Turkey Media Roundup (November 25)

[A PKK fighter in Iraqi Kurdistan, May 2013. Image by journalistanbul / Shutterstock.com] [A PKK fighter in Iraqi Kurdistan, May 2013. Image by journalistanbul / Shutterstock.com]

Turkey Media Roundup (November 25)

By : Turkey Page Media Roundup Editors

[This is a roundup of news articles and other materials circulating on Turkey and reflects a wide variety of opinions. It does not reflect the views of the Turkey Page Editors or of Jadaliyya. You may send your own recommendations for inclusion in each week`s roundup to turkey@jadaliyya.com by Sunday night of every week.]

English

Peace and Reconciliation Process

All Parties See They Cannot Afford to End Peace Process İlnur Çevik argues that the Turkish and Kurdish leadership need to focus on the goal of peace and overlook the challenges that continue to plague the process.

A National Observer for the Reconciliation Process Abdülkadir Selvi writes about the advantages of having a third-party interlocutor in the reconciliation process.

İmralı Talks Time… According to Yusuf Kanlı, any further developments in the peace process, even those involving the potential new third party mediator, will necessarily have to engage closely with Abdullah Öcalan.

What Is the US Role in the Kurdish Peace Process? Serkan Demirtaş examines the problems and advantages posed by potential US involvement in the peace process.

The Peace Train, Once Again Ali Bayramoğlu claims that the will to peace is strong even though the peace process has become more complicated with recent developments in Rojava as well as the US involvement in the process.

Asphyxiating the Violence… Markar Esayan argues that the PKK leadership in the Qandil mountains are attempting to derail the peace process by fomenting unrest and violence in Turkey.

Will Kurds Be Free Under PKK Rule? Examining a HRW report on the PYD’s governmental practices in Rojava, Orhan Kemal Cengiz claims that Kurdish autonomy under the PKK would be as coercive as the regime from which it seeks freedom.

Will PKK Bid Farewell to Arms? Comparing the PKK to ISIL, Mümtazer Türköne claims that the PKK cannot imagine itself as a non-violent organization.

Erdoğan as President

Erdoğan Abuses Islam and Cuban Muslims (1)-(2) İhsan Yılmaz claims that Erdoğan uses the discourse of Islam in order to strengthen his ego, and that he is trying to model his presidency after that of Vladimir Putin.

Erdoğan Attempts to Bury Policy Failures by Rewriting History Pınar Tremblay argues that Erdoğan’s controversial statements about the discovery of the Americas are an effort to distract attention from his government’s domestic and foreign policy failures.

In Erdoğan`s World, Two and Two May Well Equal Five According to Caleb Lauer, Erdoğan’s absurd and erratic claims “bait anti-government and anti-political Islam polemics in Turkey and the international press, which in turn help him consolidate his constituency even further.”

New Presidential Palace Is a Storm in a Teacup İlnur Çevik suggests that criticisms of the new presidential palace are greatly exaggerated because Erdoğan and his team built it for the good of Turkey.

From Atatürk to Erdoğan: Turks Rewrite History Mustafa Akyol asserts that, although the AK Party imagines itself as a “New Turkey,” in fact, it maintains the same rigid ideology of state dominance that prevailed in the “Old Turkey.”

Rewriting History Joost Lagendijk compares Erdoğan’s efforts to rewrite history with those of Vladimir Putin as a vengeful resistance to Western domination and a covering up of contemporary injustices.

Despite Differences, Turkey and Russia Forge On Semih İdiz predicts that Turkey and Russia will remain pragmatic political allies in spite of the tensions over issues like Syria, Ukraine, and Cyprus.

Where Erdoğan Falls Short of Putin Şahin Alpay claims that the similarities between Erdoğan and Putin have grown since the comparison was first made, but that the particular histories of each country maintain a set of stark differences between the leaders as well.

Rampant Arrogance of Turkey’s Islamists Abdullah Bozkurt criticizes the use of the public money for Erdoğan’s new presidential palace.

Military`s Role Broadens in `New Turkey` “Since taking his seat as Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has thrown himself into the role of commander-in-chief and drawn the armed forces closer into the political realm and manipulated security concerns to serve his agenda,” writes an unnamed correspondent.

