An aerial view of what the Gaza City area looked like this week. Taken from a Jordanian military aircraft, by our colleague Heidi Levine.

Slovenya, İsrail ile silah ticaretini yasaklayan ilk AB ülkesi oldu www.birgun.net/haber/sloven...

Welcome to America, where protesting illegal kidnappings without due process is an insurrection, but attacking the nation’s Capitol is not.

José Mujica, the charismatic former guerrilla fighter who later went on to lead Uruguay and became known as "the world's poorest president" for his austere lifestyle, has died at 89.

Social media platform X has blocked the account of Ekrem İmamoğlu, a leader of Turkey's opposition movement and political nemesis of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

This event has been postponed to Monday, April 28th, as classes/events have been cancelled in Istanbul after the earthquake on Wednesday.

This week @OZU IR, we are hosting Dr. Vasja Badalič and Dr. Kristina Čufar from the Institute of Criminology at the Faculty of Law in Ljubljana. Looking forward to these interesting talks! more info here: www.ozyegin.edu.tr/en/events/35... SOS4Democracy @horizoneu.bsky.social

Truth killing is in. National Science Foundation cancels research grants related to misinformation and disinformation www.niemanlab.org/2025/04/nati...

Can confirm that my NSF grant "How False Beliefs Form & How to Correct Them" was cancelled today because it is "not in alignment with current NSF priorities" Shocking that understanding how people are misled by false information is now a forbidden topic. Our work will continue but at a smaller scale

Today a pro-Palestinian demo, lead by opposition CHP was prevented in TR which seems as a huge contradiction for the country's official discourse. Slogan “Free Palestine” was labeled as “illegal” by the police and banned. At times, protesters met with excessive use of force by police and tear gas.

In Yozgat, one of Turkey’s most conservative cities and considered a stronghold of the ruling party, the opposition is holding a very large rally. Not only MPs but also farmers took the stage. Today feels like a sign of a major change.

Digital censorship wave that's darkened Turkish domain via X has now hit the shores of Bluesky. 59 accounts were blocked from access by various courts on grounds of protecting national security and public order. 13 accounts and 1 post were made “invisible" from Turkey by @moderation-tr.bsky.app

The student paper at the college at which I teach reports a "tsunami of takedown requests" from international students terrified of being targeted for innocuous, legitimate op-eds & opinions.. Many ask in person--leave no trace in writing. Reminds me of my father's account of studying in the USSR.

www.birgun.net/haber/degist... @tdenizerkmen.bsky.social

It is strange that this chapter I wrote on protest and the non-normalization of protests in Turkey came out right as we are going through such momentous times in Turkey. It is part of the book "The Republic of Turkey and its Unresolved Issues: 100 Years and Beyond"+ link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...

So many people have been detained and arrested in Istanbul in the last few days that apparently prisons are full and they are being sent to other provinces. These are mostly students, activists and journalists…

1. Cumhurbaşkanlığı talebi ve BTK eliyle yapılan bant daraltma uygulaması keyfidir, hukuka ve Anayasaya aykırıdır. Bunlar hükümetin umurunda bile olmasa, bizler buna itiraz etmeye ve açıklamaya devam edeceğiz 👇 bsky.app/profile/enge...

İBB’nin yanında Şişli ve Beylikdüzü de operasyona dahil edildi. Başkanlar gözaltında

Unfortunately, I think at this point, this means game over for Turkey. I am very sad and worried.

In an audacious, yet maybe not so surprising move, Istanbul University annuls Istanbul mayor and possible presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu's university diploma - blocking him from running for presidential elections. Yet another unfortunate and crucial turning point in Turkish political history.

This morning, Joe Goldstein has an exclusive look at what research was cut when the Trump administration canceled $400M in federal funding to Columbia. It's not an exhaustive list because the folks at Columbia are still trying to figure out what was cut and what survived. But it's a start. 🧵

A valuable and rich special issue on the limits of autocratization that explores the actors and institutions of democratic resistance and opposition! I have an article in it, too, co-authored with Mert Arslanalp that examines the transformation of protests during Turkey's autocratization.

🚨 Autocratisation is not inevitable! ✋ Our Special Issue with @bilgeyabanci.bsky.social & @keremoxford.bsky.social explores its limits through the actors & institutions of democratic resistance & opposition from an interregional, interdisciplinary perspective: 🧵 www.tandfonline.com/toc/ctwq20/4...

Tomorrow Monday, February 24th, CIES-ISCTE Lisbon is hosting me and Mert Arslanalp online for its Social Movements Seminar... Feel free to join if you want to hear about autocratization and protests! @cies-iscte.bsky.social cies.iscte-iul.pt/np4EN/4432.h...

