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Selim Koru

@selimkoru.bsky.social
1.6K followers 145 following 379 posts

Scholar of political ideas, Nietzsche, Turkey. @TEPAV Tweets in English & Turkish. Words: @nytimes, @WarOnTheRocks, etc. Substack: kulturkampftr.substack.com

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Selim Koru @selimkoru.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
going live now
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Selim Koru @selimkoru.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
@nicholasdanfort.bsky.social and I will be live today, discussing the financial scandal in Turkey, and Kurds in Syria. Turkey: 5:00 PM (UTC+3) London (UK): 3:00 PM (UTC+1) NYC (USA): 10:00 AM (UTC-4) Link: open.substack.com/live-stream/...
open.substack.com
LIVE SOON: Turkey’s financial scandal/Syria’s Kurds
Starting Oct 2 at 10:00 AM EDT
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Selim Koru @selimkoru.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
@nicholasdanfort.bsky.social and I will be live today, discussing the financial scandal in Turkey, and Kurds in Syria. Turkey: 5:00 PM (UTC+3) London (UK): 3:00 PM (UTC+1) NYC (USA): 10:00 AM (UTC-4) Link: open.substack.com/live-stream/...
open.substack.com
LIVE SOON: Turkey’s financial scandal/Syria’s Kurds
Starting Oct 2 at 10:00 AM EDT
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Turkey recap @turkeyrecap.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
"The Conditionality Machine" by @selimkoru.bsky.social.
kulturkampftr.substack.com
The Conditionality Machine
Thirty years of Turkey-EU policy papers have changed their diagnosis completely and their prescription not at all.
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Selim Koru @selimkoru.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
I've spent a bit of time in that country, and was deeply disturbed. I expect major a political eathquake in my lifetime.
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Selim Koru @selimkoru.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Never went, but I hear it's wild. I wonder if that's still a thing.
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Howard Eissenstat @heissenstat.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Great stuff "But if you’re a scholar at one of these shops, they don’t pay you to say that it can’t be done."
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Selim Koru @selimkoru.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
I wrote about writing about Turkey-EU relations
kulturkampftr.substack.com
The Conditionality Machine
Thirty years of Turkey-EU policy papers have changed their diagnosis completely and their prescription not at all.
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Selim Koru @selimkoru.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
going live in half an hour
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Nate Schenkkan @nateschenkkan.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Great detailed analysis here of recently exposed digital transnational repression targeting the Tibetan diaspora, and how it both builds on growing capacity in China and feeds that capacity for other forms of surveillance, domestic and transnational turquoiseroof.org/spyware-as-a...
turquoiseroof.org
Spyware-as-a-Service
Spyware-as-a-Service: What the i-Soon files reveal about China’s targeting of the Tibetan diaspora
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Selim Koru @selimkoru.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
@nicholasdanfort.bsky.social and I will be live to discuss: - AI's impact on life in Turkey (and other developing countries) - the Kurdish "peace process" in Turkey & Syria Turkey: 5:00 PM (UTC+3) London (UK): 3:00 PM (UTC+1) NYC (USA): 10:00 AM (UTC-4) open.substack.com/live-stream/...
open.substack.com
LIVE SOON: Live with Selim & Nick: AI in Turkey; Syria and the Kurds
Starting Sep 18 at 10:00 AM EDT
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Selim Koru @selimkoru.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Discussions about AI never really touch on the developing world. I tried to do my part here:
kulturkampftr.substack.com
Where AI Meets No Resistance
Turkey took to social media faster than anywhere in Europe. It's doing the same with AI, and there's no one left to object.
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Omar Kadkoy @omarkadkoy.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
My latest in @selimkoru.bsky.social’s Kültürkampf is about renaming schools in Syria as part of the country’s political transformation. Warning: I cited an excerpt from Nizar Qabbani in the essay! substack.com/home/post/p-...
substack.com
Who Liberates, Decides
Syria is renaming its schools. The question is who gets to be Syrian
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Turkey recap @turkeyrecap.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
📰 Sunday extras: "Can You Explain Istanbul?" with Suzy Hansen, @achristiemiller.bsky.social, @selimkoru.bsky.social and @nicholasdanfort.bsky.social. [1/5] kulturkampftr.substack.com/p/can-you-ex...
kulturkampftr.substack.com
Can You Explain Istanbul?
