Douglas Howard on a new history of the Ottoman Empire
August 18, 2017
Turkey Book Talk episode #45 – DOUGLAS HOWARD, professor of history at Calvin College in Michigan, discusses “A HISTORY OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE” (Cambridge University Press).
The book is the first single-volume history of the Ottomans to appear in a while, covering more than 600 years of history – from the empire’s 13th century origins in the Balkans and western Anatolia to its protracted, violent dissolution at the start of the 20th century.
Download the episode or listen below.
Here’s my review of the book.
Subscribe to Turkey Book Talk : iTunes / PodBean / Stitcher / Acast / RSS
* SPECIAL OFFER *
You can support Turkey Book Talk by taking advantage of a 33% discount plus free delivery (cheaper than Amazon) on five different titles, courtesy of Hurst Publishers:
- ‘Jihad and Death: The Global Appeal of Islamic State’ by Olivier Roy
- ‘The Circassian: A Life of Eşref Bey, Late Ottoman Insurgent and Special Agent’ by Benjamin Fortna
- ‘The New Turkey and its Discontents’ by Simon Waldman and Emre Çalışkan
- ‘The Poisoned Well: Empire and its Legacy in the Middle East’ by Roger Hardy
- ‘Out of Nowhere: The Syrian Kurds in Peace and War’ by Michael Gunter
Follow this link to get that discount from Hurst Publishers.
Another way to support the podcast, if you enjoy or benefit from it: Make a donation to Turkey Book Talk via Patreon. Many thanks to current supporters Michelle Zimmer, Steve Bryant, Jan-Markus Vömel, Celia Jocelyn Kerslake, Aaron Ataman, Max Hoffman and Andrew MacDowall.
Max Hoffman on Turkish civil society under siege
August 4, 2017
Turkey Book Talk episode #44 – MAX HOFFMAN on “TRENDS IN TURKISH CIVIL SOCIETY,” a joint report published by the Center for American Progress, the Istanbul Policy Center, and the Italian think tank IAI.
Download the episode or listen below.
Here’s a link to the report itself.
Subscribe to Turkey Book Talk : iTunes / PodBean / Stitcher / Acast / RSS
* SPECIAL OFFER *
You can support Turkey Book Talk by taking advantage of a 33% discount plus free delivery (cheaper than Amazon) on five different titles, courtesy of Hurst Publishers:
- ‘Jihad and Death: The Global Appeal of Islamic State’ by Olivier Roy
- ‘The Circassian: A Life of Eşref Bey, Late Ottoman Insurgent and Special Agent’ by Benjamin Fortna
- ‘The New Turkey and its Discontents’ by Simon Waldman and Emre Çalışkan
- ‘The Poisoned Well: Empire and its Legacy in the Middle East’ by Roger Hardy
- ‘Out of Nowhere: The Syrian Kurds in Peace and War’ by Michael Gunter
Follow this link to get that discount from Hurst Publishers.
Another way to support the podcast, if you enjoy or benefit from it: Make a donation to Turkey Book Talk via Patreon. Many thanks to current supporters Michelle Zimmer, Steve Bryant, Jan-Markus Vömel, Celia Jocelyn Kerslake, Aaron Ataman and Andrew MacDowall.
Turkey Book Talk episode #43 – SONER ÇAĞAPTAY on his book “THE NEW SULTAN: ERDOĞAN AND THE CRISIS OF MODERN TURKEY” (IB Tauris).
Download the episode or listen below:
My review of this book is forthcoming in the Times Literary Supplement. Not sure of the publication date so keep your eyes peeled for that.
Subscribe to Turkey Book Talk : iTunes / PodBean / Stitcher / Acast / RSS
*SPECIAL OFFER*
You can support Turkey Book Talk by taking advantage of a 33% discount plus free delivery (cheaper than Amazon) on five different titles, courtesy of Hurst Publishers:
- ‘Jihad and Death: The Global Appeal of Islamic State’ by Olivier Roy
- ‘The Circassian: A Life of Eşref Bey, Late Ottoman Insurgent and Special Agent’ by Benjamin Fortna
- ‘The New Turkey and its Discontents’ by Simon Waldman and Emre Çalışkan
- ‘The Poisoned Well: Empire and its Legacy in the Middle East’ by Roger Hardy
- ‘Out of Nowhere: The Syrian Kurds in Peace and War’ by Michael Gunter
Follow this link to get that discount from Hurst Publishers.
Another way to support the podcast, if you enjoy or benefit from it: Make a donation to Turkey Book Talk via Patreon. Many thanks to current supporters Michelle Zimmer, Steve Bryant, Jan-Markus Vömel, Celia Jocelyn Kerslake, Aaron Ataman and Andrew MacDowall.
