13.08.2021 09:47 Turkey's new class of celebrities As Turkey struggles with rising femicide, violence against women, discrimination against the LGBTQIA+ and immigrants, coupled with environmental and economic crises, Turkish people’s trust in politicians and political institutions decreases. The public wants to know where their celebrities stand. 25.06.2021 11:22 Pride Month on Turkish TV It is Pride Month, and Turkey has nothing to be proud of when it comes to the treatment of its LGBTQIA+ citizens. The Pride Parade and any related event are banned, the rainbow flag is so criminalized even the regular-old pinkwashing is nowhere to be seen, and there is no LGBTQIA+ representation in television. 26.05.2021 11:09 Turkey’s hottest new show Turkey has a long history of TV shows about the mob and the so-called deep state. But so far, even the most iconic ones have not felt this dramatic and alarming. An exiled Turkish organized crime boss has become the hottest new show on air just with a camera and a tripod. Sedat Peker has become a Youtube phenomenon with his whistleblowing videos, exposing the alleged secret relations between the state apparatus and the mafia. 16.04.2021 11:40 What’s wrong with an Orhan Pamuk TV series? Orhan Pamuk, when he was asked in a recent interview if he would want to see his newly-published novel adapted to the screen, he said “yes.” A reluctant, Nobel laureate author kind of yes, though. The press took this Vicky Pollard-esque “yes but no but yes but” answer and made it into a “show me the money” statement as if Pamuk was calling out for prospective producers. The hate a potential Orhan Pamuk TV series received is so bizarre given that Turks are rather fond of their TV series. 24.03.2021 11:14 No salvation alone Turkey’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention is a stark reminder that the women’s liberation and the LGBTQIA+ movements cannot be divorced from each other’s struggles and are forever intertwined in their fights against discrimination, despite Turkish government’s efforts to separate the two and further criminalize the LGBTQIA+. 21.02.2021 17:14 Buffy, Elit İşcan and the slayers of the world In the series finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the mythology of only one Slayer gets broken and Buffy addresses her army of slayers: "From now on, every girl in the world who might be a Slayer will be a Slayer. Every girl who could have the power will have the power. Can stand up? Will stand up." Just like Elit İşcan did in Turkey. 27.01.2021 10:53 Ghosts and other tales Turkey is no different than the West when it comes to diversity and representation in the awards circuit. Antalya Film Festival, the oldest film festival of the country and the closest thing to a Turkish Oscars, awarded only three best director awards to women since its inception in 1964. Istanbul Film Festival, the most internationally well-known of the bunch, has six best film winners directed by women in its 38 year history. This year though, seems like things are getting slightly better. 12.12.2020 11:57 Books of shame and the case of Hasan Ali Toptaş No book is worth normalizing or romanticizing a culture of harassment. As for the writers, they do not owe us any moral purity or virtue, yes, but we readers in return do not owe them loyalties of any kind either. Let the abusers go. I assure you, there are more than enough books to read and more than enough writers to love. 06.11.2020 13:39 The politics of miracles When systems have failed us, politics have failed us, and ideologies have failed us, it feels comforting to rely in miracles. The rhetoric of miracles gives us the illusion that nothing is actually in our control and bestows the ones with actual power with the luxury of avoiding responsibility. Yet for those who survived the earthquake, a lifetime of economic, physical and psychological trauma awaits them.