Alexander Thatcher

Alexander Thatcher

Alexander Thatcher is an American graduate student at CEU working on Circassian and Armenian History, and part-time writer and journalist.

All the Lost Istanbuls

All the Lost Istanbuls

In Istanbul's Kurtuluş neighborhood, Meyhane-i Ara stands as perhaps the last Armenian tavern, where owner Ara Haceroğlu preserves centuries-old culinary traditions amid layers of nostalgia for multiple vanished Istanbuls—a living testament to the city's fading multicultural past.

Alexander Thatcher, The Last of the New Berlins

The Last of the New Berlins

In this deeply moving essay, Alexander Thatcher describes his search for "the New Berlin"—a city with the raw energy of Weimar Berlin, attracting young intellectuals and creatives in search of tumult. From Istanbul and Belgrade to Ozurgeti and Tbilisi, he follows this allure of instability, cultural magnetism and self-discovery.

Baku QAnon: The New High Armenophobia

Baku QAnon: The New High Armenophobia

While conspiracy theories and nationalist pseudohistories are a common phenomenon in the postsocialist space, something peculiar has happened in Azerbaijan; the eccentric ultranationalists, whose ideas are popular among the regime-aligned elite and are explicitly sponsored by the state, have proven triumphant.