The Turkey director of International Crisis Group, NIGAR GÖKSEL, joins the podcast to discuss their recent report “MANAGING TURKEY’S PKK CONFLICT: THE CASE OF NUSAYBIN.”
The report examines the 33-year conflict between the Turkish security forces and the PKK through ground-level research in Nusaybin, a small Kurdish-majority town in Mardin province that has been particularly badly hit by violence since the collapse of the peace process in summer 2015.
Download the episode or listen below.
Here’s a link to the report we discuss. It is also downloadable in PDF form. Here it is in Turkish.
Subscribe to Turkey Book Talk : iTunes / PodBean / Stitcher / Acast / RSS
Inside a home in Silopi ruined in clashes between the PKK and Turkish security forces in January 2016. (Source: Wikimedia commons)
*SPECIAL OFFER*
You can support Turkey Book Talk by taking advantage of a 33% discount plus free delivery (cheaper than Amazon) on five different titles, courtesy of Hurst Publishers:
- ‘Jihad and Death: The Global Appeal of Islamic State’ by Olivier Roy
- ‘The Circassian: A Life of Eşref Bey, Late Ottoman Insurgent and Special Agent’ by Benjamin Fortna
- ‘The New Turkey and its Discontents’ by Simon Waldman and Emre Çalışkan
- ‘The Poisoned Well: Empire and its Legacy in the Middle East’ by Roger Hardy
- ‘Out of Nowhere: The Syrian Kurds in Peace and War’ by Michael Gunter
Follow this link to get that discount from Hurst Publishers.
Another way to support the podcast, if you enjoy or benefit from it: Make a donation to Turkey Book Talk via Patreon. Many thanks to current supporters Michelle Zimmer, Steve Bryant, Jan-Markus Vömel, Celia Jocelyn Kerslake and Aaron Ataman.
Ryan Gingeras on Turkey’s ‘deep state of crisis’
May 19, 2017
RYAN GINGERAS, associate professor at the Naval Postgraduate School in California, joins Turkey Book Talk once again. This time he is discussing his report, penned for Washington’s Bipartisan Policy Center, “DEEP STATE OF CRISIS: RE-ASSESSING RISKS TO THE TURKISH STATE.”
Download the episode or listen below.
Here’s a link to the PDF of the report we are discussing.
Subscribe to Turkey Book Talk : iTunes / PodBean / Stitcher / Acast / RSS
Ryan previously appeared on the podcast last year to discuss his book “The Fall of the Sultanate: The Great War and the End of the Ottoman Empire, 1908-1922” (Oxford University Press):
He also joined to discuss his biography of Atatürk: “Mustafa Kemal Atatürk: Heir to an Empire” (Oxford University Press):
*SPECIAL OFFER*
You can support Turkey Book Talk by taking advantage of a 33% discount plus free delivery (cheaper than Amazon) on five different titles, courtesy of Hurst Publishers:
- ‘Jihad and Death: The Global Appeal of Islamic State’ by Olivier Roy
- ‘The Circassian: A Life of Eşref Bey, Late Ottoman Insurgent and Special Agent’ by Benjamin Fortna
- ‘The New Turkey and its Discontents’ by Simon Waldman and Emre Çalışkan
- ‘The Poisoned Well: Empire and its Legacy in the Middle East’ by Roger Hardy
- ‘Out of Nowhere: The Syrian Kurds in Peace and War’ by Michael Gunter
Follow this link to get that discount from Hurst Publishers.
Another way to support the podcast, if you enjoy or benefit from it: Make a donation to Turkey Book Talk via Patreon. Many thanks to current supporters Michelle Zimmer, Steve Bryant, Jan-Markus Vömel, Celia Jocelyn Kerslake and Aaron Ataman.
I’ve written a piece for the New York Times to mark President Erdoğan’s visit to Washington on the blockbuster series “Diriliş: Ertuğrul,” broadcast on Turkish state TV channel TRT.
A few years ago at the height of so-called neo-Ottomanism there were loads of articles published about Turkish TV serials being exported all over the world. It became quite a tired cliche but the popularity of various shows is in fact a good bell-weather for the political mood. And audiences take the messages that these serials pump out seriously. On a visit to Polatlı, a small town outside Ankara a couple of years ago, I vividly remember how a local coffee house arranged its seats in rows at night once a week to screen the latest episode of the ultra-macho action serial “Valley of the Wolves.” In a provincial town with little else to do, it was clearly a major weekly event.
Get a flavour of Diriliş: Ertuğrul by watching the intro:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEiIuG22SwA
If you’ve got too much time on your hands you can stream every episode on the TRT website 🍿🍿🍿
If you missed it, here’s an article I wrote about another dubious cultural product: The Erdoğan biopic “Reis” (The Chief), which flopped at box offices in March.
