Turkey

What are the advantages and disadvantages of using the supplement nitric oxide? Richard Sunland Nitric oxide is a gas naturally found in the body; its function is conveying information between cells. One of its main jobs is increasing blood flow by dilating blood vessels, and that's why it's sometimes given in supplement form to heart patients, orally and intravenously. In at least one study it's been shown to be effective for lowering blood pressure.

WASHINGTON -- Vice President Joe Biden spoke to more than 200 members of the Turkish and Azerbaijani communities at a fundraiser in Washington on Friday morning, a quiet group he described as “dull as hell” to draw a laugh. But Biden said the U.S. takes its relationships with Turkey and Azerbaijan quite seriously. Turkey, he said, has "been one of our most valuable and proudest allies. "I have been the one who has publicly, along with the president, been very, very critical of some of our European allies for not fully embracing Turkey in the economic union, for not fully embracing Turkey as part of Europe.

Thanksgiving is a holiday built on tradition. And, much to my surprise, I seem to have found a new one of my own -- writing about dry-brined turkey. After more than 20 years of Thanksgiving stories, I didn't think there was much left that could be said about turkey. But three years ago I wrote about a new technique I'd fallen in love with. And judging from the hundreds of happy e-mails I received, readers shared that affection. I tweaked it a bit last year, to similar reaction, and now here I am writing about it again, with even more improvements.

ISTANBUL, Turkey - The stakes will be high when diplomats from six world powers meet with Iranian officials here over the weekend to discuss the Islamic Republic's nuclear program: War or peace, the global economic recovery and a U.S. presidential election may ride on the outcome. Expectations are much lower. It will be enough for the diplomats if there is sufficient common ground with Iran to keep talking. As recently as a week ago, there were doubts that the long-delayed talks would even take place.

Reha Muhtar, a popular Turkish writer, was vacationing on Turkey's Aegean coast when he saw two young women, hair tucked under hoods, bodies cloaked in ankle-length outfits, diving off an expensive yacht. "Not in all my years had I ever seen anything quite so bizarre," Muhtar wrote in a recent column in the daily Sabah newspaper. The women were wearing Islamic-style swimwear, which is becoming increasingly popular among Muslim women who want to bathe without baring their flesh.

Ben Franklin opted for the turkey as our national emblem. Some days he's right. MIRIAM V. ANDERSON Inglewood

  Barbecued turkey Total time: 3 1/2 hours, plus 3 days brining time Servings: 14 to 16 Our recipes, your kitchen: If you try any of the L.A. Times Test Kitchen recipes from this week's Food section, we want photographic evidence: Click here to upload pictures of the finished dish. 1 (15- to 16-pound) turkey 3 tablespoons kosher salt, orange-pepper salt or lemon-thyme salt 1/4 pound hickory chips Oil, for brushing the turkey 1. Wash the turkey inside and out, pat it dry and weigh it. Measure 1 tablespoon of kosher salt or the appropriate amount of a seasoned salt into a bowl for every 5 pounds the turkey weighs (for a 15-pound turkey, you'll need 3 tablespoons of kosher salt)

Turkey's foreign policy has come full circle in the last year. Far from confronting Washington on a range of issues, Ankara is embracing its membership in NATO while working closely with Washington on Middle East issues, including Iran and coordinating Syria policy. What has changed? First and foremost, Ankara has come to appreciate a constant in the value of its foreign policy: Turkey is east if you view it from the perspective of the West, and west if you view it from the perspective of the East.

Wouldn't it be nice if Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan turned out to be a truly visionary leader of the 21st century? He heads a nation split between secularists and devout Muslims, a country that physically links Asia and Europe, and politically straddles East and West; Turkey is bound culturally to Europe and economically to neighboring Iran. Wouldn't it be nice if Erdogan could prove himself the bridge across these epic divides? At the urging of Erdogan's moderate Islamist party, Turks this week voted by a large majority to reform their constitution, which was crafted in the aftermath of the 1980 military coup in an effort to institutionalize secular rule.

