TURKISH COFFEE; A LONG HISTORY, TRADITION AND CULTURE...
The smell of freshly roasted and freshly brewed coffee takes over capital Ankara this weekend with the Ankara Coffee Festival at the city's Bilkent Station. Visited by thousands of coffee lovers last year, the event will bring together local and international coffee shops, producers, retailers and chocolatiers. With its long history in Turkey, coffee has always had a place in local households. "Coffee means for me a friendship on sleepless nights while I'm studying," said Pelin, a student who attended the first day of the festival. With the spread of coffee shops across the country, the society's taste for coffee expanded from a Turkish cup of coffee to freshly brewed coffees prepared by experienced baristas. Hülya Aktağ, a lifestyle blogger, said coffee for her means addiction, happiness and something that helps her calm down. "If I don't drink one or two cups of Turkish coffee per day, I get a headache," she added. "It's es...