Admittedly, Americans seem to have a soft spot for books about faraway places that end up reminding them of themselves. Hansen’s, though, is in many ways too rich and complex to provide an easy parallel. Erdogan often gets lumped in with other 21st-century strongmen, but on migration, for example, he has taken an idiosyncratic tack….
On the surface, Iranian society appears to be functioning normally, at least for a country that weeks ago was under heavy bombardment. Hip young people gather outside street cafes in Tehran, smoking and chatting with friends. Tickets to a high-profile rock concert in the city sold out in minutes. And people still travel outside Iran…
Thankfully, the attack left only black eyes and bloodied faces. It was in Karagümrük, a tough neighbourhood in Istanbul’s old city, once known for mafia types and Turks on the hard right. But, as Suzy Hansen explains, it had been transformed by an influx of Syrian refugees – until the locals apparently decided they’d had…
Turkey this week passed legislation barring children under 15 from social media, joining a small but growing number of nations seeking to protect underage users from the potential harms of the online world. The legislation, which the Turkish Parliament passed on Wednesday, requires social media companies to ensure they do not provide services to underage…
The Belgian Grand Prix, for example, is starting a new contract where it hosts four races in six years between 2026-31. Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: “Formula 1 ranks among the world’s foremost sporting events, distinguished by its spectacle, its young fan base, and its leadership in automotive technologies. “In our country, too, Formula…
When the Kurdish poet first declared his love, the woman who was the focus of his feelings didn’t take him seriously. “How could I?” asked his beloved, Ipek Ozel. “I was the only woman he had seen in decades.” At the time he conveyed his affections, in 2019, the poet, Ilhan Sami Çomak, was serving…
Additionally, it said the applications, “through a wholly-owned and financed government club”, were part of an “aim of facilitating transfers of allegiance and enabling those athletes to represent Turkey at future international competitions, including the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games”. It added: “Given the common features across the applications, the panel assessed them together and…
Shorouk Express While a 1998 U.N. Security Council resolution does proscribe the sale or supply of weapons to Kosovo, an agreement from the following year, U.N. Security Council Resolution 1244, states that this prohibition “shall not apply to arms and related matériel for the use of the international civil and security presences.” Belgrade and Ankara…
Shorouk Express On 12 May 2025, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) announced plans to dissolve. Three weeks later, Turkish social media lit up with images of opposition party members lined up before police officers – an echo, for many, of 2009, when Kurdish politicians were similarly paraded following mass arrests. The parallel was both deliberate and…
Shorouk Express On The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents Get a weekly international news dispatch At least one person died and more than a dozen buildings collapsed after a 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck northwestern Turkey’s Balikesir province. At least 29 people suffered…