Prospects for a cease-fire in Syria further dimmed Monday when fighting spilled over the border into Turkey and Lebanon, leaving at least three people dead, opposition activists said. An additional 160 people were killed within Syria, activists said, as forces loyal to embattled President Bashar Assad continued to shell buildings and shoot at residents of rebellious cities on the eve of a proposed halt to the hostilities. Government troops and tanks were due to be withdrawn Tuesday from cities and towns, but that seemed increasingly unlikely as the violence has only escalated in the last week and on Sunday the Assad government demanded written guarantees from all opposition groups, a proposal that the rebel Free Syrian Army dismissed.

BEIRUT — The United Nations-backed peace plan to end violence in Syria appeared to unravel Sunday as the Syrian government announced it will not withdraw its forces from cities and towns without written guarantees from opposition groups that they will halt attacks and lay down their arms. Rebels with the Free Syrian Army quickly signaled that they would provide no written guarantees to a government they do not recognize, suggesting that fighting probably will continue past the Thursday deadline for a cease-fire.

THE BEST WAY From LAX, Turkish Airlines provides non-stop service to Istanbul. Lufthansa, KLM and Air France all provide connecting service (change of planes). Restricted round-trip fares, including taxes and fees, begin at $1,216. TELEPHONES To call the numbers below from the U.S., dial 011 (the international dialing code), 90 (the country code for Turkey), 212 (the area code) and the local number. WHERE TO STAY Pera Tulip, 103 Mesrutiyet Caddesi Tepebasi, Beyoglu; 243-85-00, http://www.peratulip.com . Doubles start at $119 a night with breakfast.

REYHANLI, Turkey - Somewhere in Syria near the border with Turkey, thousands of refugees are hunkered down in a makeshift camp, afraid to go forward or go back. They cannot return home, because their villages in Syria's northwest Idlib province have become war zones, places full of government tanks and helicopters, and bodies in such large numbers that they have to be buried in mass graves. And across the border in Turkey awaits a country that is unprepared for the influx of refugees, where some are staying in sports arenas or schools as the government rushes to erect new camps for the thousands who have recently poured in. Instead, the families sit in a valley along the border in large tents normally used for wakes.

Istanbul, Turkey - For months I had been pining for a trip to Europe, willing to go anywhere a cheap flight would take me. But the elusive bargain I sought didn't materialize until February, and it wasn't completely Europe. The airfare of my dreams was a Valentine's Day special open to anyone: $599 round-trip from L.A. to continent-straddling Istanbul, including tax and fees. It required a companion fare (which meant I had to find someone to go with) and traveling in February.

The government of Turkey is asking American museums to return dozens of artifacts that were allegedly looted from the country's archaeological sites, opening a new front in the search for antiquities smuggled out of their original countries through an illicit trade. The J. Paul Getty Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the Cleveland Museum of Art and Harvard University's Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection are among the institutions that the Turkish government has contacted, officials say. Turkey believes the antiquities were illegally excavated and smuggled out of the country after the passage of a 1906 law that gave the state ownership of antiquities in the ground.

Turkey's foreign policy has come full circle in the last year. Far from confronting Washington on a range of issues, Ankara is embracing its membership in NATO while working closely with Washington on Middle East issues, including Iran and coordinating Syria policy. What has changed? First and foremost, Ankara has come to appreciate a constant in the value of its foreign policy: Turkey is east if you view it from the perspective of the West, and west if you view it from the perspective of the East.

Turkey envisions itself as a Middle East power, a dynamic Islamic democracy with a thriving economy that can help guide the region through the turmoil of the "Arab Spring. " But it has stumbled in its efforts to stop the violence and repression in its neighbor and onetime ally Syria. Although Turkish officials have harshly criticized President Bashar Assad's response to a yearlong uprising that is increasingly taking on the character of a civil war, they have not budged the Syrian leader.