Turkey Book Talk #193 – Aron Aji discusses the life and work of Turkish author Ferit Edgü
Aji’s translations of Edgü’s excellent, austere novellas “The Wounded Age” and “Eastern Tales” were recently published in a new single volume by New York Review Books.
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Turkey Book Talk #192 – Tezcan Gümüş of the University of Melbourne on “Turkey’s Political Leaders: Authoritarian Tendencies in a Democratic State” (Edinburgh University Press).
The book shows how almost all major political leaders throughout Turkey’s multi-party history have demonstrated authoritarian and undemocratic traits, reflecting and fostering the various failings of Turkey’s democratic system.
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Turkey Book Talk #191 – Paul Levin, director of Stockholm University’s Institute for Turkish Studies, on “Migration from Turkey to Sweden: Integration, Belonging and Transnational Community” (IB Tauris/Bloomsbury), co-authored with Bahar Baser.
The conversation looks at the demographic profile of the Turkey-origin migrants in Sweden, the power dynamics of Turkish and Kurdish communities in the country, and the imbroglio over Ankara’s continued non-ratification of Stockholm’s Nato membership bid.
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Turkey Book Talk #190 – Maureen Freely on the life and work of the late Tezer Özlü.
Her translation of Özlü’s 1980 novel “Cold Nights of Childhood” has just been published for the first time in English by Serpent’s Tail.
First published in 1980, the book follows a narrator whose life closely mirrors Özlü’s own, growing up in Istanbul before periods in Berlin and Paris, unhappy marriages, and tortuous stays in psychiatric institutions. Despite being set against the backdrop of a uniquely turbulent era in Turkey’s modern history, the book is also characterised by its sexual frankness and political ambivalence.
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Turkey Book Talk #189 – Doğan Gürpınar, historian at Istanbul Technical University, on “Apparatchiks and Ideologues in Islamist Turkey: The Intellectual Order of Islamism and Populism” (Palgrave Macmillan).
The book gives a sweeping overview of the public messaging that underpins support for the Erdogan government in Turkey’s popular media sphere, as well as some of the individuals and institutions that contribute to crafting of message in the pro-government media industrial complex.
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Turkey Book Talk #188 – Nesi Altaras on “A Privilege That Cannot Be Bought: Jews of Turkey and Citizenship Restitution from Portugal and Spain” (Libra Books).
The book weighs up the practical and emotional motivations of Turkish Jews applying for Spanish and Portuguese passports in recent years, after the two countries allowed descendants of Jews expelled from the Iberian Peninsula following 1492 to ”reclaim” citizenship.
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Selim Koru on Turkey’s earthquakes and their political aftershocks
February 21, 2023
Turkey Book Talk #187 – Selim Koru, analyst at the Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey and fellow at the US-based Foreign Policy Research Institute, on the devastating recent earthquakes.
The conversation compares the earthquakes’ effect with the Marmara earthquake of 1999, as well as addressing the Erdogan government’s response, the potential social, political and economic consequences, and the possible impact on Turkey’s foreign policy.
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Check out (and subscribe to) Selim’s excellent Substack “Kulturkampf”.
Please consider supporting one of the trusted groups involved in post-earthquake relief measures in Turkey and Syria.
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Support for post-earthquake relief efforts
February 12, 2023
It has been heartening to see international support flowing into relief groups, charities and foundations in the immediate aftermath of the 6 February earthquakes that hit southern Turkey and northern Syria.
The needs are overwhelming. A considerable challenge awaits aid and rehabilitation efforts for the millions of affected people in the coming weeks, months and years, once international media coverage moves on.
For Turkey Book Talk listeners keen to support groups on the ground, here is a list of independent organisations to consider donating to:
- Ahbap – A trusted NGO in Turkey founded by musician Haluk Levent. In recent years Ahbap has worked to support needy people across the country, particularly rising to prominence during the Covid-19 pandemic. Ahbap has been active in relief efforts since the earthquakes. You can donate to Ahbap here.
