The Time of Mute Swans

  hamam: a Turkish bath

  harmandalı: a folk dance for men associated with honor and courage

  hodja: teacher

  Hû! Ya Ali!: Hû is a name Alevis and Sufis use for God, and Ali is a shout-out to Muhammed’s son-in-law, Ali, who was the successor to the Prophet and the one true caliphate, according to Alevis and other Shias.

  Hürriyet: a mainstream newspaper founded in 1948

  iftar: the fast-breaking meal held at sundown during the month of Ramadan

  İnciraltı Massacre: the killing of at least six students by military police at a university dormitory in the İnciraltı district of İzmir in June 1980

  Kemal Türkler: the founder and leader of the Confederation of Revolutionary/Progressive Trade Unions (DİSK), Türkler was assassinated by Grey Wolf militants in front of his home in Istanbul in July 1980.

  kokoreç: grilled lamb intestines

  Kurtuluş: a neighborhood in Ankara; means “Liberation”

  Laz: an ethnic group living along the Black Sea in Turkey and Georgia

  Liberation Park: Kurtuluş Park

  Mahir Çayan: a Marxist-Leninist political activist and leader of the People’s Liberation Party of Turkey. He and nine of his comrades were killed by soldiers in 1972 in the Black Sea village of Kızıldere.

  Maraş Massacre: the weeklong slaughter of more than a hundred unarmed Alevi men, women, and children by Grey Wolves in the city of Maraş in 1978 after a percussion bomb was tossed into a movie theater popular with ultranationalists

  meyhane: a traditional tavern serving alcoholic beverages and communal plates of hot and cold food similar to tapas

  MHP: the Turkish acronym for Nationalist Action Party, a far-right political organization affiliated with the Grey Wolves

  MLSP: the Turkish acronym for Marxist Leninist Socialist Party

  mukabele: an informal home gathering in which the Koran is recited as guests follow along; said to be one of the ways Fethullah Gülen organized a following

  Mustafa Pehlivanoğlu: sentenced to death for his role in the Balgat Bloodbath

  Nationalist Action Party: a right-wing party affiliated with the ultra-nationalist Grey Wolves

  Nazım Hikmet: Turkey’s best known poet, translated into more than fifty languages. A communist and a pacifist, Hikmet was repeatedly imprisoned for his political views before he escaped to Romania and then spent the rest of his life in exile in the Soviet Union.

  Nesrin Sipahi: a singer of classical Turkish music

  Nihat Erim: the prime minister of Turkey for fourteen months after the 1971 coup, Erim was assassinated in Istanbul in 1980

  Okey: a game similar in some ways to gin rummy, but played with tiles rather than cards

  pasha: a traditional title used for Turkish military officers

  The Paul Street Boys: a youth novel by Hungarian author Ferenc Molna, first published in 1906

  Rambling Gardens: the shantytown on the outskirts of Ankara where Ali and his family live.

  Republican People’s Party: see CHP

  “SaBuHa”: a popular song and early example of “arabesque,” an oriental style of music particular popular with the working classes and with the rural folk migrating to the cities; comparable in sociological terms to early American blues

  sahur: the Ramadan meal eaten just before sunrise

  Sakarya: a fashionable street in Ankara full of bistros and pubs

  Seyyal Taner: a singer, dancer, and actress

  shalvar: traditional baggy trousers generally favored by village men and women

  slipper backwards on the floor: the superstitious believe it brings bad luck.

  Şokella: a Turkish hazelnut chocolate spread similar to Nutella

  Sugar Bairam: the festival held to mark the end of Ramadan

  Sugar Feast (Eid): Secular Turks used to exchange sweets on Eid, the festival that ends Ramadan, and serve their guests liqueur, an approach similar to emphasizing Christmas trees and Easter bunnies on Christian holidays.

  Tercüman: a center-right newspaper

  TRT: the state-run Turkish Radio and Television, which had a monopoly on all programming until the 1990s

  Turgut Özal: the undersecretary responsible for preparing the liberalization program known as the Decisions of January 24. In the first free elections held after the 1980 coup, Özal’s newly founded party won a parliamentary majority. He went on to become the prime minister and then the president of Turkey.

  Turgut Uyar: a “second new” movement poet

  Ulduz and the Crows: see 1001 Peaches

  wafer sandwich: http://www.cizmecitime.com/content/uploads/2016/08/gofrette-sutlu.jpg

  Weekend: weekly entertainment supplement

  Ya Allah bismillah Allahu ekber!: In the name of God; God is Great! Originally a Janissary rallying cry, was later adopted by Grey Wolves who chant it as they prepare to attack.

  Yeni Karamürsel: first Turkish department store

  Zeki Müren: flamboyant singer with costumes similar to Liberace’s and a “wink-wink” approach to his sexuality