logo
episode-header-image
Nov 2022
44 m

Gönül Tol on Erdogan’s wars at home and ...

WILLIAM ARMSTRONG
About this episode

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 and consolidate his base. 

Become a member to support Turkey Book Talk. Members get a 35% discount on all Turkey/Ottoman History books published by IB Tauris/Bloomsbury, transcripts of every interview, transcripts of the whole archive, and over 200 reviews covering Turkish and international fiction, history and politics.

Up next
Nov 11
Senem Aydin-Duzgit on foreign policy weaponisation in Turkish domestic politics
Senem Aydın-Düzgit on her article “Foreign Policy as Domestic Politics in Populist Competitive Authoritarianism,” published in the South European Society and Politics journal. The conversation looks at how Erdogan uses foreign policy, defence policy and strongman diplomacy to rei ... Show More
37m 55s
Oct 28
Nora Fisher Onar on Turkish political history beyond binaries
Nora Fisher Onar on “Contesting Pluralism(s): Islamism, Liberalism, and Nationalism in Turkey and Beyond” (Cambridge University Press). The book challenges the common belief that a binary contest between "Islam" and "secularism" is the driving force behind Turkey's modern history ... Show More
31m 26s
Oct 14
Sean Mathews on Greece's regional comeback amid rivalry with Turkey
Sean Mathews on “The New Byzantines: The Rise of Greece and Return of the Near East” (Hurst). The book examines Greece's comeback as a regional player, arguing that this has been triggered in large part by neighbouring Turkey's own increasing assertiveness. Please support Turkey ... Show More
39m 22s
Recommended Episodes
Aug 2021
Soner Çaǧaptay, "A Sultan in Autumn: Erdogan Faces Turkey's Uncontainable Forces" (I. B. Tauris, 2021)
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 ... Show More
52m 35s
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
Feb 2021
Erdogan's Middle East Policy
This week on Babel, Jon Alterman talks with Ambassador James Jeffrey, who recently finished serving as the Secretary of State's special representative for Syria engagement and as the special envoy to defeat ISIS. Ambassador Jeffrey talked about Turkey's Middle East policy, how to ... Show More
32m 58s
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
45m 32s
Feb 2024
Two years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine; the dark side of El Salvador's dramatic transformation; the disturbing rise in antisemitism since October 7th; Indonesia's stunning election
This week on the show, as the war in Ukraine marks two years since Russia's invasion, Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski joins Fareed to discuss Donald Trump’s comments about letting Russia “do whatever the hell they want” with NATO countries that don’t “pay [their] own bills ... Show More
34m 20s
Oct 2023
Checks and Balance: War in the Middle East
In recent years the US has facilitated a warming in relations between Israel and its Arab neighbours but, after Hamas attacked Israel, that is under threat. What should America’s Middle East strategy be now? John Prideaux hosts with Charlotte Howard and Idrees Kahloon. They’re jo ... Show More
45m 41s
Nov 2021
Vol 4 Ep 4 - The Great Seljuk Empire
<p>1037 – 1194 - From humble beginnings in the lands of the Oghuz Turks, Seljuk traveled east to become Islamised and start a movement which would conquer the lands of the Middle East and directly permanently influence the politics of Eurasia and religion.</p> 
56m 51s
Feb 2024
Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny dies in prison; Europe's reaction to Trump's incendiary remarks about NATO; Prospects for peace in the Israel-Hamas war; Giorgia Meloni's moment; Allies of Pakistan’s jailed ex-leader Imran Khan win big in Pakistan
This week on the show, David Remnick, editor of the New Yorker, joins the show to discuss the tragic death of Putin’s opposition leader Alexey Navalny inside a Russian prison, Navalny’s legacy, and what this means for Putin’s Russia.   Then, former Prime Minister to Sweden, Carl ... Show More
42m 33s
Feb 2024
Zelensky says 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers killed in war so far & reflections on reporting on the occupied territories
Day 730. Today, Dom Nicholls is joined by Francis Farrell, a journalist with the Kyiv Independent, who talks us through a series of press conferences yesterday in the Ukrainian capital as someone who was in the room.Plus David Knowles chats with another reporter from The Kyiv Ind ... Show More
1h 8m
Jun 2021
Episode 67: World Class at Knowing Yourself & Others
Leadership is owning the influence you have. Banning and Phil talk with Danny Silk, President and Co-Founder of Loving on Purpose, about how knowing yourself is a vital part of leading others well. 
46m 32s