Duvar English Podcasts

Turkish Coffee | Episode 9: Turkey's image abroad, from Ottoman sultans to Sofagate by Duvar English

Turkish Coffee | Episode 8: How uncles can create havoc in Turkey by Duvar English

Turkish Coffee | Episode 7: Have you dared eat out yet? by Duvar English

Turkish Coffee | Episode 6: Back to the coffeehouses by Duvar English

Turkish Coffee | Episode 5: Little to celebrate on Women's Day by Duvar English

Prompted by Ankara's plans to step foot on the moon by 2023, Nazlan Ertan and Aygen Aytaç take a look back at dystopian and utopian narratives and keep the audience guessing: Is Turkey's space plan fact or fiction?

Turkish Coffee | Episode 3: Justice for All? by Duvar English

Turkish Coffee | Episode 2: Love alla Turca by Duvar English

In Turkish Coffee's Duvar English debut, journos Aygen Aytaç and Nazlan Ertan discuss the steep hike in food prices, COVID-19-related unemployment in the food industry and rich local cuisines in Turkey. Each week, Nazlan and Aygen will discuss socio-economic issues in Turkey, as well as lifestyles, cultural peculiarities, arts and literature.

Zeitgeist Turkey | Episode 24: Turkey in 2020 fails Republic's promise of equal opportunity by Duvar English

Zeitgeist Turkey | Episode 23: Health Ministry's opacity broke public's trust in Ankara by Duvar English

In this week's episode, Zeitgeist Turkey hosts Cansu Çamlıbel and Can Selçuki are joined by the editor of Zeitgeist Turkey, Azra Ceylan, for her impressions from the women's protest in Istanbul on Nov. 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. In this special audio episode, we turn our microphone to the women on the streets, who have had enough of impunity and leniency in the prosecution of violent crimes against them.

In this episode of Zeitgeist Turkey, Duvar English Editor-in-chief Cansu Çamlıbel and pollster Can Selçuki weigh the resignation of Bülent Arınç, a founding member of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), days after he urged the release of Osman Kavala and Selahattin Demirtaş. Although Arınç's comments initially fit in with the president's promises of reforms, they seemingly crossed boundaries for President Erdoğan's alliance partner.

In this episode of Zeitgeist Turkey, co-hosts Cansu Çamlıbel and Can Selçuki speak with Turkish foreign policy expert and Washington Post columnist Aslı Aydıntaşbaş about the ruling AKP government's recent promises of democratic reforms. While the Turkish Central Bank's interest rate hike is a positive first step, the AKP will need policy reforms to convince the global community, Aydıntaşbaş said, adding that their coalition ally Nationalist Movement Party(MHP) may hinder that.

In this week's episode, Duvar English Editor-in-chief Cansu Çamlıbel and pollster Can Selçuki dissect the shocking resignation of Turkish Finance Minister Berat Albayrak on Nov. 8, noting that his exclusion from the palace's top ranks could have been a response to the erosion in the vote share of ruling People's Alliance. For the first time in the near past, the opposition's votes have surged to above 50 percent in November.

Ankara's conflict-oriented foreign policy has received the public's support for military operations, but public opinion often fails to translate into votes. While Ankara's "enemy" in military conflict is ever-changing, the northern Syria conflict was revealed to be the only intervention that expanded the government's voter base.

Duvar English's editor-in-chief Cansu Çamlıbel and pollster Can Selçuki discuss whether the recent crackdown on the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) portends a possible closure case against the party. They attempt to analyze who in the Turkish political landscape would benefit from antagonizing Kurdish voters; President Erdoğan or his alliance partner Mr. Bahçeli or both?

Duvar English's editor-in-chief Cansu Çamlıbel and pollster Can Selçuki discuss the underlying factors behind the recent moves of Turkey's ruling alliance which paves the way for further polarization in politics as the country enters the final months of 2020. They also analyze the effects of the sharp decline of the Turkish Lira against foreign currencies over public's perception.

In this week's episode, Duvar English Editor-in-chief Cansu Çamlıbel hosts American political scientist Wendy Pearlman to talk about her latest book “We Crossed a Bridge and It Trembled: Voices from Syria,” which was recently published in Turkish. Pearlman spoke to hundreds of Syrian refugees, collecting human stories from one of recent history's biggest humanitarian crises.

Duvar English's editor-in-chief Cansu Çamlıbel and pollster Can Selçuki are joined by Robert Bosch Academy's Galip Dalay to discuss the impact of Turkish government's recent domestic policy moves on Ankara's international relations. They look for answers to whether there is any possibility that Turkey's relations with the West might change for the better any time soon.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on July 10 announced that Hagia Sophia will be opened to Muslim worship after the Council of State – the highest administrative court in the country – ruled that the building's conversion to a museum by modern Turkey's founding statesman was illegal. The first prayers at the iconic sixth-century structure will be held on July 24. “With this court ruling, and with the measures we took in line with the decision, Hagia Sophia became a mosque again, after 86 years, in the way Fatih the conqueror of Istanbul had wanted it to be,” Erdoğan said. In this week's episode, Duvar English's editor-in-chief Cansu Çamlıbel and pollster Can Selçuki discuss the underlying factors behind President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's decision to convert Hagia Sophia back into a mosque. They analyze the possible reasons for Erdoğan to risk burning bridges with the West as well as the significance of the timing of the announcement. Çamlıbel and Selçuki seek an answer to the key question: whether this move indicates Erdoğan is poised to call for a snap election before the end of this year.

