Free speech and censorship
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German-Turkish film festival defies the odds
Sending a message
This year's Film Festival Turkey Germany has kicked off without any financial backing from Turkey. Ankara withdrew funding at the last minute from an event that it seems to perceive as far too critical. By Jochen Kurten
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Berlinale 2018: Iranian film "Khook"
When heads roll
A film director desperate to be on a serial killerʹs hit list, AC/DC and Instagram likes: with his absurdist comedy, Mani Haghighi breaks with all the conventions associated with Iranian cinema. By Elizabeth Grenier
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Murder and kidnapping in Iraq
An inexorable tide
In today's Iraq, there is no force more powerful than the militias and no voice louder than those who seek to drive a wedge between the religious denominations, says Iraqi writer Safaa Khalaf
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Release of German journalist Deniz Yucel
It′s not over yet
Die Welt correspondent Deniz Yucel has finally been freed after a year in custody, but this has done nothing to change the situation within the Turkish media and judiciary. Commentary by Ulrich von Schwerin
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Interview with Sanem Altan, daughter of Turkish detainee Ahmet Altan
″The rule of law is disappearing″
Turkish journalist Ahmet Altan has been sentenced to life in prison for ′violating the constitution′. In interview with Gezal Acet, his daughter Sanem Altan asserts that the verdict is a political decision aimed at President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's opponents
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Societal repression in Egypt
The tentacles of autocracy
The process of repression is outsourced to the citizenry who indirectly secure absolute power for the regime. Taking Egypt as an example, Maged Mandour describes this vicious circle, in which the masses are both the victims and the beneficiaries
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Turkish actor Baris Atay
Defy the dictators!
Turkish actor Baris Atay plays a dictator in a one-man show that is intended to get audiences thinking. The play has been banned in several Turkish cities, but Atay remains defiant. By Gezal Acer
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Egyptian video archive 858.ma
Nothing but the truth
The battle for images and symbols rages on: seven years after the start of the Egyptian revolution, the media collective Mosireen is trying to challenge the official state narrative with a wealth of citizen video material. By Christopher Resch
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Egypt's presidential election
The defamation game
The Egyptian regime has been resorting to defamation campaigns to target its opponents as a tactic to silence and discredit any critical voices, claims leading activist Esraa Abdel Fattah in her commentary
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Egyptian satirist Bassem Youssef
Jihadists, please blow here!
During the Arab Spring, satirist Bassem Youssef was loved and feared. Then he fled the country. Now he′s mocking in America. By Dunja Ramadan
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Interview with Syrian playwright Wael Kadour
A vehicle for integration
Syrian playwright and dramatist Wael Kadour came of age in Damascus a decade before the revolution. His plays speak of life in his home country and social tensions across the Middle East. Interview by Laura Cappelle
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Turkish exiles′ news portal "Ahval"
Hardly politically neutral
Dissident Turkish journalists have taken refuge with foreign information platforms. The latest of these, in Arabic, has some rather dubious supporters however. By Joseph Croitoru