Turkey
Beyond belief
It’s a mistake to turn Hagia Sophia back into a mosque
High life
Aristophanes was a comic genius long before the Marx Brothers, but he also gave good advice to the Athenians: stop…
Will the impeachment inquiry stuff Donald Trump?
President Trump was talking turkey today. At the White House, he performed a solemn task. He pardoned what he referred…
Riveting and beautifully staged analysis of totalitarianism: Arcola’s #WeAreArrested reviewed
When the RSC does modern drama it usually lays on an ultra-worthy yarn with a huge cast, dozens of fancy…
Portrait of the week: Brexit uncertainty, Turkey in Syria and a Chinese threat
Home Brexit teetered from uncertainty to uncertainty. Parliament had been summoned to sit on Saturday 19 October to debate what…
![Kurdish politician Hervin Khalaf, who was apparently pulled from her car and executed last week by Turkish-backed paramilitaries [Photo: Getty]](https://www.spectator.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Paul_Wood.jpg?w=410&h=275&crop=1)
Pax Russica: as Trump abandons Syria’s Kurds, Russia is ready to expand its empire
While American troops were hurriedly leaving north-eastern Syria, a young female Kurdish politician called Hervin Khalaf was pulled from her…
What Mary Wollstonecraft writes about motherhood is still so relevant
Walking into Fingal’s Cave, after scrambling across the rocks to reach it from the landing stage where the boat from…
The day Turkish democracy died
‘It’s official. Turkey is a banana republic!’ My friend Mustapha, a serial entrepreneur, sends me a flurry of doom-laden WhatsApp…
Lessons from the Greeks on rebuilding Notre Dame
As soon as the blaze that nearly brought down Notre Dame was extinguished, two questions were asked: how did it…
I Will Never See the World Again, Ahmet Altan’s fourth book written from prison
There’s no getting away from that title. I will never see the world again. It catches your eye on the…
Prue Leith’s Christmas kitchen nightmares
Christmas in our family seems to guarantee tears and tantrums as well as jingle bells and jollity. Indeed, in my…
Turkey vs Saudi: the real story behind Khashoggi’s murder
Istanbul In another time, in another place, we might never have known about the death of Jamal Khashoggi. In a…
A day of reckoning is coming for America’s muddled Middle East policies
Beirut ‘If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense,’ said Alice. ‘Nothing would be what it…
Melissa Kite: Hell is a porcelain kitchen tile
If only I knew whether I would have a kitchen, I could order a turkey. But despite having an almost…
Well of sorrows
The Red-haired Woman is shorter than Orhan Pamuk’s best-known novels, and is, in comparison, pared down, written with deliberate simplicity…
A woman of some importance
It might seem unlikely that a Christian noblewoman could have had influence over a Muslim city in the 13th century,…
Portrait of the week
Home In the Queen’s Speech, the government made provision for bills against extremism and in favour of driverless cars, drones,…
The power of song
You might not think that the Eurovision Song Contest (screened live from Stockholm tonight) could have any connection with how…
Turkey’s triumph
President Erdogan has the EU’s leaders exactly where he wants them
Portrait of the week
Home Junior doctors went on strike for two days, refusing to provide even emergency treatment. The 96 Liverpool fans who…
A poem for Erdogan
Pen a foul verse in honour of the Turkish leader and be in the running for a £1,000 poetry prize!
Desperate straits
The Turkey-EU deal will do nothing to fix the migrant crisis. Just ask the people-smugglers in Istanbul
Turkey’s blackmail
Looked at from the narrow perspective of how to deal with the lethal business of human trafficking across the Aegean,…
Portrait of the week
Home The Bank of England arranged for banks to be able to borrow as much money as they needed around…
Portrait of the week
Home David Cameron, the Prime Minister, spent time in Brussels before a meeting of the European Council to see what…