Suzy Hansen and Alexander Christie-Miller on the decisions behind their books
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Dilek Sayedahmed @dileksayedahmed.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Loooooooove this!
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Selim Koru @selimkoru.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
This was a wonderful episode to record! @nicholasdanfort.bsky.social and I sat down with @achristiemiller.bsky.social and Suzy Hansen to talk about their books on Istanbul, and Turkish politics more broadly. kulturkampftr.substack.com/p/can-you-ex...
kulturkampftr.substack.com
Can You Explain Istanbul?
Suzy Hansen and Alexander Christie-Miller on the decisions behind their books
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Nicholas Danforth @nicholasdanfort.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
In the latest Kulturkampf, Selim and I sat down with Alex Christie-Miller and Suzy Hansen to discuss their Istanbul books. kulturkampftr.substack.com/p/can-you-ex...
kulturkampftr.substack.com
Can You Explain Istanbul?
Suzy Hansen and Alexander Christie-Miller on the decisions behind their books
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Selim Koru @selimkoru.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
I'm there now, will be here for the rest of the summer :)
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Selim Koru @selimkoru.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
I liked this www.nytimes.com/2025/07/01/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | Have Gay Rights Gone Too Far, or Not Far Enough? (Published 2025)
Readers offer strong, sharply varied responses to Andrew Sullivan’s guest essay.
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Selim Koru @selimkoru.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
but yeah, the Fanon bit is very interesting
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Selim Koru @selimkoru.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
I've been meaning to. Ata was also close to the idea. We just haven't gotten around to it yet
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Selim Koru @selimkoru.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
They've never called it a 'peace process' I think. I know people refer to it that way out of habit, but even that is revealing.
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Borners @borners.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
I see @selimkoru.bsky.social is another Simon Cottee reader. It was a very sad book. UK society has utterly failed to give these people having decided to lump everything into "British Muslim" kulturkampftr.substack.com/p/where-are-...
kulturkampftr.substack.com
Where Are the Ex-Muslims?
Why mainstream culture celebrates everyone who leaves a high-control religion — except Muslims.
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Selim Koru @selimkoru.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
I wrote about Muslims in the West who leave their faith. kulturkampftr.substack.com/p/where-are-...
kulturkampftr.substack.com
Where Are the Ex-Muslims?
Why mainstream culture celebrates everyone who leaves a high-control religion — except Muslims.
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James Ryan @jdryan08.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
I haven’t taken communion in 20 years and even I feel insulted by this whole charade.
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Turkey recap @turkeyrecap.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
"Turkey’s World Cup meltdown is a milestone in unraveling of Erdogan’s reign, says @selimkoru.bsky.social" hosted by @amberinzaman.bsky.social. [2/5]
al-monitor.com
Turkey’s World Cup meltdown is a milestone in unraveling of Erdogan’s reign, says Selim Koru
Selim Koru, founder of the Kulturkampf Substack, argues that Turkey’s World Cup loss is emblematic of the failure of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s civilizational project and may prove to be a miles...
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Nate Schenkkan @nateschenkkan.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
The problem with the Turkey/Türkiye issue is that it was an anti-cosmopolitan act by a dictatorial, nationalist regime; @selimkoru.bsky.social wrote very well about it at the time: kulturkampftr.substack.com/p/turkey-vs-...
kulturkampftr.substack.com
Turkey vs. Türkiye
My thoughts on the name change
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Revolution @revolutionofwaves.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
Konuyla ilgili şu ana kadar okuduğum en iyi yazı...
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Çağdaş Üngör @cagdasungor.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
Only 3 out of 10 people in Turkey has a favorable opinion of NATO. It's one of the smallest ratings among NATO member countries. Ankara Summit, with all its excessive measures, is likely to reduce it further... www.pewresearch.org/global/2025/...
pewresearch.org
1. Views of NATO
Majorities in 10 of 13 member nations surveyed have a positive view of NATO, though ratings have dipped in a few countries since last year.
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Selim Koru @selimkoru.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Reactionary nationalism is for losers kulturkampftr.substack.com/p/the-myth-o...
kulturkampftr.substack.com
The Myth of National Rebirth, Falsified in Ninety Minutes
Revivalist regimes need the scoreboard to prove the nation reborn. Turkey's just returned a verdict.
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Nick Ashdown @nickashdown.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
I wrote a guest post for @selimkoru.bsky.social's great Kültürkampf Substack, inspired by the lively discussion around my viral thread on X from a few months ago. I'm most interested not in the anecdote in the thread, but the huge response to it. It's a slippery subject, but I hope I did it justice.
