Ethnic/Religious Minorities

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meets with Orthodox Patriarch of Bartholomew at the presidential complex, Ankara, Turkey, June 16, 2026.

Culture

Turkey’s Erdogan meets Orthodox patriarch amid push for reopening Halki Seminary

The meeting comes ahead of US President Trump’s expected attendance at next month's NATO leaders’ summit in Turkey, after Trump personally urged his Turkish counterpart to reopen the Halki Seminary.

US President Donald Trump (L) welcomes Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan outside the West Wing of the White House in Washington, DC, on Aug. 8, 2025.

Feature

Backed by Trump and Turkey, Armenia's Pashinyan eyes third term in pivotal poll

As Russia and the West vie for influence, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan appears on track to secure a new mandate for his peace agenda with Azerbaijan and rapprochement with Turkey.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Arab-Israeli Knesset member Ahmed Tibi takes part in a demonstration against rising crime rates against Arab-Israelis in Tel Aviv, Israel, Jan. 31, 2026.

Interview

Ahmad Tibi says Arab parties in Israel can block Netanyahu without joining next government

Ahmad Tibi, head of the Arab Israeli Ta’al party, accused US President Trump of enabling Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to continue the war in Gaza and escalate settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.

Ahmad Tibi

Ahmad Tibi

Israeli Arab lawmaker

San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl speaks at a press conference following a shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego in Southern California, on May 18, 2026.

Three victims identified in San Diego mosque attack: What to know

One of the victims, Amin Abdullah, was a security guard at the center who "played a pivotal role in preventing this from being much worse," San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said.

Latest News

Iraq's Shiite alliance nominates Ali al-Zaidi as PM candidate: What to know

Ali al-Zaidi

Iran arrests Ahwazi separatist leader amid war crackdown: What to know

Iranians carry the coffin of one of the people killed in a shooting attack, during their funeral in the city of Izeh in Iran's Khuzestan province, on November 18, 2022. In some of the worst violence since the protests erupted, assailants on motorbikes shot dead seven people, including a woman and two children aged nine and 13, at a central market of Izeh on the evening of November 16, 2022, state media said. (Photo by ALIREZA MOHAMMADI / isna / AFP) (Photo by ALIREZA MOHAMMADI/isna/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Hostage to Hormuz, can Gulf rewire future energy flows to bypass Iran’s chokepoint?

A police speed boat patrols the port as oil tankers and high speed crafts sit anchored at Muscat Anchorage near the Strait of Hormuz on March 30, 2026 in Muscat, Oman.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Analysis

Displacement and dissent: Hezbollah’s war with Israel splits Lebanon’s Shiites

A Hezbollah flag is seen in a destroyed car after an Israeli airstrike in Nabi Chit (Al-Nabi Shayth), Lebanon, on March 26, 2026. In the first week of March, the Israeli army carried out an unsuccessful nighttime commando operation there to recover the remains of Ron Arad, a pilot missing since 1986, triggering airstrikes and destruction in the area that forced residents to flee their homes. (Photo by Fabio Bucciarelli / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images)

Karim Safieddine

By Karim Safieddine

In Beirut, reporting on politics

Last Greeks of Alexandria struggle to keep their community alive

The Greek community of Alexandria long considered itself one of the main actors in the building of modern Egypt, but with their number dwindled to fewer than 1,000, they are now organizing to deepen and expand existing roots by connecting more with local non-Greek Alexandrians.

Turkey’s Kyrgyz colony struggles to keep traditional lifestyle alive

In eastern Anatolia, a village of Kyrgyz resettled from Afghanistan has become an unlikely tourism hub and a fortress of Turkish nationalism.

A woman with her ID arrives at a polling station to vote during the final stage of a referendum on Egypt's new constitution in Bani Sweif, about 115 km (71 miles) south of Cairo December 22, 2012. Queues formed at some polling stations around the country and voting was extended by four hours to 11 p.m. (2100 GMT). Last week's first round of voting, which an opposition leader said was marred by "serious violations", gave a 57 percent vote in favour of the constitution, according to unofficial figures. REUTER

Egypt looks to remove religion from ID cards — but is it too little, too late?

A proposed bill to remove religious status from national ID cards is welcomed by activists, but they say much more needs to be done to counter the discrimination and unprecedented levels of persecution suffered by Egypt's religious minorities.

Can Israeli Druze bring about cancellation of Nationality Law?

Spurred by Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman’s resignation and the realization that elections will likely be moved to early 2019, the leaders of the Druze community are determined to fight against the Nationality Law.

REFILE - CORRECTING ORCHESTRA NAME Conductor Karim Wasfi leads the Peace Through Arts Farabi Orchestra during a concert in Mosul, Iraq October 27, 2018. Picture taken October 27, 2018. REUTERS/Ari Jalal - RC11765B9AD0

Iraqi artists, volunteers seek to restore morale in Mosul

Singers, poets and volunteers try to revive pluralism in Mosul but old wounds, particularly between different religious groups, linger on.

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men walk past a campaign poster depicting ultra-Orthodox Jewish candidate in Jerusalem's mayoral election Yossi Daitsh, in Jerusalem October 18, 2018. REUTERS/Ammar Awad - RC1A4B7FF670

‘Israelization’ of ultra-Orthodox affects municipal elections

The integration of the ultra-Orthodox community into Israeli society at large and internal divisions within the ultra-Orthodox world have caused many ultra-Orthodox Jews to vote for candidates in the municipal elections, who are not themselves ultra-Orthodox.

School bells ring again at Mosul's Christian school

Shimon Safa Elementary School has welcomed students of many faiths for years, and now the Christian school has opened again, thanks to the residents of the city.

A picture taken on April 30, 2018 shows an electoral banner for the Iraqi Turkmen Front hanging beneath the flags of Iraq (L) and the Iraqi Turkmen (C, white crescent and stars on a blue background) above a pedestrian crossing in the oil-rich and multi-ethnic northern city of Kirkuk. - The past seven months have seen a dramatic turn of events in Kirkuk, the "Jerusalem of Kurdistan", where hopes of independence for Iraqi Kurdistan were dashed after Baghdad retaliated against a referendum held in September. (

Why Iraqi Turkmens are excluded from the new government

Iraqi Turkmens say they have been excluded from the new Iraqi government because they refuse to follow a sectarian approach to politics.

Israeli intervention in Jerusalem provokes Coptic Christians

A recent run-in shines a spotlight on age-old disputes between Christian denominations in the Middle East.

Can Libya’s tribes help solve crisis?

In an interview with Al-Monitor, the head of the Supreme Council of the Tuareg Tribes, Mawlay Qudeidi, speaks about the clashes between rival militias in Tripoli, the security situation and illegal immigration in the south, as well as the elections pushed for by the United Nations.

Tunisia’s bold move to end racial discrimination

Activists hailed the Tunisian parliament’s recent approval of a law criminalizing racial discrimination, although they believe the road is still long to completely eliminate racism that is deeply rooted in Tunisian society.

Why demolishing West Bank village will cost Israel dearly

Europe is warning Israel that demolishing Khan al-Ahmar, a Bedouin-Palestinian village, will constitute a war crime and lead to demands for financial compensation for facilities there provided by its members.