Şebnem Gümüşcü, associate professor of political science at Middlebury College, on “Democracy or Authoritarianism: Islamist Governments in Turkey, Egypt, and Tunisia” (Cambridge University Press).
The book looks in depth at how intra-party factional struggles were key in shaping the AKP’s authoritarian direction in Turkey, while also comparing this with Isl ... Show More
Oct 2023
As Turkey celebrates 100th anniversary as a republic, Erdogan's one-man pro-Islamist regime is firmly entrenched, says Turkish scholar Selim Koru
<p>On Oct. 29 Turkey will mark its 100th year as a republic, with an overtly Islamist leader in power for the past 20 years. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is seeking to unravel the legacy of the secularizing founder of modern Turkey Kemal Ataturk. He may have succeeded in severa ... Show More
45m 23s
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 2024
Alp Yenen and Erik-Jan Zürcher, "A Hundred Years of Republican Turkey: A History in a Hundred Fragments" (Leiden UP, 2023)
The Republic of Turkey was founded a hundred years ago on 29 October 1923. Turkey holds a unique position between Europe and the Middle East. It continues to captivate international attention, evoking hopes and fears in the hearts and minds of contemporary observers. As a critica ... Show More
57m 26s
Jul 2023
The Firebrand from Damascus (Part 1)
Ibn Taymiyyah is known as the “Sheikh of Islam” to his admirers, and to his detractors, one of the most significant antecedents of modern Salafi Jihadism. Simultaneously a genius scholar, brutal warrior and unflinching polemicist, he is one of the most important pioneers of a mil ... Show More
52m 46s