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Local election re-run in Turkey

"My strategy is honesty"

On 1 June 2014, some local elections in Turkey were re-run after the results of the original polls were contested. Re-runs were held in the provincial capitals of Agri and Yalova. For the citizens of the eastern Anatolian city of Agri, the outcome was a surprise: the candidate of the Kurdish BDP party, Sirri Sakik, clearly prevailed against the ruling AKP, taking 51 per cent of the vote. Observations from Agri by Ekrem Guzeldere
Turkey's first Communist mayor

Great expectations, even greater challenges

Turkey's first ever Communist mayor was elected on 30 March. Turkish Communist Party (TKP) candidate Fatih Macoglu won 36 per cent of the 1,812 votes cast in the small town of Ovacik. He believes in people power, popular assemblies and investing in agriculture and tourism. By Ekrem Guzeldere
ISIS' cultural vandalism

A trail of destruction

Cultural barbarism prevails in the territories declared a "caliphate" by the radical Islamic group ISIS. The sad irony of this is that its members are even destroying monuments to the companions of Muhammad, whom they themselves supposedly revere. Joseph Croitoru reports
Interview with intelligence operative Benno Köpfer

"You're allowed to be a Salafist in Germany"

More than 300 people from Germany have gone to Syria to join the jihad. In this interview with Jannis Hagmann, Benno Köpfer of the German domestic intelligence service explains what radicalises young people, why not all Salafists agree with the ISIS caliphate and why he drinks the occasional tea with some of them
Interview with Nadeem Aslam

Shadows of the past

"The Blind Man's Garden" is the fourth novel to be published by the British–Pakistani author Nadeem Aslam. In this book, he returns to the days, weeks and months immediately following 9/11 and relates them from the perspective of a Pakistani family that is subsequently drawn into the ensuing war in Afghanistan. Claudia Kramatschek spoke to Aslam about his new novel
Muslims in Britain

Seeking to Combat Extremism

The brutal killing of Lee Rigby in London in May by two Muslim converts was widely condemned by Muslim religious leaders, but still led to a rise in threats made against Muslims and mosques. Many Muslims in Britain, however, work to try and counter extremism. Joanna Impey reports
Jihadism in Dagestan

A growing problem in the fight against terrorism

Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen and Somalia are known to be hotbeds of Islamist activity. For some time now, many young, radicalised Muslims have been leaving their homes in Europe and northern Africa to join the ranks of radical Islamist groups such as IS. However, little attention has thus far been paid to the number of jihadis coming out of the Russian Republic of Dagestan. By Kiran Nazish in Afghanistan
Interview with Stefan Meister

"The Syria crisis is legitimising Putin"

Russia's backing of Bashar al-Assad and his regime is a geopolitical game, says Stefan Meister, expert in Russian foreign and security policy. Above all, however, Vladimir Putin is benefitting domestically from his Syria policy. The confrontation with the West is making him a key figure in world politics. Interview by Jannis Hagmann
Trump recognises Jerusalem as the capital of Israel

Whose idea was that?

With his official recognition of Jerusalem, the U.S. President is not acting in the interests of Jews in his country, but solely with the "blessing" of the Christian fundamentalists who long for the end-time battle, the apocalyptical Armageddon, says Armin Langer in his commentary
Interview with Bettina Marx, head of the Heinrich Boll Foundation in Ramallah

Hamas' olive branch: ″Palestinians want reconciliation″

Hamas has made an offer to its Palestinian rival, Fatah, agreeing to hold elections in the Gaza Strip. The head of the Heinrich Boll Foundation in Ramallah, Bettina Marx, sees this as a striking and positive development