Turkey: What Everyone Needs to Know®

by Andrew Finkel

Turkey occupies a strategic position in today's the only predominantly Muslim nation to be a member of NATO and an ally of Israel, it straddles both Europe and Asia. Turkey is the link between Islam and Western democracy, between Europe and the Middle East. In this concise introduction, Andrew Finkel, who has spent twenty years in Turkey writing about the country for publications such as The Economist and Time magazine, unravels Turkey's complexities. He sets the complications and transformations of present-day Turkey against the historical background of the Ottoman Empire, the secular nationalist revolution led by Kemal Atatürk, and repeated political interventions by the military, which sees itself as the guardian of Atatürk's legacy. Finkel reveals a nation full of surprises. Where else but in Turkey, Finkel writes, would secularist liberals have supported a prime minister who was once jailed for promoting religious extremism? From the Kurdish question to economic
policy, from Turkey's role in Iraq to its quest for EU membership, Finkel illuminates the past and present of this unique, and uniquely consequential, country in What Everyone Needs to Know®.

What Everyone Needs to Know® is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Politics, Travel, Audiobook, Middle East, European History

212 pages, Paperback

First published February 2, 2012

About the author

Andrew Finkel is a journalist who has been based in Turkey for twenty years. His reporting has appeared in The Economist, Time, The Daily Telegraph, The Times of London, and the New York Times. He has appeared on CNN and Turkish-language television, and he has become a featured columnist in the Turkish press.

Reviews

[Jean · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author Andrew Finkel is a veteran journalist. Finkel has spent the past twenty years writing about Turkey for The Economist and Time magazine.

With the Middle East problems I thought a nice quick overview of Turkey would he beneficial as Turkey sits on the divide between Europe and Asia.

The book is easy to read in a question and answer style. The book provides a brief review of Turkey’s history and then goes into current problems the area and Turkey face.

Finkel states that Turkey had a financial crisis at the beginning of the 21st Century. It managed to put its fiscal house in order and rode out the 2008 recession with minimal problems. Its major problem like many counties must be to lower its debt. Turkey’s economy is built on consumer demand. The mean population is 29; with a young population it also means the people are not saving. Turkey has big manufacturing industries including manufacturing plastic and automobiles. Its construction industry is healthy.

Turkey does have problems with its Kurdish population and with its neighbor Syria as well as Iran. Turkey has a large Sunni population and has supported the Palestinians. Turkey is a favorite tourist destination. In my opinion Turkey needs to work harder to encourage more women into higher education and into its workforce. Turkey has a healthy art, music and literature community. If you want to learn more about Turkey this is a good place to start. I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. Ken Maxon narrated the book.

[Tami R Peterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finkel's book on the current political situation and international standing of modern Turkey is an informative read that will bring to light much of Turkey's current political issues.[return][return]He covers everything from Ataturk to the current arguments for and against European Union membership to the economic situation in Istanbul as the ever changing cultural center of Turkey.[return][return]Perhaps the most fascinating parts of the book deal with Turkey's as yet untapped potential as a modern economic player. One very much gets the sense that the best of what Turkey has to offer the world, despite its tremendously rich cultural history, may have yet to be seen.[return][return]It is this optimism about Turkey's future which drives the book forward and makes clear Finkel's extensive and intimate knowledge of the subject.

[Justin Tapp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Turkey: What Everyone Needs to Know by Andrew Finkel

Books like this never please everyone, but I would give this to someone going to live/work there and trying to make sense of the context in which they'll be operating prior to arrival. (Context: see my Goodreads book review list on Turkey.) The author touches on geography, history, delves a bit into the interesting political history, deals with the arts, the environment, and more.

The book is particularly interesting as it was written just prior to the coup and includes a look at Gulenists. The author was working as a journalist and got into trouble with his employer for looking too closely at Gülenists and their relationship with the Deep State. Having lived and worked in Turkey myself, I'd say political intrigue and conspiracy theories of many stripes are quite common in Turkey, almost like a national past-time.

The bit mentioned on the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" also shows the breadth and relevancy of the book.