Domestic Politics

AKP Condemns One Tragedy But Downplays Another “The AKP has pummeled the opposition CHP party for its responsibility in the 1937 Dersim tragedy, but has avoided discussing past mistakes made by Islamists,” writes Tülin Daloğlu.

Will CHP Face Its Dark Past? Mustafa Akyol argues that for the CHP to become a real alternative to the AKP, it should start facing its dark past.

Why Are Börü’s and Çetin’s Lynchers Not Being Punished? Orhan Kemal Cengiz criticizes the fact that the government did not attempt to identify the perpetrators of several lynching cases where Kurdish civilians were murdered.

The Irrelevance of the Spy Commission Lale Kemal argues that the new parliamentary Security and Intelligence Commission is irrelevant because the law gives Turkey`s intelligence agency extraordinary power and legal impunity.

Sevag Balıkçı, Berkin Elvan, Yasin Börü, Mahir Çetin, All Still Dead Günal Kurşun writes about unidentified murders in Turkey, whose perpetrators are often security and armed forces.

Kılıçdaroğlu`s `Old` Politics Etyen Mahçupyan argues that most probably the AKP will reach around fifty percent in the upcoming general elections.

CHP: Hard to Stand Against Religious, Ethnic-Based Politics Serkan Demirtaş reports that the CHP’s pre-election campaigns will address foreign policy, the economy, unemployment, and poverty.

Foreign Policy

Which Way, Ankara and Tehran? Ali Yurttagül examines recent developments in Turkish-Iranian relations and how they have been influenced by personality clashes between Erdoğan and Khamenei.

Trust Issue in Foreign Policy Ali Bulaç contends that Turkey’s recent foreign policy blunders have made it a less reliable ally for the west in the region.

EU, EP, and New Turkey Ozan Ceyhun believes that the European Union and European Parliament, caught in a number of political and economic quagmires, are squandering their opportunity to work with the New Turkey built by Erdoğan.

Different Views on Turkey-Armenia Border Issue Cavid Veliyev encourages the Turkish government to focus on its relations with Azerbaijan as it contemplates the political and economic concerns related to the potential opening of the border between Turkey and Armenia.

Bordering on Terrorism: Turkey`s Syria Policy and the Rise of the Islamic State In a recently released report, Jonathan Schanzer and Merve Tahiroğlu explore the complex geopolitical relationships between Turkey, Syria, the Islamic State, and the United States in the Turkish borderlands.

Davutoğlu`s Wishful Thinking According to Semih İdiz, statements from Davutoğlu that the United States is supporting Turkish foreign policy are at odds with statements from the United States itself.

Near Future of US-Turkey Relations Yahya Bostan examines tensions between Turkey and the United States on issues like Israel, Kurdish oil, and Syria.

Sow the Wind and Reap the Whirlwind Melih Altınok condemns what he sees as an anti-Turkish double standard in the US media’s response to the assault on US sailors in Istanbul.

Turkish Military Support to Afghanistan Rises Metin Turcan examines Turkey’s engagement with the Afghan army as other governments are downsizing their military assistance.

Turkey Damaging Ties with Latin America According to Abdullah Bozkurt, the Turkish government’s efforts to build a mosque in Cuba are “tantamount to efforts to proselytize Latin America.”

The Prime Minister in Iraq Beril Dedeoğlu underscores the geopolitical and strategic importance of Ahmet Davutoğlu’s recent visit to Iraq.

A New Phase in Turkish-African Relations İbrahim Kalın claims that Turkey’s political and economic investments in Africa are part of an attempt to foster peace and stability on the continent.

Are Turkey-European Union Relations Incurable? According to Murat Yetkin, rising unrest in the Middle East and Turkish foreign policy blunders may be damaging Turkey’s relations with the European Union.

Syria / Kobane  

Watching Kobani Cengiz Çandar writes about his experiences on the border and the faith that people have in the victory of Kobane and the defeat of ISIS.

Davutoğlu`s Critical ISIS Questions to the West Markar Esayan suggests that Turkey has been unfairly targeted with claims that it supported ISIS militants.

Ankara-KRG Ties Best Guarantee for Regional Security İlnur Çevik argues that the close relationship between the Turkish government and the government of Iraqi Kurdistan will ensure the defeat of ISIS and will help sustain the peace process.

