Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says they do not exist.  And in Iran, if they merely try to be themselves, they commit a crime that brings shame on their families.  But now, Iranian homosexuals are starting to speak out about what it means to be gay and about the lengths to which they have gone More »

Hundreds of actors and supporters of free expression recently demonstrated in the heart of Istanbul against what they call growing political control of the country’s municipal and state theaters. Istanbul City Theater sparked controversy with its April 2012 production of Daily Obscene Secrets by Chilean playwright Marco Antonio de la Parra. Conservative media outlets condemned the More »

Turkish members of parliament started writing a new constitution this week – a move seen as crucial to ending Turkey’s ties with its military past. But although there is consensus about the need for a new constitution, political divisions still threaten the process. The parliament has started to rewrite the 30-year national charter to replace More »

Middle East scholar Fouad Ajami of the Hoover Institution says that recent UN diplomacy and a cease-fire brokered by special envoy Kofi Annan appear to be working in favor of Syria’s government.  Amnesty International is urging Bahrain to release 14 opposition activists, including hunger-fasting Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, who have been jailed for their roles in More »

Joint military exercises by Gulf Arab states come as fears of an armed conflict with Iran continue to grow.  Our reporter Cecily Hilleary looks into whether Iran is behind the “Arab Spring” of Bahrain.  She speaks with Michael Rubin of the American Enterprise Institute and Middle East expert J.E. Peterson.  Egypt’s de-facto leader, Field More »

New comment and video from Inshaat and Homs More »

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said this week that Turkey is poised to lead the wave of change in the Middle East and that the aspirations of the Syrian people must be realized. The Foreign Minister and opposition parties sounded off on Turkey’s policy towards the Middle East in a highly charged session of More »

There are signs the United Nations-brokered cease-fire in Syria is starting to fray after the opposition called for widespread protests.  Samir Al Husain, an opposition activist in Hama, speaks with us about security forces firing on anti-government protesters there today.  The “American Syrian Coalition” is created to work in a unified voice to support More »

Syrian security forces shot and killed at least three protesters on Friday and clashes erupted near the Turkish border, as a day-old ceasefire between the government and opposition showed signs of unraveling. Mass opposition protests swelled in several flashpoint areas across Syria, and activists say government forces fired on demonstrators at several locations, including in More »

There are signs the United Nations-brokered cease-fire in Syria is starting to fray. Two activist groups reported clashes between Syrian troops and rebel force, near the Turkish border Friday.  Some of the fighting was reportedly heavy. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Syrian government deployed tanks to the northwestern village of Khirbel el-Joz More »

Ankara has reacted angrily to an incident Monday in which Syrians were shot while seeking refuge in Turkey, with a Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman warning that “necessary steps” will be taken if such incidents are repeated. The incident come as Syrian forces intensified their crackdown on the opposition ahead of Tuesday’s United Nations ceasefire deadline. The More »

Turkish officials say Syrian forces fired across the border at a refugee camp, wounding at least five people Monday, a day before a U.N.-brokered cease-fire is supposed to take effect. Syrian activists claim two people were killed in the attack near a refugee camp in the southeastern Kilis region. About 25,000 refugees are currently housed More »

An advance peacekeeping team for U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan arrived in Syria to begin laying the groundwork for a potential monitoring mission that could end the government’s violent crackdown on dissent. Reuters news says the team arrived in Damascus on Thursday, just hours after a spokesman for Annan said Syria had begun withdrawing troops More »

Violence across Syria killed at least 36 people – nearly half of them soldiers – as Arab leaders in Baghdad backed a peace plan during a summit focused on resolving the year-long anti-government revolt. Syrian state media said Thursday that insurgents kidnapped an Air Force general near Damascus while gunmen shot and killed two army More »

High-level envoys from dozens of nations supporting Syria’s opposition meet in Turkey Sunday for the second session of the so-called “Friends of Syria” to plan for political change in the strife-torn country. Opposition leaders are under pressure to outline their vision for Syria if President Bashar al-Assad leaves power. When the friends of Syria’s uprising More »

Follow @jmckellogg // A tent city among the ruins of a former tobacco factory along the Turkish-Syrian border is home to Syrian refugee Ciwan and his four-year-old son. The Yayladagi camp is swarming with Syrians fleeing the bloodshed of their homeland. But for Ciwan, a Syrian Kurd, it’s unfamiliar living among the predominantly Arab population.   “Over More »

Turkey has seen a spike in the number of refugees coming from Syria as the government assault in neighboring Idlib province intensifies. Turkish authorities are building two new camps and say they are preparing for many more arrivals if Syria descends into full civil war. Dump trucks and rollers kick up clouds of dust as More »

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has arrived in Tehran for talks on the international deadlock over Iran’s nuclear program and the Syrian conflict. Erdogan was expected to meet Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Mahmud Ahmadinejad during his two-day visit, which began on March 28. Turkey has repeatedly voiced its support for Iran’s right More »

Syrians of all ages are trying to flee their country to escape the violence there. Reyhanli Refugee Camp in Turkey, just across the Syrian border, is home to more than 3,000 refugees, many of them children. The Turkish government provides the basics – even a school, a playground and some modest toys. At first glance, the More »