Turkey Book Talk

Kaya Genç talks Istanbul writing through the centuries

Novelist Kaya Genç talks about "An Istanbul Anthology" (AUC Press) a new selection of classic writing on Istanbul that he has edited.

Nilgün Önder on the economic transformation of Turkey since 1980

This week's podcast is with Nilgün Önder, author of "The Economic Transformation of Turkey: Neoliberalism and State Intervention." The book details some of the paradoxes of the economic reforms passed after the military coup of 1980, the effects of which continue to resonate in Turkey today.

Markus Dressler on the 'making of Turkish Alevi Islam

Markus Dressler on his book "Writing Religion: The Making of Turkish Alevi Islam," which examines how the idea of Alevism is an almost entirely modern concept, formed since the 19th century as part of efforts to integrate disparate Anatolian religious groups into the Turkish and Muslim nation.

Cengiz Şişman on the Dönmes of Turkey

Cengiz Şişman discusses his new book on the little-known history of the Dönmes, a crypto-religious sect that first developed around professed messiah Sabbatai Sevi in cities around the Ottoman Empire in the 17th century.

Michael M. Gunter on the Kurds of Syria in peace and war

Michael Gunter on his book "Out of Nowhere: The Kurds of Syria in Peace and War," which charts the Syrian Kurds’ rise to international prominence since 2011 from a “sleepy unimportant backwater in the Kurdish struggle.”

Ozan Özavcı on Ahmet Ağaoğlu on liberalism in Turkey

Ozan Özavcı discusses "Ahmet Ağaoğlu and the Genealogy of Liberalism in Turkey" (Brill), on one of the prominent intellectuals bridging the late Ottoman/early republican eras. Read a review at HDN.

Diana Darke on 'My House in Damascus'

Diana Darke, the author of “My House in Damascus: An Inside View of the Syrian Revolution” (Haus), describes her experiences after buying a 17th century courtyard house in Damascus 10 years ago and her first-hand perspective of Syria’s descent into bloody civil war after 2011.

Toni Alaranta on the West's misreading of Turkish politics after 2002

Toni Alaranta discusses his new book “National and State Identity in Turkey: The Transformation of the Republic’s Status in the International System” (Rowman).