Turkey

Starting with the basic question "what is this place?", award-winning journalist and novelist Ece Temelkuran guides us through her "beloved country". In challenging the authoritarian AKP government - for which she lost her job as a journalist - Temelkuran draws strength and wisdom from people, places and artistic expression.
The result is a beautifully rendered account of the struggles, hopes and tragedies which make Turkey what it is today. Lamenting the commercialisation and authoritarianism which increasingly characterises Turkish society, Temelkuran sees hope in the Gezi Park protests of 2013, the electoral breakthrough of the progressive HDP party in 2015 and in the simple kindness of ordinary people.
Much more than either straightforward history or memoir, Turkey: the Insane the Melancholy is like sitting with a friendly stranger who, over raki or coffee, reveals the secrets of this rich and complex country - the historic "bridge" between east and west.

Ece Temelkuran is one of Turkey's best-known authors and political commentators. She was previously a columnist for the Habertürk newspaper, before her outspoken criticism of government repression led to her losing her job. Her previous books in English include Deep Mountain: Across the Turkish-Armenian Divide (2010) and the poetry collection Book of the Edge (2010). Ece has lived in Tunisia, Lebanon, Paris and Oxford to write her novels, which are published in several languages, and now divides her time between Istanbul and Zagreb.

Introduction
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Tomorrow: "What Will Become of This Bridge of Ours?"