Turkey Book Talk episode #113 – Ayfer Karakaya-Stump, associate professor of history at The College of William and Mary, on “The Kizilbash Alevis in Ottoman Anatolia: Sufism, Politics and Community” (Edinburgh University Press).
The book traces the origins of today’s Alevis as a unified religious group back to the 15th and 16th centuries.
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Ayse Zarakol on stigma and status anxiety in Turkey’s ties to the West
February 18, 2020
Turkey Book Talk episode #109 – Ayşe Zarakol, reader in international relations at Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge, on “After Defeat: How the East Learned to Live with the West” (Cambridge University Press).
The book was published in English in 2011, and its second Turkish edition has just come out. It examines how a sense of “stigma” has dogged the way modern Turkey engages with the Western-led international order, as well as comparable cases of Japan and Russia.
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Check out the 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.
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Zeynep Şentek on industry and politics in Dilovası, an environmental ‘disaster zone’
November 5, 2019
Turkey Book Talk episode #102 – Zeynep Şentek on the environment, public health and politics in Dilovası, a heavily polluted industrial district outside Istanbul.
Şentek is managing editor at BlackSea.EU, an investigative journalism platform that is part of the European Investigative Collaborations network. She is also one of the reporters of a recent investigation examining the grim health consequences of life in what a 2007 parliamentary commission called a “public health disaster zone”.
The article paints an almost hellish picture of life for the nearly 50,000 people in Dilovası, where dangerous chemicals are continuously belched into the air, cancer rates are reportedly well above average, and locals suffer from a range of severe respiratory conditions.
Here’s the report, “Toxic Valley”
Here’s a shorter report on an asbestos dump discovered in Dilovası
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Petruț Călinescu, theblacksea.eu
Become a member to support Turkey Book Talk and get a load of extras: A 35% discount on any of over 400 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.
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Turkey Book Talk episode #96 – Hannah Lucinda Smith on her new book “Erdoğan Rising: The Battle for the Soul of Turkey” (William Collins).
Smith has been Turkey correspondent for The Times of London since 2013 and her book is a richly reported part-biography of President Erdoğan, part-journalistic account of contemporary Turkish history.
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Become a member to support Turkey Book Talk and get a load of extras: A 35% discount on any of over 400 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 90+ episodes, and an archive of 231 reviews written by myself covering Turkish and international fiction, history, journalism and politics.
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Turkey Book Talk episode #89 – Reuben Silverman, author of “Turkey’s Ever Present Past: Stories from Republican Turkish History” and “Politics in Turkey: Parties, Politicians and the Struggle for Power” (Libra Books), talks about his wide-ranging research on contemporary Turkish history.
Unfortunately, after yesterday’s election board decision to re-run the Istanbul mayoral election the first part of the conversation is slightly out of date. But hopefully the rest is enlightening!
Download the episode or listen below.
Do check out Reuben’s excellent blog, a real treasure trove of articles.
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Join as a member to support Turkey Book Talk and get a load of extras: A 35% discount on any of over 400 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 80+ 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.
One more head’s up – Friends of the podcast, the Bosphorus Review of Books, have published a book containing a number of their pieces since launching. “The Two Currents” anthology can be bought online at the locations listed here, so do check it out.
Ceren Lord on religious politics in Turkey
March 26, 2019
Turkey Book Talk episode #86 – Ceren Lord, Research Fellow at Oxford University’s School of Global and Area Studies, on “Religious Politics in Turkey: From the Birth of the Republic to the AKP” (Cambridge University Press).
The book argues against the popular binary understanding of modern Turkish history, which pits a monolithic secular state against an authentic religious society. As Lord shows, the reality is much more complicated.
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Here is the episode mentioned in the conversation – Halil Karaveli on his book “Why Turkey is Authoritarian: From Atatürk to Erdoğan” (Pluto Press).
Join as a member to support Turkey Book Talk and get a load of extras: A 35% discount on any of over 400 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 80+ episodes, and an archive of 231 reviews written by myself covering Turkish and international fiction, history, journalism and politics.
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Turkey Book Talk episode #85 – Doğus Şimşek of Koç University and photographer Yusuf Sayman on “Çabuk Çabuk: Africans in Istanbul” (Pencere Yayınları).
The book features text by Şimşek and over 100 photos by Sayman, giving a glimpse into the lives of migrants from a range of African countries living in Istanbul.
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For more of a historical look at African migrants in Istanbul, check out an episode we published back in October 2016 – Professor George Junne on black eunuchs and slavery in the Ottoman Empire.
