NEWS

Human Rights Watch (HRW), in a statement released yesterday, stated that the Turkish government is blocking access for independent investigations into alleged mass abuses against civilians across southeast Turkey.

With the deal made between Turkey and Israel, “humanitarian aid” to Gaza Strip is brought to the agenda once again. On the other hand, a joint Palestinian and Israeli project, which has been going on since 2002, tries to find a more permanent solution to the crisis in the region. The book titled as "Learning Each Others Historical Narrative" offers a new model for history textbooks used in Palestinian and Israeli schools. Project's co-director Sami Adwan told about this model.

Around the corner from the Chora church sits a wooden building, a cultural hub for the city’s burgeoning Syrian population. This month, Pages, one of Istanbul’s two Arabic book stores, tucked carefully between the back streets of Edirnekapi, is celebrating its first anniversary.

The number of people migrating to Istanbul from Greece increases day by day. It is estimated that around 800 Greek immigrants live in Istanbul. There is a platform called “Hava Baba”, which is founded by those immigrants. We spoke to Marina Drymalitou, the chair of Association for the Support of Greek Community Foundations in Turkey (RUMVADER) about the problems with Greek immigrants and their expectations.

This anti-elite uprising, however, has been carefully guided and spurred on by media and political elites in Britain for years. Scapegoating of migrants, particularly those from the EU, forced on the UK by supposedly draconian policies from Brussels, has reigned supreme for well over a decade. The familiar argument that migration is a drain on British jobs and resources has been spurred on by the most widely read newspapers in the UK, with centre, right, and sometimes leftist politicians fanning the flames.

We talked to Ruben Safrastyan, the Director of Armenian National Academy of Sciences Institute of Oriental Studies, about Pope Francis' visit to Armenia, in the framework of the normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia.

Richard Giragosian, Director of Regional Studies Center based in Yerevan, assessed Pope's messages that he conveyed during his visit to Armenia and the recent developments in the region. This article is also the first of Giragosian's analysis and articles that he will be writing for Agos.

Fresno city of California has a historical significance for Armenian people. The city was the first stop of the mass migration to the US after the genocide. However, it hosted Armenians before 1915. Though there are 50.000 Armenians in Fresno today, there had been more Armenians living in the city in the past. In 1976, Armenian Studies Program was launched in Fresno State University. We spoke to Barlow Der Mugrdechian, who has been working as the director of this program for 8 years, about Fresno and its importance for Armenian people.

Last night, suicide bombers opened fire and detonated themselves in departures hall of Istanbul Atatürk Airport, killing 41people and injuring more than 239 people.