ISTANBUL, Turkey- Turkish voters will go to the polls on Sunday to elect both the president and parliamentary representatives in what is set to be a tight contest between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who heads the Republican People’s Party (CHP). During their campaigns, the Justice and Development (AK) Party …
TUNIS, Tunisia -Six weeks after an incendiary speech by Tunisian President Kais Saied triggered a surge in racist violence against sub-Saharan migrants, hundreds of its victims are still camped on a cobblestone lane outside the headquarters of the UN’s migration agency, IOM, asking for emergency evacuation. “Our lives are under threat,” said …
The murder of a young Iraqi YouTuber by her father has sparked renewed calls for a law to fight domestic violence in the conservative Arab country where so-called ‘honour killings’ remain rife. Dozens of Iraqi protesters rallied nearby the Supreme Judicial Council in the capital Baghdad last month, days after 22-year-old blogger …
TUNIS, Tunisia -In an address to Tunisia’s National Security Council last Tuesday, President Kais Saied demanded urgent action to crack down on migration from sub-Saharan Africa, which he said was part of an organised scheme intended to alter the country’s demographic makeup. “The undeclared goal of the successive waves of illegal immigration is to …
Amid domestic political deadlock, Sudan‘s military junta wants to demonstrate its authority while sending a message to Washington. Earlier this month, Sudanese and Israeli officials announced that the two states are moving towards normalising ties following the surprise visit by Israel’s foreign minister Eli Cohen to Khartoum, made with the consent of the United …
In 2019, two years after the northern Iraqi city of Mosul was liberated from the three-year reign of the so-called Islamic State (IS, also known as ISIS, ISIL or Da’esh), Younis Qays, a Mosulian, (or Maslawi as people from Mosul are known) born into a family of artists, began dreaming of a project to …
On an unprecedented scale, the feminist-led Iranian uprisings have galvanised Iranian public opinion like never before. To ensure that the protests continue in momentum, artists in Iran and in the diaspora are using their pens to take down the sword. As protests sweep across Iran for more than four weeks, Iranian artists are …
The death of Jina ‘Mahsa’ Amini at the hands of the Islamic Republic’s morality police sparked nationwide protests and has put a spotlight on the plight of Iran’s long-oppressed Kurdish minority. Dozens of Iranian cities and towns have been gripped by a relentless wave of anger since 16 September, when 22-year-old Iranian …
SULAYMANIYAH, Iraqi Kurdistan—Standing outside his home in Chaqlawa village, a half-hour drive from the city of Sulaymaniyah, Latif Karim Ismael, wearing black baggy trousers and a light-blue shirt, greeted us and hinted we sit in his backyard. Accustomed to working a thriving land, the 75-year-old farm worker has to face up to …
TUNIS, Tunisia—Tunisia has approved a new draft constitution that enshrines in law Kais Saied’s centralisation of sweeping powers with 94.6 percent (or some 2.6 million voters) voting in favour amid 30.5 percent turnout, according to preliminary results announced by Tunisia’s election commission ISIE on Tuesday. Over nine million eligible voters were called …