Looking for an escape from the news? This book/podcast does the trick 👇👇

We'll be online in 30min

@nicholasdanfort.bsky.social and I are going to do a substack live tomorrow in which we're going to talk about Venezuela, Turkey, and probably how we're very annoyed by most of what's been said on the internet:

This is how I see it foreignpolicy.com/2025/06/24/t...

This is an interesting read on "Cultural Muslims". My caveat would be that it regards modern experiences of religion in political sphere too much as religion as practised in general & throughout time. Because, frankly, most people have always been "cultural Muslims". Orthopraxy is rarely the norm.

Re: cultural Muslims, I am thinking of similarities to their Jewish counterparts — people who identify as belonging to a diasporic culture, but with varying levels of religious belief and practice. This is now more common in Muslim communities in the west.

For the past twenty years, each successive generation of students in my classroom has arrived less knowledgeable about the world, less able to think through complex ideas, and less willing to engage seriously with views that challenge their assumptions.

“In Istanbul, you often find birdhouses on the qibla walls of mosques so the sound of birds becomes associated with the sound of prayer, with both human voices and birds' voices fluttering up to the sky”. @jenhattam.bsky.social on Istanbul’s architectural birdhouses. www.bbc.com/travel/artic...

I've told this story before, but a year ago I was at a closed-door meeting with various governments reps at a meaningful level, and when social media regulation came up, one of the non-US government reps basically said: "but we're powerless"

« He also started frequenting a night club called Kütüphane (meaning “Library,” so patrons would presumably saying “I’m going to the library.” This makes it the most Islamist name for a night club ever.) » LOL From @selimkoru.bsky.social's latest substack update.

This is a really interesting and insightful reflection on Muslim identity and religious experience; highly recommend:

I wrote about the Muslims

this deserves more words!

I do get a kick out of edited volumes on settler colonialism that make no mention of either China or Russia...

Müjge and I wrote about Turkish TV:

All of this gets vastly worse politically if you remember all that holds Turkey's tfr at these levels is a vastly higher birthrate in Kurdish south east Funny bcs i remember all Euro hysteria of being replaced by Turks

Great piece, as usual

I wrote about writing about Turkey

I wrote about demographics

MPR News photojournalist Kerem Yücel was hit by less-lethal munition during the operation in St. Paul today. Other photojournalists were hit as well. More on what unfolded at the chaotic scene: www.mprnews.org/story/2025/1...

I wrote about demographics

I wrote about writing about Turkey

New interview! @selimkoru.bsky.social discusses Erdoğan's New Turkey, the far-right influences and goals of him and his party in the domestic and foreign policy domains, and #illiberalism. @ieres-gwu.bsky.social

This week in the newsletter, I speak to @selimkoru.bsky.social to make sense of Turkey's foreign policy. It's complicated! And interesting open.substack.com/pub/thehundr...

Can't wrap my head around that one

Nobody cares about just being mayor.

Fun podcast this week: @nicholasdanfort.bsky.social and I talked to @hannahluci.bsky.social about Istanbul! We talked about waterfront privatization, cafes, and how the city has changed in the last two decades.

Had a really fun time talking about Istanbul (in Istanbul) with @hannahluci.bsky.social and @selimkoru.bsky.social kulturkampftr.substack.com/p/talking-is...

This is good

The post everyone's been waiting for: why did I name my blog Kültürkampf?

how dare you @humeyrapamuk.bsky.social

Visiting in 2023, I was shocked that expensive restaurants in Beirut & the Shouf were still full. The friend who took me to one figured the wealth was all remittances & currency speculation. To him, the rich will coast until the bottom finally drops out for them too, when those left will also leave.

🎙️ Author @selimkoru.bsky.social joins @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social to discuss his book 'New Turkey and the Far Right' — a deep dive into #nationalism, #authoritarianism, and political transformation in Erdoğan’s #Turkey. 🔗 Listen here: newbooksnetwork.com/new-turkey-a... #Turkiye #Politics #Erdogan

"New Turkey and the Far Right: How Reactionary Nationalism Remade a Country" with @selimkoru.bsky.social and @reubensilverman.bsky.social. [2/5]

Benny Gantz conveniently confirming what critics of Israel have long argued - the problem isn't just Netanyahu www.nytimes.com/2025/09/24/o...

I talked about my book on far-right Turkish politics with @reubensilverman.bsky.social! newbooksnetwork.com/new-turkey-a...

That tracks for me. I thought it was either (a) wishful thinking of the Eurasianist sort or (b) a clumsy attempt to show that Turkey has "options" in advance of the Erdoğan/Trump meeting. Possibly both.

Some wise advice on your academia.edu account. It's probably time to delete it.

Interesting citation of "Ottoman constitutionalism" fitting into Turkey's modern republican tradition. But I do wonder if behind it lies some legacy of what Anthony Kaldellis called "The Byzantine republic".

My latest from @foreignpolicy.com "Just recently, Turkey stood out for its repeated assaults on international norms. Now, those norms have been shattered by a host of bigger and more aggressive actors, and Turkey looks almost calm in comparison. foreignpolicy.com/2025/09/17/t...

Last month I rode my motorbike in the depths of (Western) Turkey and I half-joked that I crossed villages where people haven't heard of the Republic yet. As on cue @selimkoru.bsky.social analyzes the politics of that visceral feeling in the current context kulturkampftr.substack.com/p/we-are-des...

If regicide is the foundation of republicanism, Turkey's republic should be solid.

Pets Tell Tales: Ancient Rome might have a little something to say about tyrants, fascists and empire. Art/Lettering by @jordancollver.bsky.social Words by Calcagus, enemy of Rome

Very excited to see my favourite Substack is going full time. If you're interested in Euro politics then you should be spending more time trying to understand Turkey. I've already learned lots from @selimkoru.bsky.social and you can too if you subscribe below: open.substack.com/pub/kulturka...

“This is not just how authoritarianism happens. This is authoritarianism happening.” What Trump is doing is not normal and Democrats need to start acting accordingly. One of @ezrakleinbot.bsky.social’s best columns to date.

Agree with this.

The way I see it, it's a matter of time until the regime takes over the CHP. The task for the resistance is going to be to make the power dynamic obvious to the public. This isn't easy to do.

Corollary is sometimes he’s gonna just say stuff, and it’s a good idea not to think too hard about why he’s saying it, because it’s probably just whatever passed through his mind at the moment

My friend Mehmet Ratip wrote about the famous historicist theologian Mustafa Öztürk, and how he's calling on everyone to burn his books. People like this make me more optimistic about Turkey's future.