PODCAST · news
Talking Turkey
by Ahval
Ahval English editor David Lepeska interviews a variety of experts and analysts on all issues connected to Turkey
Episodes
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EU losing credibility in eyes of Turkey - Muzaffer Şenel
Political science professor Muzaffer Şenel told Ahval editor David Lepeska that he expects the European Union to levy minor sanctions against Turkey this week, that both Turkey and Greece are asserting maximalist maritime claims and that Turkish politicians are increasingly using refugees as...
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Turkey fears a united EU - Karol Wasilewski
Warsaw-based analyst Karol Wasilewski told Ahval editor David Lepeska that NATO has to be innovative to get Turkey and Greece to the negotiating table, that a divided European Union has strengthened Ankara’s hand and that Turkish foreign policy gains in Libya, Syria and the eastern Mediterranean...
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Greece-Turkey tensions could spur Cyprus talks - Fiona Mullen
Cyprus analyst Fiona Mullen told Ahval editor David Lepeska that conflict might have broken out in the eastern Mediterranean by now if the Greek and Turkish militaries had not been talking regularly, that Cyprus missed a great opportunity to develop its gas fields, and that the planned EastMed...
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Neither US nor EU have meaningful leverage over Turkey - Harry Tzimitras
Harry Tzimitras of the Peace Research Institute Oslo told Ahval editor David Lepeska that Turkey has been using its quest for natural gas to send a political and military message to the region and the West, and that the pandemic has shrunk energy demand and dramatically altered the situation in…
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Turkey-Greece talks could lead to deadlock again - Nicholas Ioannides
Maritime law scholar Nicholas Ioannides told Ahval editor David Lepeska that several factors come into play when determining the maritime borders around the Greek island of Kastellorizo and that Turkey has violated the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, to which it is not a signatory, and…
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Turkey creating fear and anxiety among diaspora in Germany - Gerasimos Tsourapas
Migration and diaspora scholar Gerasimos Tsourapas told Ahval editor David Lepeska that a covid outbreak in any of Greece’s Aegean island refugee camps could exact a high toll, that President Erdogan’s weaponisation of refugees is likely to deliver diminishing results and that Turkey’s repressive...
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Horrifying, unlivable situation in Turkey-controlled Afrin -- Meghan Bodette
Researcher Meghan Bodette told Ahval editor David Lepeska that more than 170 women have been kidnapped by Turkey-backed rebels in Syria’s Afrin province since the start of the Turkish occupation in January 2018, including 11 more in August, and that Turkey has no intention of responding to…
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Macron, Erdogan use each other to reach nationalist voters - Guillaume Perrier
Guillaume Perrier, longtime Turkey correspondent for French newspaper Le Monde, told Ahval editor David Lepeska that the threat of Turkey-linked political parties and Islamist and ultra-nationalist groups is growing in France and that with their latest exchange of insults presidents Erdogan and...
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Erdogan gets away with murder when talking to Trump - Dimitar Bechev
Atlantic Council fellow Dimitar Bechev told Ahval editor David Lepeska that we cannot yet assess the likely impact of Turkey’s gas discovery in the Black Sea, that Turkish President Erdogan appears to have U.S. President Trump wrapped around his finger and that Turkey’s policies in Syria, in...
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There are thousands of Turkish spies in Germany - Sevim Dağdelen
German parliamentarian Sevim Dağdelen told Ahval editor David Lepeska that Germany cannot be a credible mediator on Libya or Turkey-Greece tensions until it halts arms shipments to Turkey and that Germany’s largest Muslim organisation is not a religious body but a political one, a representative…
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We’ve reached the panic point on Turkey - Ghanem Nuseibeh
Ghanem Nuseibeh of London-based consulting firm Cornerstone Global Associates told Ahval editor David Lepeska that Turkey’s foreign policy has become increasingly aggressive and predominantly Islamist, like that of Iran after its 1979 revolution, and NATO and the European Union have only put...
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Arabs are wondering, is Erdogan all talk? - Nervana Mahmoud
Middle East analyst Nervana Mahmoud told Ahval editor David Lepeska that war is a real possibility in the eastern Mediterranean, that Turkey has taken all decision-making power away from Libya’s Tripoli-based Government of National Accord and that Turkish President Erdogan has lost significant...
