Today, the Turkish General Staff issued personnel figures for the Turkish Armed Forces. According to several newspapers including Radikal, this is the first time the General Staff has released such a detailed personnel report. It shows that 1% of the Turkish population is currently in the military or in military-related civil service.
So, next Friday, Morocco will be the first country in the region to hold parliamentary elections since the Arab Spring. (Tunisia’s recent election, an Islamist-strong assembly was chosen to write the new constitution. Egypt will hold parliamentary elections on Monday, November 28 to choose members of both its legislative chambers.) Morocco hasn’t received as much […]
Warning: the following is as an account of one woman’s experience; although it does highlight some major issues in Yemen in regards to Family Laws and Gender Equality it is not a reflection of the Yemeni society as a whole but rather the failure of a system to protect the most vulnerable. Amal Hassan’ story […]
Dear followers of FPA’s Middle East blog, News.Az, a leading online news source of the Caucasus recently conducted an online interview with me – here you can find the full version of the interview: —————————————————————————————– Turkey is a new leader of the Muslim world in the Middle East. Are you satisfied with the Turkish policy […]
In an exclusive and wide-ranging discussion with Reza Akhlaghi, senior writer at the Foreign Policy Association, Ramin Jahanbegloo and Mehdi Khalaji talk about the current state of Iranian affairs. Topics discussed include: • Shiite clergy and institutionalization of violence in Iran; • Socio-cultural factors and civil, democratic institutions in Iran; • Iran’s Reformists; • […]
Roger Cohen, a reliable critic of Israel’s policies, particularly under the Netanyahu administration, argues against attacking Iran in a New York Times op-ed today. This issue has regained momentum in light of the recent report by the International Atomic Energy Agency, which concluded that in six months Iran will have enriched uranium to the level […]
Almost immediately following the release of Gilad Shalit rocket attacks on Israel from Gaza resumed. Over the last couple of weeks, it has begun to feel like a major scuffle between Israel, Hamas, and the Islamic Jihad is on the horizon. Sunday night at the Jewish General Assembly in Denver, Colorado, I had the opportunity […]
As in other countries swept up by the “Arab Spring” movement which was initially born in Tunisia following the immolation of Mohamed Bou’azizi, a simple fruit seller driven to despair by the repressive and corrupt Tunisian regime; the Media has been playing an important role in the coverage of Yemen’s very own uprising. Used by […]
The following is a statement by the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) in Washington D.C. Washington, DC – NIAC deplores the racist and violent depiction of what is supposed to be a group of cowboys donning “Iranians Suck” t-shirts while lynching an Iranian on a poster at a restaurant in Katy, Texas. In response to […]
After many long and tense months (years? decades?) the “situation” from the UN is starting to “resolve” itself. The US threatened a veto should they not be able to find the votes to keep the Palestinians from passing their resolution in the Security Council aimed at fully recognized statehood in the UN. The Palestinians went […]
An interview with the embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad appeared in the Sunday edition of the London newspaper The Daily Telegraph, the President’s first with the foreign press since protests broke out across Syria some eight months ago. In his exchange with the English journalist Andrew Gilligan, Assad mounted a defense of his own rule […]
I recently had the opportunity to catch up with producer Matthew Tollin about his new documentary, Back Door Channels: The Price of Peace. Back Door Channels is the true story of the men who brought an unlikely lasting Peace to the Middle East. For the first time ever, the filmmakers take the audience behind the […]
Despite its oil and gas resources and its vast agricultural lands, Yemen is the poorest country by far of the Arabic Peninsula with the majority of its population leaving under US$2 per day. For several years now UNICEF and other humanitarian agencies have been working in Yemen towards finding a solution to solve malnourishment […]
Wounded Patients in Syria’s Hospitals are Tortured, Along with Medical Staff Suspected of Treating Injured Protesters, Says New Amnesty International Report: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4cF7XhOnSQ&feature=player_embedded Human Rights Organization Documents Cases of Injured Protesters Being Beaten by Security Agents in Hospitals Contact: Suzanne Trimel, 212-633-4150, [email protected] (New York) — The Syrian government has turned hospitals into instruments of repression […]
Officials said about 10,000 Turkish infantry and special forces punched into northern Iraq on Oct. 19 in an effort to destroy bases of the Kurdish Workers Party. They said the operation was in response to a PKK strike in southeastern Turkey in which at least 26 soldiers were killed. In order to understand this last […]