- Akut – Turkey’s top volunteer search and rescue organization. Click here to donate directly.
- The Turkish Philanthropy Funds – Another US-based group reportedly supported by, among others, Hamdi Ulukaya, the businessman who founded food company Chobani. Click here to donate to their earthquake relief.
- Needs Map (İhtiyaç Haritası) – A Turkey-based platform, linked to the Turkish Philanthropy Funds, that is currently working on a live map through which you will be able to search for a cause to support that suits you. You can also donate here to the organisation.
- Support to Life – A local, trusted organisation focused on Hatay. Support here.
- Karam Foundation – Supports Syrian refugees in Turkey and across the region. It has set up an emergency fund for post-earthquake efforts, which can be found here.
- The White Helmets – One of the few rescue and aid groups able to work in areas of northern Syria outside the control of the Assad government. Support here.
PS. Turkey Book Talk will not be posting an episode on 14 February. Our next episode will be published on 21 February.
Turkey Book Talk #186 – Çağdaş Üngör, professor of political science and international relations at Marmara University, on Turkey-China ties.
The conversation addresses the modern history of relations between the two countries, Turkish public perceptions of China, Ankara’s stance on China’s treatment of its Uyghur minority, and Beijing’s efforts to craft its message to Turkish public opinion.
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Üngör authored the paper “China Is Playing by Turkey’s Media Rules” for the Carnegie Endowment.
She also wrote “The ‘Chinese Vaccine’ and its Discontents: Turkey’s Public Debate on Sinovac during the COVID Crisis”, for the Middle East Institute.
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Mostafa Minawi on Arab-Ottoman imperialists at the end of empire
January 17, 2023
Turkey Book Talk #185 – Mostafa Minawi, associate professor of history at Cornell University, on “Losing Istanbul: Arab-Ottoman Imperialists and the End of Empire” (Stanford University Press).
Drawing on archival records, newspaper articles, travelogues, personal letters, diaries, photos and interviews, the book follows the rise and fall of a generation of Arab-origin figures who flourished in the Ottoman capital at the end of the 19th century and start of the 20th century.
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Also check out Mostafa’s previous appearance on the podcast in January 2021, discussing “The Ottoman Scramble for Africa: Empire and Diplomacy in the Sahara and the Hijaz” (Stanford University Press).
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Become a member on Patreon to support Turkey Book Talk. Members get a 35% discount on all Turkey/Ottoman History books published by IB Tauris/Bloomsbury, transcripts of every interview, transcripts of the whole archive, links to related content upon publication of each episode, and over 200 book reviews covering Turkish and international fiction, history and politics.
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Turkey Book Talk #184 – Gregory Goalwin, assistant professor and chair of the sociology department at Aurora University, on “Borders of Belief: Religious Nationalism and the Formation of Identity in Ireland and Turkey” (Rutgers University Press).
The book explores how religion – Catholicism in Ireland, Islam in Turkey – served as a fundamental building block of the two countries’ national identity throughout the 20th century.
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Become a member on Patreon to support Turkey Book Talk. Members get a 35% discount on all Turkey/Ottoman History books published by IB Tauris/Bloomsbury, transcripts of every interview, transcripts of the whole archive, links to related content upon publication of each episode, and over 200 book reviews covering Turkish and international fiction, history and politics.
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Derya Ozkul on Alevis in contemporary Turkey and abroad
December 20, 2022
Turkey Book Talk #183 – Derya Ozkul, Senior Research Fellow at the Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford, on “The Alevis in Modern Turkey and the Diaspora: Recognition, Mobilisation and Transformation” (Edinburgh University Press), co-edited with Hege Markussen.
The book is a wide-ranging volume examining Alevi life in contemporary Turkey and overseas, the forces exerting influence on Alevi culture, beliefs and practices, and the impact of three decades of AKP rule.
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