Posted on Sun, April 8, 2012 at 11:48 am CEST
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Reinventing a Broken Wheel: The AKP’s ‘New’ Kurdish Strategy

On 21 March 2012, Turkish government officials began briefing trusted journalists on what they described as the new strategy of the ruling AKP for solving the country’s long-running Kurdish problem… Continue reading

Topics: History • Kurdish People • Kurdistan • PKK • Security and Defense • Turkey 
Posted on Sat, April 7, 2012 at 18:46 pm CEST
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After the Arab Spring, Salafists are Moving Closer to Changing the Face of the Maghreb

Now the initial euphoria about the Arab revolts has subsided, it’s clear the ‘Arab Spring’ will not bring a liberal, secular, Western (or Islamic) model of democracy to the Arab world… Continue reading

Topics: Arab Spring • Arab World • Crethi Plethi • Democracy • Islamism • Maghreb • Mauritania • Religion • Salafism 
Posted on Sun, April 1, 2012 at 16:01 pm CEST
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Western Survival Depends on Western Pride

Claude Guéant, the French interior minister, sparked a firestorm last month when he praised Western values as “superior” to the oppressive ones found elsewhere, namely the Islamic world… Continue reading

Topics: Culture • Europe • France • Geert Wilders • Global Islam • Islamism • Leftist-Islamic Alliance • Liberalism • Multiculturalism • Political Correctness • Western Culture 
Posted on Sat, March 31, 2012 at 15:31 pm CEST
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The Damascus Declaration for Democratic National Change

The Damascus Declaration was a statement of unity by Syrian opposition figures issued October 16, 2005 criticizing the Assad regime… Continue reading

Topics: Democracy • Historical Documents • History • Human Rights • Syria 
Posted on Mon, March 26, 2012 at 20:19 pm CEST
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Obama Hearts Turkish Leader Erdogan As He Oppresses His Own People and Stabs America in the Back

President Barack Obama is continuing his love affair with Turkish Islamist leader Recep Erdogan… Continue reading

Topics: Democracy • Diplomacy • Islamism • Politics • Security and Defense • Turkey • U.S. Middle East Policy 
Posted on Sun, March 25, 2012 at 23:45 pm CEST
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Iran: From Torture Chambers to Social Security: Political Controversy over Appointment of Sa’id Mortazavi

The appointment of Tehran’s former attorney general Sa’id Mortazavi to director of the Social Security Foundation has stirred a political controversy this week due to his involvement in the Kahrizak detention facility affair… Continue reading

Topics: Human Rights • Iran • Politics 
Posted on Sun, March 4, 2012 at 11:49 am CET
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UN Report: Libyan Dictator Muammar Gaddafi Wanted to Stage Last Stand

The UN’s Human Rights Council released an unedited version of a 220-page report on Friday detailing Muammar Gaddafi’s last hours when rebel fighters moved into Sirte… Continue reading

Topics: Crethi Plethi • Human Rights • International Law • Libya • Libya War • Maghreb • United Nations 
Posted on Sat, March 3, 2012 at 22:40 pm CET
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WikiLeaks: Grand Ayatollah to Khameini: “Free Prisoners, Make Clear Break with ‘Fanatics'”

Ardebili reportedly scolded Khameini for being out of touch with the people… Continue reading

Topics: Iran • U.S. Middle East Policy • WikiLeaks 
Posted on Fri, March 2, 2012 at 00:45 am CET
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Let Us Compare Al-Assad to Israel

Tariq Alhomayed wrote a column about the Arab hypocrisy in dealing with the ongoing slaughter in Syria by dictator Bashar al-Assad… Continue reading

Topics: Arab Spring • Arab World • Crethi Plethi • Human Rights • Israel • Politics • Syrian Revolution 
Posted on Wed, February 22, 2012 at 20:14 pm CET
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From UN Watch: Pakistan and Chavez Running for Seat on Top UN Rights Body

The governments of Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez and Pakistan are slated to run unopposed for seats on the UN’s 47-nation Human Rights Council this year… Continue reading

Topics: Human Rights • Pakistan • United Nations • Venezuela 
Posted on Mon, February 20, 2012 at 19:19 pm CET
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A New Year of ‘Dhimmitude’ for Egypt’s Copts

2012 appears to be unfolding as the “year of dhimmitude” for Egypt’s Christians… Continue reading

Topics: Anti-Christianism • Copts • Egypt • Human Rights • Muslim Brotherhood • Religion • Salafism 
Posted on Sat, February 18, 2012 at 22:14 pm CET
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Manufacturing Heresy: How the Mildest Muslim Liberalism is Turned into a Capital Punishment Offense

Nageeb Kashgari is a young man in a lot of trouble… Continue reading

Topics: Human Rights • Islamic Fundamentalism • Islamism • Political Correctness • Religion • Salafism • Saudi Arabia • Sharia Law • Wahhabism 
Posted on Sat, February 18, 2012 at 16:33 pm CET
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From Asharq Al-Awsat: Libya’s new Intelligence Chief, Salem al-Hassi

Asharq Al-Awsat conducted a lengthy telephone interview with Al-Hassi from Tripoli… Continue reading