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Selim Koru @selimkoru.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Also, a commenter pointed out that there are global trends to take into consideration. I think it's a great point. Here's his comment, and below it my response: open.substack.com/pub/kulturka...
open.substack.com
Who Is Leaving Turkey?
A look at the numbers and cultural trends
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Selim Koru @selimkoru.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
More here: kulturkampftr.substack.com/p/who-is-lea...
kulturkampftr.substack.com
Who Is Leaving Turkey?
A look at the numbers and cultural trends
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Selim Koru @selimkoru.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
It's not just students. Doctors requesting "good standing" certificates to work abroad have grown roughly tenfold in a decade. And of Turkish-trained engineers who moved to the US or Germany since 2010, only about a quarter ever came back. (From Saudi Arabia: over 80%.)
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Selim Koru @selimkoru.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
In 2009, 1.6% of graduates of İstanbul Erkek Lisesi — one of Turkey's most selective high schools — went abroad for university. Today it's 90%. The schools the republic built to produce its elite now produce emigrants.
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Selim Koru @selimkoru.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Everyone in Turkey talks about emigration. But the official numbers are strangely calm: in a country of 86 million, a couple hundred thousand leave per year. No great exodus. So why does it feel like everyone is leaving? Because the question isn't how many. It's who.
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Turkey recap @turkeyrecap.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
"Ayn Rand Is Alive in Ankara" by @selimkoru.bsky.social. [2/5]
reason.com
Ayn Rand is alive in Ankara
Objectivism in Turkey has risen and fallen in recent decades, but is newly rejuvenated.
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Selim Koru @selimkoru.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
social media commentary is pretty bad in general, but it's even worse for ongoing wars
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Selim Koru @selimkoru.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
lol
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Selim Koru @selimkoru.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
What I've also been seeing is that the working class in the US is a bit more open about their church attendance, if they do attend. So maybe it's a little more visible than it used to be 10-15 years ago. I actually think that bit is nice.
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Selim Koru @selimkoru.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
yeah I definitely think religiosity is declining. It's just that there's a particular kind of phony religiosity among elites that's much more visible.
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Selim Koru @selimkoru.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
I think they mean the tiny red dip and green rise in the last couple of years. Perhaps that's church-shopping right-wing elites?
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Selim Koru @selimkoru.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
And here of course, is the thing I wrote about the thing I wrote:
kulturkampftr.substack.com
Ayn Rand in Turkey
My essay in Reason Magazine
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Selim Koru @selimkoru.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
I wrote about Ayn Rand in Turkey for Reason Magazine:
reason.com
Ayn Rand is alive in Ankara
Objectivism in Turkey has risen and fallen in recent decades, but is newly rejuvenated.
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Ben R @reben.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
Sirkeci Marmaray must be a rolling 🎪🤡 on the Marmaray sea then. I'm very good at the languages
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Selim Koru @selimkoru.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
we are on in 15min
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Selim Koru @selimkoru.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
We read a "Sirkiye" rage comic panel by panel — Grey Wolves flying Kurdistan flags, "mumbo-jumbo high school," the works — and try to work out what formation produces this kind of self-disgust. kulturkampftr.substack.com/p/language-o...
kulturkampftr.substack.com
Language of New Turkey Vol. 5.1: the names of Turkey
We are back with another installment of this series, this time with a co-author!
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Selim Koru @selimkoru.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
It's a term of contempt nationalists have invented for their own country — nationalism running in reverse, toward something nihilistic. 4chan-grade, social-Darwinist, and aimed at one thing above all: the shamelessness.
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Selim Koru @selimkoru.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
New "Language of New Turkey," co-written this time with @ataarmagan.bsky.social. We dig into the slang the very-online, very-young, very-disillusioned opposition uses for their own country. First up: "Sirkiye." Sirk (circus) + Türkiye. 🎪
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Selim Koru @selimkoru.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
We're going live with @nicholasdanfort.bsky.social TODAY to discuss the latest events in Turkish politics. 17:00 GMT +3 (Turkey) 15:00 BST (UK) 10:00 GMT-4 (USA, East Coast) open.substack.com/live-stream/...
open.substack.com
LIVE SOON: Turkish politics with Nick & Selim
Starting May 22 at 10:00 AM EDT
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