In this week's episode, Duvar English's editor-in-chief Cansu Çamlıbel hosts Future Party leader Ahmet Davutoğlu to discuss the vision of his new political party. The interview also provides candid answers from Davutoğlu, who served as foreign minister from 2009 to 2014 and as prime minister from 2014 to 2016 in Erdoğan governments, on some crucial episodes of the Turkish foreign policy in last decade when he was in a position to influence policy in Ankara.

Duvar English's editor-in-chief Cansu Çamlıbel and pollster Can Selçuki discuss what is happening in Turkish politics in the light of last week's move by the government to strip the parliamentary statuses of three opposition politicians. They try to find answers to what President Erdoğan tries to achieve by ordering the jailing of three opposition politicians now, whether there is a snap election looming and whether there is still need for an election alliance of the opposition parties.

In this edition of Turkey: The Long View, Duvar English columnist Luke Frostick is joined by the president of P.E.N. Turkey, an international organization dedicated to protecting the rights of writers around the world.

Duvar English's editor-in-chief Cansu Çamlıbel and pollster Can Selçuki are joined by former Turkish diplomat Aydın Selcen to discuss the latest foreign policy moves of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government. While analyzing the consequences of Turkey's military involvement in Libya, they look for answers whether Ankara could manage to turn its “military success” into viable polities. They also debate if a new Turkish military intervention into Syria looms on the horizon.

Duvar English's editor-in-chief Cansu Çamlıbel and pollster Can Selçuki discuss the latest debates in Ankara that have triggered a new wave of polarization in Turkish politics. They try to find answers why President Erdoğan has shifted from a more calculated tone during the first weeks of the pandemic and opted for raising tensions by deliberately attacking and demonizing the opposition.

Duvar English's editor-in-chief Cansu Çamlıbel and pollster Can Selçuki are joined by Boğaziçi University's Mert Aslanalp to discuss possible long-term implications of the COVID-19 tracking app introduced by the Turkish government. Arslanalp says that the pandemic apps and measures carry potential risks of being used by the government to extend emergency-like suspensions of liberties without formally declaring a state of emergency.

Duvar English's editor-in-chief Cansu Çamlıbel and pollster Can Selçuki are joined by political economist Esen Çağlar to discuss the underlying factors behind the accelerating loss of value of the Turkish lira against the dollar. They look for answers to how the Turkish government is caught between a rock and a hard place by rapidly selling the Central Bank reserves. They also discuss whether Ankara can secure a swap line from the U.S. without giving up Russian S-400s.

Turkey: The Long Veiw | Episode 3: Ankara's Other War by Duvar English

In this week's episode, Duvar English's editor-in-chief Cansu Çamlıbel and pollster Can Selçuki are joined by journalist Mehveş Evin to discuss the grim consequences of Turkey's recent parole law for some women who fear that their abusive spouses might appear on their doorstep any time soon. They also analyze how women's rights are perceived by Turkish society in general and why more than half of the population think that women's problems are exaggerated.

The resignation attempt of Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu on April 12 taking full responsibility for the chaos triggered by a disordered and late announcement of country's first weekend curfew shed light on the power struggle within the ruling party. Duvar English's editor-in-chief Cansu Çamlıbel and pollster Can Selçuki analyze the motives behind Soylu's power play and President Erdoğan's reasons for not letting him go.

Turkish government's sudden decision on April 10 to declare a 48-hour curfew for 31 major cities triggered panic and chaos pushing thousands of Turks to rush to stores on a Friday night for last-minute purchases. Duvar English's editor-in-chief Cansu Çamlıbel and pollster Can Selçuki look for answers to how Ankara's failure to manage the crisis might affect the power struggle in Turkey?

In the second episode of Turkey: The Long View we talk about Canal Istanbul. Luke Frostick talks with Yörük Işık, an Istanbul based Russian Foreign Policy expert & independent geo-analyst, about the state of shipping in the Bosphorus and how a new canal might impact that shipping. He also speaks with Önder Algedik, an environmental columnist for Duvar English, about the impact the canal will have on Istanbul. References: Kadri Gursel, A $12.5 billion question: Why did Erdogan unshelve his ‘crazy project'? https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/01/turkey-canal-istanbul-crazy-project-question-of-billions.html Bahadır Özgür, Fights over land from Salvationville to Erdoğan City https://www.duvarenglish.com/columns/2019/12/19/fights-over-land-from-salvationville-to-erdogan-city/

The nationwide coronavirus donation campaign launched by President Tayyip Erdoğan and the block placed by the Ministry of Interior over municipalities of Istanbul and Ankara in order to prevent them from holding separate donation campaigns are also among salient items of this week's episode. Duvar English's editor-in-chief Cansu Çamlıbel and pollster Can Selçuki look for answers to why the Turkish government still persists in not calling a total lockdown in major cities, especially in Istanbul.

In the second episode of ‘Zeitgeist Turkey', Duvar English's Cansu Çamlıbel and pollster Can Selçuki talk about the the shortfalls of the economic shield package of the government and survival mode in Turkish society set off by the coronavirus outbreak. They also discuss the political implications of sudden removal of the Transport Minister from his post following mounting criticism for holding the first tender for controversial Kanal Istanbul project last week.

In the first episode of Turkey: The Long View, Luke Frostick talks with Director Ozan Açıktan about the TV show Atiye (The Gift) and archaeologist Lee Clare about the ancient site at Göbekli Tepe.

In the first episode of ‘Zeitgeist Turkey', Duvar English's Cansu Çamlıbel and pollster Can Selçuki discuss the political and economic implications of the coronavirus outbreak in Turkey. How is President Erdoğan's government managing the crisis? Is the Turkish society taking the health risks seriously?