The author summarizes many of the modern challenges of Turkey, the massive growth of Istanbul, the political struggle within democracy, the problem with losing the rich cultural history of the region while developing infrastructure. 4.5 stars. Now it just needs a refresher.

[Andrejs Karpovics · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is rather big dissapointment that does not meet expectations of Oxford series "What everyone needs to know". The author did not provide the general overview of historical and current political context of Turkey and its society. Too much attention on some minor details and facts ignoring trends and key historical events. Chapters of the book have weak logical interconnection. A lot of the personal impressions of the author of the book about Turkey that does not help to learn the country and its specifics. Would not recommend to anyone as the go-to resource for understanding Turkey.

[Luke Eure · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice, concise, readable overview of what Turkey is like especially politically.

~10% of the population lives on less than $5 / day
Interesting overview of Turkey's relationship with Europe, EU membership, occupation of Northern Cyprus
Helped me understand why Turks don't like portraying what happened to Armenians in WW1 as a "genocide"

[Cyrus Samii · Rating 3 out of 5]

More engaging than reading Wikipedia or CIA Factbook I suppose, but more or less similar basic, panoramic content. I wanted to read to get a quick primer on the Kurdish issue before digging into some deeper material, and it was useful for that.

[The Contented · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent primer. Glad I finally got to it

[Faheem · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nice anecdotes. Bit humdrum but written with an empathetic and lively voice.

[Geoffrey Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

This concise, quick read will be a good starting point for anyone who needs to know about this surprising country. Finkel covers a breadth of topics and suggests linkages among them — language, regional disparities, ethnic history and conflicts, political history, current party and government structure, economic potential and weaknesses, religious tolerance and conflicts, and Turkey's complex and fluid geopolitical strategy. Not a word about the country's vibrant arts scene — theater, literature, film, painting, etc. — but on other aspects, clear and opinionated (he's a fierce defender of free speech, which is sometimes in danger).

Andrew Finkel is an American journalist with long experience in Turkey. He is also the husband of historian Caroline Finkel, author of the monumental history of the Ottoman empire, Osman's Dream, which I reviewed here earlier; she describes him (in her acknowledgements) as an "academic manqué" (he mentions having worked on a Ph.D. dissertation), and indeed he approaches journalism with a scholar's seriousness and the expectation that his readers will be able and happy to follow a sometimes subtle and sophisticated argument. He was fired from Turkey's big daily Today's Zaman in 2011, he believes for defending a critic of the paper's founder and backer, the controversial Islamic preacher and charter-school empresario (in the U.S.) Fethullah Gülen (look him up — Americans should know about him). Finkel now has a regular column in the International Herald Tribune, still reporting from Turkey.

[Jeremy Barker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great entry book for someone who wants a quick reference on a wide-range of issues relating to modern Turkey. The writing style is very engaging. The author's twenty plus years of experience as a journalist covering Turkey gives him a great knowledge of the topic as well as a readable style.

The format of the book works very well. It is arranged into chapters of loosely categorized questions and answers. The book has a great amount of breadth and the depth is such that it does not overly complicate the picture for the new reader but enough to engage a seasoned observer.

I would highly recommend this for those looking to get a snapshot of Turkey circa 2012 and how it got there and where it might be going.

[carlageek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty readable overview of the forces at play in modern Turkey. Finkel covers the tension in Turkey between the desire to be a modern western-style democracy and accepted into the EU on one hand, and the historical, nationalist, and religious forces that interfere with that desire on the other. Later chapters on Turkey's relationship with Islam and with its ethnic minorities, especially Kurds and Armenians, are especially interesting.

I find books like this difficult - everything makes sense while I read, but very little sticks. I always have this difficulty with nonfiction, so I don't think there is anything wrong with the book or Finkel's writing, which is quite cogent and enjoyable.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finkel gives an optimistic perspective on the history, complexity, and potential of The Turkish Republic. He operates on an understanding that a democracy is often best demonstrated by the activity and treatment of its minorities and in this Turkey has made some advances and still has work to do. Finkel's metaphor of an adolescent is particularly interesting applied to the "young republic." I prefer the structure of The Crescent and Star to this, but the optimism is the same and both books derive from personal experience living in Istanbul and working in the press.