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Farmers in Turkey are seen as peasants - Mehmet Gurs
Renowned chef Mehmet Gurs told Ahval editor David Lepeska that the best people tend to make the best foods, that Turkish agriculture has probably never been this troubled and that the initial motivation for his New Anatolian Kitchen concept was making Turkish food cool and sexy enough to attract...
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Deep admiration and respect for Kurds from Bakur - Ava Homa
Kurdish Iranian author Ava Homa spoke to Ahval editor David Lepeska about her well-received debut novel, Daughters of Smoke and Fire, Kurdish life as an act of subversion, the great possibility of Rojava and the admiration Kurds in Iran and beyond have for Kurds in Turkey, and their achievements.
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Turkey should break silence and support Uighurs - Dolkun Isa
Dolkun Isa, president of the World Uighur Congress, told Ahval that China is trying to erase the Uighur people, that the international community, particularly Muslim states, had failed to adequately back Uighurs, and that Turkey should step forward and speak out against China, despite growing...
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Erdogan cannot control the internet - Merve Tahiroglu
Merve Tahiroglu of the Project on Middle East Democracy told Ahval editor David Lepeska that Turkey’s new social media law, while troubling, will fail to stop online criticism, that President Erdogan and his ruling party have made Turkey hellish for women, and that a potential Biden presidency...
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Troubling escalation in Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict - Richard Giragosian
Yerevan-based analyst Richard Giragosian told Ahval editor David Lepeska that the recent burst of violence along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border represents a new escalation in the neighbors' long-simmering conflict, about which he remains optimistic despite Turkey and Russia potentially renewing...
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Turkish civil society is still raising its voice - Milena Buyum
Turkey campaigner for Amnesty International Milena Buyum told Ahval editor David Lepeska why a new social media bill points toward a dark future for freedom of expression, how Turkey’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention would be a disastrous step backward and that Turkish activists continue…
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Turkey’s East Med policy is sabotage - Doga Eralp
American University professor Ulas Doga Eralp told Ahval editor David Lepeska that the European Union slowing Turkey's accession pushed it toward ultra-nationalism and that President Erdogan is acting like a schoolyard bully in the eastern Mediterranean, where the race to take advantage of...
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Turkey-Egypt conflict in Libya increasingly likely - Tarek Megerisi
Libya analyst Tarek Megerisi told Ahval editor David Lepeska that the Libyan conflict looks set to re-escalate once again as regional rivals Turkey and Egypt move toward military confrontation, even as Europe has begun slowly pushing the key actors toward a resolution.
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What we don’t know about the failed coup is more than we do know
Georgetown University lecturer Sinan Ciddi and top human rights advocate Sebnem Korur Fincanci told Ahval editor David Lepeska how President Erdogan has remade Turkey’s government and justice system in the four years since the failed coup, including a sharp rise in torture and terrorism cases…
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Hagia Sophia mosque would be Pyrrhic victory - Berk Esen
International relations professor Berk Esen told Ahval editor David Lepeska that Hagia Sophia becoming a mosque would not change much for the ruling AKP, that Turkey could face presidential and parliamentary elections as soon as next year and that President Erdogan may be losing young voters but...
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Turkey drilling near Crete could lead to war - Nikos Michailidis
Anthropology professor Nikos Michailidis spoke to Ahval editor David Lepeska about Greece-Turkey tensions, his Pontic Greek ancestry, the quiet revival of indigenous ethnic heritage in Turkey and how that could begin to reshape a more pluralist Turkish national identity for the 21st century.
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Clumsy way Turkey’s AKP engages the diaspora - Alexander Clarkson
King’s College London lecturer Alexander Clarkson told Ahval editor David Lepeska that Europe may deal firmly with Turkey in the eastern Mediterranean yet remain hands-off in Libya, that Ankara’s refugee policies have forced the EU to militarize its borders and that Turkey will need to negotiate...
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Converting Hagia Sophia can only be done once - Tugba Tanyeri-Erdemir
Dr. Tugba Tanyeri-Erdemir, research associate at the University of Pittsburgh, told Ahval editor David Lepeska that Istanbul’s iconic Hagia Sophia is a beacon of secularism and unity as well as a symbol for Turkish nationalists and Islamists, and that whatever the court decides on Thursday,...
