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GLOBAL NEWS NEW BOOK TELLS STORY OF HOW A MYSTIC DRINK IMPACTED POLITICS CULTURES AND LIFESTYLES IN EUROPE AND THE MIDDLE EAST
A new book shows how Turkish coffee has brought together people of different classes, cultures and ranks and helped shape politics and lifestyles since the first coffeehouse was set up in Istanbul, Turkey, in 1551. Prof. Ali Çaksu, who has authored the new book titled Kopi Turki, Kedai Yanisari, dan Narasi Osmani, Indonesian for ‘Turkish Coffee, Janissary Café, and the Ottoman Narrative’, presented the book contents to a forum at the University of Sharjah in late May, 2025. ( https://pemancarilmu.com/product/kopi-turki-kedai-yanisari-dan-narasi-osmani/ ) The two-word phrase in the book’s title ‘Kedai Yanisari’ is an Indonesian appellation associating ‘Yanisari’ or Janissary, part of the elite infantry force of Ottoman sultan’s palace guards, with ‘Kedai’ or Café – an indication of the influence the beverage exercised in the Ottoman era. Turkish coffee is not merely a drink associated with caffeine and known to keep tiredness at pay and stimulate heart and mind,” said Prof. Çaksu. “Turkish coffee has been a political, cultural and mystical drink since the first café appeared in Istanbul in the 16th century, transforming leisure, lifestyle, cultures and influencing politics.” In less than a century, parallels to the first coffee house in Istanbul were available in the larger Middle East and many European countries. Turkish coffee could be found in London, Venice, Marseille, Vienna, Paris among other European metropolises. In the Middle East, coffeehouses were established in Damascus, including the then cosmopolitan city of Aleppo; Cairo, where coffee shops opened in streets adjacent to the Islamic university of Azhar; in Baghdad; and even in the Muslims’ holiest city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. The forum brought together scholars with an interest in Arab and Muslim civilization from different parts of the world. It was convened by Sharjah International Foundation for the History of Arab and Muslim Sciences (SIFHAMS). “The history of Muslim sciences cannot be fully appreciated without recognizing the pivotal role of cultural practices and social institutions, among which the advent of coffee and the rise of coffeehouses which stand out as particularly significant,” said University of Sharjah professor of Islamic studies, Mesut Idriz, who is also SIFHAMS’ director and the forum’s organizer.