Biden Comes to Town

Iraq is the Priority, Not Assad Yavuz Baydar argues that the United States is pouring more resources and energy into the stability of Iraq rather than the stability of Syria.

Biden and Turkish Democracy Ömer Taşpınar examines the changing nature of the United States’ relationship with Turkey since the ascension of Erdoğan to the presidency.

US Wants Turkey`s Boots on the Ground Verda Özer suggests that the recent high-profile visits of US political figures to Turkey is part of an effort to involve Turkey more directly in the conflicts in Syria and Iraq.

Biden`s Visit Confirms Late US-Turkey Rapprochement Kılıç Buğra Kanat claims that pragmatism and common goals in the Middle East have enabled the US and Turkey to overcome recent tensions regarding Syria and Iraq.

Economy

Budget Reflects Security-First Policies Lale Kemal argues that the increased funding for national security in Turkey reflects the state’s increasing authoritarianism.

Slowing Growth Affects Turkey`s Economic Balances Erdal Sağlam examines the pros and cons of the leveling out of the Turkish economy.

Will US-EU Trade Deal Dissolve the EU-Turkey Customs Union? Mehmet Çetingüleç believes that a free trade agreement between the EU and the US would damage Turkish exports.

The G20, a Global Showdown, and Turkey`s Struggle According to İbrahim Karagül, Turkey’s assumption of the rotating presidency of the G20 will drastically change the power dynamics between the most and least rich countries in the group.

The G20 War Games Mustafa Aydın asserts that the tensions among member states at G20 overshadowed the summit’s actual agenda.

Turkey`s Expanding G20 Agenda Sadık Ünay sees Turkey’s ascension to the presidency of the G20 is especially advantageous for Turkey’s economic position relative to other emerging powers.

The G20 and the Global Dead End Taha Özhan argues that Turkey will transform the G20 into an organization that prioritizes the economies of the Global South.

Other Pertinent Pieces

How a German Doctor Became a PKK Hero Amberin Zaman profiles Dr. Medya, a German doctor who joined the PKK over twenty years ago and who continues to treat patients—primarily women—in the Qandil mountains.

Harvard Researcher Harassed After Speaking Out Against AKP Pınar Tremblay examines the case of Emrah Altındiş as well as the responses of other expatriates to Altındiş’ experiences as a consequence of his comments to Abdullah Gül last May.

Turkish

Peace and Reconciliation Process

Çözüm sürecine milli göz Abdülkadir Selvi argues that a new ground for dialogue was re-established in the peace process.

Fırat Anlı: Karakol inşaatları bile bölgeye yatırım diye gösteriliyor In an interview with İrfan Aktan, Diyarbakır co-mayor Fırat Anlı argues that public money is channeled to the war economy.

Moro’lu Müslümanlara otonomi, Kürtlere ‘kamu düzeni’ Nuray Mert compares the peace process in the Philippines to Turkey.

"Kobane, çözüm süreci için aşı olabilir..." According to Fuat Keyman, all parties in the peace process learnt their lessons from Kobane.

Çözüm çatışmasızlık mı? Saluhan Oluç reminds us that disarmament alone cannot lead to peace and a solution.

Çözüm döneminin yeni aşaması Tarhan Erdem criticizes the vagueness and lack of predictability in the peace and reconciliation process.

‘Sekretarya, milli göz’ iyi de bu tutuklamalar neyin nesi? Veysi Sarısözen emphasizes that the AKP should stop military operations and political arrests to prove its sincerity in the peace process.

Süreci sürdürmek zorunluluğunu üreten toplumsal dinamikler Bekir Ağırdır argues that despite the weakening of the peace process, the public’s expectations for peace pressed all parties to continue negotiations and to establish a new ground for dialogue.

PKK’nın seçimi According to Mümtazer Türköne, the success of the peace process relies on the PKK’s acceptance of pluralism and co-existence.  

Üçüncü göz mü dediniz? Nuriye Akman writes about the formation of a "third eye" committee in order to render the peace process transparent.

Tutuklamalar misilleme hakkını doğurmuştur Hüseyin Ali finds it paradoxical that the AKP decided to continue the peace process while increasing the arrests of Kurdish politicians and activists.

Kürtlere "hamilik" yarışı “Turkey needs the PKK not only for establishing public order but also to become a powerful party in US-Iran formula,” writes Arzu Yılmaz.

