Peter Kenyon

Iran's 'Zahra' Tells Alternate Tale Of Presidential Campaign

Peter Kenyon — Mon, 20 May 2013 20:02:00 +0000

Iranians choose a new president next month, and one thing Iran's leaders are intent on avoiding is a repeat of the massive street protests that followed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's controversial re-election in 2009.

The sponsors of those protests, known as the Green Movement, have been effectively silenced inside Iran, but not online.

A Sign of Disunity? Iranian Candidates Jockey For Position

Peter Kenyon — Tue, 14 May 2013 20:57:00 +0000

Nearly 700 presidential hopefuls have thrown their names into the ring for Iran's June 14 presidential elections. But two last-minute entrants have altered the shape of the already-chaotic race: a former president once dismissed as a has-been and Iran's chief nuclear negotiator.

Although not exactly a free-for-all, analysts say, there's a clear sense that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has failed to unify the political elite behind a single establishment candidate.

Kurdish Militants Begin Historic Withdrawal From Turkey

Peter Kenyon — Wed, 08 May 2013 15:12:00 +0000

Today marks the beginning of the pullback of thousands of militant PKK fighters from Turkey back to Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq. It's an important milestone in a delicate effort to end nearly three decades of bloodshed that have killed an estimated 35,000 people since 1984.

If the withdrawal is successful, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will push for complete disarmament of the PKK, the Kurdistan Worker's Party. The party was founded as a Marxist-Leninist group to push for an independent Kurdistan comprising parts of Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria.

Foreigners At Home: Turkey Beckons Its People In Germany

Peter Kenyon — Sun, 05 May 2013 09:24:00 +0000

In 1961, desperate to increase its labor force, West Germany signed an employment agreement with Turkey and launched a wave of immigration that continues to have repercussions today.

Now, after years of being treated as second-class citizens in Europe's economic powerhouse, large numbers of Turks — descendants of the first wave of immigrants — are returning to Turkey.

In A Strange Land

Yucel Yolcu, 44, has a good life in Istanbul.

Aid To Syria Comes With Fears Of Islamist Presence

Peter Kenyon — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 11:38:00 +0000

At an 11-nation meeting in Turkey this weekend, there was one thing the United States, European and Arab states could agree on: With more than 70,000 killed and millions of people displaced, the Syrian crisis, as Secretary of State John Kerry says, is "horrific."

In response, the Obama administration is doubling its non-lethal assistance to the Syrian opposition, Kerry announced at the meeting.

"The stakes in Syria couldn't be more clear," Kerry said.