Ali Ertan Toprak:
"Europe's weak and inactive stance against Erdogan"
Held hostage by the Turkish authorities
Deniz Yucel, the "agent terrorist"
An enduring stereotype
The West's gleeful obsession with the 'oppressed Arab woman'
Women's liberation in the Gulf
Arab women – fighting for their rights for 60 years

Interview with Ali Ertan Toprak

"I am stunned by Europe's weak and inactive stance against Erdogan"

Ankara has begun its Syrian offensive. The Kurdish region is threatening to sink into chaos. The aim of the operation is to expel the Kurds, says Ali Ertan Toprak, chairman of Germany’s Kurdish community, in an interview with Daniel Derya BellutRead more

Kurds announce deal with Damascus as Turkey pushes deep into SyriaSyria and the war against IS: Strange bedfellowsThe Kurdish YPG and the future of northeastern Syria: Assad smiles from the sidelines

Held hostage by the Turkish authorities

Deniz Yucel, the "agent terrorist"

Former correspondent for Germany's "Die Welt" Deniz Yucel comes to terms with his imprisonment in Turkey in an intimate new book. Impressively and humorously, he talks about his struggle for dignity and self-assertion and provides an insight into the debates behind the scenes. Nevertheless, some questions remain unanswered. By Ulrich von SchwerinRead more

Release of German journalist Deniz Yucel: It′s not over yetViolence against journalists increasing: Press freedom under fire in TurkeyInterview with Sanem Altan, daughter of Turkish detainee Ahmet Altan: ″The rule of law is disappearing″

An enduring stereotype

1

The West's gleeful obsession with the 'oppressed Arab woman'

The stereotype of the oppressed Arab woman continues to dominate public discourse throughout Europe. Not only is this skewed image altering the perception of changing notions of family and roles within the Arab world, it is also an expression of our own cultural insecurity, writes Claudia MendeRead more

Women′s rights in the Arab world: The key to changeWomen in Turkey: The headscarf is slippingGender equality in the Middle East: To the benefit of all

Women's liberation in the Gulf

Arab women – fighting for their rights for 60 years

Over the years, Arab women demanding change to the status quo have faced fierce resistance from legislators and decision-makers alike. This merely reflects the fear felt by men faced with losing control of the current gender imbalance. By Hana Bu HejjiRead more

Women′s rights in the Arab world: The key to changeViolence against women: Young Arab men fight for women′s rightsShereen El Feki's ''Sex and the Citadel'': Exploring a sexual minefield

Politics

Ali Ertan Toprak, chairman of Germany’s Kurdish community (photo: private)

Interview with Ali Ertan Toprak

"I am stunned by Europe's weak and inactive stance against Erdogan"

Ankara has begun its Syrian offensive. The Kurdish region is threatening to sink into chaos. The aim of the operation is to expel the Kurds, says Ali Ertan Toprak, chairman of Germany’s Kurdish community, in an interview with Daniel Derya BellutMore

Kurds announce deal with Damascus as Turkey pushes deep into SyriaSyria and the war against IS: Strange bedfellowsThe Kurdish YPG and the future of northeastern Syria: Assad smiles from the sidelines
Constitutional law professor and presidential frontrunner Kais Saied (photo: Reuters/M. Hamed)

Polling in the Maghreb

Presidential run-off in Tunisia, but will anyone vote?

Tunisia’s parliamentary elections on 6 October – the penultimate poll before Sunday’s presidential run-off – delivered a very fragmented result without a clear majority. Whoever emerges as victor will face a tough task, fighting widespread voter fatigue and disillusionment with the political establishment. By Alessandra BajecMore

Where are the women in Tunisia's presidential race?Essebsi breaks with Ennahda: Farewell to Tunisia's "national consensus"Eight years after the Jasmine Revolution: Young Tunisians see redLessons from the unrest in Tunisia: Free in name only
Protesters at an anti-government demonstration on 1 October 2019 in Baghdad (photo: picture-alliance/dpa)

Protesting for reform and an end to corruption

Iraq's youth reject the dire status quo

More than a hundred dead and thousands injured: this is the brutal tally thus far of the current unrest in Iraq. Neither the country's political landscape, nor the ubiquitous confessional take on Iraqi politics offer much in the way of explanation. By Karim El-GawharyMore

From Basra to Baghdad: Young Iraqis rise up for a life worth livingEconomic crisis in Iraq: Trump's Iran embargo impacts IraqisWhat triggered the Middle Eastern revolts in 2011? The economics of Arabellion
Caricature of President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi by Celine Rubbelke (source: DW)

Protests in Egypt

Sisi, the survivor?

