dianadarke

Media interviews and press contributions

BBC Radio Kent interview re Afghanistan, background, developments and future of, 4pm 20 August, 2021

BBC Ulster Radio interview re Afghanistan, background, developments and future of, for Talkback Lunchtime programme, 12.10pm, 16 August 2021

BBC Ulster Radio interview re Afghanistan, background, developments and future of, for Talkback Lunchtime programme, 12.50pm, 12 August 2021

Emir-Stein video on How Islamic Architecture Shaped Europe released 28 July 2021 https://www.emir-stein.org/ai_videos/how-islamic-architecture-shaped-europe/ 

BBC Belfast Radio interview re Jerusalem/Israel/Palestine/Gaza conflict re Shaikh Jarrah evictions, 11.30am, 16 May, 2021

BBC Ulster Radio Breakfast interview re Jerusalem/Israel/Palestine/Gaza conflict, 07.10am, 12 May, 2021

BBC Radio Foyle lunchtime interview re Jerusalem/Israel/Palestine/Gaza conflict, 1.15pm, 12 May, 2021

Middle East Institute article Is Bashar al-Assad really the Guardian Angel of Syria’s Minorities?, 12 April, 2021: https://www.mei.edu/publications/bashar-al-assad-really-guardian-angel-syrias-minorities

Middle East Institute article Can Syrian Social Cohesion Survive “without Assad”?, 11 February, 2021: https://www.mei.edu/publications/can-syrian-social-cohesion-survive-without-assad 

 Euronews TV interview on 50 Years of Assad Rule in Syria, 13 November 2020:

Middle East Eye article on the White Helmets and Syria’s Disinformation War: https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/syria-war-white-helmets-james-mesurier-disinformation-death

Middle East Eye article on America’s Hidden Islamic Architecture, 2 November 2020: https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/us-america-islam-architecture-culture

Middle East Institute article on Stealing from the Saracens, 30 October 2020: https://www.mei.edu/publications/stealing-saracens-how-islamic-architecture-shaped-europe

Middle East Institute article on Who Owns Syria’s Cultural Heritage? 23 September 2020: https://www.mei.edu/publications/who-owns-syrias-cultural-heritage

Daunts live video introduction to Stealing from the Saracens, 21 August 2020: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CEWVhrFnxqw/?igshid=jlnay742xseg

TRT World TV interview (9 minutes) on Stealing from the Saracens, 19 August 2020: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJYpUtjHpdA

History Hit podcast on Stealing from the Saracens with Dan Snow 17 August 2020: https://play.acast.com/s/dansnowshistoryhit/stealingfromthesaracens-islamandeuropeanarchitecture

Middle East Eye, 31 July 2020, article on the political and architectural backstory of Hagia Sophia, Istanbul: https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/hagia-sophia-backstory-Islam-Christianity-shared-history

Financial Times, 29 July 2020, letter on the eastern origins of Hagia Sophia, Istanbul:

https://www.ft.com/content/7f117b02-2c1e-452f-8ae0-918ac34a1ff4

Middle East Eye, 14 April 2020, article for the anniversary of the fire at Notre-Dame de Paris: https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/syrian-secrets-notre-dame

BBC Radio Foyle live interview on Putin/Erdogan ceasefire agreement re Idlib, 6 March 2020

BBC Radio Foyle live interview on Turkey’s Peace Spring offensive in Idlib and refugee crisis, 28 February 2020

BBC website background article on Idlib – Syria War: Forgotten amid the Bombs: Idlib’s ancient, ruined riches, published 8 February 2020:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-51177433

BBC Radio Foyle live lunchtime interview on Iran and Qassem Suleimani, 7 January 2020 

BBC Radio Ulster live interview on Iran and Qassem Suleimani, 6 January 2020

Middle East Eye article on Sharjah, the Green and Virtuous Emirate, 22 December 2019: https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/sharjah-really-green-and-virtuous-emirate

Sky News TV interview on repatriation of British ISIS prisoners, 12 November 2019

BBC Radio Belfast live interview on Evening Extra Show re Turkish invasion of North Syria to create safe zone, 9 October 2019

BBC Radio Foyle live interview on lunchtime show re Turkish projected invasion of North Syria to create safe zone, 9 October 2019

BBC Radio Foyle live interview on Breakfast Show re Iran attack (Houthis) on Saudi Aramco oilfields, 16 September 2019

