dove love

Call the bird a dove, and everyone loves it. Call the bird a pigeon, and suddenly the poor thing is a "flying rat." Well, not in my presence! I have a deep appreciation for every member of the dove family, including our humble pigeons, otherwise known as Rock Doves.



To celebrate the recent return of YouTube in Turkey (yay!), here's a terrible video of the old news story of a Turkish truck driver who refused to continue his route upon discovering a dove had laid her eggs in a nest she built upon his truck. The man would not move his truck until the baby birds hatched and fledged. Love for doves is a big thing here in Turkey, where it's not uncommon to see a rooftop coop of fancy pigeons carefully tended to by a burly man with a cigarette dangling out from under his moustache— and behold:



Some ancient artist in Zeugma felt the need to include this little pidge in a mosaic.

merchants and thieves

To the left of the Spice Bazaar stands a ramshackle animal market, which both disturbs and fascinates me. Sad creatures, mostly birds and bunnies, in cages too small for their bodies... but then there are the leech sellers and the thieving Laughing Doves. Seed merchants guard their abundant sacks with plastic scoops, with one eye out for any feathery intruders. The minute their attention is pulled toward a friend, customer, or çay glass, the doves descend.



They feast in a gluttonous frenzy, often immersing all but the tips of their tails into the seed sacks. When the plastic scoops start waving in their direction, accompanied by expletives, our little thieves casually fly to safety, where they watch in mockery for another chance to dine.