Nick Ashdown
@nickashdown.bsky.social
Canadian journalist/writer in Brussels writing mostly about Turkey. New Lines Magazine, LA Review of Books, Times Literary Supplement, Foreign Policy, Globe & Mail, etc.
Selected clippings: https://nickashdown.weebly.com/selected-published-works
Selected clippings: https://nickashdown.weebly.com/selected-published-works
Not to mention the fall in the USD and the fact that gold recently surpassed US Treasuries in global central bank reserves.
November 10, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Not to mention the fall in the USD and the fact that gold recently surpassed US Treasuries in global central bank reserves.
At a certain point in Turkey, virtually every non-public person I interviewed refused to give their last name. Eventually I stopped even writing "______ declined to give his/her last name for fear of government reprisal," because it became redundant, and editors understood. But here's the thing...
October 26, 2025 at 2:14 PM
At a certain point in Turkey, virtually every non-public person I interviewed refused to give their last name. Eventually I stopped even writing "______ declined to give his/her last name for fear of government reprisal," because it became redundant, and editors understood. But here's the thing...
The trick for southern Turkey is to go in May or September/October. We last came in June and it was already too hot. Now it’s 26 degrees, mis gibi.
October 2, 2025 at 12:18 PM
The trick for southern Turkey is to go in May or September/October. We last came in June and it was already too hot. Now it’s 26 degrees, mis gibi.
At the lake with the family. My wife is a great sport, but I can imagine my Turkish in-laws would have a heart attack at the (extremely moderate)
"ruggedness" here for a baby: pulling ticks and slivers out of her, dogs licking her right on the mouth, swimming with her in a pretty cold lake
"ruggedness" here for a baby: pulling ticks and slivers out of her, dogs licking her right on the mouth, swimming with her in a pretty cold lake
August 23, 2025 at 8:13 PM
At the lake with the family. My wife is a great sport, but I can imagine my Turkish in-laws would have a heart attack at the (extremely moderate)
"ruggedness" here for a baby: pulling ticks and slivers out of her, dogs licking her right on the mouth, swimming with her in a pretty cold lake
"ruggedness" here for a baby: pulling ticks and slivers out of her, dogs licking her right on the mouth, swimming with her in a pretty cold lake
It's funny that Erdoğan describes the "web of corruption" as an octopus, because that's the exact same metaphor used to (reasonably) describe the AKP in one of Suzy Hansen's old masterpieces about the Soma mining disaster:
www.nytimes.com/2014/11/30/m...
www.nytimes.com/2014/11/30/m...
July 10, 2025 at 11:09 AM
It's funny that Erdoğan describes the "web of corruption" as an octopus, because that's the exact same metaphor used to (reasonably) describe the AKP in one of Suzy Hansen's old masterpieces about the Soma mining disaster:
www.nytimes.com/2014/11/30/m...
www.nytimes.com/2014/11/30/m...
I still remember when Kılıçdaroğlu was like:
July 8, 2025 at 10:12 AM
I still remember when Kılıçdaroğlu was like:
Never change, Brussels.
July 3, 2025 at 8:38 AM
Never change, Brussels.
Turkey’s really been expanding its wind power in recent years. This is around Yalova, flying into Istanbul.
July 2, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Turkey’s really been expanding its wind power in recent years. This is around Yalova, flying into Istanbul.
I really miss these kinds of interactions 😆
June 27, 2025 at 8:34 AM
I really miss these kinds of interactions 😆
Reminded me of this old tweet on the same theme.
June 27, 2025 at 8:32 AM
Reminded me of this old tweet on the same theme.
I read a bit of the literature on Turkish families, and some people say the defining feature is something called "enmeshment." If you read a description of what that is...let's just say it should all sound very familiar...
June 26, 2025 at 9:01 AM
I read a bit of the literature on Turkish families, and some people say the defining feature is something called "enmeshment." If you read a description of what that is...let's just say it should all sound very familiar...