The protests in Egypt against Sisi’s regime have revealed not only his decline in popularity, but also the fragile nature of the military regime. The latter launched a hysterical campaign of arrests, turning the streets and main squares into military barracks in order to prevent mass anti-Sisi demonstrations. Analysis by the Egyptian researcher Taqadum al-KhatibMore

Protests in Egypt: Sisi's social media nightmareEight years after the Arabellion: The Egyptian opposition's seven deadly sinsInterview with Nawal El Saadawi: "They don't want any really courageous people!"
more Politics »

Society

Poster calling for the release of German journalist Deniz Yucel, arrested in Turkey in 2017 (photo: picture-alliance/rtn)

Held hostage by the Turkish authorities

Deniz Yucel, the "agent terrorist"

Former correspondent for Germany's "Die Welt" Deniz Yucel comes to terms with his imprisonment in Turkey in an intimate new book. Impressively and humorously, he talks about his struggle for dignity and self-assertion and provides an insight into the debates behind the scenes. Nevertheless, some questions remain unanswered. By Ulrich von SchwerinMore

Release of German journalist Deniz Yucel: It′s not over yetViolence against journalists increasing: Press freedom under fire in TurkeyInterview with Sanem Altan, daughter of Turkish detainee Ahmet Altan: ″The rule of law is disappearing″
Symbolic image of anti-Muslim racism (photo: Imago/P. Endig)

An enduring stereotype

1

The West's gleeful obsession with the 'oppressed Arab woman'

The stereotype of the oppressed Arab woman continues to dominate public discourse throughout Europe. Not only is this skewed image altering the perception of changing notions of family and roles within the Arab world, it is also an expression of our own cultural insecurity, writes Claudia MendeMore

Women′s rights in the Arab world: The key to changeWomen in Turkey: The headscarf is slippingGender equality in the Middle East: To the benefit of all
©Goethe-Institut e.V./Perspektiven, Melina Gamal

Women's liberation in the Gulf

Arab women – fighting for their rights for 60 years

Over the years, Arab women demanding change to the status quo have faced fierce resistance from legislators and decision-makers alike. This merely reflects the fear felt by men faced with losing control of the current gender imbalance. By Hana Bu HejjiMore

Women′s rights in the Arab world: The key to changeViolence against women: Young Arab men fight for women′s rightsShereen El Feki's ''Sex and the Citadel'': Exploring a sexual minefield
Domes of the Ditib mosque in Duisburg-Marxloh, Germany (photo: Getty Images/AFP)

Islam and business

Diyanet – Turkey's religious authority that makes millions

Turkey's highest religious authority brings in huge profits, say experts. But as a historic brewery in Istanbul faces demolition, critics argue that such profiteering is not in line with Islam. By Aram Ekin DuranMore

The Turkish Diyanet organisation: Muslim faith under strict controlDITIB Central Mosque in Cologne: A place to pray, a place to meetQantara dossier: Turkey
more Society »

Culture

Deceased Kuwaiti author Ismail Fahd Ismail (source: screenshot; Facebook)

Book review: Ismail Fahd Ismail’s "The Old Woman and the River"

Hemingway, eat your heart out!

Part desert-island novel, part war story, part ‘Don Quixote’ and part folktale, the last novel by Kuwaiti writer Ismail Fahd Ismail (1940-2018) brings us the Iran-Iraq war through the eyes of a wise old fool. Marcia Lynx Qualey read the bookMore

Book review: Shahad al-Rawiʹs "The Baghdad Clock": Romance and sanctions in ʹ90s IraqLiterature versus reality: Author Mansoura Ez-Eldin: Chasing fata morganasRethinking world literature: The Arabic novel in non-Western eyes
First edition of the West-Eastern Divan (photo: Goethe Museum in Dusseldorf

Goethe anniversary

Orient and Occident

Two hundred years of the "West-Eastern Divan": "North and West and South shatter, thrones burst and empires tremble" – why Islam is part of German literature. By Heinrich DeteringMore