Topics: Arab Spring • Libya • Politics • Security and Defense 
Posted on Thu, February 16, 2012 at 00:36 am CET
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Good-Bye, Middle East! Quietly, Liberals and Minorities are Fleeing

I wonder how much higher are the number of visa applications from Egypt, Tunisia, and Turkey to North America, Europe, and Australia… Continue reading

Topics: Arab Spring • Arab World • Democracy • Human Rights • Islamism • Salafism • The Middle East 
Posted on Thu, February 9, 2012 at 23:04 pm CET
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A House Divided Against Itself: The Deteriorating State of Media Freedom in Turkey

Most international attention has focused on the more than 100 journalists who are now in jail in Turkey as a result of what they have written or said… Continue reading

Topics: Democracy • Ergenekon • Human Rights • The Media • Turkey 
Posted on Mon, January 30, 2012 at 16:25 pm CET
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Why We Should End Our Relationship With Pakistan

As Pakistanis burned American flags and the Washington Post wrote of “a new normal” in US-Pakistani relations earlier this month, it looked like the beginning of the end of five decades of friendly alliance between the two countries… Continue reading

Topics: Abigail Esman • Counter-terrorism • Diplomacy • Human Rights • NATO • Pakistan • Politics • Religious Terrorism • Security and Defense • Sunni Islam • U.S. Middle East Policy 
Posted on Mon, January 30, 2012 at 15:57 pm CET
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Assad contains Syrian uprising for now, with help of Russia, Iran and Hizballah

Ten months after the Syrian people launched an uprising against its ruler, Bashar Assad has recovered the bulk of his army’s support and his grip on most parts of the country… Continue reading

Topics: Arab League • China • Hezbollah • Iran • Politics • Russian Federation • Security and Defense • Syrian Revolution 
Posted on Mon, January 30, 2012 at 15:03 pm CET
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Prison for Journalists: Wave of Journalists’ Arrests in Iran

Iranian reformist opposition and human rights sources have reported a wave of arrests of journalists and social media activists… Continue reading

Topics: Human Rights • Iran • The Media 
Posted on Wed, January 25, 2012 at 16:51 pm CET
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America and the Arab Spring

A year ago this week, on January 25, 2011, the ground began to crumble under then-Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak’s feet… Continue reading

Topics: Arab Spring • Bahrain • Democracy • Egyptian Revolution • Human Rights • Iraq • Islamic Fundamentalism • Islamism • Israel • Jordan • Libya War • Muslim Brotherhood • Salafism • Syria • U.S. Middle East Policy • Yemen 
Posted on Thu, January 19, 2012 at 17:09 pm CET
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Iran: After Posing Nude, Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani No Longer Welcome in her Home Country

The controversy sparked by Aliaa Magda ElMahdy after posting a nude photo she took of herself on her blog is followed by another controversial posting of a nude photograph… Continue reading

Topics: Crethi Plethi • Democracy • France • Human Rights • Iran • Religion • Sharia Law • Shi'ism 
Posted on Mon, January 16, 2012 at 19:33 pm CET
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Ex-Muslim Sister gives insight into Brothers’s Subjugation, Discrimination of Women and Polygamy

In a time when Western intellectuals, politicians, and journalists are trying to explain that the Muslim Brotherhood isn’t a radical Islamist group… Continue reading

Topics: Crethi Plethi • Culture • Democracy • Egypt • Feminism • Global Islam • History • Human Rights • Islamism • Muslim Brotherhood • Religion • The Media 
Posted on Mon, January 16, 2012 at 15:49 pm CET
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Iran: “Big brother” comes to internet cafés, “national internet network” to be launched soon

The Iranian cyber police released new regulations imposing severe restrictions on Iran’s internet cafés… Continue reading

Topics: Cyber War • Democracy • Human Rights • Iran • Shi'ism • The Media 
Posted on Mon, January 16, 2012 at 15:48 pm CET
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Iran: Severe Conflict between Government, leading Film Industry Figures

leading figures in Iran’s film industry released a memorandum of opinion condemning the Islamic Guidance Ministry’s decision to close the House of Cinema, the main trade union for those employed in the local film industry… Continue reading

Topics: Culture • Human Rights • Iran • Shi'ism • The Media 
Posted on Sat, January 14, 2012 at 15:20 pm CET
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Egypt: If Tourists Can Wear Bikinis But Local Women Must Wear Chadors Does That Prove the Muslim Brotherhood is Moderate?

What if a democratically elected government decides to enforce such a system in a law legally passed by a democratically elected government? I guess that’s just democracy in action… Continue reading

Topics: Democracy • Egypt • Feminism • Human Rights • Islamic Fundamentalism • Muslim Brotherhood 
Posted on Mon, January 9, 2012 at 23:20 pm CET
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Egyptian Coptic billionaire faces trial for contempt of Islam

A member of the ultra-conservative al-Gamaa al-Islamiya group filed a legal complaint against… Continue reading

Topics: Copts • Crethi Plethi • Democracy • Egyptian Revolution • Human Rights • Islamism • Religion • Sharia Law