Human Rights

Turkey’s historic city of Antakya, the Roman Antioch, has come back from powerful earthquakes in the past – and rebuilt itself

By Christine Shepardson, University of Tennessee | – Tens of thousands have died and millions have become homeless in southern Turkey and northern Syria after the massive 7.8 earthquake that struck on Feb. 6, 2023. But the ancient Turkish city of Antakya, known in Roman and medieval times as Antioch, has been here before. In […]

censorship

Keeping Resistance Alive during McCarthyism: Chandler Davis and Academic Freedom at the University of Michigan

Alan M. Wald

Alan Wald, Steve Batterson and Peggie Hollingsworth | University of Michigan | – Making Michigan lecture series – Keeping Resistance Alive “In 1954, Chandler Davis was called to testify before the House Committee on Un-American Activities. His fellows on the stand were his colleagues Mark Nickerson and Clement L. Markert, and his student friends Edward […]

Displaced and Refugees

Turkey and Syria earthquake: Long-Term Funding is Needed to Support Search-and-Rescue After Major Disasters

The Conversation

By Ali Asgary, York University, Canada | – The strong and disastrous earthquake that shook southern Turkey and Syria on Feb. 6 drew attention to search-and-rescue (SAR) operations. The media’s attention raised familiar questions around SAR, including who conducts SAR, what formal and informal SAR teams are available, and how long trapped people are able […]

African-Americans

Was Charles Austin Beard a Racist Historian?

Richard Drake

( Counterpunch ) – Controversy about Charles Austin Beard began in 1913 when he published An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States. He turned thirty-nine that year. Until then, his books had appeared to widespread praise within the profession and to the benign neglect of the general reading public. A highly successful […]

Climate Crisis

Is Turkey’s Prosecution of Shady Builders after 12,141 Structures Collapse in Earthquake a Model for going after Big Oil for Climate Disasters?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Turkish government has issued 100 arrest warrants for building contractors suspected of erecting structures that did not meet building code standards in the 10 provinces most affected by last week’s massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake, which has left at least 32,000 dead and perhaps twice that. Some of the contractors […]

astronomy and outer space

Earthquake in Turkey and Syria: how Satellites can help rescue Efforts

The Conversation

By Emilie Bronner, Centre national d’études spatiales (CNES) | – In disasters like the 7.8 magnitude earthquake and 7.5-magnitude aftershock that struck Syria and Turkey on February 6, 2023, international cooperation on satellite imaging plays a crucial role in the rescue and recovery efforts. Such data enables humanitarian aid to better deliver water and food […]

Bashar al-Assad

Earthquake Leaves Millions Homeless and without Water and Electricity in Turkish, Syrian Harsh Winter, Many Facing Death

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Jordanian newspaper al-Ghad reports that on top of the now nearly 30,000 known deaths in Turkey and Syria, millions people are estimated to have been made homeless. Not only are they without shelter, they now lack water and electricity, and often even food and the World Health Organization (WHO) […]

Bashar al-Assad

Turkey-Syria earthquake: Assad blames west as agencies struggle to get aid to his desperate people

The Conversation

By Scott Lucas, University College Dublin | – (The Conversation) – It didn’t take long for Syria’s Assad regime to seek political and economic benefit from the devastation of an earthquake. As emergency services were reaching victims of the 7.8-magnitude tremor on February 6, regime-linked organisations demanded governments “immediately end the siege and unilateral coercive […]

Displaced and Refugees

As Death Toll Soars, can President Erdogan Survive Turkey’s Earthquake Politically?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Monday’s massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake in south-central Turkey, in which at least 20,000 have died — and probably tens of thousands more — has shocked that country and the world. It inescapably has political implications, with Turkish parliamentary and presidential elections scheduled for mid-May. President Tayyip Recep Erdogan is facing […]