Original news, features, opinions from Chicago to Jerusalem
Professor Bayram Balci Analyzes Turkish elections Exclusive to The Arab Daily News: Q&A with Bayram Balçi Professor at l’Institut d’études politiques de Paris. By Abdennour Toumi Professor Bayram Balci is a non-resident scholar in Carnegie’s Russia and Eurasia Program, where his research focuses on Turkey and Turkish foreign policy in Central Asia and the…
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By Abdennour Toumi This law of exception was never repealed in spite of numerous criticisms leveled at its questionable constitutionality and its relevance to personal liberty. A week after the murderous attacks, which resulted in 130 deaths and 352 wounded in Paris and Saint-Denis, President Hollande delivered a speech on November 16th before in joint…
Read More “Le Bâton de Guerre of President Hollande on Terror” »
By Abdennour Toumi Paris, France — Across the mythical French capital, from Paris’ northeastern banlieue to Republic Square, symbol of liberty and conviviality, a pleasant evening to enjoy. On Friday the 13th, do you remember eleven months ago, a policeman was shot dead in the street in the eleventh arrondissement before twelve satiric journalists were…
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By Abdennour Toumi They changed their political identity, that is to say, their strategy and political doctrine. While the Islamists across the Maghreb were gaining power in Morocco, Tunisia — even in Libya before the end of the political consensus through general sections — they emerged as a significant alternative to the authoritarian regimes. Their…
‘Sultan’ Erdoğan the Magnificent of Turkey By Abdennour Toumi Paris, France — Turkey has won, those who want political stability and economic prosperity have won, and those who are fighting for democracy in the region have won. In a stunning political season, the AK Party and President Erdoğan won a landslide victory in Sunday’s early…
“Liberty-Equality-Fraternity” is the motto of the French Republic but the spirit it implies is applied selectively in reality. By Abdennour Toumi Paris, France — In October of 2005 neighborhoods in the banlieues of France erupted in violence, the cause of those riots, the deaths of two teenagers Ziad and Bouna, electrocuted on a power transformer…
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A look back at the reunification of Germany and the skepticism that made many believe it would never happen By Abdennour Toumi Paris, France — Those decades were a time when every internationalist and nationalist, and even Hollywood directors, had skepticism, waiting for a clash and the ultimate destruction of the imaginary enemy. Germany’s twenty-fifth re-unification…
The ethnic stereotype factor complicates the integration process for both parties in the adopter/adopted equation, because of the ignorant racist mentality of the adopter on the one hand and the socio-cultural background of the adopted on the other By Abdennour Toumi Paris, France — The ethnic stereotype factor complicates the integration process for both parties in the…
By Abdennour Toumi Paris, France — As the social season in Algeria heats up, so does the political one. However, President Bouteflika is intelligently focussing on a strategy to move his pawns into his rivals’ zone, in this case the Generals in Ali Khodja Castle He has been using tactics to overcome Algeria’s political turmoil of the 90’s…
By Abdennour Toumi If there is blame, it is laid at the feet of the hypocritical international community, the heinous el-Assads clan and the infamous ISO, who forced them to flee their homes and throw themselves into the Aegean Sea. Paris, France — The shocking sight of a drowned Syrian boy found on a beach near…
Love doesn’t involve divinity — sometimes it takes a visit to a mystic place to realize the depth of tolerance. In Konya just to stop at the tomb of Jalal Eddine Rumi one can vehemently feel the love for humanity. By Abdennour Toumi Konya, Turkey — In the heart of Anatolia in the middle of its great wild…
Troubled Waters Under the Tigris and Euphrates Bridges By Abdennour Toumi Ankara, Turkey — Last summer I was in the southeastern province of Mardin, when social-demand riots erupted in the majority of Kurdish villages and towns. Burning tires and barricades blocked the roads as farmers protested the cut-off of electricity and especially of water needed to irrigate…
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M’zab Valley: Neither Sectarian nor Ethnic By Abdennour Toumi Algiers, Algeria — The recurring quarrels between the Mozabite and Cha’amba communities are not necessarily limited to historic facts related to the Islamization process throughout the Maghreb. A few Arab families who migrated from el-Hijaz in the middle of the eleventh century, particularly the Beni Salam, found an…
How you trim your mustache can have meaning in terms of your politics in some areas of the Arab and Islamic World, but especially in Turkish politics. Your mustache could be as much about your political views as it is about fashion. Maybe the correct phrase is “political fashion.” By Abdennour Toumi Ankara, Turkey — The mustache is not…
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Syrian Refugees face White Hill Nightmare By Abdennour Toumi Akçakale, Turkey — Tel-Abyad, a strategically-placed town on the Syrian-Turkish border under the control of the ISO since 2013, was seized in a brief take-over operation by Kurdish brigades of Burkan el-Furat and the united forces of the YPG-YPJ. This success may well signal a decisive shift in…
Painful Refugee Day, Feverish Year for Ankara By Abdennour Toumi Ankara, Turkey — The Syrian conflict has produced the most compelling humanitarian challenge of the last fifty years. According to the UNHCR (U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees) office, there re 12.2 million people in need of humanitarian assistance including 3.9 million who fled Syria and 7.6 million…
Turkey’s Democratic elections show that the HDP opposition can win support, but not enough to oust the AKParti, the party President Erdogan founded. But now the HDP is a more formidable voice in defining Turkey’s Democratic future. The vote suggests Turkish voters may want a multi-party coalition leadership By Abbdenour Toumi Ankara, Turkey — In order to…
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By Abdennour Toumi Ankara, Turkey — The countdown is underway as the Parliamentarian election campaign in Turkey heats up, and the question of a prospect for a presidential system has been foremost in every opposition leader’s rally speech. A constitutional amendment or a new constitution could be put in place for the presidential system dear to President Erdoğan….