Ryan Gingeras on organised crime in Turkey's modern history

Ryan Gingeras on organised crime in Turkey's modern history

From Turkey Book Talk by William Armstrong

March 31, 2026 · 39 min · Episode 243

About this episode

Ryan Gingeras discusses the influence of organized crime in Turkey's political and economic life.

Ryan Gingeras, historian at the Naval Postgraduate School in California and author of “Mafia: A Global History” (Simon & Schuster) and “Heroin, Organized Crime, and the Making of Modern Turkey” (Oxford University Press), returns to the podcast. The conversation discusses the influence of criminal organisations in Turkey’s political and economic life over the decades, the alarming rise of new generation criminal gangs on Istanbul’s periphery, and the country’s position in international narcotics trafficking. Please support Turkey Book Talk on Patreon or Substack. Supporters get a 35% discount on all Turkey/Ottoman History books published by Bloomsbury Academic, transcripts of every interview, and links to articles related to each episode. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=2998854&fan_landing=true Substack: https://turkeybooktalk.substack.com/

People in this episode

Host: William Armstrong

Guest: Ryan Gingeras

Topics covered

  • organized crime
  • Turkey
  • political influence
  • economic impact
  • narcotics trafficking
  • criminal organizations

Keywords

  • organized crime
  • Turkey
  • Ryan Gingeras
  • narcotics trafficking
  • criminal gangs
  • political influence
  • economic life

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Naval Postgraduate School, Simon & Schuster, Oxford University Press

Books & works: Mafia: A Global History, Heroin, Organized Crime, and the Making of Modern Turkey

Places: Turkey, Istanbul

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