Sinan Basioglu

Sinan is the main protagonist of the book. Sinan is a Kurdish grocery store owner who lives in the Turkish suburb of Gölcük. He is father to two children, a teenage girl named Irem and a nine-year-old boy named Ismail. His marriage to Nilufer was arranged by their parents and the narrator comments that their relationship is more like siblings than spouses. Sinan is very traditional and runs his household with very strict principles. He insists that his daughter and wife wear head scarves, and will not allow Irem to date the American boy who shows interest in her. Sinan distrusts Americans and blames them for the death of his father at the hands of the paramilitary in Turkey. He believes that through inaction and by supplying weapons and vehicles, the Americans are responsible for enabling the groups who killed his father. This distrust of...