Arife Kose
@arifekose.bsky.social
1.8K followers 1.6K following 1.1K posts
PhD researcher at University of East Anglia - UK. Interested in the political theory of authoritarianism and rhetoric. I analyse authoritarianism through political speeches - currently analysing Erdogan's (president of Turkey) speeches. Refugee.
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
Pinned
arifekose.bsky.social
Hi.. Just to give you an idea about my work, I'm sharing this piece that I wrote a while ago:
​(Re)inventing the nation on the centenary of the Turkish Republic: A Rhetorical Political Analysis of Erdogan’s ‘Vision for a Century of Türkiye’
www.ideology-theory-practice.org/blog/reinven...
Reposted by Arife Kose
georgemckay.bsky.social
Some of my brilliant colleagues @uniofeastanglia.bsky.social have organised the NQIFF 2025 film festival in Norwich. It's all free! Info and programme here: www.nqiff.com #queerfilm #filmfestival
Reposted by Arife Kose
heissenstat.bsky.social
One of the big stories underway in Turkey is the process by which the ruling party is pulling in opposition leaders at both the municipal level and, more importantly, in parliament

It has both symbolic importance and direct political implications, moving TR towards a consolidated autocracy
Reposted by Arife Kose
How authoritarianism works: “But many of them..don’t want to speak on the record. These are people with stature…custodians of the American Bar….But now they’re worried about retribution, for their law firms or their family members, if they draw Trump’s ire” #highered www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/m...
‘Bow to the Emperor’:We Asked 50 Legal Experts About the Trump Presidency
www.nytimes.com
Reposted by Arife Kose
tobysjames.bsky.social
📣 Out now!

Second editions of the British Labour Leaders and British Conservative Leaders books

Edited alongside Charles Clarke, @timbale.bsky.social and Patrick Diamond for @bitebackpublishing.bsky.social
arifekose.bsky.social
Clinton. Referring to demands from Biden on the conduct of the Gaza war, Oren added: “And with president Biden who famously said don’t, don’t, don’t — and Israel did.”
“But with Donald Trump, when he says don’t, then you don’t,” said Oren. “And now that’s the rule [even for] Israel.”
arifekose.bsky.social
Background of the Israel-Hamas peace deal..
“The rule of thumb is Donald Trump’s interests come first,” said Michael Oren, a former Israeli ambassador to the US.
Before Trump, Netanyahu expanded settlements over Obama’s objections, and slow-rolled peace talks under+
www.ft.com/content/6a62...
How Trump cornered Netanyahu into signing up for peace
Israel’s prime minister has encountered the first US president he cannot easily outmanoeuvre
www.ft.com
Reposted by Arife Kose
cplaisant.bsky.social
As announced a few months ago, the Turkish parliament is preparing to vote on a new law on municipal powers. The new legislation should enable the central government to exercise even greater control over municipal prerogatives, particularly in terms of budgeting.
m.haberturk.com/ak-parti-202...
AK Parti, 2026'yı “Reform Yılı” ilan etti  | Son dakika haberleri
Cumhurbaşkanı Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, AK Parti’nin genişletilmiş il başkanları toplantısında yeni yasama yılında daha önce genel çerçevesini paylaştıkları Türkiye Yüzyılı Reform Programı'nı peyderpey ha...
m.haberturk.com
arifekose.bsky.social
Whereas in Turkey, Erdogan replaces law by decrees and trustees, in the USA, Trump does this through 'deals' signed only between Trump and the other party. This piece explains how this works in the case of Trump's attempt to take hold of the USA universities. 👇
fishkin.bsky.social
I thought I'd put the administration's proposed "compact" with universities in context, so I wrote the blog post below.

It's especially for journalists covering this story!

Many details about how the compact itself works and why the administration has retreated to this strategy.
Balkinization: The Art of Replacing the Law with the Deal
A group blog on constitutional law, theory, and politics
balkin.blogspot.com
Reposted by Arife Kose
danielsohege.bsky.social
British politics is basically a doom spiral of increasingly unhinged hostile policies.

Reform says something unhinged
⬇️
Labour counters with their own unhinged policy
⬇️
Tories shout from back they'll be even more unhinged
⬇️
Reform announces different unhinged proposal in response
⬇️
And repeat...🔁
Reposted by Arife Kose
stephenkb.bsky.social
I think it shows just how powerful the government of the day’s ability to agenda-set really is. “How do we win” is the government’s only real vision, and as a result British politics is uniquely obsessed with the next election too.
benansell.bsky.social
A lot of parties are acting as if the election is tomorrow as opposed to likely 2029 after which either Trump is out of office, or more concerningly, still in office.
roberthutton.co.uk
This is to me the most baffling aspect. Who would place a bet that the next three years won't feature some terrible horror in the US from the outfit that Badenoch and Jenrick specifically say they want to copy? bsky.app/profile/smka...
Reposted by Arife Kose
drdiongeorgiou.bsky.social
My latest weekly round-up of reading and listening recommendations, taking in authoritarian politics and international relations within the Middle East and Post-Soviet space, among other topics. 🧵

