Turkey Sees Short-Term Pain, Long-Term Gain in the Iran War - Middle East Institute

My latest on Turkey and the Iran war: The war has posed significant immediate challenges for Turkey but Turkish officials think that Ankara could reap benefits from the war in the long term: mei.edu/publication/...

What if the Ottomans Survived? Recent scholarship shows the promise—and limits—of a historical path not taken.

By 1914, the Ottoman empire looked much more promising as a multiethnic society than a multireligious one.

foreignpolicy.com/2026/04/10/o...

Thank you! I also typically listen to podcasts while cooking, doing the dishes etc

Ryan Gingeras on organised crime in Turkey’s modern history Turkey Book Talk #267 – Ryan Gingeras, historian at the Naval Postgraduate School in California and author of “Mafia: A Global History” (Simon & Schuster) and “Heroin, Organized Crime, an…

"Ryan Gingeras on organised crime in Turkey’s modern history" via @turkeybooktalk.bsky.social. [2/5]

Ryan Gingeras on organised crime in Turkey’s modern history Turkey Book Talk #267 – Ryan Gingeras, historian at the Naval Postgraduate School in California and author of “Mafia: A Global History” (Simon & Schuster) and “Heroin, Organized Crime, an…

New episode 📢📢

Ryan Gingeras, author of "Mafia: A Global History" (Simon & Schuster), on the influence of organised crime in modern Turkey's history

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turkeybooktalk.com/2026/03/31/r...

Perin Gurel on the history of comparing Turkey and Iran in the West Turkey Book Talk #254 – Perin Gurel of the University of Notre Dame on “Türkiye, Iran, and the Politics of Comparison: America’s Wife, America’s Concubine” (Cambridge University P…

From the archive ⏲️📚

Perin Gurel on the history of comparing Turkey and Iran in the West

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turkeybooktalk.com/2025/09/30/p...

"The AKP government may not have succeeded in co-opting the CHP leadership, but its display of dominance is proving effective. The main opposition party is legally besieged, politically isolated – especially at the elite level –

Turkey and the War on Iran: Between Opportunity and Catastrophe The launch of the US-Israel war on Iran did not surprise Ankara, but it did not please it either. Turkey, along with other regional powers including Saudi Arabia, had made intensive efforts to prevent it, but when these failed, Ankara chose the next best option: to stay out, keep the channels open to all concerned, and wait. This stance has […]

📄 Salim Çevik examines Turkey’s restraint in response to the US–Israel war on Iran as Ankara seeks to stay outside the conflict while preserving ties with all sides. A weakened Iran could also open regional space for Turkish influence.
Read more 👇

Mustafa Aksakal on World War I and the end of the Ottoman Empire Turkey Book Talk #266 – Mustafa Aksakal, associate professor of history at Georgetown University, on “The War that Made the Middle East: World War I and the End of the Ottoman Empire” (Prince…

Timely new episode 📚📚

Mustafa Aksakal on “The War that Made the Middle East: World War I and the End of the Ottoman Empire” (@princetonupress.bsky.social)

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turkeybooktalk.com/2026/03/17/m...

Very much enjoyed this conversation with historian Mustafa Aksakal about his stimulating new book.

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Very much enjoyed this conversation with historian Mustafa Aksakal about his stimulating new book.

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Looks fascinating!

Michelle Lynn Kahn on Turkish migration to Germany Turkey Book Talk #265 – Michelle Lynn Kahn, associate professor of modern European history at the University of Richmond, on “Foreign in Two Homelands: Racism, Return Migration and Turkish-Ge…

New episode 📢📢

Michelle Lynn Kahn (@michellelkahn.bsky.social) on “Foreign in Two Homelands: Racism, Return Migration and Turkish-German History” (Cambridge University Press)

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turkeybooktalk.com/2026/03/03/m...

Murat Yıldız on the Ottoman world of sports, modernisation and minorities Turkey Book Talk #264 – Murat Yıldız, associate professor of history at Skidmore College, on “The Ottoman World of Sports: Refashioning Bodies, Men, and Communities in Late Imperial Istanbul”…

New episode 📢📢

Murat C. Yildiz on the Ottoman world of sports, modernisation and minorities

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turkeybooktalk.com/2026/02/17/m...