Kriz sorusu: `Çözüm` hangi sorunu çözecek? Vedat İlbeyoğlu argues that the AKP’s insistence on disarmament of the PKK enables it to stall and postpone the peace process while deceiving the public.

Davutoğlu’nun Hewlêr ziyareti Seyit Evran describes Prime Minister Davutoğlu’s Hewler visit as an attempt to ally with Kurds given Turkey’s isolation in the Middle East.  

Erdoğan as President

`Büyük Adam` mı? Cengiz Çandar argues that neither President Erdoğan nor Prime Minister Davutoğlu can be called a “Big Man” because they drew a Syria Policy without an “exit strategy.”

Erdoğan `İkinci Gezi Parkı` mı planlıyor? Hakan Aksay criticizes the AKP’s attempts to revive Gezi Park protests as a strategy before the elections.

Ya olmasaydı ‘Adalet ve Kalkınma’ Sarayı? Sibel Yerdeniz compares Erdoğan’s “White Palace” to the abject poverty, hunger, issues of child labor, and workers’ deaths in Turkey.

AKP, AKP`ye karşı Ahmet İnsel argues that the AKP’s party program in 2003 is the exact opposite of its contemporary policies.

Sarayınızın ışıltısı, Anadolu’nun yoksulluğu Mehmet Kamış critically juxtaposes Erdoğan’s “White Palace” with the pervasive poverty in Anatolia.

Erdoğan ve Doğu’da macera aramak! Hasan Cemal criticizes Erdoğan’s sympathetic approach to the East Asian mode of capitalism combined with the weakening of democracy.

Güvenlik devletine doğru koşar adım Lale Kemal points out that neither the White Palace’s costs nor the government’s expenditure on security are watched and monitored.

"Yurtta stres, cihanda stres" Baskın Oran argues that Erdoğan caused so many stresses and tensions both in domestic and international politics.

Tarihin inkarı ve yalana dayalı `medeniyet savaşı` Commenting on Erdoğan’s arguments that the Americas were discovered not by Columbus but by Muslims, İhsan Çaralan argues that Erdoğan carries a “war of civilization” both in domestic and foreign politics.

Rejimin trajik zekâsı Evren Balta uses the concept of “tragic brilliance” in order to explain the success and stability of Erdoğan’s government despite corruption allegations, unlawfulness, and political crises.

Dersim Massacre / Alevi Opening

‘Kürt yok Türk var’dan dolayı da bu devletin özür borcu yok mu? Hasan Cemal reminds us that Turkey needs to apologize not only for 1938 Dersim Massacre but also for the 1915 Armenian Genocide and the ongoing denial and assimilation of Kurds.

Dersim soykırımı ve ulus devlet paradigması Ülker Sarı and Canan Baki argues that the 1938 Dersim Massacre was organized as a product of the nation-state paradigm and liberal economy-politics.

CHP özür diledi ama devlet de diledi mi? Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu questions whether or not the CHP’s apology to Alevis for the Dersim Massacre was an official apology.

CHP, yanlış (geç) zamanda, yanlış (Dersim) özür diledi Raffi A. Hermonn argues that the CHP should have apologized to Alevis not for the Dersim Massacre but for the Sivas and Maraş Massacres.   

Dersim: Ulusal vicdanın yarası, siyasetin yüz karası… Oya Baydar defines the Dersim Massacre as the “wound of national conscience and shame of politics.”

Alevi açılımı According to Hüseyin Şengül, the AKP’s Alevi Opening aims at further assimilating Alevis.

Dersim’in günahı Hayko Bağdat highlights the fact that Alevis do not only want an apology, but justice and equality.

`Dersim açılımı` bir safsatadır! İhsan Çaralan criticizes the fact that the AKP uses the Dersim Massacre as a strategic tool for attacking the CHP and dividing Alevis.

Syria / Kobane

Kobani`ye bakmak, Obama`dan duymak Relaying his first-hand observations from Suruç, Cengiz Çandar argues that the US started to develop an alliance and collaboration with Kurds.

25 Kasım günü Kobanê Şengal Rojava deyip sınıra akmak Ayşe Berktay calls all women to the Turkey-Syria border to support women’s struggle in Rojava, Şengal, and Kobane.

