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Nick Ashdown

@nickashdown.bsky.social

2.3K followers 430 following 1.2K posts

Canadian journalist/writer in Brussels writing mostly about Turkey. New Lines Magazine, LA Review of Books, Times Literary Supplement, Foreign Policy, Globe & Mail, etc. Selected clippings: https://nickashdown.weebly.com/selected-published-works

nickashdown.weebly.com

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Nick Ashdown @nickashdown.bsky.social · Nov 17

Hello new followers! I'm a Canadian journalist in Brussels (after reporting in Belgrade, Istanbul, Addis Ababa, Kigali, Ottawa) who writes mostly about Turkey. Lately though, every minute of my life has been devoted to our newborn girl, who turned 40 days old today (a big deal in Turkish culture)!

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Nick Ashdown @nickashdown.bsky.social · 4d

I’d never use it for writing, but it’s incredibly useful for research.

Nick Ashdown @nickashdown.bsky.social · 6d

Also like 250 euros total for a big boat that could fit dozens of people for the day. Can’t complain!

Nick Ashdown @nickashdown.bsky.social · 6d

The trick for southern Turkey is to go in May or September/October. We last came in June and it was already too hot. Now it’s 26 degrees, mis gibi.

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Reposted by Nick Ashdown

Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 7d

Imagine if the EU institutions bungled their budget-setting process so badly that all staff would be placed on leave without pay. You'd never hear the end of it! But oh hey it's America so just one of those things.

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Reposted by Nick Ashdown

Aaron Stein @aaronstein1.bsky.social · 9d

I wasn't making it up:

US won't sell F110 w/out the F-16 and cannot sell F-110 to SSB w/out CAATSA being resolved. Can't resolve CAATSA w/out S-400 compromise. Tr also cannot "rejoin" the F-35 consortium. It can purchase F-35 but only w/ compromise on S-400. www.middleeasteye.net/news/turkey-...

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Nick Ashdown @nickashdown.bsky.social · 8d

Erdoğan said/did this to Antakya after the earthquake, but at least he was a tad subtler about it.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 9d

Trump on Mamdani: "He is going to have problems with Washington like no Mayor in the history of our once great City. Remember, he needs the money from me, as President, in order to fulfill all of his FAKE Communist promises. He won’t be getting any of it, so what’s the point of voting for him?"

Self proclaimed New York City Communist, Zohran Mamdani, who is running for Mayor, will prove to be one of the best things to ever happen to our great Republican Party. He is going to have problems with Washington like no Mayor in the history of our once great City. Remember, he needs the money from me, as President, in order to fulfill all of his FAKE Communist promises. He won’t be getting any of it, so what’s the point of voting for him? This ideology has failed, always, for thousands of years. It will fail again, and that’s guaranteed! President DJT

Nick Ashdown @nickashdown.bsky.social · 10d

Ah there you go bsky.app/profile/euro...

EUROPE SAYS @europesays.bsky.social · 10d

Nationwide police database failure disrupts airport operations in Türkiye

https://www.europesays.com/2448973/

An interior view of Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen (ISG) Airport in Türkiye, August 3, 2025. (Photo via ISG) September…

Nationwide police database failure disrupts airport operations in Türkiye - EUROPE SAYS

An interior view of Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen (ISG) Airport in Türkiye, August 3, 2025. (Photo via ISG)

www.europesays.com

Nick Ashdown @nickashdown.bsky.social · 10d

Yeah I’ve been away for too long and was like “What’s going on it’s a cyber attack!!!”

Nick Ashdown @nickashdown.bsky.social · 10d

Ok it came back. Think it was just a regular sistem yok situation, though apparently in the whole airport.

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Nick Ashdown @nickashdown.bsky.social · 10d

Layover in Sabiha Gökçen and it is *utter chaos*. “Sistem yok,” no way to pass through passport check. Anyone know what’s going on or is it just like this all the time now?

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Nick Ashdown @nickashdown.bsky.social · 10d

This American Life has been killing it lately. Great reporting from Gaza too.

This American Life @thisamericanlife.org · 18d

On the radio this weekend: A group of immigration judges, who almost never speak to the press, describes the dismantling of our immigration court system from the inside. bit.ly/4neQ5Fi

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Nick Ashdown @nickashdown.bsky.social · 11d

This piece from last year really blew my mind on this subject.