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Turkey plans to create buffer zone in northern Iraq - Bestoon Khalid
Bestoon Khalid, a Sulaymani-based journalist and Kurdish affairs analyst, told Ahval that the fight against Kurds always brings regional states together, that Turkey plans to carve out a buffer zone in northern Iraq, and that the leadership of the Syrian Kurdish enclave known as Rojava is gaining...
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US-SDF alliance aggravates Turkey’s nationalistic anxieties - Güneş Tezcür
Kurdish affairs analyst Güneş Murat Tezcür spoke to Ahval editor David Lepeska about the importance of U.S. policy in regards to the Kurdish enclave in northeast Syria, the near impossibility of a Kurd becoming a Turkish government minister and how the Kurdish movement remains miles away from...
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Erdogan’s loyal diaspora will come in handy on a rainy day - Magnus Norell
Magnus Norell, senior policy advisor at the European Foundation for Democracy, told Ahval editor David Lepeska that Turkey is increasingly investing in emerging political parties in Europe in an effort to establish proxies and gain greater influence over the Turkish diaspora.
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Deliberate act of political blackmail by Turkey - Vit Novotny
Migration expert Vit Novotny told Ahval editor David Lepeska that he expected a continuing migrant stream across the Aegean for the foreseeable future, which means the European Union needs to find a way to cooperate with Turkey on the refugee issue, despite the offences of President Erdogan and…
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If Erdogan wants Trump to lose he should turn on S-400s -- Edward Stafford
Retired U.S. diplomat Edward G. Stafford told Ahval editor David Lepeska about the United States’ strong case against Turkish businessman Ekim Alptekin, how Trump is less able than Erdogan to do what he wants, and the determining factor in Turkey’s decision about activating its S-400 missile...
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Turkey knows it can be aggressive with Greece without any cost - Ryan Gingeras
Naval Postgraduate School professor Ryan Gingeras spoke with Ahval editor David Lepeska about Turkey’s more aggressive maritime vision, its significantly strengthened navy and a possible face-off with Greece on the high seas.
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Turkey appeasing Russia in Black Sea - Paul Pryce
Maritime affairs analyst and diplomatic advisor Paul Pryce told Ahval editor David Lepeska that Turkey has offered little more than deafening silence on Russia’s annexation of Crimea and that President Erdogan’s “crazy” Istanbul Canal project is likely less about shipping safety or maritime…
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Makes sense to draw Turkey-US parallels today - Lisel Hintz
Johns Hopkins University assistant professor Lisel Hintz explained to Ahval editor David Lepeska the considerable echoes of President Erdogan’s response to the mid-2013 Gezi protests in President Trump’s response to the current wave of U.S. protests, in particular how both used similar tools to...
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Erdogan may not see Turkey’s future with US, West, or Russia - Blaise Misztal
Blaise Misztal of the Hudson Institute told Ahval editor David Lepeska that Turkey’s delay in activating its Russian-made S-400 defences is not a ploy, that Ankara will have to neutralize its jihadi pals in Idlib one way or another, and that, considering his current foreign policy approach,...
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Suicide for Assad to launch operation against Turks - Alexey Khlebnikov
Alexey Khlebnikov, Middle East analyst at the Russian International Affairs Council, told Ahval editor David Lepeska that he expects the ceasefire to hold in Syria’s Idlib province and that Turkish-Russian relations have stabilised since the countries’ presidents decided to focus on areas of...
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I went to bed a judge and woke up a terrorist -- Yavuz Aydin
Former Turkish judge Yavuz Aydin told Ahval editor David Lepeska that most of Turkey’s purged judges and prosecutors were dismissed because they stood their ground, that Turkey’s democratic decline may be irreversible, and that the Turkish government, not the pandemic, will be to blame for any...
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Women in Turkey are awakening - Melek Önder
Melek Önder of the Turkish women’s advocacy platform We Will Stop Femicide told Ahval editor David Lepeska that calls to the organization’s hotline have increased more than 50 percent during the pandemic lockdown and that a strong women’s movement has begun to emerge in Turkey, spurring the...