Şengal’i kurtarmak gerekiyor Murat Karayılan, the commander of the PKK, draws attention to ISIS attacks in Şengal.  

Özgür Suriye Ordusu Halep`i terk etti, lideri Türkiye`ye kaçtı Murat Yetkin analyzes the consequences of a Free Syrian Army leader’s abandonment of Aleppo.

Foreign Policy

`Öksüz Ermeni halısı` ve Türk-Amerikan ilişkileri Gönül Tol argues that Turkey is no longer a powerful actor in the US-led international fight against ISIS.

Türkiye-Afrika ilişkilerinde yeni dönem “It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to argue that Africa is where the AKP was most successful in terms of its foreign policy,” writes Mehmet Özkan.

"Yeni Türkiye"ye "yeni Washington" Cengiz Çandar argues that Prime Minister Davutoğlu is overshadowed by President Erdoğan’s weakening yet still pervasive influence in Washington.

Economy

Sermaye Türkiye’den kaçıyor, işsizlik artıyor Süleyman Yaşar reports that unemployment is rising as a result of the withdrawal of capital from Turkey.

“Yeni Türkiye”nin temelinde işçi kanı var Kerem Emre Berk argues that the AKP’s “new Turkey” is built upon the “blood of informal workers.”

2015 Bütçe Tasarısı’na ait kısa notlar: Çalışma ve Sosyal Güvenlik Bakanlığı Bütçesi Mustafa Durmuş reports that more than 1,400 workers died in 2014 as a result of neoliberal transformation and the lack of work safety.

Türkiye ekonomisi durgunluk yaşıyor Selim Işıklar argues that Turkey is undergoing stagflation.  

Other Pertinent Pieces

Ermeni aileler, 1915`te can kurtaran Türkleri anlatıyor: Anneannemi tandıra saklamışlar Aris Nalcı conveys the stories of Armenian families who survived the 1915 Genocide.

Çocuk Hakları mı dediniz? Nurcan Baysal writes about the absence of child rights for Kurdish children who grow up amidst an ongoing armed conflict and political struggle for freedom and rights.

Faşizme varan yolda kritik bir durak: Şaşırmamak Murat Sevinç warns against the internationalization of fascism.

Cezasızlık, barış ve demokrasi Murat Çelikkan criticizes the legal impunity of the armed forces and intelligence services in Turkey.

Published on Jadaliyya

Yerellik ve Evrensellik arasinda Rojava deneyimi

Armenian Diaspora Tourism in Turkey: An Interview with Anny Bakalian

Yirca`da Acele Kamulastirma, Hukuksuzluk ve Direnis: Olcay Bingol ve Deniz Bayram ile Roportaj

The Poverty of Moral Answers to Political Questions: On Perceptions of Islam in the Wake of ISIS

Epohi Interview with Jadaliyya Co-Editor Ziad Abu-Rish on the Emergence of ISIS and Regional Ramifications

New Texts Out Now: Nazan Maksudyan, Orphans and Destitute Children in the Late Ottoman Empire

Call for Papers--Transformed Nations: State-Policies in Kurdish Populated Areas of Syria, Iraq, Turkey, and Iran (Istanbul, 23 February 2015)

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The Chronicle of Higher Education Interviews Jadaliyya Co-Founder Bassam Haddad

The following interview was conducted by Ursula Lindsey with Jadaliyya Co-Editor Bassam Haddad in preparation for a feature about Jadaliyya for The Chronicle of Higher Education. The feature was published on 29 September 2014 and can be accessed by clicking here.

Ursula Lindsey (UL): Could you send me any statistics on the readership of Jadaliyya? I would like to get a sense of the overall size of the readership, and how it is geographically distributed.

Bassam Haddad (BH): We have become much less interested in numbers after having passed an important threshold in 2013, but we do not totally ignore them! Unfortunately (because one would like to see an alternative), the best indicator of the growth and expansion of readership has been “Facebook Reach,” which increased from around fifty thousand per week during the first six months in 2010–2011, to one million in 2012–2013, and surpassed 2.3 million in 2014. We actually stopped monitoring such numbers as closely, but know that our social media and classroom presence continues to increase steadily as our Facebook followers have surpassed 130,000. These followers are pretty active in circulating our content, and constitute a large part of how Jadaliyya content is disseminated. Twitter is another indicator. However, we refrain from tweeting too much, as shown by our tweets-to-followers ratio—which is perhaps among the highest (9900 tweets and twenty-seven thousand followers), at about thirty percent. The closest we have seen in our field is about forty-five to fifty percent. This reflects the extent to which each post/article, and/or tweet, is generating interest. It is important to note that our Arabic reading audience, world-wide but mainly in the region itself, has quadrupled since 2011, and now constitutes almost thirty to thirty-five percent of our readership, a testimony to how local informed readers elect to turn to Jadaliyya frequently—largely because our writers on local matters are either writing from the region or are intimately connected with the region.

