@williamarmstrong
Istanbul-based with BBC Monitoring. Founder, presenter, hype-man with Turkey Book Talk (@turkeybooktalk.bsky.social). I have no views. https://turkeybooktalk.com https://turkeybooktalk.substack.com/
Looks fascinating!
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...
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
Halil Karaveli on Trump and Turkish Democracy
foreignpolicy.com/2026/02/05/t...
New episode 📢📢
Berin Gür on “The Conquest of Istanbul and the Manipulation of Architecture: The Islamist-Nationalist Rhetoric of Conquest and Melancholy” (Routledge)
🎧👇
turkeybooktalk.com/2026/02/03/b...
“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"
www.merip.org/2025/12/dirt...
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.
👇🎧
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.
👇👇
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.
Looking for an escape from the news? This book/podcast does the trick
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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
👇👇
Recent months have seen a notable uptick in coverage of his various appearances/remarks at public events.
The rise in his profile has stirred speculation that he is being groomed as potential successor to President Erdogan.
www.nefes.com.tr/yazarlar/nur...
Bilal Erdogan, the president’s son, is again front and centre of Turkish pro-government and state media coverage of this morning’s Palestine rally in Istanbul.
www.aa.com.tr/tr/gundem/il...
Turkey Book Talk's most listened to episode of 2025 🤩🎧
Erik-Jan Zürcher on imperial nostalgia in Turkey and Britain
Many thanks to all listeners and best wishes for 2026 💯💫
turkeybooktalk.com/2025/06/24/e...
Really interesting conversation. I wasn't persuaded by Gurses's argument that the process will advance democratization, but it was useful to hear the case made
Final episode of 2026 📢
Mehmet Gurses on “Turkey’s Kurdish Conflict Transformed”, recently published in Current History.
The conversation puts the PKK’s transformations in historical context and weighs up possible shifts triggered by the current dialogue process
turkeybooktalk.com/2025/12/23/m...
ICYMI, published something yesterday about the EU's advancing plans to largely end the bloc's status as a safe haven for asylum seekers while labeling states that regularly persecute dissidents, like Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco and Turkey, "safe countries":
www.middleeasteye.net/news/eu-prov...
That is interesting. Turkey raised tariffs just before the BYD deal, which was basically seen as a way to incentivise it. Now sceptics are saying BYD made the deal just to avoid taxes and never intended to follow it through.
Meanwhile, recent reports suggest growing numbers of BYD cars are stuck at Turkish customs, triggering complaints from people who bought them.
Some claim this hurdle is part of Turkish attempts to pressure BYD into making progress with its Manisa plant.
www.dunya.com/sektorler/ot...
An expected $1.5bn deal between Turkey and China’s Chery also appears to have fallen off the agenda in recent months.
storyboxweb.com/byd-ve-cherr...
Footage suggests no significant construction at the planned site in the western province of Manisa.
Pro-government outlets and Turkish officials had hailed the BYD deal as a sign of warming Turkey-China trade/diplomatic ties.
x.com/RusenPress/s...
Questions mounting in Turkey over lack of progress in Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD’s investment, despite a $1bn deal to build a factory signed in 2024.
www.ntv.com.tr/galeri/otomo...
