Author: Rainer Hermann

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Mehmet Celebi in the cemevi attached to his house (photo: Rainer Hermann)

Turkish music

Fighting for freedom with the lute, not the sword

The poetry of Pir Sultan once prompted uprisings in the Ottoman Empire. To this day, Alevis identify with him. Rainer Hermann visited Mehmet Celebi, a direct descendant of the medieval bard, who lives in the house Pir Sultan built in a tiny mountain village in TurkeyMore

Turkish incursion into northern Syria: You reap what you sowChallenging Turkish history from the ground up: "The stories of our families"Photo gallery: The last years of the Ottoman Empire
Date stuffed with pistachios, Gaziantep, Turkey (photo: imago/Westend61)

Gaziantep Academy of Culinary Arts

Baklava, but not for beginners

Gaziantep in south-eastern Turkey boasts a rich culinary history. Keen to preserve ancestral recipes for posterity, local chef Ugur Acioglu has founded an academy for the culinary arts. Rainer Hermann reportsMore

Interview with Zafer Yenal: On the connection between nationalism and cuisineEU accession: Turks troubled by possibility of tripe banErdogan, Islam and alcohol: Last call for Istanbul's meyhane bar culture?
Istanbul view of the Hagia Sofia (photo: picture-alliance/dpa)

Istanbul in 24 hours

What's it like to live in a fractured city?

Turkey is so much more than its president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan: Christiane Schloetzer has selected twenty-four of Istanbul's sixteen million inhabitants, creating a portrait of the Bosphorus metropolis based on their life stories. By Rainer HermannMore

Cat capital Istanbul: What to do about Turkey's strays? The Istanbul Canal project: Erdogan's dream, Istanbul's nightmareUrban renewal under Erdogan: Istanbul shantytown residents in limbo
Water shortage in the Syrian province of Idlib in summer 2021 (photo: Abdulaziz Ketaz/AFP/Getty Images)

Climate crisis and over-population

The Arab world has no answers

As challenges such as population growth and the end of the fossil fuel era loom large, not a single Arab regime is in a position to meet them. It is now incumbent upon Europe to encourage a response. Commentary by Rainer HermannMore

Climate heroes in Iraq: A life for the treesArab world: Conflict and climate change drive Syria's water crisis Water shortage in the Maghreb: Morocco's thirst revolution and the luxury of watermelonsOverpopulation and Sisi regime propaganda: Egypt's people – nothing but a burden and a nuisance
Mourners on Las Ramblas in Barcelona (photo: Getty Images)

After Barcelona

Islamist terrorism in Europe: Besting the beast

Jihadism is the hydra of terror. Once one group has been defeated, the next will follow. This is making the fight against terrorism increasingly difficult. By Rainer HermannMore

Islamic State: Down but not necessarily outPreventing Islamism in Belgium: Robbing the jihadists of their advantageIS attacks in Brussels: No more shades of grey
Men mourning a Turkish soldier killed in the fight against IS militia (photo: picture-alliance/AA/E. Ozdemir)

After the attack in Suruc

Turkey fighting on two fronts

After a decade of relative calm, terror has returned to Turkey. The country has now decided to fight this terror on two flanks simultaneously. According to Rainer Hermann, this escalation could have been avoidedMore

Turkey, IS and the Kurdish conflict: "Kobani is now everywhere"Interview with "Der Spiegel" reporter Christoph Reuter: The strategists of terrorRainer Hermann: The illusion of national homogeneityQantara.de dossier: Syrian Civil War
A man reads the Koran in a mosque in Sanaa (photo: Reuters)

Islam and the modern age

Moving beyond dogmatic doctrine

Whoever equates Islam with Islamists has allowed themselves to be taken in by the radicals and ignores the fact that there are many liberal Muslims who have adapted their faith to the requirements of the modern world. By Rainer HermannMore

Interview with Maha El-Kaisy-Friemuth: "We urgently need reform within Islam"Wahhabism and Salafism: Shared foundation – different methodsInter-Islamic cultural war: The despondency of the political middle groundPortrait of Sadiq Al-Azm: An argumentative Arab enlightener
US-President Barack Obama meets Saudi King Abdullah in Washington DC (photo: Roger L. Wollenberg/EPA)

Saudi Arabia and America

The Estrangement of Two Allies

Saudi Arabia feels as though it has been left in the lurch by the US. Primary thorns in the Saudis' side are Washington's energy policy, its rapprochement with Iran and its conduct in the Syrian conflict. Riyadh is now going its own way. By Rainer HermannMore

Saudi Arabia's Foreign and Security Policy: Categorical ImperativeSaudi Arabia and the Protests in the Arab World: A Colossus with Feet of ClayQantara.de Dossier: Saudi Arabia
Head of Egypt's Armed Forces, Abdul Fattah al-Sisi (photo: Reuters)

Egypt after the Military Coup

Dead End

Egypt's new regime has abandoned any attempts to give itself a fig leaf of legitimization. Armed forces chief Sisi has only widened the gulf between the camps. A commentary by Rainer HermannMore

Interview with Egyptian Novelist Alaa al-Aswani: "Mubarak's Regime Remains Intact"Egypt after the Coup: Two Sides of the Same CoinEgypt in Turmoil: Against the Tide of Hatred
Demonstration in Yemen (photo: dpa/picture alliance)

After the Arab Revolutions

Islamic Modernity

An enormous whirlwind of change has been unleashed by the upheavals in the Arab world and the long-term effects are unforeseeable. A middle course will have to be charted between the precepts of Islam and the demands of revolution. By Rainer HermannMore

The Arab Spring's Balance Sheet: The Grapes of Arab WrathPolitical Prospects after the Arab Spring: At a CrossroadsInterview with Tariq Ramadan: A Revolution in Suspense
Egypt's president Mohamed Morsi (photo: Reuters)

Interview with Mohamed Morsi

''We Don't Want a Theocratic State''

"We believe in a modern state, in which the transfer of power takes place peacefully and in which democracy and freedom prevail." With these words, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi expressed the sentiment that his country does not wish to become a theocratic state. Here is the full interview of President Morsi with Markus Bickel and Rainer HermannMore

Egypt and Its New Constitution: A National Unity Government for Egypt!Constitutional Referendum in Egypt: The Islamists' Pyrrhic VictoryMass Protests against Morsi: Egypt's Democratic Dictator?
Demonstration in Cairo against the reintroduction of emergency laws (photo: dpa)

Egypt before the First Post-Mubarak Parliamentary Election

Organised Uncertainty

Although Egypt's first free election is due to take place in two months' time, the country still does not have an electoral law. The reason is quite straightforward: the military wants to shape the way the electorate votes. Rainer Hermann reportsMore

Egypt in Transition: A Little Fear, a Lot of WorryDemocracy and Rule of Law in Egypt: Momentum towards a ''Revolution of Reason''
A jubilant crowd in Yemen's capital, Sanaa, after the news broke President Saleh had left the country (photo: AP)

Power Struggle in Yemen

A Yemeni Tribal Affair

The power struggle in Yemen is primarily a conflict between two families: On the one hand that of President Saleh, who clearly has no plans to leave office quietly, and on the other the Ahmar family, which presides over the Hashed tribal confederation. By Rainer HermannMore

Paternal and Religious Authority in YemenDossier: The Arab Spring