Bahar Leventoglu

political scientist at Duke, part-time NYer, fiction and film buff, bookworm, travel lover, runner, food and wine enthusiast that will never grow up!

[Allie Esiri, Poetry curator @AllieEsiri]

A day out with a friend signing books in the Poetry Pharmacy on Oxford Street. Thank you. So much about your magical shop made us happy...
⁦@emergencypoet⁩ 🙏💕📚

[Allie Esiri, Poetry curator @AllieEsiri]

The moon did shine last night

Rehearsal for the 'London Library Players'. One night only: scenes from A Midsummer Night's Dream for ⁦@TheLondonLib⁩ summer party.

[nevsin mengu @nevsinmengu]

Fatih Altaylı hakkında tutuklu yargılama kararı çıktı.
Söylediklerinin bağlamından koparılarak sosyal medya kampanyasına dönüştürüldüğü çok açık.
Bu karar, ifade özgürlüğü açısından bir geri adım;
toplum vicdanında da karşılık bulması zor

[Allie Esiri, Poetry curator @AllieEsiri]

My book brought alive by this lot – only at Hay Festival!

Rehearsing and cast photos in the Green Room for my 365 Poems for Life Hay Poetry gala

Huge thanks to all

[DukePoliticalScience @DukePoliSci]

"The growing hostility of the conservative elite toward higher education institutions also reflects transformations on the campuses themselves."
- Pablo Beramendi
https://t.co/YXJPdTyM8w

[DukePoliticalScience @DukePoliSci]

Congratulations to Herbert Kitschelt, the 2025 Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science laureate!

"Herbert Kitschelt is intellectually deep and creative, focused on major questions and consistently creating synergies across different areas of the discipline."
- Pablo Beramendi

[Ömer Zülfü Livaneli @LivaneliZulfu]

Sırrıcığım Sevgili kardeşim. Namuslu yaşayıp namuslu ölen onur abidesi. Annemi genç yaşta kaybettiğimiz zaman anneannem “Kısası kıyamete kaldı kınalı kuzumun” diye ağıt yakmıştı. Bizim de tekrar görüşmemiz kıyamete kaldı. Gecen aydınlık olsun sevgili kardeşim❤️

[Banu Guven @banuguven]

Bu memleketin sana bir barış borcu var Sırrı Süreyya Önder. Hakkını ödeyemeyiz.

[Selahattin Demirtaş @hdpdemirtas]

Bir tane mezarın yok ki, on milyonların kalbine gömüleceksin. Hangi birini ziyaret edem, hangisine yüzüm sürem gardaş.

Git, yolun açık olsun abe can, her daim kıymetlimizsin. Ama gülüş değil ki, bıyık değil ki sana yakışsın; ölüm sana yakışmadı, olmadı gardaş.

[Allie Esiri, Poetry curator @AllieEsiri]

📣The most brilliant actors!

🎭Shakespeare at its most accessible and fun!

🎟️25th May, Shakespeare Live! for one night only at the magical outdoor theatre in Regents Park

(And more cast to be announced soon)

[Allie Esiri, Poetry curator @AllieEsiri]

Excited to return on Sunday 25 May. Link below.

This was last year's cast photo:

https://t.co/8AU0ytjA83

[Daron Acemoglu @DAcemogluMIT]

Turkish democracy was ailing even before the main contender for challenging (and perhaps winning against) President Erdoğan, the Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu was arrested last week on charges that many are arguing to be trumped up.

This by itself is noteworthy. It has become more so because it has also triggered widespread protests, which Turkey has not experienced since those surrounding the Gezi Park were put down.

What makes all of this so significant is that the current geopolitical situation has created a new opportunity for Turkey, which the country should not squander.
It goes something like this. Trump is attempting to remake the world order, not just fundamentally damaging American democracy. The US is increasingly allying itself with nondemocratic, authoritarian countries. The president is famously keen on staying in good terms with Russia’s autocratic leader Vladimir Putin. Despite all the talk of tariffs and chip wars, Trump could also form a new, and more friendly, transactional relationship with China.

The countries that Trump seems less interested in aligning the US with are the European ones and Canada. He’s also signaling the possibility of the US reneging its commitments to NATO (something that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago).

This could all change, if Democrats take back the House of Representatives in the midterms in 2026 and slow down Trump’s attack on US institutions and efforts to remake the global order, and then when the 2028 presidential election to reverse their consequences and rebuild US democracy. But so far, there is no guarantee that they will be able to do so. We should certainly not count on US institutions surviving intact for four more years.