Join as a member to support Turkey Book Talk and get a load of extras: A 35% discount on any of over 400 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 80+ episodes, and an archive of 231 reviews written by myself covering Turkish and international fiction, history, journalism and politics.
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Selda Tuncer on women and public space in Ankara, 1950 to 1980
February 26, 2019
Turkey Book Talk episode #84 – Selda Tuncer, assistant professor at Yüzüncü Yıl University in Van, on “Women and Public Space in Turkey: Gender, Modernity and the Urban Experience” (IB Tauris).
The book is based on dozens of interviews with mostly middle-class women who lived in Ankara between 1950 and 1980, comparing their experiences of the Turkish capital in the middle of the 20th century.
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If you enjoyed this episode, you may also be interested in episode #69 from July 2018: Amy Spangler on the late author Sevgi Soysal and her great novel Noontime in Yenişehir.
Join as a member to support Turkey Book Talk and get a load of extras: A 35% discount on any of over 400 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 80+ 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.
Selim Koru on Turkey, Russia and the power of political resentment
February 12, 2019
Turkey Book Talk episode #83 – Selim Koru, fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, on his paper: “The Resiliency of Turkey-Russia Relations.”
Despite being historic rivals and at odds on many issues, Koru argues that Ankara-Moscow ties are becoming increasingly warm due to a shared underlying worldview, spurred by resentment of the West.
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Here’s the paper we are discussing.
And here’s a link to Selim’s other writing.
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If you enjoyed this episode, you may also be interested in episode #70 from August 2018: Dimitar Bechev on Turkey-Russia relations, past and present.
Don’t forget: IB Tauris/Bloomsbury have agreed to renew the exclusive discount for Turkey Book Talk members. Join as a member to get access to a 35% discount on any of over 400 books in IB Tauris’ excellent Turkey/Ottoman history category.
Members also get (English and Turkish) transcripts of every interview, transcripts of the entire archive, 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.
Alev Scott on ‘Ottoman Odyssey: Travels Through a Lost Empire’
November 27, 2018
Turkey Book Talk episode #78 – Alev Scott on “Ottoman Odyssey: Travels Through a Lost Empire” (Riverrun), her travelogue exploring the past and present of Turkey and the former territories of the Ottoman Empire.
Download the episode or listen below.
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Don’t forget the new addition to Turkey Book Talk’s membership system: Members now get access to an archive of 231 book reviews originally written for the Hurriyet Daily News. That archive was still standing for a few months but it now seems to have been deleted from the HDN website.
The reviews cover a pretty diverse spread of subjects: Turkish and international fiction and poetry, history, journalism, politics, the Middle East and Europe.
Members also get full transcripts in English and Turkish of every interview upon publication, transcripts of the entire Turkey Book Talk archive (over 70 conversations so far), and access to an exclusive 30% discount on over 200 Turkey/Ottoman History titles published by IB Tauris.
Sign up as a member to support Turkey Book Talk via Patreon.
Avedis Hadjian on the ‘hidden Armenians’ of Anatolia
November 13, 2018
Turkey Book Talk episode #77 – Avedis Hadjian on “Secret Nation: The Hidden Armenians of Turkey” (IB Tauris).
Download the episode or listen below.
Subscribe to Turkey Book Talk : iTunes / PodBean / Stitcher / Acast / RSS
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Don’t forget the new addition to Turkey Book Talk’s membership system : Members now get access to an archive of 231 book reviews originally written for the Hurriyet Daily News. That archive was still standing for a few months but it now seems to have been deleted from the HDN website.
The reviews cover a pretty diverse spread of subjects: Turkish and international fiction and poetry, history, journalism, politics, the Middle East and Europe.
Members also get full transcripts in English and Turkish of every interview upon publication, transcripts of the entire Turkey Book Talk archive (over 70 conversations so far), and access to an exclusive 30% discount on over 200 Turkey/Ottoman History titles published by IB Tauris.
Sign up as a member to support Turkey Book Talk via Patreon.
Turkey Book Talk episode #64 – JOHN MCMANUS, post-doctoral fellow at the British Institute at Ankara, on “WELCOME TO HELL? IN SEARCH OF THE REAL TURKISH FOOTBALL” (W&N), a colourful exploration of what the beautiful game can tell us about a football-mad society and Turkey’s modern history.
Download the episode or listen below.
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Here’s my review of the book from last week.
Support Turkey Book Talk by becoming a member. Membership gives you full transcripts in English and Turkish of every interview upon publication, transcripts of the entire Turkey Book Talk archive, and access to an exclusive 30% discount on over 200 Turkey/Ottoman History titles published by IB Tauris.
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