Most recent article by: Ekrem Güzeldere

Breaking the fast in Brazil's "Islamic heartland", Recife. Photo: Ekrem Güzeldere

Ramadan in Brazil

Maintaining the tradition

The small Muslim community in the Brazilian metropolis Recife meets every evening in the city's only Muslim centre to break their fast with the iftar dinner. Most of the people in the community are African immigrants. Ekrem Güzeldere reportsMore

Muslims in Brazil: A culturally vibrant minorityQantara Dossier: RamadanThe Muslim Rohingya in Myanmar: In the shadow of an icon
Interior of the dome of the mosque in Jundiaì. Photo: Ekrem Güzeldere

Muslims in Brazil

A culturally vibrant minority

Brazil has a very small Muslim population, but it is one with a long history. The ancestors of many of today's Brazilian Muslims arrived in successive waves of immigration from Africa and Europe, later also from Syria and Lebanon. As Ekrem Güzeldere discovered, they are now a well-integrated minorityMore

The Muslim Rohingya in Myanmar: In the shadow of an iconAfghan refugees in Iran: Treated like second-class citizensMuslims in Laos: Hidden beyond the Mekong
The BDP's victorious candidate in Agri, Sirri Sakik (photo: Ekrem Guzeldere)

Local election re-run in Turkey

"My strategy is honesty"

On 1 June 2014, some local elections in Turkey were re-run after the results of the original polls were contested. Re-runs were held in the provincial capitals of Agri and Yalova. For the citizens of the eastern Anatolian city of Agri, the outcome was a surprise: the candidate of the Kurdish BDP party, Sirri Sakik, clearly prevailed against the ruling AKP, taking 51 per cent of the vote. Observations from Agri by Ekrem GuzeldereMore

Turkey's first Communist mayor: Great expectations, even greater challengesLocal elections in Turkey: Carte blanche for a crackdownLocal elections in Turkey: An erosion of Erdogan's legitimacy
Fatih Macoglu (photo: Ekrem Guzeldere)

Turkey's first Communist mayor

Great expectations, even greater challenges

Turkey's first ever Communist mayor was elected on 30 March. Turkish Communist Party (TKP) candidate Fatih Macoglu won 36 per cent of the 1,812 votes cast in the small town of Ovacik. He believes in people power, popular assemblies and investing in agriculture and tourism. By Ekrem GuzeldereMore

Local elections in Turkey: Carte blanche for a crackdownLocal elections in Turkey: An erosion of Erdogan's legitimacyThe Erdogan administration: Turkey's paradigm shift
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan waves to supporters from the balcony of the AKP's headquarters (photo: AP)

Local elections in Turkey

Carte blanche for a crackdown

The election result in Turkey was barely affected by last summer's Gezi Park protests, recent accusations of corruption against the ruling AKP and the on-going open conflict with the Gulen Movement. This is primarily due to the nation's economic situation and the fact that the AKP now controls most of the country's media outlets. By Ekrem Guezeldere in IstanbulMore

Eleven years of Erdogan: Hard times for the "champion" of political IslamLocal elections in Turkey: An erosion of Erdogan's legitimacyThe Erdogan administration: Turkey's paradigm shift
The memorial in Mazgirt (photo: Ekrem Eddy Güzeldere)

Memorial to the Dersim Rebellion in Turkey

Apologies and Forgiveness

A major Kurdish uprising took place 75 years ago in what was the province of Dersim (now the Turkish-named Tunceli Province). It was brutally crushed and ended with the death or deportation of thousands of villagers. Today, cautious steps are being taken to address this painful chapter of history. By Ekrem Eddy GüzeldereMore

Öcalan Announces PKK Peace Plan: Too Good to Be TruePeace Negotiations between Turkey and the PKK: Kurdish Conflict Threatens Erdogan's LegacyCapital Punishment Returns to the Turkish Agenda: A Message to Europe, a Warning to Kurds
The Mor Gabriel monastery (photo: Ekrem Eddy Güzeldere)

Syriac Orthodox Christians in Turkey

''This Is Simply Our Home''

In recent years, around 60-100 Syriac Orthodox families have returned from central Europe to Turkey. Encouraged by changes in the political atmosphere, the minority nonetheless faces a host of problems, from the expropriation of land belonging to a monastery, to a ban on special schools and kindergartens, and also a lack of places of worship in Istanbul. By Ekrem Eddy GüzeldereMore

Syriac Orthodox Christians in Turkey: A Cold Wind Sweeping the Tur AbdinTurkey's Aramaean MinorityMore Than : Just Mor GabrielMinorities in South-Eastern Turkey: Hope Mixed with Resignation
Afro-Turks during the Sixth Festival of the Calf (photo: Ekrem Güzeldere)

The Fate of the Afro-Turks

1

Nothing Left But the Colour

The Afro-Turks, whose ancestors came to the Ottoman Empire as slaves in the nineteenth century, are still struggling for recognition. Now, though, their desire to assimilate into the wider society has become greater than their desire to maintain their own identity. By Ekrem Eddy GüzeldereMore

Interview with Ishak Alaton: ''Turkey Needs a Mentality Revolution''Minorities in South-Eastern Turkey: Hope Mixed with ResignationThe Syrian Orthodox Lawyer Erol Dora: Source of Hope for the Christian Minority

Partner Organizations

www.dw.dewww.goethe.dewww.ifa.dewww.bpb.de

Facebook

Most Recent Photo Essay

In 532, the Roman Emperor Justinian ordered the construction of an awe-inspiring church in his residence, Constantinople, "one that has never existed since Adam's time, and one that will never exist again." Around 10,000 workers were involved in its construction. For a millennium, the basilica on the Bosphorus remained Christendom’s biggest church.

The belle of the Bosphorus

The Hagia Sophia in Istanbul has become a bone of contention. Since it was secularised in 1935, it has been a museum. Now Turkish nationalists want to turn it back into a mosque - while the Patriarch of Constantinople wants to use it as a church again. A photo essay by Klaus Dahmann.