[Angel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I only give it three stars because, to me, it was not the most engaging of books. It is not bad, just not riveting. However, what it does provide is a good overview of Turkish history and politics in a fairly concise way. The book is part of an Oxford UP series on "what everyone needs to know" on various topics. I do like the format of the book as question and answer as it allows for learning in small chunks. It also lends itself to just finding what you need to know on a specific topic. So, if you want to get a quick overview of Turkey, this is a pretty good way to do so.

[Lupa · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read that addresses important issues about Turkey. The book analyzes, briefly, the relationship with the US and the conflicting relationship with the Armenian and Kurdish but, unfortunately it was not what I had expected. The writer stress much more the economic and politics aspects than cultural and historical factors. It really lacked an analysis of the complex Turkish society, their social strata and the huge cultural diversity and its historical roots .

[Xander Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

The better of the two primers about Turkey that I read in anticipation of my trip to the country. Finkel's writing is accessible and engaging, and he very efficiently captures the most important aspects of a complex country. He opines on tough subjects - Armenia, the Kurdish situation, the status of women and LGBT people in Turkey, for example - and the book is fairly enjoyable. I highly recommend it for anybody interested in visiting Turkey.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very good starting point for understanding the complexity and background that comprises modern Turkey. Much of his analysis stands up in the years following publication (2012) although there are gaps now after a few elections and the luster of the AKP is fading, the Kurdish peace process has reversed, and the civil war in Syria has escalated and thrown Turkish foreign policy into uncertainty. An excellent companion book to media reports and recent developments.

[Steve Hanson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good general introduction to modern Turkey. Finkel touches on many current issues and trends, and gives historical background where necessary. I would say it is a fairly balanced presentation, looking at strengths, issues and weaknesses. For me, I would like to see a bit more depth but I think it functions well as an overview or introduction to the present state of Turkey.

[Lowell Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good summary of issues in modern Turkey, helps you understand things you read about in the news. Some parts, for instance about EU accession and the political parties in Turkey, got a little too detailed for me, but regardless presented a valuable, and I think generally balanced, overview of major political, economic, and cultural issues of modern Turkey.

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent (and current) take on the cultural/political happenings in Turkey. Can get a little down in the weeks, but a great primer for a soon-to-be-traveler (me) to keep from being a "stranger in a strange land."

[Roj · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice comprehensive overview of Turkish politics, economy, and state of affairs. A very objective and concise work. Finkel has lived in Turkey for 20 years, speaks the language and is well aware of the nuances of the Turkey's developments.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice enough intro to Turkish culture and society. Full of typos, which is annoying and distracting, not the level you would expect from Oxford.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good introduction to Turkey; briefly covers the key issues in politics and society, leaving the details -- particularly on controversial issues -- to further reading elsewhere.

[Samar Dahmash Jarrah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book to introduce your self to Turkey. It makes you want to read other books.

[Justine · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good introduction to Turkey, though very brief, somewhat opinionated, and badly in need of an editor.

[Jakob Bork · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great introduction to a nation you need to understand a little better.

[Jack Blackburn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up as I had a brief job in Turkey and realised how little I knew. The veteran journalist Finkel certainly gives a very good swift introduction here. He adopts a question and answer format, which makes for easier reading and understanding. Certainly, this will repay closer examination as I only had time to skim read. Finkel writes well and, with a good index, this book is a fountain of digestible knowledge.

He wrote this in 2012 and acknowledges that he writes the book with trepidation: the status quo in Turkey doesn't stay so for long. So it has proved. I write from Istanbul a few days before a seminal referendum which may massively change the country. To be fair, it is a change that Finkel foresees, though he only mentions it briefly. (He also suggests that any further coups would be unlikely to succeed, and was proved right last year.) So, be warned, this is already out of date, but it nevertheless primes it's reader well to engage with the latest developments.