EDGE San Francisco

A court in the almost-entirely Muslim country of Turkey ruled that gay sex is not unnatural in a landmark ruling that contradicts Turkey’s Supreme Court.

Flying into Bodrum, Turkey is a bit like finding Brigadoon: misty blue islands rising out of the silvery gray sea.

While some people consider Bodrum to be "the Hamptons of Turkey," for me, flying into Bodrum was a bit like finding Brigadoon. From the window of the plane, I watched as a series of misty blue islands rose almost chimerically out of the silvery gray sea.

As the economic and cultural heart of Turkey, Istanbul is the world’s tenth most popular destination. A center of arts and fashion, culture and history, with a median age of 23, Istanbul is also a university town with more than 150,000 students.

With a population of more than 13 million, the city of Istanbul, Turkey’s largest, is almost twice as populated as New York, with an area nearly seven times as large as all five New York City boroughs.

Cappadocia, a UNESCO World Heritage site located in Turkey, is one of the top three hot air ballooning destinations in the world.

Located in the ancient region of Central Anatolia, Cappadocia is a topographical wonderland with a spectacular, lunar-like landscape marked by 6th-century monasteries and churches, cave dwellings, and stone mansions, all connected by tunnels.

The LGBT community of a southeastern region of Turkey claims that a 17-year-old teenage boy was the victim of an honor killing and that his family tried to cover up the crime.

All male Turkish citizens must serve in the military unless they are mentally ill, physically handicapped, or are gay. But the country forces its gay men to undergo a series of embarrassing & useless tests to prove their sexual orientation.

History, geography, and current events have never been my strong suits. But even I, who would rather be immersed in a plate of loukamoades (Greek doughnuts) than stumbling among the rubble of an archeological ruin, found myself inspired.