#menasky #polisky #skystorians 🗃️
Stop, Look, and Listen #51
A round-up of what I have been reading and listening to this past week.
academicbubble.substack.com
Reposted by Arife Kose
casmudde.bsky.social
It’s good to see the Greens go for an assertive and unapologetic progressive politics. It will pay off electorally, particularly long term (if they are consistent and Labour remains beholden to the “Populism Whisperers”).
Zack Polanski: 'Migrants and refugees are welcome here'
Green Party leader Zack Polanski has delivered his first conference speech as leader and criticised the rise of Nigel Farage's Reform party.
www.bbc.com
Reposted by Arife Kose
cplaisant.bsky.social
""With these defections, the AKP is also trying to give the impression that the party is still popular, since these mayors are leaving the CHP to join it. But the AKP's popularity has been steadily declining since 2015," @sinemadar.bsky.social told AFP"
www.rfi.fr/en/internati...
'Defect or be jailed': Turkey opposition mayors face new threat
Turkish opposition leaders say the government has found a new way to silence dissent: pressuring its mayors and local officials to defect to the ruling party.
www.rfi.fr
Reposted by Arife Kose
robertsaunders.bsky.social
Margaret Thatcher also patronised interviewers. But she stayed up half the night first, making sure she was better prepared than they were.

She read - and annotated - everything.

Badenoch wants to be Thatcher without the work-ethic. And that's not going to succeed.
Reposted by Arife Kose
nathankhensley.bsky.social
this great point about the social character of knowledge —how knowing real things relies on others signaling when you’re wrong—is another way of highlighting the political importance of social shame. It also clarifies the fundamental nihilism of the AI-industrial complex
arifekose.bsky.social
come from the elections anymore.In an election where Imamoglu is in prison, Erdogan's legitimacy will always be questioned.The regime in Turkey has reached its natural limits.Erdogan is still making time for himself, but whatever happens after that will open the door for a new stage-better or worse.
arifekose.bsky.social
in the international field (his photo together with Trump) or the new process with Kurds in Turkey (this photo below). This isn't a simple inclusion-exclusion or election strategy (though, I'm sure there is this too). It's a search for new resources of legitimacy because this legitimacy doesn't+
arifekose.bsky.social
threat to their authoritarian rule because authoritarianism is inclined to exclude until it can't (there's always a limit). Erdogan is going through his biggest legitimacy crises with his assault on the main opposition party, CHP. Thus, he needs to find new resources for legitimacy, like his role+
arifekose.bsky.social
Criminalizing and delegitimizing the opposition through discriminating immigrants! What could possibly go wrong!?
paleofuture.bsky.social
Ted Cruz just posted a video montage with photos of every Democratic senator altered to make them wear sombreros and mustaches. It’s set to the song Macarena.

What the fuck are we doing here?
Ted Cruz v @tedcruz
X.com
The 44 Senate Democrats who voted for Schumer's Shutdown should know that the Sombrero posting will continue until they re-open our government.
Hey, Macarena! 

[photo of Amy Klobuchar that’s been altered]
arifekose.bsky.social
shitpost has had its intended effect.'
arifekose.bsky.social
Topinka says: 'The deliberate impropriety of the shitpost makes good-faith engagement impossible. Like a children’s game of made you look, responding means either sinking to the level of the shitpost or looking ridiculous by responding earnestly to a low-effort provocation, which only proves the+
arifekose.bsky.social
turned to Erdogan and said something like 'he knows the best about how to rig elections.' It was supposed to be a joke. It was partly about normalizing rigging elections alongside amusing insiders and annoying outsiders. Everything can be subject to a joke, even if it's tragic. As a result, as+
Reposted by Arife Kose
turkeyrecap.bsky.social
🚨 New project alert!

Introducing @studyorecap.bsky.social, a multimedia news platform on all things Turkish politics in Türkçe.

The team includes long-time parliamentary reporters Ceren Bayar and Yıldız Yazıcıoğlu + Günsu Durak and Demet Şöhret.

Subscribe for daily coverage straight from Ankara:
studyorecap.bsky.social
Stüdyo recap’ten herkese merhaba, bu bizim yenilenen ismimiz ve ekibimizle yayımladığımız ilk bültenimiz ve çok heyecanlıyız!

İlk bültenimizde, gözlerimizi bugün açılacak Meclis’e çeviriyoruz.

Bülteni okumak ve abone olmak için👇🏽:
turkeyrecapturkce.substack.com/p/studyo-rec...