admin
A few minutes later, I will be attending the evening event at Fischerfest. Just sat down at the Ripple Cafe next to the MIT Museum and enjoying my coffee and a beautiful Boston day, beautiful Cambridge streets and a heavy dose of nostalgia. I am excited to see many of my professors who shaped my … Read more
Uber is one of the most recognizable startups in the world, but they are also one of the most fragile businesses in the world. Despite growing to ubiquity and charging significant fees to drivers and users, Uber has struggled to make the business profitable. Before, they would point to substantial revenue growth as a justification … Read more
The final session of the EU Delegation’s Disinformation Training program was held at Gaziantep University. EU Delegation celebrates Europe Day in a few cities in Türkiye, and one of them took place in Gaziantep. The celebration reception took place at the Zeugma Museum. My sister and her husband are stationed in Nizip, Gaziantep, so it … Read more
I have been hearing about Mozilla Foundation’s bad decisions from time to time and I believe shutting down Pocket is another one. In fact, I did not know that they owned Pocket and I learn this as they shut it down. They say that “After much thought,” they decided to do that, but their explanation … Read more
While on the road, I could not share about this, but such unbelievable days. Summary of the Situation As of late May 2025, the Trump administration has revoked Harvard University’s authorization to enroll international students, both new and existing, under the federal Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP)1257. This action affects more than 6,800 current … Read more
I began to observe a change of tone towards Israel in the last weeks. I asked Perplexity if this is really the case. This is how it answered: Recent Shifts in Western Media Coverage of Israel Summary of Change There has been a clear and noticeable shift in Western media coverage of Israel over the … Read more
In May 2025, a video clip of French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on a diplomatic train journey to Kyiv became the centerpiece of a viral disinformation campaign. The claim: the leaders were caught with cocaine on the table, attempting to hide evidence of drug use. … Read more
Details here This page, created as part of the Freedom of Expression Association‘s EngelliWeb project, shows how long some of the more than one million websites blocked in Turkey have been inaccessible. Our aim is to prevent the effects of censorship from being forgotten and to raise awareness about the pressures on freedom of expression.
Here are key highlights from the video “Why the US Declared War on Wikileaks: The Origin Story”, linked with accurate timestamps: 🛑 US declares WikiLeaks a “hostile intelligence service”: CIA Director Mike Pompeo’s speech marks an aggressive turn. 🧑⚖️ Greenwald critiques government’s hypocrisy: Legal expert warns about prosecuting journalists selectively. 👤 Assange as the face … Read more
Ukraine–Russia Peace Talks in Istanbul: No Ceasefire, But Largest Prisoner Exchange Agreed Summary of Ukraine-Russia Peace Talks in Istanbul (as of 18 May 2025) Key Developments First Direct Talks in Three Years: On May 16, 2025, Russian and Ukrainian delegations met in Istanbul for the first high-level, direct peace talks since early 2022, shortly after … Read more
German, Swiss, and UK consulates collaborated for an Eurovision viewing party in the historical German consulate last night. Sinem and I stopped by the party for a while. Before the party, I was in the Marmara Cafe, at the entrance of the Marmara Hotel, right in the Taksim Square. Before walking to the consulate, I … Read more
I am just back from a two-day workshop in Vienna. I am intellectually energized, as these small-scale workshops are the most productive academic sessions. It was an official meeting of the EASA Media Anthropology Network. It was great to catch up with some of the members I already knew and meet new academics. You can … Read more
The new media order is being questioned. Social media platforms that are sensitive to personal data, ad-free, and not managed by a single entity are on the rise. Users are turning to a new digital world where they have control. The digital migration is gaining momentum. Prof. Erkan Saka, Faculty Member at Istanbul Bilgi University’s … Read more
An Indian friend of mine sent me this visual that is circulating in the Indian X-sphere. I checked out the official channels and could not find any evidence. Then I asked Perplexity: There is still no confirmation that the Turkish Ministry of Tourism or any official Turkish government body released the statement shown in your … Read more
In early May 2025, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) held its 12th Congress in northern Iraq and announced it would dissolve its organizational structure and end its armed struggle. This unprecedented declaration – effectively disbanding the PKK after 40+ years of insurgency – ignited intense public reactions and debates across Turkeyreuters.comreuters.com. All segments of Turkish … Read more