Interviews
Conversations with people intimately involved in the most important events in the region.
on :
Tuesday, 23 Apr, 2013
Out of all the places to meet Zuheir Salem, the number two man of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood (SMB), a David Brent-style office in Alperton, north London, is probably the least expected. The office of the SMB is so elusive that even the security guard does not know what the SMB are or what they do. According to him, it is some sort of charity where lots of Middle Eastern-looking types come in for meetings and leave late. “I don’t ask any questions, boss—if you know what I mean,” he say...
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on :
Saturday, 20 Apr, 2013
Ankara, Asharq Al-Awsat—The Çankaya Köşkü has been the official residence of the president of Turkey since the era of Atatürk, the founder of the modern republic. The presidential compound is comprised of a number of buildings, most famously Pembe Kösk, the iconic “pink villa.” This building was expanded, at Atatürk’s request, by renowned Austrian architect Professor Clemens Holzmeister. Atatürk later died at his presidential residence in 1938, which has served as the home of eve...
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on :
Thursday, 18 Apr, 2013
Iraq’s eagerly anticipated provincial elections will take place this Saturday, April 20. While the elections for parliament and the post of prime minister will happen next year, ...
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on :
Tuesday, 19 Mar, 2013
Walid Saffour is sitting in a light, minimalist office overlooking Hyde Park. A representative of the Syrian National Coalition of the Revolutionary Opposition, he seems like a cro...
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on :
Saturday, 2 Mar, 2013
A few days after the downfall of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, the Iranian opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi called for demonstration in support of Tunisian and E...
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My first meeting with Seyyed Ferjani, the Ennahda revolutionary and current advisor to the Tunisian Ministry of Justice, was on a morning of tear gas and demonstrations. It was my ...
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on :
Friday, 21 Dec, 2012
Launched in 2004 by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), the Manama Dialogue has quickly become a very important diplomatic forum for a troubled Middle...
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on :
Saturday, 24 Nov, 2012
Twenty months into the uprising in Syria, with the death toll reportedly exceeding 37,000 and news reports showing that violence in the country is spiraling even further out of...
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Journalist Stephen Starr lived and worked in Damascus between 2007 and 2012. Currently the editor of Near East Quarterly, he was present in Syria at the beginning of the uprising a...
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on :
Thursday, 25 Oct, 2012
Bruce Riedel has served in the National Security Council (NSC) at the White House and has advised four presidents of the United States on South Asia and the Middle East issues....
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