LIVE WEBCAST, notes on the protests

Notebook #18

This is a regular post about the things I’ve been reading and watching this week. Usually, it’s notes on books, movies, the odd bit of political analysis here and there. This week, however,Turkey is in political crisis, so that’s what I’m going to talk about.

First part is free, the notes on current events are for subscribers only.

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Live Webcast

I’ll be doing a live webcast with

Diego Cupolo

, the editor-in-chief of

Turkey recap

, TODAY on March 26, at 16:00 TRT/13:00 UTC.

Note that this will be the first time we’re using this feature on Substack. Think of it like YoutTube, but without the part where it siphons away your life force.

There’s two ways you can join.

1. Log into your Substack account on your desktop, make sure you’re following Kültürkampf and/or

   Turkey recap
   , and you’ll get a notification telling you we’re live.

2. Download the Substack app on your phone or tablet, sign in with your account, get the same notification there.

Easy peasy.

The live cast will be free for everyone, but if you want to watch it afterwards, you’ll have to be a paying subscriber to either Kültürkampf or Turkey recap.

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One more thing before I get started: My book, New Turkey and the Far Right: How Reactionary Nationalism Remade a Country, came out in February.

It goes through politics in Turkey in the last 25 years, and should be a fairly breezy read. I think Chapter 2, in which I talk about the domestic restructuring of the state, would be most relevant to what’s going on today.

The hardcover, in my kitchen.

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If you haven’t been following the news in Turkey over the last week, here’s a quick summary: Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu is widely considered the most viable candidate to run against Erdoğan in the 2028 presidential elections. On March 18, courts cancelled his university diploma, barring his run, and on March 19, they arrested him on charges of corruption and terrorism. I’ve written about my initial reactions in this post.

Since then, a big protest movement has been building up. The main opposition People’s Republican Party (CHP) has been at the forefront of it, trying to control the crowd and build it into a force that can put real pressure on the presidential palace.

Some of my observations are below. It’s just a very quick writeup, so do join the live chat today if you want to discuss further. I’m also doing other podcasts and media events in the upcoming days, which I’ll share with you here.