Spatial politics in Istanbul: turning points in contemporary Turkey: by Courtney Dorroll and Philip Dorroll, Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press, 2023, 280 pp., $110 (cloth), ISBN 9781399503372.

The book "Spatial Politics in Istanbul: Turning Points in Contemporary Turkey" by Courtney Dorroll and Philip Dorroll explores the debates surrounding urban aesthetics, historical legacies, and political identities in Istanbul and Turkey. The authors focus on four key moments in the Justice and Development Party's (AKP) tenure between 2010 and 2020 to trace the shift from a relatively pluralistic, inclusive political ideology to a monumental, neo-imperial Sunni-Turkish hegemony. The book examines the impact of events such as Istanbul's selection as European Capital of Culture in 2010, the Gezi demonstrations of 2013, the attempted coup of 2016, and the reconversion of Hagia Sophia to a mosque in 2020. The authors argue that these events reflect the AKP's transformation and its embrace of "Erdoğan-ian Neo-Ottomanism." The book raises important questions about the definition of Istanbul's identity and the exclusionary nature of defining the city solely by its Ottoman past. [Extracted from the article]