There's a common assumption in Western political thought: republicanism grew out of centuries of nobles and parliaments challenging kings. And that this tradition is unique to the West — that in the Islamic world, rulers were obeyed with religious submission, and self-government was a foreign import

Trump Is Strengthening the Logic of Authoritarianism and Nationalism in Turkey In an illiberal world, the Turkish opposition can no longer convince voters that democracy alone is a source of strength.

Halil Karaveli on Trump and Turkish Democracy

foreignpolicy.com/2026/02/05/t...

Berin Gür on the conquest of Istanbul in the Islamist-nationalist imagination Turkey Book Talk #263 – Berin Gür, professor of architecture at Ankara’s TED University, on “The Conquest of Istanbul and the Manipulation of Architecture: The Islamist-Nationalist Rhet…

New episode 📢📢

Berin Gür on “The Conquest of Istanbul and the Manipulation of Architecture: The Islamist-Nationalist Rhetoric of Conquest and Melancholy” (Routledge)

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turkeybooktalk.com/2026/02/03/b...

‘There’s no way my daughter would have jumped’: why are so many Turkish women falling to their deaths? Every year in Turkey, hundreds of women are recorded as having taken their lives by ‘throwing themselves from a high place’. But many grieving families maintain that investigators are missing the full...

“She was my daughter for 29 years – it’s impossible she jumped from that height."

Hundreds of women are recorded in Turkish state data every year as committing suicide by 'throwing themselves from a high place.' But did they all jump– or were they pushed?

Reporting with @berileski.bsky.social

Plenty going on in the world, but very pleased with this episode.

Goes deep on Turkey’s acceptance of huge amounts of plastic waste sent from Europe and the exploitation of migrant labour in this largely unregulated, wild west sector.

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Check out Adnan Khan’s conversation with Turkey Book Talk and read his reporting with us 👇

Dirty Work—The Hidden Machinery and Human Toll of Europe’s Broken Recycling Trade As Europe sends increasing amounts of illegal waste to Turkey, activists and investigators are revealing how the country’s state-backed recycling boom depends on fraud, off-the-books subcontracting an...

"Dirty Work—The Hidden Machinery and Human Toll of Europe’s Broken Recycling Trade"

www.merip.org/2025/12/dirt...

A Deadly Trade—Refugee Labor in Turkey and Europe's Plastic Waste - MERIP In May 2021, at just 13-years old, Hayat found himself wandering aimlessly on the streets of Istanbul, dazed and a little terrified. A slight, fine-boned child, he cut a fragile figure amid the hard-e...

Also recommend reading Adnan Khan's detailed reports on this issue for @merip.bsky.social

"A Deadly Trade - Refugee Labor in Turkey and Europe's Plastic Waste"

www.merip.org/2024/06/a-de...

Plenty going on in the world, but very pleased with this episode.

Goes deep on Turkey’s acceptance of huge amounts of plastic waste sent from Europe and the exploitation of migrant labour in this largely unregulated, wild west sector.

👇🎧

Adnan Khan on the human toll of Turkey’s importing of Europe’s waste Turkey Book Talk #262 – Journalist Adnan Khan on the spectacular growth of Turkey’s plastic waste imports and the role of migrant labour in the sector. Adnan is the author of two major …

New episode 📢📢

Journalist Adnan Khan on the spectacular growth of Turkey's plastic waste imports, the human toll of the sector, and the role of migrant labour.

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turkeybooktalk.com/2026/01/20/a...

As the economy has plummeted, the rich in Turkey have in fact gotten much richer. Knight Frank's 2024 Wealth Report showed Turkey had the highest increase (9.7%) in "Ultra High-Net-Worth Individuals" (those worth $30M or more). Autocratic oligarchy offers countless opportunities.

Iran and Turkey Are Losing Their Faith - For the Same Reason How political Islam corrodes religious authority

My latest is on the moral status of Islam in Iran & Turkey

Looking for an escape from the news? This book/podcast does the trick

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Burcu Karahan on sexual freedom and women in late Ottoman fiction Turkey Book Talk #261 – Burcu Karahan of Stanford University on her translation of “One Thousand and One Kisses: The Most Joyous and Flirtatious Stories” (Translation Attached). The collectio…

First episode of 2026 ✨✨

Burcu Karahan (@burcukarahan.bsky.social) on translating "One Thousand and One Kisses" (Translation Attached)

The book is a remarkable collection of erotic, humorous short stories published anonymously in Istanbul in 1923-24.

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turkeybooktalk.com/2026/01/06/b...

Looking for an escape from the news? This book/podcast does the trick

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