It was a joy to teach Post-Ottoman Worlds at CUNY Grad this last semester. It focused on Turkey, the Middle East, and southeastern Europe through cemeteries, urban spaces, and contested memories, nationalism, displacement, population engineering, and marginalized communities. Here is a peak!

Listening to this now... and, boy, I hope some journal asks me to review it. I was expecting great things from @reubensilverman.bsky.social... and it sure sounds like he delivered!

Another notorious world record from Turkey: the regime is bragging about building the largest courtroom (capacity 2900!) in the Silivri Prison Complex known for housing hundreds of political detainees since 2010s

It's an honor to be part of this fabulous book project! A huge thanks to Khatchig Mouradian and Hans-Lukas Kieser for their endless work!

Rashid Khalidi'yi İstanbul'da görmek ve son kitabının çevrilmiş olması güzel. Ayrıca Osman Kavala'yı hatırlattığını görmek de güzel. İşte kendisiyle bir röportaj. t24.com.tr/yazarlar/can...

Tonight, we had a Harvey Milk Hope Speech moment, as Mamdani delivered exactly that: one of hope, looking towards the future. Together, we really are better.

Mamdani to Trump: I have four words for you. Turn the volume up!

Mamdani is great for public education, a huge shout out to PSC CUNY for showing our union early on saw how important his win will be for us, for CUNY schools, and the city! Congrats to all!

Rightly, many are discussing Zohran Mamdani's ability to win a race despite his clear pro-Palestine agenda. However, his outreach to the Jewish community and his ability to recognize the pain of Israelis attacked on October 7 provided him with a unique balancing act that few could do.

Congrats Zohran! You ran an amazing campaign; you walked the streets, talked to the people, and led outreach to those who expressed worries over some of your ideas. It's been years since a candidate built trust like you did. Let's make this work together!

After 2 very long years, a ceasefire is here. And, me, I will continue to write a narrative of how Israelis and Palestinians reached these terrible days. For now a small sigh of relief that we can proceed forward, Israelis and Palestinians, with my sadness over all those who lost family and friends.

Huge news. I am so happy that Elizabeth Tsurkov is free at last!

Most news agencies are wrongly reporting that Turkey severed economic ties with Israel today. Turkey's FM in parliament spoke of things already done; cutting economic ties, blocking Israeli ships at its harbors...perhaps the only thing new: it is closing its airspace to Israeli planes.

The absolute worst case scenario.

It is a sad day when Rashid Khalidi cancels his class due to the simple fact that he can no longer teach it at Columbia under the current conditions. For me, this is a bitter moment; he trained and taught me as a historian, my mentor. Read below and see the link in the next post. #Palestine #Israel

A fun distraction from my work, scanning newspapers from the 1920s: A British paper reported a girl started to chant Hebrew-a language she didn't know, when she fell into a state of "delirium." Turns out she was a servant for a Rabbi and had heard his sermons. Sounds like she was a great student!

The Integration Trap: Erasing Kurdish Autonomy In Syria's Reconstruction #MEMRI www.memri.org/reports/inte...

The avalanche of terrible news keeps flowing in. This cannot go unnoticed, this represents the everyday life of Palestinians in the West Bank: settlers rampage and pillage as the Israeli government not only turns its face, its own ministers encourage it. Pogroms and murder with absolute impunity.

During the 12-day war between Israel/Iran some media outlets claimed Israel was working to expand its borders from the Nile to the Euphrates, calling it "Greater Israel." With this in mind, I wrote the following piece for Al Majalla, placing it in a historical context. en.majalla.com/node/326639/...

There’s also something like 300-400k South Asians in New York City

"Israel is committing genocide." Israel's main human rights organization, B’Tselem, releases its most damning report ever: We never thought we'd write this report, but we also never believed this would be our reality. www.btselem.org/publications...

In my latest for Al Majalla, I provide a historical review of the term "Greater Israel," tracing its origins and antisemitic conspiracy theories from late Ottoman times to the present day. On that note, it's my pleasure to be writing for Al Majalla for the first time! en.majalla.com/node/326639/...

Breaking: Canada is in line to recognize Palestine, within a two-state solution, alongside Israel. Come on, Europe, keep the recognitions rolling in. Who will be next?

Such a shame. The French gov's recognition comes within the context of a well-worded statement that recognizes a two-state solution. It in no way emboldens extremists, but undermines extremists on both sides.

