logo
episode-header-image
Aug 2021
54m 35s

Soner Çaǧaptay, "A Sultan in Autumn: Erd...

Marshall Poe
About this episode

A Sultan in Autumn: Erdogan Faces Turkey's Uncontainable Forces (I. B. Tauris, 2021) is a primer for anybody who wants to understand modern Turkish politics and its central player Recep Tayyip Erdoğan who, for better or worse, has shaped Turkish politics and society for the last two decades. The book breaks down various elements of his administration and policy and is a vital resource for understanding the direction of Turkey and its president. Soner Çağaptay is the director of the Turkish Research Program at the Washington Institute and has written numerous books on modern Turkey, analysing the nation from multiple perspectives. He brings all of his previous knowledge together in A Sultan in Autumn.

Soner Çağaptay can be found on twitter @SonerCagaptay

Luke Frostick is a writer based in Istanbul. He is the editor of the Bosphorus Review of Books and can be found on twitter @Frostickwrites.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/middle-eastern-studies

Up next
Yesterday
Omid Safi, “Radical Love: Teachings from the Islamic Mystical Tradition” (Yale UP, 2018)
It's often touted that Rumi is one of the best-selling poets in the United States. That may be the case but popular renderings of the writings of this 13th-century Muslim have largely detached him from the Islamic tradition, and specifically Sufi mysticism. In Radical Love: Teach ... Show More
1h 17m
Aug 23
Lucia Sorbera, "Biography of a Revolution: The Feminist Roots of Human Rights in Egypt" (U of California Press, 2025)
It is not Egypt's 2011 revolution that opened a space for women's and feminist activism, but—as Biography of a Revolution: The Feminist Roots of Human Rights in Egypt (U of California Press, 2025) shows—the long history of women's activism that created the intellectual and politi ... Show More
43m 18s
Aug 20
David Commins, "Saudi Arabia: A Modern History" (Yale UP, 2025)
A major new history of Saudi Arabia, from its eighteenth-century origins to the present day Saudi Arabia is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, a major player on the international stage and the site of Islam’s two holiest cities. It is also one of the world’s only absol ... Show More
29m 8s
Recommended Episodes
Nov 2022
Gönül Tol on Erdogan’s wars at home and abroad
Gönül Tol, director of the Turkey program at the Middle East Institute, on “Erdogan’s War: A Strongman’s Struggle at Home and in Syria” (Oxford University Press). The book describes how developments in Syria have helped Turkey's president divide and eliminate his domestic rivals ... Show More
44 m
Apr 2024
A Turkey of an Election for Erdogan: AKP losses, CHP wins, and İmamoğlu's rising star
The recent local elections in Turkey did not go to plan for President Erdogan. The voters sent a clear message to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) party and the strongman president, when they voted in unprecedented numbers for the opposition Republican People's Part ... Show More
31m 37s
May 2023
Turkish Elections: The End of Erdogan?
Turkey’s longtime leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan is facing what many describe as his toughest election yet. On Sunday, May 14th polls will open for presidential and parliamentary elections, and amid a dire economic crisis in the country, his prospects are in doubt. His leading rival ... Show More
46m 32s
May 2023
Tezcan Gümüş on enduring authoritarianism in Turkey’s democratic history
Tezcan Gümüş on “Turkey's Political Leaders: Authoritarian Tendencies in a Democratic State” (Edinburgh University Press). The book shows how almost all major leaders in Turkey’s multi-party history have demonstrated authoritarian traits, reflecting and fostering the various fail ... Show More
47m 2s
May 2024
Emre Toros on Turkey between democracy and authoritarianism
Emre Toros on “Electoral Integrity in Turkey” (Edinburgh University Press). The book weighs up the country's democratic credentials after over two decades of rule by Erdogan's party, painting an ambivalent picture combining both optimism and pessimism. Become a member to support ... Show More
28m 32s
Sep 2023
Spyros Sofos on Turkey’s many nationalisms
Spyros Sofos on “Turkish Politics and ‘The People’: Mass Mobilisation and Populism” (Edinburgh University Press). The book delves into the ambiguities behind the term “the people” from the late Ottoman era to today, and how religious, secularist, left-wing and right-wing projects ... Show More
26m 28s
Oct 2023
Cent ans de la République turque: «On reproche à Erdogan d’avoir perverti l’héritage d’Atatürk»
La Turquie a cent ans aujourd’hui. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, actuel chef de l’État turc, dirige le pays créé en 1923 par Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, fondateur et premier président de la République. Cent ans après, que reste-t-il de cet héritage alors qu’Erdogan cherche à s’imposer égaleme ... Show More
6m 4s
Sep 2023
Why Turkey Is Authoritarian w/ Halil Karaveli [REMASTERED]
This episode is a fully-remastered edition of a previous episode we released, where we brought on Halil Karaveli to talk about Why Turkey Is Authoritarian. This discussion was our second interview ever on the show, and while the format of the show has slightly changed over the la ... Show More
1h 52m
Oct 2023
Derrière la République d'Erdogan, l'ombre d'Atatürk
Une émission réalisée et enregistrée au cœur d’Istanbul, en partenariat avec l’Institut du Bosphore. La Turquie célébrera, dimanche 29 octobre 2023, les cent ans de la République. Anniversaire incontournable s’il en est, celui de la naissance du pays dans ses frontières actuelles ... Show More
48m 30s