Cemil Aydin on the illusion of the Muslim world
May 5, 2017
CEMIL AYDIN, associate professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, speaks to Turkey Book Talk about “THE IDEA OF THE MUSLIM WORLD: A GLOBAL INTELLECTUAL HISTORY” (Harvard University Press).
It is a bracing book. Aydin argues that the idea there is a discreet “Muslim world” with a set of shared essential, civilisation-defining characteristics is little more than “ahistorical romanticism,” a fantastical illusion that has never existed.
Download the episode or listen below.
My review will be published in the coming weeks in the Times Literary Supplement, so keep your eyes peeled for that.
Subscribe to Turkey Book Talk : iTunes / PodBean / Stitcher / Acast / RSS
*SPECIAL OFFER*
You can support Turkey Book Talk by taking advantage of a 33% discount plus free delivery (cheaper than Amazon) on five different titles, courtesy of Hurst Publishers:
- ‘Jihad and Death: The Global Appeal of Islamic State’ by Olivier Roy
- ‘The Circassian: A Life of Eşref Bey, Late Ottoman Insurgent and Special Agent’ by Benjamin Fortna
- ‘The New Turkey and its Discontents’ by Simon Waldman and Emre Çalışkan
- ‘The Poisoned Well: Empire and its Legacy in the Middle East’ by Roger Hardy
- ‘Out of Nowhere: The Syrian Kurds in Peace and War’ by Michael Gunter
Follow this link to get that discount from Hurst Publishers.
Another way to support the podcast, if you enjoy or benefit from it: Make a donation to Turkey Book Talk via Patreon. Many thanks to current supporters Michelle Zimmer, Steve Bryant, Celia Jocelyn Kerslake and Aaron Ataman.
Queen Mary University fellow MEHMET KURT joins the Turkey Book Talk podcast to chat about “KURDISH HIZBULLAH IN TURKEY: ISLAMISM, VIOLENCE AND THE STATE” (Pluto Press).
It is a remarkable book based on Kurt’s personal experiences, which gave him extraordinary access to a shady and secretive group.
Download the episode or listen below.
Here’s my review of the book at HDN.
Subscribe to Turkey Book Talk : iTunes / PodBean / Stitcher / Acast / RSS
Allow me to repost this related conversation from a few weeks ago with Cuma Çiçek on his book “The Kurds of Turkey: National, Religious and Economic Identities” (IB Tauris):
*SPECIAL OFFER*
You can support Turkey Book Talk by taking advantage of a 33% discount plus free delivery (cheaper than Amazon) on five different titles, courtesy of Hurst Publishers:
- ‘Jihad and Death: The Global Appeal of Islamic State’ by Olivier Roy
- ‘The Circassian: A Life of Eşref Bey, Late Ottoman Insurgent and Special Agent’ by Benjamin Fortna
- ‘The New Turkey and its Discontents’ by Simon Waldman and Emre Çalışkan
- ‘The Poisoned Well: Empire and its Legacy in the Middle East’ by Roger Hardy
- ‘Out of Nowhere: The Syrian Kurds in Peace and War’ by Michael Gunter
Follow this link to get that discount from Hurst Publishers.
Another way to support the podcast, if you enjoy or benefit from it: Make a donation to Turkey Book Talk via Patreon. Many thanks to current supporters Özlem Beyarslan, Steve Bryant, Celia Jocelyn Kerslake and Aaron Ataman.
Brand new Turkey Book Talk episode.
KAPKA KASSABOVA joins the pod to discuss her book “BORDER: A JOURNEY TO THE EDGE OF EUROPE” (Granta), on the troubled past and present of the border between Turkey, Greece and Bulgaria.
Download the episode or listen below.
Listen out for a cameo appearance by my cat at around the 23:09 mark.
Here’s my review of the book at HDN.
Subscribe to Turkey Book Talk : iTunes / PodBean / Stitcher / Acast / RSS
Follow on Facebook or Twitter.
*SPECIAL OFFER*
You can support Turkey Book Talk by taking advantage of a 33% discount plus free delivery (cheaper than Amazon) on five different titles, courtesy of Hurst Publishers:
- ‘Jihad and Death: The Global Appeal of Islamic State’ by Olivier Roy
- ‘The Circassian: A Life of Eşref Bey, Late Ottoman Insurgent and Special Agent’ by Benjamin Fortna
- ‘The New Turkey and its Discontents’ by Simon Waldman and Emre Çalışkan
- ‘The Poisoned Well: Empire and its Legacy in the Middle East’ by Roger Hardy
- ‘Out of Nowhere: The Syrian Kurds in Peace and War’ by Michael Gunter
Follow this link to get that discount from Hurst Publishers.
