Middle East

Julie Poucher Harbin, EDITOR, ISLAMiCommentary, interviews two scholars on Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan: A small demonstration against bulldozing a park in Turkey escalated into nationwide political unrest over the past week — reaching its peak over the weekend when police used unnecessary and excessive force against protestors… “The first round of popular protests in […]

Ayşe Soysal, in Istanbul, writes for ISLAMiCommentary : Ayse Soysal It was a ‘Wow!’ weekend indeed. My niece Elif, a college student, was one of the protesters in Taksim Square — the first time ever that she participated in a public protest. She was there for the environmental concerns she supports, and the protest movement […]

(Courtesy Reuters) This young woman being teargassed at the Taksim protests in Istanbul has become an internet icon. Unveiled and bare-armed, she is clearly secular and modern. Many but not all of the supporters of Justice and Development Party Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan wear headscarves and dress modestly. But she is also just young, female, […]

Compilation video of police brutality in Turkish Gezi Park protests: As usual with grassroots Youtube videos, the authenticity of it cannot be independently verified from abraod.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan is now risking Turkey’s economic miracle by his imperious reaction to the protests in dozens of cities that have roiled Turkey and are entering their fifth day. Two are dead and hundreds injured. The Turkish stock market, which had been up 300% since 2009, has taken a hit. The country’s […]

People in Izmir apartments turning off and on their lights in support of the protests in Turkey.

On Sunday night into Monday morning in Turkey, clashes again broke out between demonstrators and police in a number of cities, and an attempt was made to set the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) headquarters on fire with molotov cocktails in the Mediterranean port of Izmir. Night time barricades had been thrown up in […]