"For Kurds, the choice then looks like this: remain guardians of a besieged, quasi-statelet, or become junior but entrenched partners in a larger, Turkish-centred regional order that they can also influence from within. Öcalan’s bet is clearly on the second" thenationalcontext.com/abdullah-oca...

For your holiday shopping list www.npr.org/2025/11/04/n...

👀 when it comes to "harassment" and student protest, northwestern has given the trump administration what appears to be a veto over changes in policy: "Northwestern shall not revise or modify these policies and procedures without the consent of the Assistant Attorney General". horrible.

Fadi and Jum'ah abu Assi, 8 and 11 years old killed by the IDF today as they were collecting firewood near Khan Younis. IDF spokesperson announced the airforce and ground forces "eliminated an immediate threat to IDF forces"

When you're well embedded within a political eco-system, and not at risk of dismissal/prison, it's not so difficult to "speak truth to power". Being called nasty things by "the other camp" is unpleasant, but within your eco system it's a win. Much harder to say things your in-group won't like.

Given that one in four American children has at least on immigrant parent, I have to assume that many if not most Thanksgivings with extended family are like ours, where American cuisine is joined with Jewish, Korean, and Turkish dishes.

Disturbing, and I can’t shake comparisons to @abuaarvark’s description of the role of similar digital polarization in amplifying support for Tamarod —> total military takeover in Egypt. Honestly, thinking about that makes this is one of the darker bits I’ve read today.

I can't help but feeling that everything I do is quickly becoming irrelevant. "More than half (54%) of people get news from networks like Facebook, X and YouTube - overtaking TV (50%) and news sites and apps (48%), according to the Reuters Institute." www.bbc.com/news/article...

There’s something uniquely crass—terminally-online-15-year-old-in-the-basement energy —about the Trump administration that I don’t see in other authoritarians. Even Erdoğan and Orbán still project some sense of dignity and stateliness. I don’t see how this works to the advantage of MAGA

A college freshman trying to fly from Boston to Texas to surprise her family for Thanksgiving was deported to Honduras in violation of a court order.

Unmanned vessel attacked Russian shadow-fleet tanker in Black Sea, Turkey says reut.rs/3MuTuSH

But, then, Hegseth has made being "pro-war crime" central to his public persona for years.

Interesting read on Iran's continued efforts to finance Hezbollah www.wsj.com/world/middle...

A 19-year-old college student who was on her way to surprise her family for Thanksgiving break was detained at a Boston airport and later deported despite a federal judge's order blocking her removal, according to her attorney share.google/uF2WpmAlmD25...

A local village official told AP those killed were civilians. "Among the dead were a man, his wife, his 2 children and his brother as well as another man who had gotten married the day before." “'When we tried to take injured people to the hospital, they would hit the car carrying them.'”

Israeli forces raided a Syrian village and opened fire when they were confronted by residents on Friday, killing at least 13 people, Syrian officials said, in the deadliest Israeli attack since its troops seized a swath of southern Syria a year ago. apnews.com/article/isra...

Blasts hit sanctioned tankers off Turkey's coast, rescues underway www.reuters.com/world/tanker...

It never ceases to amaze me... his family and my family are so similar in our histories. And he manages to come out like a modern day lackey of Czar Alexander III. Dude, those were the *bad guys*

Thanksgiving weekend content from me @foreignpolicy.com

Alors que sa libération est en négociation, une cour de Mersin a requis une peine de 1 an et 3 mois à 7 ans de prison contre l’ex coprésident du HDP Selahattin Demirtaş pour "insulte contre le président". Son avocat était présent. @cumhuriyetgazetesi.bsky.social www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/turkiye/son-...

Rojava-İmralı-Ankara üçgeni (Video) - Medyascope medyascope.tv/2025/11/27/a... @amberinzaman.bsky.social

Far-right Israeli national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir says the soldiers accused of executing Palestinians during raid in the West Bank today have his “full backing”. x.com/itamarbengvi...

