pal. Something about the country mesmerised me and I came back every year until 2014 when my wife and I moved permanently to a traditional Turkish village about 90 minutes' drive from Izmir. Over the years we have been in a few scrapes and also in scores of hilariously funny situations. I was arrested as a spy during the war with Greece over Cyprus in 1974 (later released); for three years I judged a town's beauty contest; I was in an eathquake that killed 17,000 people; I saw a man do a sword swallowing trick using a live snake; and I watched as Turkey's most famous criminal crashed his sea plane. <snip>