Taboo Issue Topic: Alcohol
Words by Esther Zunker
Photography by Merve Hasman

First published in 1939, Alcoholics Anonymous documents the organization’s 12 key concepts toward recovery from alcoholism and tells the stories of those who have overcome the disease. The book is considered the most widely used resource for millions of individuals in recovery.

Recovering alcoholic, Candan Yazar spent a year translating it into her native tongue.

At 72, Candan’s smile is infectious and warm, and her voice is full of hope. Rightfully so. She will celebrate 30 years of sobriety this year.

As she goes through such daily rituals as drinking coffee, reading the newspaper, visiting her grandchildren and taking a walk by the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul, Candan thinks of those that are still on the road to recovery, for it wasn’t long ago when she was one of them.

She turned to alcohol while living in Brussels with her husband, ashamed of the way she depended on it, yet unable to give it up. Most disturbingly, she didn’t realize it was a disease that could kill her.

“I thought my liver was a sponge, and it wanted alcohol,” said Candan. “I was becoming crazy. I was very ashamed of myself, but I didn’t know what was happening.”

A knock at her door would change her life. Two women, who would later become her AA sponsors, had heard about Candan’s struggles through a mutual acquaintance and shared their own recovery stories with her over a cup of tea. “I sat with them and listened to their stories, and it was as if they were telling my own story,” Candan reminisced. “I was crying… I was very hopeless, but I begged them to take me to their AA meeting, where my sobriety started.”

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