Due to the adverse weather conditions expected on 21.02, this talk has been rescheduled to March 3rd at 14:00 at OZU. Will share detailed information again soon. Still very much looking forward to hosting @wendy-pearlman.bsky.social !

Very excited to be hosting Wendy Pearlman @wendy-pearlman.bsky.social on 21.02 at OZU IR. In her talk, Prof. Pearlman will share and explore stories of displaced Syrians collected in her two books. More information on the event below. Join us if you can! events.ozyegin.edu.tr/en#/0/detail...

If an Israeli - or British or American etc - woman who was eight months pregnant was shot dead by any other military, the whole world would know her name. Her name was Sondos Jamal Muhammad Shalabi. She was 23.

1. 2 gün önce, "mevcut ortamda, sadece Artı Gerçek değil, otoritenin beğenmediği tüm sosyal medya hesapları keyfi bir şekilde sansürlenebilir" uyarısında bulunmuştum. Bu keyfiyetin en çarpıcı örneği gazeteci @metcihan.bsky.social'ın X hesabının engellenmesidir.

Reminder: call for abstracts for the annual conference of Sos4Democracy Project! www.sos4democracy.eu/second-annua...

📢Özgür, özerk, demokratik üniversiteler için herkese açık derslerin bahar sezonunun ilk dersi! #DirenenAkademiAçıkDersler Anayasa Hukukçusu Murat Sevinç ile “Kuruluş Dönemi Anayasaları” 🗓10 Şubat Pazartesi 19:00'da Sevgi Soysal Kütüphanesi'ne bekleriz! direnenakademi.wordpress.com/2024/03/12/d...

For those in Berlin…

fake ICE agents

Not to restart the "coup v. autogolpe" discourse (don't do it, political scientists), but at what point do we call this a digital coup? Or admit that we really have no conceptual language for an unelected fascist billionaire taking control of the state's sinews b/c the elected president let him?

This is how things played out in the Turkish case, unfortunately, and the Turkish citizens have been living with one of the highest inflation rates in the world for years.

Of course, let other countries deal with displaced people while US suspends its refugee settlement program... www.nytimes.com/2025/01/25/u...

13 yıl önce yangın yönetmeliğinde bir cümleyi değiştirip itfaiyenin yetkisini aldılar. Uzamanlar o gün uyardı: "Yapmayın! Denetim yetkisi olmayan itfaiyeye, itfaiye denmez. Dünyada örneği yok. Tulumbacılığa dönüştür bu." www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/muteahhitler...

Deaths in the conflict, 1987-present, by loose grouping. (B'tselem through 2007, UNOCHA thereafter)

I am ready for a vacation…

Israel has killed at least 332 Palestinians, including 74 children, since the beginning of 2025 in case that kind of faded into the background for you

Yale University used surveillance cameras, military-grade drones, and analysis of student ID swipes to monitor pro-Palestine campus protesters, @jewishcurrents.bsky.social reports, based in part on docs obtained thru #FOIA requests

This week at OZU IR we are hosting Dr.Aida Ibričević who will discuss her book "Decided Return Migration: Emotions, Citizenship, Home and Belonging in Bosnia and Herzegovina". Friday 20th, 14:00. Looking forward to it!

While the social scientist in me is not very hopeful about the very uncertain future, I cant help being happy about seeing the end of the Esad regime which has caused so much suffering. Hoping for a better future for the Syrian people...

Ahahaha I actually laughed out loud - it is also pretty correct www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/a-f...

On Friday, December 6 Dr. Ayşe Akalın @zittiribit.bsky.social will give a talk at OZU IR entitled "Young Women's Diffuse Feminism: the Context, the Networks, the Affect" where she will discuss new feminist mobilizations and affects among young women in Turkey. Looking forward to it!

An Israeli airstrike hit a car in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, killing five people, including at least three employees with the food aid charity. World Central Kitchen said that it was "urgently seeking more details."

Events are moving fast in Syria: -The rebels have reached Hama, a day after taking Aleppo -Protests & attacks reported around Syria -Rumors of gunfights in Damascus -Assad surfaces to call Iraq’s PM. Asking for militia help? -Russia has fired the top general in Syria -Iran’s FM due in Damascus Sun

Umursayan olmayacak ama yine de hatırlatmamı yapayım: Suriye'deki son duruma ve cihatçıların Halep saldırısına ilişkin çok az bilgi var. Dezenformasyon, senaryolar, dolaşıma giren eski görüntüler vs çok yoğun. Durumu ve gidişatı anlamak için biraz sakin olmak gerek.