Murat Somer on reframing Turkey’s Kurdish question
July 19, 2022
Turkey Book Talk episode 172 – Murat Somer, professor of political science at Koç University, on “Return to Point Zero: The Turkish-Kurdish Question and How Politics and Ideas (Re)Make Empires, Nations and States” (SUNY Press).
The book examines the historical and structural factors behind how Turkey’s Kurdish question emerged decades ago, why that formative period is still crucial today, and the factors that sustain the conflict in the present day.
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Ramazan Aras on the past and present of the Turkey-Syria border
December 7, 2021
Turkey Book Talk episode 156 – Ramazan Aras, professor of social and cultural anthropology at Istanbul’s Ibn Haldun University, on “The Wall: The Making and Unmaking of the Turkish-Syrian Border” (Palgrave Macmillan).
The book examines the effect on local Kurdish communities of the foundation of the Turkey-Syria border in 1923 and its hardening in subsequent decades, leading most recently to Turkey’s building of a hi-tech security wall along the length of the border.
Download the episode or listen below:
Listen to Turkey Book Talk: iTunes / PodBean / Stitcher / Acast / Spotify / RSS
Become a member on Patreon to support Turkey Book Talk. Members get a 30% discount on all Turkey/Ottoman History books published by IB Tauris/Bloomsbury, transcripts of every interview, transcripts of the whole archive, and over 200 reviews covering Turkish and international fiction, history and politics.
Check out and sign up to Diego Cupolo’s excellent Turkey Recap weekly newsletter.
Gülay Türkmen on Turks, Kurds and the limits of religious unity
December 22, 2020
Turkey Book Talk #131 – Gülay Türkmen, postdoctoral researcher at the University of Göttingen, on “Under the Banner of Islam: Turks, Kurds and the Limits of Religious Unity” (Oxford University Press).
The book addresses how Islam has been used as a tool of both unity and resistance by various sides in Turkey’s Kurdish question.
Download the episode or listen below:
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Follow Turkey Book Talk on Facebook or Twitter
Check out Raziye Akkoç and Diego Cupolo’s excellent Turkey Recap weekly newsletter.
Become a member to support Turkey Book Talk and get loads of extras: A 35% discount on any of over 100 books in IB Tauris/Bloomsbury’s excellent Turkey/Ottoman history category, English and Turkish transcripts of every interview upon publication, transcripts of the entire archive of episodes, and an archive of 231 reviews written by myself covering Turkish and international fiction, history, journalism and politics.
Turkey Book Talk episode #118 – Serhun Al on the historical origins of Turkey’s Kurdish issue and the latest crackdown on the Kurdish movement.
Al is assistant professor at Izmir Economics University, co-editor of “Comparative Kurdish Politics in the Middle East” (Palgrave Macmillan), and author of “Patterns of Nationhood and Saving the State in Turkey” (Routledge) as well as a number of academic article on the Kurdish issue.
Download the episode or listen below.
Listen to Turkey Book Talk : iTunes / PodBean / Stitcher / Acast / Spotify / RSS
Follow Turkey Book Talk on Facebook or Twitter
Check out Raziye Akkoç and Diego Cupolo’s excellent Turkey Recap weekly newsletter
Become a member to support Turkey Book Talk and get loads of extras: A 35% discount on any of over 100 books in IB Tauris/Bloomsbury’s excellent Turkey/Ottoman history category, English and Turkish transcripts of every interview upon publication, transcripts of the entire archive of episodes, and an archive of 231 reviews written by myself covering Turkish and international fiction, history, journalism and politics.
Deniz Çifçi on the fissures within Kurdish politics in Turkey
September 24, 2019
Turkey Book Talk episode #99 – Deniz Çifçi on “The Kurds and the Politics of Turkey: Agency, Territory and Religion” (IB Tauris/Bloomsbury).
Based on extensive on-the-ground research, the book describes the diversity of interest and opinion among Kurds in Turkey, addressing differences in language, tribal affiliation, religion and ideology.
While news coverage and analysis often see the Kurds as a homogeneous group with unified demands, Çifçi paints a more nuanced picture.
Download the episode or listen below:
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This book is one of over 400 books in IB Tauris/Bloomsbury’s Turkey/Ottoman history category, which you can get a 35% discount on if you sign up to become a Turkey Book Talk member. Members also get English and Turkish transcripts of every interview upon publication, transcripts of the entire archive of 90+ episodes, and an archive of 231 reviews written by myself covering Turkish and international fiction, history, journalism and politics.
Sign up as a member to support Turkey Book Talk via Patreon.
Alexander Clarkson on Turks and Kurds in Germany
October 13, 2017
Turkey Book Talk episode #49 – ALEXANDER CLARKSON of Kings College London discusses his research on the Turkish and Kurdish diaspora in Germany, addressed in his long article “Kenan Evren’s Bitter Harvest: Legacies of a Coup that Changed Turkey and Europe.”
Download the episode or listen below.
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** SPECIAL OFFER **
Consider supporting 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 pledge 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, Andrew MacDowall and Paul Levin.
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.
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.
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.
Mustafa Gurbuz on ‘rival Kurdish movements in Turkey’
March 12, 2016
The latest Turkey Book Talk podcast is with Mustafa Gürbüz, the author of “Rival Kurdish Movements in Turkey: Transforming Ethnic Conflict” (Amsterdam University Press).
Apologies for the delay in dropping this latest pod. I’ve had a technical nightmare.
Download the podcast or listen below.
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Here’s my review of the book at Hürriyet Daily News. Here’s the interview in written form.
Here’s another interview I did with him from last year about his research on the outlawed Kurdish Islamist militant group Hizbullah.
Finally, reposting my recent podcast with Frederike Geerdink discussing the Kurdish issue.
Frederike Geerdink on Turkey’s Kurdish question
February 5, 2016
This week’s podcast is with Frederike Geerdink, author of “The Boys are Dead: The Roboski Massacre and the Kurdish Question in Turkey” (Gomidas).
We chat about her time as a journalist in the Kurdish-majority city Diyarbakır, her deportation from Turkey last year, and the troubled history/present of the issue in the wake of the collapse of the peace process last summer.
Download the podcast, or listen below:
Here’s my review of the book at Hürriyet Daily News.
Subscribe to the Turkey Book Talk podcast via iTunes or via PodBean.
Follow Frederike Geerdink on Twitter.
Added bonus: I’ve dug out this interview from last year with sociologist Cem Emrence, co-author of “Zones of Rebellion: Kurdish Insurgents and the Turkish State” – quite a thought-provoking book.
Michael M. Gunter on the Kurds of Syria in peace and war
October 24, 2015
My interview this week was with Professor Michael M. Gunter, author of “Out of Nowhere: The Kurds of Syria in Peace and War” (Hurst).
The slim book charts the Syrian Kurds’ rise to international profile since 2011, taking in their modern history under Ba’athist oppression, their development of “national conscience,” and ties between the PYD in northern Syria and the PKK in Turkey.
Download the interview in podcast form.
Please subscribe to the Turkey Book Talk Podcast via iTunes, via Podbean, or via Soundcloud.
Here’s the text of the interview at HDN.
And here’s my review.
Turkey Book Talk 