Another way you can support is by making a donation to Turkey Book Talk via Patreon. Many thanks to current supporters Özlem Beyarslan, Steve Bryant, Celia Jocelyn Kerslake and Aaron Ataman.
Basharat Peer on Turkey, India and ‘the return of strongmen’
March 24, 2017
New Turkey Book Talk episode.
New York Times journalist BASHARAT PEER joins to discuss “A QUESTION OF ORDER: INDIA, TURKEY, AND THE RETURN OF STRONGMEN” (Columbia Global Reports), exploring the parallels between Erdoğan’s Turkey and Narendra Modi’s India.
We spoke about his reporting for the book, modernization and secularism in Turkey and India, and comparisons between the Kashmir and Kurdish issues.
Download the episode or listen below.
Here’s my review of the book at HDN.
Subscribe to Turkey Book Talk : iTunes / PodBean / Stitcher / Acast / RSS
Follow on Facebook or Twitter.
*SPECIAL OFFER*
You can support Turkey Book Talk by taking advantage of a 33% discount plus free delivery (cheaper than Amazon) on five different titles, courtesy of Hurst Publishers:
- ‘Jihad and Death: The Global Appeal of Islamic State’ by Olivier Roy
- ‘The Circassian: A Life of Eşref Bey, Late Ottoman Insurgent and Special Agent’ by Benjamin Fortna
- ‘The New Turkey and its Discontents’ by Simon Waldman and Emre Çalışkan
- ‘The Poisoned Well: Empire and its Legacy in the Middle East’ by Roger Hardy
- ‘Out of Nowhere: The Syrian Kurds in Peace and War’ by Michael Gunter
Follow this link to get that discount from Hurst Publishers.
Finally, if you enjoy or benefit from the podcast and want to support it, make a donation to Turkey Book Talk via Patreon. Many thanks to current supporters Özlem Beyarslan, Steve Bryant, Celia Jocelyn Kerslake and Aaron Ataman.
‘Reis,’ Turkey’s referendum, new book offer
March 20, 2017
A bit late in posting this. But last week I wrote for War on the Rocks about Turkey’s upcoming referendum and a trip to the cinema to see “Reis” (The Chief), the bonkers biopic/hagiography of President Erdoğan.
Here’s a trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcuI3YRBhyw
The film is really bad – not even so bad it’s good, just bad.
In other news, there’s a new addition to the special 1/3 off discount for Turkey Book Talk listeners on selected books from Hurst Publishers: Renowned sociologist Olivier Roy’s new book “Jihad and Death: The Global Appeal of Islamic State.”
So now you can support the podcast by ordering any of the following titles for at least 33% off plus free delivery (cheaper than Amazon!):
- “The New Turkey and its Discontents” by Simon Waldman and Emre Çalışkan
- “The Poisoned Well: Empire and its Legacy in the Middle East” by Roger Hardy
- “Out of Nowhere: The Syrian Kurds in Peace and War” by Michael Gunter
- “The Circassian: A Life of Eşref Bey, Late Ottoman Insurgent and Special Agent” by Benjamin Fortna
- “Jihad and Death: The Global Appeal of Islamic State” by Olivier Roy
Order through this page on the Hurst website.
Cheers!
(I will post a new podcast episode with Basharat Peer on his book “A Question of Order: India, Turkey, and the Return of Strongmen” later this week.)
CUMA ÇIÇEK joins to discuss his book “THE KURDS OF TURKEY: NATIONAL, RELIGIOUS AND ECONOMIC IDENTITIES” (IB Tauris).
Download the episode or listen below.
Subscribe to Turkey Book Talk : iTunes / PodBean / Stitcher / Acast / RSS
Follow on Facebook or Twitter.
You may also be interested in an earlier episode with Mustafa Gurbuz discussing his book “Rival Kurdish Movements in Turkey: Transforming Ethnic Conflict” (Amsterdam University Press):
*SPECIAL OFFER* – Turkey Book Talk listeners can get a 33% discount plus free delivery on four titles published by Hurst – “The Circassian: A Life of Eşref Bey, Late Ottoman Insurgent and Special Agent” by Benjamin Fortna, “The New Turkey and its Discontents” by Simon Waldman and Emre Çalışkan, “The Poisoned Well: Empire and its Legacy in the Middle East” by Roger Hardy, and “Out of Nowhere: The Syrian Kurds in Peace and War” by Michael Gunter. Follow this link to get that discount from Hurst Publishers.
Finally, if you enjoy or benefit from the podcast and want to support it, click here to make a donation to Turkey Book Talk via Patreon!
Many thanks to my current supporters Özlem Beyarslan, Steve Bryant, Celia Jocelyn Kerslake and Aaron Ataman.
Turkey Book Talk 