Qantara.de - Dialog mit der islamischen Welt

Mustafa Ozturk, a professor specialising in "tafsir" – Koranic exegesis – at Istanbulʹs Marmara University was recently accused of blasphemy. Convinced that various Islamic groups seeking to influence Turkish politics are responsible, Ozturk is actively considering self-imposed exile. Interview by Ayse KarabatMore

Following the massacre of protesting students in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 1989, U.S. President George H.W. Bush’s administration limited its sanctions and kept lines of communication open, owing to China's strategic importance. Richard N. Haass asks whether a similar policy toward Saudi Arabia would prove viable?More

Principled leaders on the world stage need to reinforce the rules on which we all depend, sending a clear signal that what happened in Istanbul is not acceptable. Otherwise, we will effectively be giving up the discourse of values and rules – a decision that could well leave us with no coherent and stabilising discourse at all, argues Ana PalacioMore

A Shia Hazara from Pakistanʹs Baluchistan, human rights activist Jalila Haider has made the persecution of minorities her focus. In interview with Saima Hyder Zaidi, she also takes a stand against patriarchal mind-sets and the objectification of womenMore

Directed by Azalarabe Alaoui, the Moroccan film "Kilikis, the town of owls", though not a documentary, is based on the notorious Tazmamarat prison, where political opponents were incarcerated during the reign of the late King Hassan II. Time to face up to the past? By Ismail AzzamMore

The Saturday Mothers gather weekly in Turkey to demand information on loved ones subjected to enforced disappearance or state violence. But in the country’s repressive political environment even their vigils are coming under attack. Tom Stevenson and Murat Bayram report from IstanbulMore

In May 2018, Egypt’s parliament approved several new pieces of legislation regulating the press and the media, but also the controversial cybercrime law. Amr Gharbeia, technology and human rights officer with the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) and an expert on Internet surveillance in Egypt, spoke to Sofian Philip NaceurMore