A Revolution in How Robots Learn

A future generation of robots will not be programmed to complete specific tasks. Instead, they will use A.I. to teach themselves.

www.newyorker.com

Nick Ashdown @nickashdown.bsky.social · 11d

AI's dizzying progress has gotten all the attention, while similar advances in robotics have not. When the two combine, which they will soon, I think it will be one of the defining innovations of our time.

Move Aside, Chatbots: AI Humanoids Are Here

Today on "Uncanny Valley," we talk about why the AI industry is investing in the development of humanoid robots, and what that means for us non-robots.

www.wired.com

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Nick Ashdown @nickashdown.bsky.social · 12d

“You just see these lines of people shackled at the feet…being loaded onto planes, and only a few hundred feet away are people obliviously getting on with their rounds of golf. To me it was this kind of extremely telling image of where America is at the moment.”

www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2...

‘Like Amazon Prime but with human beings’: inside Trump’s deportation machine – podcast

Data leak gives Guardian US investigations team an unprecedented look into Trump’s deportation regime – and how people are seemingly being ‘disappeared’. Oliver Laughland and Maanvi Singh report

www.theguardian.com

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Nick Ashdown @nickashdown.bsky.social · 18d

And this was one of the best movies I’ve seen in a while. The first bit, before everything happens, where their house by the beach is just so full of life and people all the time, man, that is the way to live.

Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · Feb 22

10) I’m Still Here. A flawless, moving film. I think the mark of a really, really good movie is when you raise your hands to clap at the end of it before going “wait a second, what am I doing?” which I did after this.

Nick Ashdown @nickashdown.bsky.social · 18d

Just finished. Cozy, heartfelt, funny, just a great flick.

Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · Jun 11

26) The Ballad of Wallis Island. A moving and at times very funny film about grief and love. Really go and see it. Wonderful.

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Nick Ashdown @nickashdown.bsky.social · 22d

"[I]f the regime wants to destroy the CHP, they can. They have unchecked power. They’ve had it for a while...the regime can do whatever they want to the opposition. Resistance really is foolish. It is also the only noble thing to do." - @selimkoru.bsky.social

open.substack.com/pub/kulturka...?

Right-wing anger; Erdoğan's takeover of the opposition; collaborators; Turkey-US relations and Syria

Notebook 30

open.substack.com

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Nick Ashdown @nickashdown.bsky.social · 23d

My wife's mind was absolutely blown when she heard someone talking about échauffement (warm-up) and realized that's where the Turkish word eşofman (sweatsuit, track suit) comes from (my mind is also blown).

Nick Ashdown @nickashdown.bsky.social · 23d

Yeah I'd imagine if you asked most Trump voters why they view the Iraq or Afghanistan wars negatively, they'd mention the humiliation of *losing*, rather than any kind of moral argument against empire. It's the losing, not the war itself.

Nick Ashdown @nickashdown.bsky.social · 23d

"I think Charlie Kirk made the country a worse place. I believe his murder makes the country even worse."

John Ganz @lioneltrolling.bsky.social · 25d

I wrote about the assassination of Charlie Kirk.— www.unpopularfront.news/p/reflection...

Reflections on Violence

Two Reasons for Kirk's Murder

www.unpopularfront.news

Reposted by Nick Ashdown

Clément Plaisant @cplaisant.bsky.social · 26d

An image that speaks volumes about the political situation in Turkey: during the first hearing of the trial on allegations of ‘fake diplomas’, Mehmet Pehlivan, Ekrem İmamoğlu's lawyer, was forced to speak via videoconference, as he is currently in detention.

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Nick Ashdown @nickashdown.bsky.social · 26d

Haven't plenty of grassroots movements been violent? E.g. KKK.

Nick Ashdown @nickashdown.bsky.social · 27d

Oh wow, that must have been amazing!

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Nick Ashdown @nickashdown.bsky.social · 27d

You gotta get out of there! Go to St. Gilles (there's a food market tonight), Ixelles, Bois de la Cambre, Molenbeek by the canal for something more colourful. Beautiful weather too!

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Reposted by Nick Ashdown

This American Life @thisamericanlife.org · 29d

Mahmoud Khalil, the first student protester detained by the Trump administration, is on our show this week. We explore who he really is and what it's been like living through the day-to-day of his arrest, detention, and new notoriety. link.podtrac.com/gtm3o2gj

Watch Out for That Tree

Small human plans that run into much larger obstacles. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription. Prologue: Angela's dad, an accountant, made a spreadsheet to p...

link.podtrac.com

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