MUSTAFA AKYOL

Muslims don’t need an Iran-Saudi war MUSTAFA AKYOL

Muslims don’t need an Iran-Saudi war

As if the Middle East did not have enough tension, a new one has been added with the new year: An Iran-Saudi clash, which has already deep roots, that further escalated with Saudi Arabia’s execution of prominent Shiite cleric and activist Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr

January 05 2016
After yet another horrible year MUSTAFA AKYOL

After yet another horrible year

This is the last day to 2015, at least according to the Gregorian calendar most of us use

December 29 2015
Thoughts on Christmas and Muslims MUSTAFA AKYOL

Thoughts on Christmas and Muslims

We have seen yet another Christmas. And some senseless reactions have, again, come from our Muslim world. Three Muslim-majority countries, Tajikistan, Somalia and Brunei, banned Christmas celebrations, declaring them “un-Islamic”

December 25 2015
Persecuted Christians of the Middle East MUSTAFA AKYOL

Persecuted Christians of the Middle East

In June 2014, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) occupied the Iraqi city of Mosul, which was the home to around 3,000 Christians

December 22 2015
An Islamist critic of Erdoğanism MUSTAFA AKYOL

An Islamist critic of Erdoğanism

You probably have heard well by now that it is not a smart thing to be an outspoken critic of President Tayyip Erdoğan in the Turkish media

December 18 2015
Canada: A bright hope for liberalism MUSTAFA AKYOL

Canada: A bright hope for liberalism

When I heard the children’s choir in Canada that welcomed the Syrian refugees, I was really moved

December 15 2015
‘Make America McCarthyistic Again’ MUSTAFA AKYOL

‘Make America McCarthyistic Again’

Donald Trump, the American businessman turned presidential hopeful, threw out another provocation the other day

December 08 2015
The Russian crisis vs. the official ideology MUSTAFA AKYOL

The Russian crisis vs. the official ideology

The downing of a Russian war plane by the Turkish air force on the Turkish-Syrian border on Nov. 24 opened a new chapter in Turkey’s political discussions

December 04 2015
The latest assault on press freedom in Turkey MUSTAFA AKYOL

The latest assault on press freedom in Turkey

Last Thursday, Can Dündar and Erdem Gül, the editor-in-chief and the Ankara representative of Turkish daily newspaper Cumhuriyet, were arrested and put in jail

December 01 2015