IRGC, Opposition Split Over Whom To Support in Iran’s Presidential Elections
Muhammad Sahimi* | 8 Jun 2013
Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the Iranian leader, peers through the curtains as Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivers a speech.(Photo Source: Ali Alizadeh / Tabnak) Iran’s presidential elections, to be held on June 14, are entering the final stretch. Eight candidates are in the race, with six of them being conservative and ultra-conservative, one, former chief nuclear...The Turkish Police Force: Where Violence Meets Impunity
Ruairi Patterson* | 7 Jun 2013
Source: http://occupygezipics.tumblr.com The protests that continue to rock Turkey began as an attempt to prevent the cutting down of trees in Istanbul’s Gezi Park and have morphed into broad anti-government demonstrations over a range of issues. It seems unlikely, however, that the protests would have transformed, nor lasted as long as they have, without anger...The Role of Anonymous in Popular Struggles in the Middle East
Ashley Barnes | 7 Jun 2013
Turkish protests wearing Guy Fawkes masks, an Anonymous symbol – mashable.com Over the past few years, Anonymous has transformed from an internet subculture into an international activist network capable of taking down the most sophisticated of networks. Its increasingly important involvement in popular struggles, especially and most recently in the Middle...Prime Minister Erdogan visits North Africa: Whither the “Turkish Model”?
Caroline Abadeer | 6 Jun 2013
A Taksim Square protestor waves a Turkish flag On Monday, June 3, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan kicked off a foreign tour of North Africa with an official state visit to Morocco. While in Morocco, Erdogan met with Prime Minister Abdellilah Benkirane, head of the ruling Justice and Development Party (PJD), an Islamist-leaning party that bears striking...“The Slap”: One Woman’s Journey through Istanbul Airport
Bina Shah* | 6 Jun 2013
As I walked into the transit hall in Kamal Attaturk International Airport on a warm Istanbul evening, I wondered what I was going to do with the five hours until my flight to Konya. As soon as I caught sight of over a hundred people crushed into the waiting line at passport control, that worry was replaced by another one: exactly how long was this going to take? One...Trew: the Third Anniversary of Khaled Said’s Death
Thalia Beaty | 8 Jun 2013
Policemen Awad Ismail and Amin Mahmoud Salah defendants in the beating death of Khaled Said, stand trial in a courtroom in Alexandria, Egypt, on September 24, 2011 (photo credit: Tarek Fawzy/AP). Bel Trew writes...Social Freedoms & Women’s Rights Take Center Stage in Iran’s Presidential Debate
NIma Shirazi | 7 Jun 2013
Iran’s eight presidential candidates prepare to leave the set after their second of three televised debates in Tehran, Wednesday, June 5, 2013.(AP Photo/IRIB, Mehdi Dehghan) The Iranian presidential election,...Many Turks, But One Turkey: Overcoming Divisiveness in #OccupyGezi
Max Perry-Wilson* | 6 Jun 2013
(http://occupygezipics.tumblr.com) Mount Turkey has erupted, they say. Turks have had enough, so it goes. Down with the Dictator, down with fascism! At last, the Turkish people (and the Kurds, and the Laz, and...Stifling Civil Society in Egypt
Kelby Olson | 6 Jun 2013
Egyptian officials raid NGO offices in Cairo. December, 2011. (Photo: AP) On Tuesday, June 4, Egyptian courts convicted 43 NGO workers of receiving foreign funding and operating without a license. Despite optimism...Assad’s Pyrrhic Victory in Qusair
Murtaza Hussain | 6 Jun 2013
Government forces celebrate as they retake the Syrian town of Qusair. (Source: BBC) As reported by the Guardian, a three-week long battle in the Syrian town of Qusair has ended in favor of the Syrian Army and...
