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The Turkish YouTube star bringing unseen Turkey to the world by revealing its diverse food and culture, and the kindness of its people
- What started as a blog for sharing Turkish recipes with compatriots in New York evolved into the successful YouTube channel Turkish Food Travel for Aysenur Altan
- Now based in Istanbul, Altan explores offbeat parts of Turkey in English-language videos that delve into the country’s food and thoughtful culture
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When a twentysomething Aysenur Altan moved from Istanbul to New York in 1999, she took her first steps to becoming one of Turkey’s biggest social media stars.
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By the time Altan moved back to her homeland, in 2005, her Turkish-language food blog had garnered a loyal following. It would later evolve into Turkish Food Travel, an English-language YouTube channel that reveals Turkey to the world.
Altan is no pop star and is not breathlessly promoting new products every week, but her channel now has nearly 650,000 subscribers and her down-to-earth personality and local knowledge have made her a celebrity of sorts – it is not unusual for her to be recognised in public as she goes about her day in Istanbul.
Fame was not what she imagined for herself when, as a young wife – and later a new mother – in New York, Altan began experimenting with traditional Turkish dishes in her kitchen and sharing the best of her recipes with compatriots in the city.
The rising popularity of digital photography and her own interest in creating websites led her to start a blog.
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