Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

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A view of Salah al-Din neighbourhood in central Aleppo August 22, 2013. (REUTERS/Loubna Mrie.)

Opinion: The Islamic world could resolve the Syrian crisis

by Aylin Kocaman | Sep 9, 2013 | Opinion

Who would have thought during Assad’s glory days three years ago that Syria would be ruined, that 100,000 people would have died violently and that two million would be living in tents in other countries? In the furor surrounding US attempts to intervene militarily in...

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Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (L) meets with Iran’s new President Hasan Rouhani (R) at his office in Tehran on August 5, 2013. Moderate cleric Hassan Rouhani assumed Iran’s presidency promising to work to lift punishing international sanctions imposed on the Islamic republic over its controversial nuclear program. (AFP PHOTO/ATTA KENARE)

Opinion: Turkey is not isolated, Iran is

by Aylin Kocaman | Aug 22, 2013 | Opinion

“Turkey has gone from sick man to lone man”! That was the title of a cartoon about Turkey that appeared in Iran’s Fars News Agency the other day. The Iranian agency was saying Turkey had become isolated in the world because of its foreign policy....

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Members of the Muslim Brotherhood and supporters of deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi gather at the Rabaa Adawiya square, where they are camping, in Cairo July 12, 2013. (Reuters/Mohamed Abd El Ghany)

Opinion: Egypt’s February 28

by Aylin Kocaman | Jul 14, 2013 | Opinion

February 28 is a date full of meaning in Turkey. On February 28, 1997, we underwent an important and difficult test. It was a troubled time, and one that we do not want to go back to. Present-day Turkish writers frequently equate today’s events in Egypt with February...

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Protesters light flares during a protest at Taksim Square in Istanbul June 12, 2013.(Reuters/Osman Orsal)

Opinion: The threat facing Turkey

by Aylin Kocaman | Jun 21, 2013 | Opinion

Turkey has found itself in the international spotlight over the past two weeks, despite the continuing slaughter in Syria, the Iranian elections, and the tensions in Iraq. The crisis in Turkey, which is escalating, is being covered live second-by-second by the world...

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TOPSHOTSDemonstrators help one another as Turkish riot policemen use tear gas to disperse clashes on May 31, 2013 during a protest against the demolition of Taksim Gezi Park, in Taksim Square in Istanbul. (AFP Photo)

Opinion: “Turkish Spring” is a false analogy

by Aylin Kocaman | Jun 5, 2013 | Opinion

There have been no great uprisings in the major cities of my country, Turkey, since the 1970s. It has wrestled with the scourge of terror for 30 years; we have always lived side by side with terror. Suicide bombings, banks being blown up and explosions on buses all...