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Turkey's HDP is losing its base in Kurdish areas - Abdulla Hawez
Abdulla Hawez, an independent Kurdish affairs analyst, told Ahval editor David Lepeska that last year’s global solidarity with the Kurdish cause has had a significant positive impact for Kurds in Syria, while in Turkey the main Kurdish party has all but given up in the face of continued…
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Turkey shows how region is returning to 19th century - Ryan Bohl & Jalel Harchaoui
Jalel Harchaoui, research fellow at the Brussels-based Clingendael Institute, and Ryan Bohl, Middle East and North Africa analyst with consulting firm Stratfor, explained to Ahval editor David Lepeska why longer-lasting wars may be the new normal in the Middle East and how the coronavirus…
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Turkey’s numbers don’t make sense at all - Inan Dogan
Inan Dogan, an economist and the co-founder of investment news and analysis site Insider Monkey, explained to Ahval editor David Lepeska why Turkey’s recent coronavirus numbers make no sense, why many elderly Turkish citizens remain at risk despite the curfew and why Istanbul should follow the...
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Turkish society is concerned about these freed convicts - Utku Cakirozer
Utku Çakırözer, CHP parliamentarian for Eskişehir, told Ahval editor David Lepeska that the prison amnesty passed last week is a violation of Turkey’s constitution, and the Turkish government is likely doing considerable damage to the economy while putting its citizens in greater danger.
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Erdoğan to mayors: ‘I own the local as well’ - Sinem Adar
Sinem Adar, researcher at the Center for Applied Turkey Studies at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, called on the European Union to increase its refugee financing to Turkey, and told Ahval editor David Lepeska that the Turkish government’s assault against…
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More authoritarian regime in Turkey post-corona - Yaman Akdeniz
Yaman Akdeniz, faculty of law at Istanbul Bilgi University, explained to Ahval editor David Lepeska why recently proposed social media regulations represent Turkish authorities’ harshest assault yet on free speech online, why he expects President Erdoğan to turn more authoritarian after the…
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Erdoğan has pushed people away from religion - Shadi Hamid
Shadi Hamid, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and author of the 2017 book “Islamic Exceptionalism”, spoke to Ahval editor David Lepeska about how President Erdoğan’s authoritarian tendencies have undermined his efforts to create a pious generation, which explains why analysts nowadays...
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Huge economic contraction would shake Erdogan’s power - Emre Deliveli
Emre Deliveli, an economist and former columnist for Hurriyet Daily News, explained to Ahval editor David Lepeska that the longer President Erdogan waits to enforce a full lockdown, the more extensive Turkey’s political, economic and public health damage is likely to be.
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There’s no trust of this government - Nurcan Baysal
Nurcan Baysal, an award-winning Diyarbakir-based journalist and Ahval contributor, spoke with Ahval editor David Lepeska about getting detained again by Turkish authorities last week, and how people in Turkey’s mainly Kurdish southeast are turning to self-censorship during the coronavirus crisis.
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Turkey’s atmosphere of paranoia - Kaya Genc
Kaya Genc, Istanbul-based author and journalist, spoke to Ahval editor David Lepeska about the collapse of Turkey’s media and cultural landscape and how Turks’ recovery from the crises of early 2017 could provide a guide for coming out of the coronavirus pandemic.
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Turkey will face severe economic repercussions from coronavirus - Nick Danforth
Nicholas Danforth, senior visiting fellow at the German Marshall Fund, spoke with Ahval editor David Lepeska about the latest in the corona crisis, the alliances and divisions within Turkey’s opposition and how Turkish politics might proceed after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan leaves the stage.
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It’s like living in a zombie movie - on corona isolation
Frank McAndrew, professor of psychology at Knox College, and Dana Rose Garfin, adjunct professor at the University of California-Irvine, spoke to Ahval editor David Lepeska about how to minimise the negative mental and emotional impact of coronavirus-related isolation and pointed toward a silver...
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Turkish government tried to suppress corona diagnoses - Steven Cook
Steven A. Cook, senior fellow for the Middle East and North Africa at the Council on Foreign Relations, spoke with Ahval editor David Lepeska about the grave mistakes of Turkey’s leadership in responding to coronavirus, an emerging global tendency toward more authoritarian responses, and the...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Ahval English editor David Lepeska interviews a variety of experts and analysts on all issues connected to Turkey
HOSTED BY
Ahval
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How many episodes does Talking Turkey have?
Talking Turkey currently has 94 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
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Ahval English editor David Lepeska interviews a variety of experts and analysts on all issues connected to Turkey
How often does Talking Turkey release new episodes?
Talking Turkey has 94 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
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Talking Turkey is created and hosted by Ahval.
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