Turn over a new leaf with Yesilist
Keeping green new year's resolutions in Turkey got easier just in time for 2012 with the English-language debut of the country's first online directory of eco-friendly products and services. Created in 2010 by two new moms, the Turkish edition of Yeşilist -- a Turkish-English mashup meaning "greenie" -- draws 15,000 unique visitors a month, a not-insubstantial number in a society where eco-consciousness is hardly mainstream.

Ecological constitution in Turkey
8 January 2012 / ALYSON NEEL, İSTANBUL The Kurdish issue is a divisive, deep-seated subject that headlines most dailies on any given day and leads most discussions on the preparation of a new constitution in Turkey. But Mahmut Boynudelik, editor of the book “Ecological Constitution,” in comments to Sunday’s Zaman, stressed that there is another equally critical issue facing the republic that does not garner nearly the same level of attention -- the environment. “Another subject that is at least as important as the Kurdish issue is an ecological constitution. We are all affected by natural disasters, regardless of ethnicity,” the environmental journalist explained.

The Forgotten Residents of Hasankeyf
Flooding the historical town of Hasankeyf in Southeast Turkey would "provide significant contributions to the social, economic, and cultural development of the region," an expert report has concluded, striking a blow to the case against the controversial Ilısu Dam. Opponents of the dam say, however, that the report is biased and incomplete.

Timid progress on climate deal
Kicking the can down the road has often been used in the past two years to define the dithering of eurozone leaders in the face of a rapidly worsening situation. But the expression also applies to climate change.