Seventy-five-year-old Craig Burns, who lived in Los Angeles for many years, built a new life in Sinop with his wife, Arife Üçüncüoğlu Burns. The couple arrived in the city toward the end of 2021 and moved to Sinop permanently in 2022.
Burns’s interest in Turkish cuisine played an important role in his decision to settle in Turkey, while Sinop’s quiet lifestyle, natural beauty and cultural character also influenced him. His wife’s roots in Sinop were among the factors that supported his decision to get to know the city and build a permanent life there.
From the bustle of Los Angeles to Sinop’s tranquility
Burns compared Los Angeles’s crowds, heavy traffic and fast-paced lifestyle with Sinop’s more tranquil character. Comparing Sinop’s climate with the Seattle-Tacoma area in the United States, Burns said he liked the city’s natural surroundings and the more peaceful pace of daily life.
Burns said that he valued Sinop not only for its food but also for its cultural fabric and pace of life. His wife’s roots in Sinop added a family connection to these factors.
He features Turkish dishes in his videos
Burns, who said he is retired, prepares videos in which he visits different restaurants and samples Turkish dishes. Finding Turkish cuisine more natural, fresh and varied than American food, Burns said regional flavors are not limited to a single city and that Turkey offers a wide range of culinary diversity across its different regions.
Burns particularly enjoyed the walnut and yogurt varieties of Sinop mantı. Saying that he prefers bonito to anchovies among fish, Burns considers his dining experiences in Sinop together with the city’s daily life.
Burns’s story of settling in Sinop, first covered on January 13, 2026, was examined more broadly on September 17, 2026, through his food and lifestyle choices. The story shows that, for some foreigners, Sinop can be seen not only as a place to visit but also as a permanent home where family ties, retirement, the natural environment, tranquility and local cuisine come together.