The terrible thing about all social media is it encourages all of us to speak in soundbites and to be constantly on message, polished, and catering to the crowd, as though we're all politicians. One of the most harmful inventions of the 21st century was the like button.
June 21, 2025 at 5:10 PM
The terrible thing about all social media is it encourages all of us to speak in soundbites and to be constantly on message, polished, and catering to the crowd, as though we're all politicians. One of the most harmful inventions of the 21st century was the like button.
It was an outstanding interview, and the reaction on this platform really underlines my distaste with Bluesky culture (rage-bating, purity tests, virtue signaling, an unhealthy, insecure *obsession* with X but above all, the smugness). The difference between the top responses here vs. X is striking.
June 21, 2025 at 8:49 AM
It was an outstanding interview, and the reaction on this platform really underlines my distaste with Bluesky culture (rage-bating, purity tests, virtue signaling, an unhealthy, insecure *obsession* with X but above all, the smugness). The difference between the top responses here vs. X is striking.
Can't find news stories, but I think @hasans.bsky.social is right about this
May 24, 2025 at 10:19 AM
Can't find news stories, but I think @hasans.bsky.social is right about this
Taner Akçam's speech at the unveiling of a memorial in Berlin to the 1938 Dersim Genocide, commenting on the relevance to ongoing genocides.
"The value system that emerged in response to past genocides—along with the institutions and principles built on those values—is crumbling before our eyes."
"The value system that emerged in response to past genocides—along with the institutions and principles built on those values—is crumbling before our eyes."
May 22, 2025 at 11:42 AM
Taner Akçam's speech at the unveiling of a memorial in Berlin to the 1938 Dersim Genocide, commenting on the relevance to ongoing genocides.
"The value system that emerged in response to past genocides—along with the institutions and principles built on those values—is crumbling before our eyes."
"The value system that emerged in response to past genocides—along with the institutions and principles built on those values—is crumbling before our eyes."
Seems to be going great.
May 16, 2025 at 9:37 AM
Seems to be going great.
New poll from Metropoll. "The bridge between East and West," etc. etc.
May 16, 2025 at 9:19 AM
New poll from Metropoll. "The bridge between East and West," etc. etc.
From Metropoll: the negotiations with Öcalan are deeply unpopular, including amongst government supporters, with only DEM Party voters supporting it.
May 9, 2025 at 10:34 AM
From Metropoll: the negotiations with Öcalan are deeply unpopular, including amongst government supporters, with only DEM Party voters supporting it.
Önder was the first & most visible politician to join the 2013 Gezi uprising, when it was just a tiny environmental protest, insisting he was a political representative of not just the people, but the trees too. “Each of us will guard a tree, and in the morning, we'll give a report to the birds”
May 4, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Önder was the first & most visible politician to join the 2013 Gezi uprising, when it was just a tiny environmental protest, insisting he was a political representative of not just the people, but the trees too. “Each of us will guard a tree, and in the morning, we'll give a report to the birds”
Yeah, the ballot was amazing
April 30, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Yeah, the ballot was amazing
I always think back to this piece from Hakkı Taş:
www.giga-hamburg.de/en/publicati...
www.giga-hamburg.de/en/publicati...
April 27, 2025 at 4:25 PM
I always think back to this piece from Hakkı Taş:
www.giga-hamburg.de/en/publicati...
www.giga-hamburg.de/en/publicati...
I don't disagree, but that was very much the tack the Turkish opposition under Kılıçdaroğlu took in 2023, and it didn't do them much good. Extract from my piece here: newlinesmag.com/essays/a-pol...
April 22, 2025 at 12:45 PM
I don't disagree, but that was very much the tack the Turkish opposition under Kılıçdaroğlu took in 2023, and it didn't do them much good. Extract from my piece here: newlinesmag.com/essays/a-pol...
The recent New Yorker article also had a far more nuanced discussion of the problem, referencing the OP as well.
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
April 21, 2025 at 3:16 PM
The recent New Yorker article also had a far more nuanced discussion of the problem, referencing the OP as well.
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...