As to other forms of tracing numbers, such as unique visitors, they seem quite inconsistent because the extent to which Jadaliyya is read not only via Android, iPhone, and iPad apps, but also because of the unusually large level of circulation of PDFs via huge email lists (which we are on and we see!) and, most importantly, its ubiquitous presence on syllabi (for instance, our unique visitors to the site hover around 500,000 a month, while most read Jadaliyya off line via email, PDF, or apps). Our Middle East scholars/educators/researchers list, now combined with that of Tadween Publishing, our sister organization, tops eight thousand engaged Jadaliyya readers who are increasingly assigning material from Jadaliyya.

The reason this happens is not only because we have good content. There is plenty good content if one searches the net carefully. Rather, it because of four very specific reasons: first, our good content has a long shelf-life, an outcome that is built into the editorial process; second, Jadaliyya content serves as an explicit resource or reference, through twelve topical and country/region-specific Media Roundups, profiles and archival posts for reference use, as well as weekly pedagogical reviews of new books, films, documentaries, art exhibits, and relevant social media items; third, Jadaliyya, in conjunction with Tadween’s blog, has become the space that most educators/researchers constantly visit for matters related to academic freedom, publishing, and higher education in the region as well as the United States and Europe; finally, our Jadaliyya content is selectively tapped to produce books and pedagogical publications that are published by Tadween Publishing and other publishers like Palgrave and Pluto Press, giving more gravity, and more longevity, to Jadaliyya content. One important source of such readers is JADMAG, of which we have so far produced five issues geared to educators, and chock-full of resources that are compiled and categorized at the end of each issue. (see www.JadMag.org or www.TadweenPublishing.com for more information). 

This source of readership is constantly expanding as Jadaliyya seems to be the only available site for such content (now quadro-lingual), and is our litmus test and what keeps us on our toes from day to day. The reason we emphasize this source in relation to numbers and quality is because the population of students reading Jadaliyya material based on educators’ choices is increasing exponentially at times, and serves as our most consistent source of readership with time especially that newcomers from that sphere become loyal readers. 

It is no surprise that the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) consistently sends us their critical public letters to publish when they want to reach the broader academic and research/journalist communities, including beyond the United States. It is not something you see consistently on any other website. And this applies to various other organizations that would like to reach the same expansive cohort (based in the United States, Europe, or the Middle East), including the new Arab Council for the Social Sciences (ACSS).

Our colleague and professor of Arabic literature at Brown University, Elias Muhanna, who also runs his own popular blog, Qifa Nabki, commented openly at a conference that he does not know a professor teaching the modern Middle East who does not have a variety of Jadaliyya articles on their syllabi—an honor that ranges from rare to unique when it comes to similar online publications. 

UL: We discussed stories that caused particularly strong debates, and you mentioned the critique of DAM`s video. Are there any other pieces that sparked debates?    

BH: Just to clarify, this last piece sparked more than a debate, as some folks where actually unhappy with the approach—though we are still in good communication with the concerned parties (e.g., DAM) given our approach to the matter. The pieces that sparked debate, discussion, and the like are actually many, and I am not sure it would be fair to single out a handful. However, the notable pieces that drew heated debates and attention revolve around the July coup in Egypt, or around the nature of the Syrian uprising. But this is almost a continuous variable, and still sparks heated discussions that reflect the polarization on these matters among concerned publics. Nonetheless, we continue to get serious engagement—even if sometimes a bit over the top—from detractors on various topics, from Palestine and Syria, to articles on sexuality, Islam, and even literature and film. The fact that detractors of the entire publication continue to engage and critique reveals a sense of legitimacy that even this cohort associate with Jadaliyya. For a critical publication, this is priceless, and we think we will fail if we do not maintain that level of quality and legitimacy.

