Turkey’s ‘operation against Anadolu Kültür’s demand… to confront the past’

Or: a long aside on (dis)trust and (un)freedom in Turkey.

prosecutors and prosecutions in antiquities trafficking cases in Turkey: uncertainty in information, uncertainty in rule of law

As BBC News correspondent Mark Lowen has explained, the citizens of Turkey are both ‘addicted to conspiracy theories’ and ‘besieged by “fake news”‘. The problem is worsened by government-aligned ‘fake fact-checkers’, while it is resisted by sincere truth-seekers such as the citizen journalists of Teyit (Confirmation or Verification).

While news about cultural property crime in Turkey is blighted more by churnalism than by propaganda, like everything else, it is burdened by uncertainty of information and uncertainty of rule of law. This is demonstrated by the career of one prosecutor, who has hit the headlines once more.

I have just started a senior visiting fellowship at UCL Qatar

You wait eight years for a fellowship, then two come along at once. I’m pleased to say that, between November 2018 and February 2019, I’ll be a senior visiting fellow at UCL Qatar.