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
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*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:
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.
Ulaş Tol on Turkey’s Alevis
February 24, 2017
Ulaş Tol joins to discuss his report “Urban Alevism and Young Alevis’ Search for Identity,” written for the PODEM think tank.
Download the episode or listen below.
Subscribe to Turkey Book Talk : iTunes / PodBean / Stitcher / Acast / RSS
Follow on Facebook or Twitter.

Download the report for free in English or in Turkish.
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.
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.
Benjamin Fortna on the controversial life of Eşref Kuşçubaşı
February 10, 2017
University of Arizona Professor Benjamin Fortna discusses “The Circassian: A Life of Eşref Bey, Late Ottoman Insurgent and Special Agent” (Hurst).
Eşref Kuşçubaşı was a secret service operative in the final years of the Ottoman Empire, who later turned his back on the resistance forces of Mustafa Kemal during the War of Independence and ended up in exile for almost 30 years. Fortna’s biography is the most detailed account of Eşref’s contentious life, based on exclusive access to previously unexamined papers.
Download the episode or listen below.
Subscribe to Turkey Book Talk : iTunes / PodBean / Stitcher / Acast / RSS
Follow on Facebook or Twitter.

As mentioned in the episode, Turkey Book Talk listeners can get a 33% discount plus free delivery on this and three other titles published by Hurst – “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.
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.
Hale Yılmaz on social transformation in Turkey, yesterday and today
January 27, 2017
In this new Turkey Book Talk episode Southern Illinois University associate professor of history Hale Yılmaz speaks about her book “Becoming Turkish: Nationalist Reforms and Cultural Negotiations in Early Republican Turkey, 1923-1945” (Syracuse University Press).
Download the episode or listen below.
Subscribe to Turkey Book Talk : iTunes / PodBean / Stitcher / Acast / RSS
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Background reading:
- Alexandros Lamprou discusses his book on the People’s Houses: “Nation-Building in Modern Turkey: The People’s Houses, the State and the Citizen”.
- A visit to Mahmut Makal on the 60th anniversary of his autobiographical book “Bizim Köy” (Our Village), describing the tough life of a village teacher in early republican Turkey.
If you enjoy or benefit from the podcast and want to support it, click here to make a small or large donation to Turkey Book Talk via Patreon.
Many thanks to my current supporters Özlem Beyarslan, Steve Bryant, Celia Jocelyn Kerslake and Aaron Ataman.
New Turkey Book Talk episode: Simon Waldman and Emre Çalışkan chat about their book “The New Turkey and its Discontents” (Hurst), a pretty good primer on how the country got to where it is today.
Download the episode or listen below.
Subscribe to Turkey Book Talk : iTunes / PodBean / Stitcher / Acast / RSS
Follow on Facebook or Twitter.

If you enjoy or benefit from the podcast and want to support it, click here to make a small or large monetary donation to Turkey Book Talk via Patreon.
Many thanks to my current supporters Özlem Beyarslan, Steve Bryant, Celia Jocelyn Kerslake and Aaron Ataman.
Ece Temelkuran, Kaya Genç and Can Dündar in the TLS
January 5, 2017
Apologies – bit late to post this review of mine that was in the Christmas edition of the Times Literary Supplement, currently still available to read online for non-subscribers to TLS. Click here to read.
It’s a triple-header, reviewing Ece Temelkuran’s “Turkey: The Insane and the Melancholy,” Kaya Genç’s “Under the Shadow: Rage and Revolution in Modern Turkey,” and Can Dündar’s “We Are Arrested: A Journalist’s Notes from a Turkish Prison.”
Follow this link or listen below to the previous Turkey Book Talk episode with Temelkuran:
Or listen to the episode with Genç from a couple of months ago:
By the way, Turkey Book Talk is now also available to listen on Acast. Check it out.
Cenk Özbay and Ayşecan Terzioğlu on the making of neoliberal Turkey
December 21, 2016
Cenk Özbay and Ayşecan Terzioğlu, editors of “The Making of Neoliberal Turkey,” join for the latest episode of Turkey Book Talk.
Download the episode or listen below.
Subscribe to Turkey Book Talk : iTunes / PodBean / Stitcher / Acast / Facebook / RSS
Here’s the article on the Erdoğan-supporting LGBT group I mentioned during the conversation.
Also, here’s another heads up for the new Twitter account, which wants/needs followers @TurkeyBookTalk.

If you enjoy or benefit from this podcast and want to support independent podcasting, click here to make a small or large monetary donation to Turkey Book Talk via Patreon.
Many thanks to my current supporters Özlem Beyarslan, Steve Bryant, Celia Jocelyn Kerslake and Aaron Ataman.
Roger Hardy on empire and its legacy in the Middle East
December 9, 2016
Roger Hardy’s speaks to the Turkey Book Talk podcast talk about “The Poisoned Well: Empire and its Legacy in the Middle East” (Hurst).
Download the episode or listen below.
Subscribe to Turkey Book Talk : iTunes / PodBean / Stitcher / Facebook / RSS
And here’s my Hürriyet Daily News review of the book.
By the way I’ve belatedly set up a Twitter account dedicated to the podcast. Do follow. Cheers!

If you’re a fan of this podcast and want to support independent podcasting, click here to make a small or large monetary donation to Turkey Book Talk via Patreon.
Many thanks to current supporters Özlem Beyarslan, Steve Bryant, Celia Jocelyn Kerslake and Aaron Ataman.
Kaya Genç on rage and revolution in modern Turkey
November 25, 2016
Kaya Genç returns to the Turkey Book Talk podcast. This time he joins to discuss his new book “Under the Shadow: Rage and Revolution in Modern Turkey,” which profiles young Turks from across the political spectrum.
Download the episode or listen below:
Subscribe to Turkey Book Talk : iTunes / PodBean / Stitcher / Facebook / RSS
My review of the book will be appearing in the next couple of weeks in the Times Literary Supplement so keep your eyes peeled for that.
Here’s the episode from earlier this year with Kaya discussing “An Istanbul Anthology”, which he edited:

NB: If you like this podcast and want to support independent podcasting, click here to make a small or large monetary donation to Turkey Book Talk via Patreon.
Many thanks to current supporters Özlem Beyarslan, Steve Bryant, Celia Jocelyn Kerslake and Aaron Ataman.
Burcu Şentürk on the politics of urban poverty and migration in Turkey
November 11, 2016
Latest Turkey Book Talk episode: Burcu Şentürk chats about her book “Urban Poverty in Turkey: Development and Modernisation in Low-Income Communities” (IB Tauris).
Download the episode or listen below
Subscribe to Turkey Book Talk : iTunes / PodBean / Stitcher / Facebook / RSS
Here’s my Hürriyet Daily News review of the book.

Many thanks to current supporters Özlem Beyarslan, Steve Bryant, Celia Jocelyn Kerslake and Aaron Ataman.