UL: What are the most common criticisms or suggestions for improvement your get? Do you think they are valid? Where do you see room for improvement? When I last saw Jadaliyya Co-Editor Sinan Antoon in Cairo, he said, for example, he thought the site might publish less so as to focus more on the quality of the writing. 

BH: Oh, dear, there are all kinds, and so many of which come from us, the editors, given that various page teams are relatively autonomous. Our position on critique is simple: we ignore any critique at our own peril. This does not mean that all criticisms are equally valid. They are not. It does, however, mean that we take them seriously and assume their validity until we can illustrate otherwise to ourselves and to others. In most instances, critiques do include a modicum of validity, and our responsiveness to nearly every single significant line of critiques (based on a compilation) is the reason we keep growing in quality and numbers. We surely miss some, and we surely make mistakes even in assessing critiques—but these represent a minority of cases within our practice. Based on what we have heard, we see room for improvement in soliciting even more writing from the region; in working harder to get more pieces from the scene, on intractably controversial matters, like Syria; and we agree that we, like any successful publication, can get too comfortable with its status quo of readership and contributors. But questions like yours, and internal discussions based on similar observations, push us on a quarterly basis to make a deliberate and explicit effort to reach out. This is in fact why we dramatically expanded the Arabic section (in terms of readership and contributors) during the past two years. 

All in all we operate on a five-year plan of sorts (despite the problematic association with five-year plans). At this point, as we are still in our fourth year, we are establishing ourselves as a serious and perhaps the go-to publication for informed readership. But you will soon see some changes that will expand our scope and spice things up a bit in a productive direction, at a time when we need not worry as much about the basics and daily operations. Our challenge, actually, is to maintain the essentially voluntary-based nature of Jadaliyya. Therefore, much of what we have focused on during the first years of establishment involves building the best team there is, or what we think is such, under these circumstances. It is a continuing challenge, but it has been working since 1992 when the parent organization, the Arab Studies Journal, started.

As to the question of quantity verses quality, we exercise a mean purge every quarter, precisely to avoid the false impression that quantity is synonymous with quality. Surely, we fail here and there. However, the one development since 2013 has been the reduction of the output rate—which we view as having been somewhat unavoidable as this is how you connect with new readership and contributors in the early stages—from about 175 pieces per month to about 110-120 (though this includes all posts and reports, etc.). But this challenge continues, and—frankly—we hold ourselves to standards that are not observed in comparable publications that either focus on one country, or one approach (e.g., Foreign Policy), or one audience, or one language, or one discipline, etc. So we have to make up our own standards for a new kind of publication. All this takes time, and we welcome any criticism that allows us to meat our challenge. We are not sensitive to productive critique at all! We will fail without it. 

UL: You mention detractors of the site—any examples?

BH: Every new initiative gives rise to critics, and that is a good thing. What is interesting about Jadaliyya’s critics, most of them at least, is that they critique and stick around for the most part—largely because of what they tell us verbatim at times: “We expect more from Jadaliyya,” or something of the sort. Now the question of who these critics are depends on the issue, and often our biggest critics on one topic are our biggest fans on another. Syria is a good example where we get flack from both pro-opposition corners and anti-opposition corners, but you would find avid readers of other Jadaliyya pages among both varieties. Do we have critics that do not think Jadaliyya is worth reading at all? You bet! There is very little we can do to convince those voices otherwise. Having said all of that, the fact is that Jadaliyya has filled a gap and presented a centrifugal force around which critics of mainstream discourse on the region in the United State and beyond hover. That in and of itself has generated detractors. 

UL: It seems to me that Jadaliyya has a pretty clear, consistent identity, both in its politics and its theoretical orientations. The people who edit and write it are generally the same age and peer group, and many have known each other for a long time. Do you think you have a wide enough variety of views? Do you feel like Jadaliyya has been able to spark debates outside of a community of like-minded contributors and readers? 

BH: [One factual note: the editors and contributors are by no means of similar age or belong to similar social circles—not after 2011, regarding the latter comment, and have never been, regarding the former comment. We have had more than a thousand contributors and the Jadaliyya team surpasses eighty people living in different countries now. Any cursory view of any fifty consecutive posts reveals a variety that easily surpasses most comparable publications. As for views, it is a political challenge, not always a question of diversity. See below.]

