Years ago, on one of my visits to the University of Ankara, my colleague and friend whose guest I was at the time, Talat Birgönül, once addressed me as Bon Hoca. Apparently, this is how university professors in Turkey are addressed on special occasions. This is an honorific, standing for “teacher.” In Turkish, “c” is read like “j” in English. In the Balkans, Nasrudin is also addressed as Hoca rather than Mulla, which is his honorific further east. I remember being quite pleased by the connection with Nasrudin, and Talat obliged me every now and then by addressing me this way. We have not seen each other ever since my retirement, though. All of a sudden, I kind of miss Talat.

Addendum (June 27, 2018)

Out of the blue, Talat visited me with his former assistant and now professor at the University of Ankara, Irem Dikmen, and his one and only daughter, Zeynep, who is now working on her doctorate at the University of Barcelona. It was an enormous pleasure to hug them all. As we were gabbing on my terrace, I reminded Talat of the old honorific that stuck with me for years. There was much laughter. As it turned out, they visited me precisely because of the honorific in question. To this day, I remain Bon Hoca for Talat and Irem. Although short, their visit was bursting with excitement. To my joy, teachers are not yet lost to this world. As far as I am concerned, it is one of the few professions I still recognize in my dotage. And Nasrudin is my witness.