Middle East

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

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) […]

Featured

Palestinians Mount Blood Donation Drive for Earthquake Victims, as one Artist tells European Islamophobes, ‘Turkey is Strong and Will Rise Again’

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas authorized the Palestinian foreign ministry to send a 30-member rapid response team to Malatya in southern Turkey. They were split into two teams and are paired with Turkish colleagues combing collapsed buildings for survivors. About half of the delegation were members of Palestinian Civil Defense, 10 […]

Israel/ Palestine

When Governments Speak of a Non-Existent ‘Two-State Solution,’ it is to Avoid Acknowledging Israeli Apartheid

Ramona Wadi

( Middle East Monitor) – In January 2021, the Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem declared that Israel imposes apartheid on the people of occupied Palestine, prompting other organisations to be more vocal about the colonial violence experienced by the Palestinians. Politically, the apartheid designation is failing to gain ground, as evidenced by the EU’s recent […]

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 […]

Displaced and Refugees

Syria bears Brunt of economic Devastation caused by Quake

Michael Jansen

( Irish Times ) – The death and devastation wreaked by Monday’s massive earthquake is greatest in Turkey, but that country is in a far better position to deal with the aftermath than Syria, due to warfare and sanctions. The civil conflict and proxy interventions have left Syria divided, with 70 per cent of territory […]

Books

Plagues and Painting with Words: Glimpses of Orhan Pamuk’s Writing Process

Erdag Goknar

By Erdağ Göknar | – ( LA Review of Books) – DURING THE LONG summer days in Istanbul, Orhan Pamuk devotes himself to intensive writing on Büyükada, an island in the Sea of Marmara, and in the evenings, he meets with visitors. Last August, Pamuk and I had dinner there and discussed everything from politics […]

Dissent

Iranian Protesters turn to TikTok to get their Message past government Censors

The Conversation

By Whitney Shylee May, The University of Texas at Austin | – Images of the protests that followed the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Zhina Amini on Sept. 16, 2022, in Iran and reports of the government’s brutal crackdown have circulated widely on social media. This flow of information comes despite efforts by the Iranian regime […]