Goethe and the Orient: Why did the , true to the writer's motto of "Crush infamy!", , true to the writer's motto of "Crush infamy!", poet's mind wander to far-off climes?Translations of classical Islamic literature: From the emotional Orient to the distortion of IslamJohann Gottfried Herder and the Orient: Faith as silent spirituality
Photomontage Farzane Zamen and Ramy Essam (photo: Najma Abukar/picture-alliance/Zumapress)

Art and censorship

Iran and Egypt – where making music means torture and exile

Musical freedom of expression is under fire, but artists like Iran's Farzane Zamen and Egypt's Ramy Essam refuse to be silenced. Cristina Burak has the detailsMore

Music and power in Iran: An instrument of propaganda and controlPop music and social protest in the Arab world: The echo of revoltThe soundtrack of the Arab Spring: Pop, pathos, and poetry
Salafism recruitment symbolic image (picture-alliance/dpa/R. Peters)

Islamism in Germany

Fighting Salafists with YouTube satire

The state government of North Rhine-Westphalia is relying on wit and humour as an antidote to Islamist extremism. "Jihadi-Fool" is the name of a new YouTube channel targeting young people. By Louisa WrightMore

Fighting Islamic State with satire and black humour: Terribly funny Egyptian satirist Bassem Youssef: Jihadists, please blow here!Preventing Islamism in Belgium: Shaking the terrorist image
more Culture »

In brief

More

Most Recent Photo Essay

Violence erupts during protests in Iraq

Iraqis ushered in October with anti-government protests in Baghdad. These quickly deteriorated into violent confrontations resulting in hundreds of injuries and dozens of deaths. Unease remains in several cities. By Cristina Burack

What future for the Kurds?

What will happen next to the Kurds in northern Syria? All of the parties to the conflict - the Americans, Assad’s regime, Russia, Iran and Turkey, Kurds - have their own agendas for the war-torn region. But what do the Kurds themselves think about their future?

 More

The EU should end its acquiescence to Sisi’s policies

Egypt's President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi addresses the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York City, New York, United States on 24 September 2019 (photo: Reuters/L. Jackson)

The recent re-emergence of public protest should remind the European Union that Abdul Fattah al-Sisi's policies do not provide a basis for long-term stability. It is high time that Europe pressed for a course correction and called out repression.More

Jamal Khashoggi's last column: What the Arab world needs most is free expression

A group of people hold pictures of missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi during a demonstration in front of the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington on 8 October 2018 (photo: picture-alliance/AA/S. Allahverd)

Karen Attiah, The Washington Postʹs Global Opinions editor: "I received this column from Jamal Khashoggi’s translator and assistant the day after Jamal was reported missing in Istanbul… It perfectly captures his commitment and passion for freedom in the Arab world. A freedom he apparently gave his life for."More

Pakistani poet Yusra Amjad challenges societal convention

Using a combination of poetry and narrative, Pakistani poet Yusra Amjad talks about her compatriots' perception of the institution of marriage.More

Western Sahara activist Aminatou Haidar wins Right Livelihood Award

West Saharan human rights activist Aminatou Haider (photo: Right Livelihood Foundation)

Over 30 years of peaceful campaigning for the independence of her homeland Western Sahara have earned Aminatou Haidar the byname “Sahrawi Gandhi”. Her dignity and resolve make her one of the most respected leaders among the Sahrawis.More

Museums programme in Australia brings faiths together

Girls taking part in the "Museums Together" initiative (photo: Marie-Luise Skibbe)

An innovative new programme – Museums Together – is bringing together students from Melbourne’s Jewish and Islamic communities to build bridges and foster respect and acceptance.More

Where to now for the Rohingyas?

Failing in its repeated attempts to persuade them to return to Myanmar, the Bangladeshi government is now planning to relocate 100,000 Rohingyas to the remote island of Bhasan Char, very possibly against their will.More

Discrimination: Welcome to Europe?

Discrimination: Welcome to Europe? (source: Deutsche Welle)

For Aiham Issa, a Syrian refugee in Germany, hardly a day goes by when he doesn’t experience discrimination. He is not alone. Across Europe migrants, refugees and their descendants are reporting an increase in xenophobia. These are some of their stories.More

Freedom of speech under attack in India

Siddharth Varadarajan, a founding editor of The Wire and former editor of The Hindu, gives the 2019 Reuters Memorial Lecture on 18 February 2019.More