The possibility of a new European block (perhaps joined by Canada), committed to liberal democracy and its own defense, is no longer unthinkable.
In the context of these developments, Turkey will have a choice. It can remain outside of both blocks. It can cozy up to the US-Russia-China axis. Or it can become part of the European block.

The European path is not a pie-in-the-sky. Turkey already has the second-largest ministry in NATO, and would be a crucial partner to Germany, France and other European countries in building a common defense. With rapid aging of European populations, the specter of more Turkish immigration to Europe may no longer be as daunting.

Becoming part of the European Union and the European defense pact would be game changers for Turkey. The country’s economy has been struggling because of lackluster productivity growth since 2006, and consequently slow real wage growth, despite endemic poverty. European markets, European capital, and most importantly European technology and joint venture opportunities with European companies could substantially boost Turkey’s productivity potential. (Recall, in this context that, the most rapid period of productivity growth in Turkey's recent past, between 2002-2006, was in the context of the country’s EU accession talks).

Yet, this path requires Turkey’s commitment to democracy.

Turkey needs to credibly signal to its European partners that it will try to reverse the downward slide of its democratic institutions (which has given the country the dubious achievement of being one of the worst performers, globally, in terms of worsening of democracy).

It will require its government to accept and even celebrate civil society activity and protests.
It will require the country’s youth to build on its newfound, greatest enthusiasm for politics and become even more engaged in the country’s affairs.

It will require the population to see Europeans as partners (that of the open sequence nationalist fervor directed against all Western powers).

Who will take this path? President Erdoğan has proven over the last several decades that he can change with the times and opportunities (and can bring his base together when he makes such turnarounds). But the change in perspective and institutional approach that is required here may be more radical than trying to bring the Kurds into the fold (which the president is now attempting).

There is no guarantee that Turkey will take this path. If President Erdoğan does not attempt it (as is likely), Turkish politics will become more uncertain and more confrontational. It remains unclear who will take the lead and whether this leader will be allowed to kickstart the necessary epochal transformation for the country’s future.

[Başak Demirtaş @Basak__Demirtas]

Herkese merhabalar,

Sağlığım iyi, daha da iyiye gidiyor. Tedavim boyunca özveriyle çaba gösteren tüm sağlık emekçilerine çok teşekkür ediyorum.

Merak eden, soran, dua eden, selam gönderen herkese, halkımıza çok teşekkür ediyorum, sağ olun, var olun.

[David Axelrod @davidaxelrod]

I love my country with all my heart and I've never been more embarrassed for America than the spectacle I just witnessed in the Oval Office.
Zelensky is fighting for the survival of his country, his people and their democracy.
Trump and Vance appear to be completely aligned with Putin, the invader whose aim has been to conquer Ukraine.
Zelensky should know that millions and millions of Americans still stand with him and his valiant people.

[Daron Acemoglu @DAcemogluMIT]

Trump’s attack on US institutions, even if fully expected, is dispiriting, discombobulating and dangerous.
In this very difficult time, we have to remember one thing: This is not normal, and it should not be normalized.
If, as I hope, the US democracy survives and (somehow) recovers, then history books will judge those working with Trump and Republican lawmakers in the Senate and Congress enabling him harshly (and so should we). If US democracy does not survive, I don’t know what history books will be like.

[Daron Acemoglu @DAcemogluMIT]

Yes, an oligarchy of billionaires running the country would be (and is) bad news. But history, especially from Africa, Latin America and former Soviet Republics, shows that even worse would be an autocrat weakening institutions and controlling the oligarchs as well as the state apparatus. We have a lot to worry about.

[Allie Esiri, Poetry curator @AllieEsiri]

Happy new year!

Helena Bonham Carter reads the January 1st entry of 365 POEMS FOR LIFE: 'I worried' by Mary Oliver

[Bahar Leventoglu @baharlev]

Pencere Platformu’nda yarin Cumartesi Anneleri'nin 1995'ten bu yana süren adalet arayışıni Avukat Eren Keskin ve kayıp yakını Hanım Tosun ile konusacagiz. Katilim bilgileri ve Zoom linki posterde mevcut. Herkesi toplantimiza bekleriz (katilim 100 kisi ile sinirlidir)

[Amanda Murdie @AmandaMurdie]

Oh, boy, friends, I've got GREAT NEWS to share. Dr. @IdeanSalehyan - likely the world's leading peace science scholar studying refugees, conflict, & climate -plans to join @UGA_INTL @UGA_SPIA in Fall 2026. I am so proud of the team and community of scholars we've created here!