Tag Archives: middle-east

Rebranding the caliphate –a never-ending dystopian myth

Posted on August 6, 2020 by nervana111

  If not now, when?   if not you, who? With the image of pious Erdogan reciting the Quran in Hagia Sophia, and his head Mufti holding the sword of conquest it is no wonder that slogan appeared on social media. … Continue reading →

Posted in Middle East, Turkey | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Qatar’s Turkish Gamble

Posted on August 28, 2018 by nervana111

  Early last July, as the Gulf crisis between Qatar and its neighbours entered its second year, the leadership in Doha projected a defiant and confident image. The presence of Turkish troops on its soil and the flood of Turkish … Continue reading →

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Can President Sisi freeze politics in Egypt?

Posted on March 4, 2018 by nervana111

Here is an English version of my latest for Al-Hurra “I am not a politician, someone who just talks (beta3-kalam).” Perhaps the most telling part of Sisi’s speech at the inauguration of Egypt’s Zohr gas field last month was the fact … Continue reading →

Posted in Diary of Aak, Egypt | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Why I support Kurdistan’s independence referendum

Posted on September 25, 2017 by nervana111

Here is an English version of my latest article in Al-Hurra   ( photo via the Guardian)   In 838, a Kurdish leader based in Mosul named Mir Jafar Dasni revolted against the Caliph Al-Mu’tasim. After a series of armed confrontation between … Continue reading →

Posted in Middle East | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The visit of Egypt’s Sisi to Washington: The illusion of chemistry and the challenges of reality

Posted on April 1, 2017 by nervana111

Donald Trump with Egyptian President  in New York, Sept. 19, 2016 Photo by Reuters On Monday April 3, US President Donald Trump will host Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for talks in Washington. The last visit of an Egyptian president to … Continue reading →

Posted in Egypt, Middle East | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Assad, Isis, and Turkey

Posted on January 11, 2017 by nervana111

Portraits of Putin, Assad, Khamenei and Nasrallah in Aleppo -via Twitter In a TV interview on a Syrian state TV channel, Secretary of the Syrian Parliament Khaled Abboud alluded that the government has been redirecting the Islamic State (Isis)’s attacks, … Continue reading →

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Syria: The New Arab Nakba

Posted on January 2, 2017 by nervana111

  Syrian pro-government forces walking in the ancient Umayyad mosque in Aleppo Photo via Daily Mail, AFP/ Getty Images   A day after Assad’s Syrian Government declared it had regained full control of the Syrian city of Aleppo, Hezbollah leader … Continue reading →

Posted in Middle East, Politics, Syria, Terrorism | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Tunisia: On the Road to Nowhere

Posted on May 18, 2016 by nervana111

This post originally appeared at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR): Steven Cook’s From the Potomac to the Euphrates blog. Steven Cook is a Middle East’s expert and a senior fellow at CFR. He just visited and wrote this insightful. … Continue reading →

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Egypt and the land

Posted on April 28, 2016 by nervana111

  “Awad sold his land” is a slogan that surfaced in Egypt following president Abdel Fatah al-Sisi’s agreement with Saudi Arabia to transfer two Red Sea islands (Tiran and Sanafir) to Saudi sovereignty. Egypt has been controlling those strategically placed … Continue reading →

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Egypt: A coup against the coup?

Posted on April 19, 2016 by nervana111

Gamal El-Gaml wrote an interesting article in Egypt’s Al-Masry Al-Youm.  He claimed that weeks ago he received detailed information on what he described as arrangements for a “manufactured popular revolt” against the Egyptian president Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi. He claimed, according to … Continue reading →

Posted in Diary of Aak, Egypt, Middle East, Short Comments | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments