If it were happening in Turkey, we’d call Trump’s actions an attempted coup
There is a certain comradely beauty in the fact that we all are dealing with the same peril. Since we all talk about nothing but the pandemic the world somehow finally feels in sync.
COVID-19 has created a political vacuum. Whoever fills it will determine our future
There is a certain comradely beauty in the fact that we all are dealing with the same peril. Since we all talk about nothing but the pandemic the world somehow finally feels in sync.
Madness as an act of resistance
The coronavirus has created its own, quite distinct mental hegemony. Not only it is impossible to think or talk about anything else, but the global crisis has also abducted our dreams.The coronavirus is a global loop that dumbs us down
Being in contact in a contactless new world
The world is at its best to allow the sane, the humane and the rational to take over. The question is, how are we supposed to reinvent solidarity in order to gather the political power to change it? How are
A table for the ephemeral
Once you leave your home country, you are incurably ephemeral. The mind commands the body to live in half-formed places with transient conditions, for it secretly believes that allowing yourself the comfort of settling down will seal your destiny for
The paper pain
‘My pain is deciphered and therefore human. She, on the other hand is a muted creature; easier to misinterpret and, finally, dehumanize.’ Ece Temelkuran describes her deep unease at being referred to as an ‘exile’ and how, despite that public
Tadeium democratie
The problem is no democracy on the planet is strong enough to regulate this arena where truths are hunted down or ridiculed to the ground by some zombie-like digital creatures and entities. Most of the business of shaping the truth
Kurdish female fighters are once again pawns in a bigger political game
They have fought Isis with unparalleled bravery. But their fate lies in a power struggle between Putin, Trump and Erdoğan. In August 2014 Marie Claire published an unusual photo shoot. The women in the stylised images were not in fancy haute
Global dictionary of political insanity
Ten years ago, it was impossible to translate Turkey for the foreign audience. It wasn’t because we, the English speaking Turks, didn’t have the sufficient vocabulary but it was because what we went through politically simply did not make sense
Erdogan Rising: the making of an autocrat
A new book explores the complex background to Erdogan’s tightening grip on power. In 2017, in The Hague, the Russian novelist Mikhail Shishkin and I took to the stage to talk about rising authoritarianism. Projected on the giant screen behind