UN says 32,000 Palestinians forced from their homes in the Israeli-occupied territory with major assault ongoing.

This strikes me as mostly conjecture, but it is a useful marker of how Erdoğan's anti-hegemonic posture of a decade ago has been tamed. Maduro’s ties to Turkey could smooth path to possible exile - The Washington Post www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

I am thankful the Palestinian American child Mohamed Ibrahim- who was tortured for 9 months in Israeli prison- is finally free.

This strikes me as mostly conjecture, but it is a useful marker of how Erdoğan's anti-hegemonic posture of a decade ago has been tamed. Maduro’s ties to Turkey could smooth path to possible exile - The Washington Post www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

In contrast to Gaza, where I don't think Turkey is likely to play a role in peace keeping, TR is well positioned for a role in post-war Ukraine. The trick is ending the war... and I don't see a path to that outcome any time soon.

It's fairly obvious that president Erdoğan does not want to see Demirtaş walk free. The prosecutor seeks 7-year sentence for him for "insulting the president" - a crime that should not exist

This, I think it is worth underlining, is a demonstration of perceived vulnerability, not strength

Thread

Boycott, divestment and sanctions are legitimate instruments to get the other side to listen. But as a campaign and movement, BDS has shown no interest in communicating its message to Israeli society. Hamas leaders have shown more interest in speaking to Israelis than BDS.

Direct casualties in Gaza likely exceed 100,000. www.demogr.mpg.de/en/news_even...

Thread!

Guys, I really don't want to see posts about politicians' personal kinks, so long as said kinks occur between consenting adults. Firstly, even assholes have a right to a private sex life. Secondly, ew.

"In eschewing justice and accountability and neglecting the root causes of these conflicts, these Potemkin peace plans risk returning us to a model of conflict resolution where might makes right and to the genocidaire go the spoils. foreignpolicy.com/2025/11/26/t...

When I see a jounalist named Kerem Yucel got hit with a "less lethal munituon", I naturally assume it is a story of Turkish police abuse. But, nope, it happened right here in the good ol' US of A.

oh this is absolutely what i think. i think they feed him fake polls and outright AI slop

Very much appreciated @istanpol.bsky.social's invitation to participate, with Özgür Ünlühisarcıklı and Aslı Aydıntaşbaş to talk about Turkey-US relations, and moderated by @riccardogasco.bsky.social. I learned a lot from my fellow panelists. www.istanpol.org/post-turkiye...

I missed this, from a year ago, but the extreme-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) uses not just clear Nazi aesthetics in its propaganda but also a clear Nazi salute. By the way, these are the German friends of Trump and the GOP.

Good morning to Brazilian reporter Manuela Borges, who’s been waiting eleven years for this petty moment. ❤️ 🇧🇷

60%+ of Israelis surveyed don't thing the abuses of Palestinian prisoners should be investigated. 84% say the IDF should get an excellent or very good grade for *moral conduct*. 62.5% say a 'terrorist' should be murdered even if they don't pose a threat. www.israelhayom.co.il/news/geopoli...

“Almost daily Israeli strikes against Hezbollah, including the killing this week in Beirut of one of the militant group’s top commanders, punctuate a fraying peace. Lebanon exists in a gray zone between war and peace, which could also be the fate of Gaza” warscape www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/w...

En Turquie, Fatih Altayli, célèbre journaliste et présentateur télé, condamné à plus de quatre ans de prison www.lemonde.fr/internationa...

I largely agree with Sinem here. From the PKK's perspective, the main concerns are (a) Ocalan's continued imprisonment and (b) salvaging what they can of the SDF in Syria.

What are the government's priorities? As I see it: 1. Secure DEM support for Constitutional changes. 2. Secure al Sharaa's rule in Syria. 3. Be able to declare victory to a domestic audience.

Many men feel the stripper really likes them. Scientists say it's time to consider whether they're onto something

Valuable thread... with links!

Should I despise Mearsheimer or Dershowitz?

Turkish court sentences journalist Fatih Altaylı to four years in prison for “threatening the president”