Gazistan in Real Life-istan

I'm not very good about being loud about these sorts of things, but I just wrote an article on Iranian refugees living in Turkey.

The flood of Iranians coming westward, according to many refugees, includes spies and Revolutionary Guard informants. Even in Afyon, the refugees rarely talk to each other, not knowing who to trust and who to avoid. This is why, on one of the most important and family-centric holidays on the Islamic calendar, a lonely Iranian can find himself singing Ghazals, a form of Persian poetry, to anyone who will listen. 

Check it out on the Babylon & Beyond blog.