Along the same lines, the release of Abdullah Ocalan in this process is more likely than the release of Selahattin Demirtas because the former legitimizes the authoritarian status-quo while the latter challenges it.

Sad to hear about the passing of Ziad Rahbani. A revolutionary not just in his music's words but his whole style. This really came out in the music he did with his mother, the legendary Fairuz. This album was part of my own university years, when we dreamed of another world.

One of my favorite singers. Ziad, you were a legend. Revolutionary music both in words and style.

Breaking: France to recognize Palestine. One can only hope that Israel will be forced into recognizing there are 2 peoples on the land, and the time for an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel is the option at hand. Good for France for taking this important step. apnews.com/article/fran...

One of Israel's most staunch liberal Zionists, Fania Oz-Salzberger, daughter of the renowned author Amos Oz, pleads with Israeli soldiers not to serve in Gaza, reaching out to their families as well. She cites war crimes, mass starvation, and the betraying of the hostage families by the government.

I took a few-day break from working on my upcoming book to write an article; today, after some time, I delved into social media. Sadly, worst-case scenarios are occurring with every passing day, providing me with the confirmation to stay on track and to bury myself back into books and writing.

As reports of Palestinians starving now seep into the mainstream Israeli media, and when its TV presenters clearly state that the Israeli government is responsible for this, then you have point-blank recognition of crimes committed, even if they do not profess this, stuttering over their complicity.

In what many called a “historic speech,” Erdogan urged full support for the Kurdish disarmament process, marked by the PKK’s symbolic handover of weapons — a move he claimed turned a new page for Turkey. He declared the AKP, nationalist MHP, and pro-Kurdish DEM party as partners in this effort.++

In first AI crackdown, Turkey blocks access to some Grok content, @ezgiakin.bsky.social reports www.al-monitor.com/originals/20...

"Hope is a political choice." This saying by the Israeli Knesset member @karivgilad.bsky.social might quickly become my own personal slogan. In a podcast, he shared that he heard this from a "wise woman in one of his political assemblies," and thus adopted it. Really, it is brilliant.

As I mentioned regarding the 2023 earthquake in Turkey, this is not a natural disaster per se, but rather a man-made one, and people should be held accountable. Unfortunately, most news sites are not asking questions about who should be held responsible.

Finally, back in the office with 7 weeks of writing ahead of me. Hopefully, I will complete two more chapters. Since March, I've been working non-stop, and the accidental trip to Greece gave me some space away from my office to change the writing atmosphere!

Three opposition mayors have been detained in corruption investigations targeting municipalities. A total of eight CHP mayors are now either in custody or in pretrial detention, following the party’s success in the 2024 local elections where it surpassed Erdoğan’s AKP. bianet.org/haber/three-...

Just finished a writing “workation” in Thessaloniki and Athens after my trip to Israel was cancelled due to the war. I got to do some research in Thessaloniki/Selanik while Athens was a cool place to explore in the evenings. Used the chance to also enjoy some photography.

In Turkey right now, there is a shocking increase in political repression. The mainstream opposition party, the party of the country’s founding father but which now constitutes the greatest political threat to the President, is the target.

The attack on the trans community is brutal.

The breadth and intensity of legal actions targeting the CHP, the İstanbul Municipality, İmamoğlu, and Özel serve three strategic objectives.

Türkiye’den istihdam edilen TikTok moderatörlerinin çalışma koşullarını ve Telus Digital emekçilerinin sendikalaşma mücadelelerini @restofworld.org için araştırdım: restofworld.org/2025/tiktok-...

Gülümsetti. 🙂 (İlk gruba giriyorum ben de.)

Zohran is the best thing that can happen to NYC, enough with recycled politicians. There is no contradiction between supporting a just peace in Israel/Palestine with being a good mayor. The claim he is antisemitic is absurd even if I agree some chants he used are hurtful to some.

I'm working in a coffeshop and with my years of experience in public and private spaces-in all cultures-I've come to the conclusion that the world is divided into two groups: the ones who push their chair in when they get up, and the ones who do not. I belong to the first group.

And then, Pride next week. For years Pride took place, and then Trans Pride set out on its own march. Now a decade that the two meet heavy bans, even closing metro stops in Taksim—all similar to May 1st protests. Absolute ban.

Waking up to this war not ending: 20-30 missiles hit Israel from Iran; Israel says it assassinated Iran's new army chief of staff (who replaced the first one Israel killed) In Gaza: health ministry says 45 people killed by IDF fire waiting for aid in Khan Younis www.haaretz.co.il/news/politic...