This is the one-million dollar question. Yes, any good publication must struggle with this dialectic of building a readership based on a particular kind/nature of knowledge production, but then expanding it to attract new readership and contributors while retaining the reason for its success. Are we guilty of not doing this perfectly? Absolutely. Have we gone far beyond most other publications to allow for serious internal differences and reach out to new and alternative views? Absolutely. But that does not exhaust the question. As mentioned above, we are in the building stage, and we view a good part of the shortcomings as related byproducts. However, this is one of our fundamental goals as we enter and complete our fifth year, and it will not come without its risks, risks we are very happy to take. Most importantly in reference to sparking discussion or debates, Jadaliyya articles have been written about and discussed in conferences and in social media in ways that have actually jump-started broader research questions and helped set research agendas—not to mention the impact of Jadaliyya on the carriers of junior writers who make their debut there and then get picked up by other institutions who are hiring, paying, and producing knowledge. The list is pretty long.

Having said that, two comments are relevant here. First, we are not and do not pretend to be an open forum for all views. Though I suspect you recognize that and you are not asking about why we do not highlight and invite problematic (racist, sexist, classist, etc. writers), but rather, from within the perspective we support, we may still afford more variety—and that is totally fair, and the above addresses our need to meet this challenge in increasingly better ways.

The second comment is political, and refers to the context within which Jadaliyya and other publications emerged in recent years. We see ourselves as a counter-discourse in relation to the dominant and quite entrenched discourse on the Middle East in the United States primarily, but also beyond. We also see ourselves in the same manner in relation to the petro-media empire of some Arab states. In this context, we are trying to provide an alternative reference point for sound daily analysis on the region. To establish that difficult reality and standard, we have had to be more focused on consistency and quality, sometimes at the expense of maximum diversity. So, we are not, per se, seeking diversity of “views” in the absolute sense, which is a matter/goal that speaks more to liberal concerns that are often divorced from realities of power and its direct relation to dominant discourses. However, where we have room to improve on this particular point, which is how we understand your question, is to establish even more diversity “within” the “general” perspective we endorse. And, yes, we do have some work to do in that respect, but not always for lack of trying. We are fighting an uphill battle and we also have to pay attention to the challenge of dragging everyone along while expanding this spectrum (i.e., the million-dollar challenge/question above). The years ahead will speak louder than any words regarding our genuine interest in making this happen within the context of a counter-discourse movement.

Also, we do not pay our writers, and this restricts us by excluding many careerist writers who might have provided a diversity of sorts despite differing views.

Finally, it is important to note that beyond the essentials, we have ongoing viewpoint disagreements within Jadaliyya regarding content and particular pieces. We think it is a testament to the absence of a rigid conception regarding which particular views are welcome.

UL: Finally, there is an argument that young academics should focus on scholarly work and publication and not "waste" their ideas and time on writing for web sites and other venues. How do you respond to that? 

BH: We totally agree in principle, considering the kind of online publications and quality that proliferates. And whereas we would give the same advice, we cannot ignore the fact that the strategic position of Jadaliyya within the academic community can be a plus for rising academics who would like to be read and heard. Last year alone, several folks within and outside Jadaliyya remarked to us how valuable their Jadaliyya contributions were in capturing the attention of employers/academics in the hiring process. This semi-exception is borne out of the fact that Jadaliyya has indeed become the go-to place for academics generally, despite what this or that observer can say, sometimes legitimately, about the quality of this or that post. We just have to make sure that this continues to be kept to a minimum in the coming five, or ten, years!

So, in short, it depends. In the case of Jadaliyya, publishing there can be used strategically to enhance one’s chances of getting an academic job. We used to think that this was not the case before we were told otherwise by employers and during academic interviews. Used properly, it can be a plus, and this is not confined to Jadaliyya, as there are a number of quality publications out there. The world is changing, and the academic community is following suit, even if at a few steps behind.

UL: Are you planning on publishing anything soon on Obama`s war on ISIS?

BH: Yes, we have published a number of pieces addressing the rise and nature of ISIS, in both Arabic and English, and, beginning the week of 22 September, our fourth anniversary incidentally, we are publishing a regular media roundup specifically on ISIS-related articles. Stay tuned!