Erkan's field diary

Just came back from TESEV's headquarters in Karaköy. After the Hrant Dink assassination, Mr. Mahçupyan became the chief editor of the Armenian Turkish newspaper, Agos. He was a regular columnist for Zaman daily, and before that he contributed to Radikal. He is known to have radical democratic views and according to a Vikipedi entry his polemic with liberal scholar Atilla Yayla a few years ago was one of the most of productive intellectual exchanges in recent times. Anyway, he is also in charge with some TESEV projects and i visited him there. The interview was one of the least productive ones I ever conducted. He was in a hurry and he did not think he could be helpful. Even the very short exchange of views is a gem for me but i was quited disappointed, i have to say.

After a bit of waiting, thanks to Prof. Haluk Şahin, Mr. Ekşi invited me to his office in Hürriyet building and we had a relatively successfull conversation. Among the interviewees so far, he is one of the most Euro-sceptic columnists. Though this was particularly what I wanted to achieve. So i am glad to have him in my list. Mr. Ekşi a very well established columnist and he is also currently the head of the Turkish Press Council....

Posted by erkan at 11:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0)

Weather and workload seems to be obstructing my dissertation work but in the mean time I have conducted two high profile interviews. In 18 June, I had been to Mr. Zapsu's house to conduct the profile. He is an advisor to PM Erdoğan, and his official status is "special assistant and data coordinator for the Party Chair". My special thanks goes to Ayşe who mediated the scheduling. Mr. Zapsu was sincere in most of the interview and i believe his comments will certainly contribute to my thesis.

When you google him, you won't find much positive stuff about, he is a constant media target:)

Posted by erkan at 05:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

While on my way to meet Mr. Aköz, I was wondering when someone will harshly point out my methodological problems. Well, Mr. Aköz did that. Questioned me whether I was really doing media ethnography and honestly in some respects I would have to agree with him. Mr. Aköz has a substantive sociological background. Like me he graduated from the sociology department of Boğaziçi University and stayed there as a TA while he was doing his masters degree. Sometime later he became a columnist at Sabah and his intelligent but agressive style caused headaches in TV discussion on popular culture etc. He is a chess fan, by the way. A chess set is ready in his office and he frequently plays chess online. After disorienting me with his questions, he offered me great insights, I have to admit and I offer my thanks here once again...

His columns here.  

Posted by erkan at 04:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Glad to interview another well-known columnist, Cüneyt Ülsever. The interview took place at his house at the beginning of this week. His columns in Hürriyet can be found here.  

Some unexpected technical problems occurred this time. The batteries ran out but fortunately I had just bought extras. After replacing them, the recorder gave alerts that the memory was full. How come it was full, i had no idea and i deleted some older material. But then an anxious thought grasped me. What if I deleted some recordings I hadn't saved to my PC yet? It got worse when it came to signal of full memory again. I deleted more and got anxious more. In the mean time, Mr. Ülsever watched me fixing the stuff. He was kind enough not to increase my anxiety:)

p.s.  1- There is no lost in recordings. 2- I later found out that the digital recorder in my bag recorded 6 hours of silence when I had forgotten to use the hold button...

Posted by erkan at 01:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Prof. Eser Karakaş is the vice president of Bahçeşehir University and he frequently contributes to Turkish dailies on the EU process. I first realized his writings at Referans but he currently writes for Star.

So my dears I am now open to your suggestions. I have a list of would be interviewees but I would like to hear from you whom I should interview. Shoot!

Posted by erkan at 10:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Just interviewed Osman Ulagay, a regular columnist in Milliyet and the author of Tepki Cephesi [the Reaction Front - against the EU]. However, his focus in that book is mostly the opposition within the EU borders. We discussed more about the Euroscepticism in addition discussing my regular interview questions. Another playful and more than an hour interview that took place in the Marmara Cafe in Taksim...

Posted by erkan at 05:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted by erkan at 04:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

It looks like in ordinary school weeks, my Mondays and Wednesdays are becoming dissertation days as i can skip some classes these days. In recent weeks, i had been to CNN-Turk and Milliyet buildings frequently. It takes a public bus to arrive those buildings from Mecidiyeköy. Buildings are next to each other. One building complex includes all Dogan Group TV Channels that also include CNN Turk and the other building include Milliyet and Posta. After some re-scheduling Şirin Payzın (on the right) spared some time from her really busy schedule. The interview took place in a car on the way between Bağcılar to Ortaköy. I am thankful to her. A bio of hers can be found here in Turkish. She is a senior world news correspondent and recently she is making news programmes for CNN-Turk. She is one of the visible figures among Turkish journalists in Brussels at the time of summits...

I would like to drop a line on Sedat Ergin, Milliyet's chief editor.  When on Monday I stopped by his office to say hi, he asked me how my dissertation goes and offered help for new contacts. Well what can I say? Despite his busy schedule, and despite being in such a high position, he spares some time for me and provides actual help. I am glad to meet him in person. he is a candidate to occupy a high place in my acknowledgements!

I am also thankful for my dear friend Serkan and his office mate, Tuğba who host me when I come Milliyet premises and Pınar and Nez when I am in the boundaries of CNN-Turk...

On Wednesday evening, I have conducted another interview. Melih Aşık met me in The Marmara and i have had one of my most playful interviews! He is a regular columnist in Milliyet and he is known to have a sceptical approach to the EU process. His column has a bitter discourse against AKP gov't but his talk is sweet. Thank you Mr. Aşık!

Posted by erkan at 02:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Mr. Eralp had worked for years in Turkish Foregn Ministry, being an ambassador among many other posts and after his retirement, he had been an advisor to two gov'ts and currently he works as a political commentator for CNN-TURK, teaches at Kultur University and is involved in activities of TESEV. He is one of the key observants of Turkey's EU process from the outset...

Posted by erkan at 08:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Pierre Bonnard, Toilettenzimmer mit rosafarbenem Kanapee, 1908 VIA

Interviews 1-19 

Continue reading "All previous interviews (no. 1-19), for the record..." »

Posted by erkan at 02:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I interviewed Taha Akyol in his office at CNN-TURK today. He is one of most senior columnists of Turkish press. At the moment he regularly writes for Milliyet and produces a weekly political  interview/commentary program for CNN-TURK. He is also the vice president of the latter at the moment.
Mr Akyol gave me his autographed book. That's a selection of his published articles that were related to EU-TR relations...

Interviews 20-23 below...

Continue reading " Interview #24: Taha Akyol (plus int.s 20-23)" »

Posted by erkan at 05:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)