Indus TV, Pakistan, Skype interview re Syria and Idlib, 13 September 2019

BBC Radio 4 Tonight, live interview on Syrian government incursions into Idlib, 19 August 2019

BBC Radio Foyle, Drive Home Show, live interview on detention of Iranian tanker in Gibraltar, 16 August 2019

BBC Radio Ulster, Breakfast Show, live interview on detention of Iranian tanker in Gibraltar, 15 August, 2019

BBC World Service, The Food Chain, interview re the Cat Man of Aleppo during the siege of Aleppo, 1 August 2019

BBC Radio Foyle, Breakfast Show, live interview on Syria’s Idlib, 30 July 2019

BBC Radio Foyle live interview on Breakfast Show re Iranian/US tensions in the Straits of Hormuz, 12 July 2019

BBC From Our Own Correspondent, BBC Radio 4, on the close ties between the Syrian and North Korean governments, both historically and during the current Syrian civil war, 6 June 2019:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0005mlk (starts at 06.45 minutes in)

BBC Radio Foyle live interview on the Trump v Iran dynamic and the US designation of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organisation, 21 May 2019

Idlib Cultural Heritage piece for Middle East Eye, explaining what the world stands to lose in Idlib, 10 May 2019:

https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/what-world-stands-lose-idlib

Comment piece in The Guardian on Islamophobia, contrasting today’s ‘hostile environment’ and the 1960s British government-funded Arabic films encouraging Muslims to come to the UK to work and study, 9 May 2019:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/may/09/britain-muslims-hostile-environment-arabic-videos

In war-torn Syria, an ancestor of Notre Dame still stands, for Asharq al-Awsat, 19 April 2019:

https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1686646/war-torn-syria-ancestor-notre-dame-still-stands

The Heritage of Notre Dame, Less European than People Think, piece for Middle East Eye, 17 April 2019:

https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/heritage-notre-dame-less-european-people-think

BBC World TV, live interview on the fall of ISIS & the likely future, 23 March 2019:

BBC Radio 4 From Our Own Correspondent piece on Lebanon’s Baalbek, the Beqaa Valley & its Syria crossovers, 23 March 2019:

• https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0003kmd (starts at 06.10 minutes)

CBS News TV live Skype interview re 8th anniversary of the Syrian Uprising, 15 March 2019

Sky Sunrise TV live studio interview with Stephen Dixon re new book “The Last Sanctuary in Aleppo”, 9 March 2019

BBC online article “Return of the Cat Man”, 7 March 2019 (2.2 million views):

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/stories-47473772

BBC Breakfast TV live studio interview with Naga Munchetty re new book “The Last Sanctuary of Aleppo”, 2 March 2019

TRT Haber studio TV interview re end of ISIS in Syria and British returnee Shamima Begum, 18 February 2019

Sky News live TV Skype interview re ISIS and British returnee Shamima Begum, 14 February 2019

BBC Newsnight live TV studio interview with Kirsty Wark on end of ISIS in Syria and British returnee Shamima Begum, 13 February 2019: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0002jt7/newsnight-13022019

BBC Belfast live radio interview re Queen’s University link-up with Saudi women’s university, 12 February 2019.

BBC Foyle Breakfast Show radio live interview on Trump’s decision to withdraw US troops from Syria, 20 December 2018.

Middle East Eye article on ‘The Looting of Aleppo’ published on 14 December 2018: https://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/syria-s-newest-battle-we-re-living-medieval-times-1350119160

BBC From Our Own Correspondent piece for the Armistice centenary, linking WWI to the conflict in Syria, broadcast on Radio 4, 3 November 2018:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00010lg (starts at 11.33 minutes)

BBC Foyle lunchtime radio interview on the Jamal Khasgoggi case and the regional strategy behind Erdogan’s tactics, 22 October 2018.

BBC Belfast Drive Time radio interview on the Jamal Khashoggi case strategic implications, 22 October 2018.

BBC Foyle interview, Breakfast Show, on the Jamal Khashoggi case regional implications, 22 October 2018.

BBC Ulster Radio interview on the Jamal Khashaggi case and its implications regionally, 16 October 2018.

BBC Radio Foyle interview on Syria’s Idlib, Breakfast Show, 5 September 2018.

BBC Radio 4 Newsworld interview re Syria’s Idlib, 24 August 2018.

BBC Northern Ireland radio interview on ISIS in Afghanistan, 15 August 2018.

BBC Victoria Derbyshire programme TV interview re ISIS in Mosul, 9 August 2018.

The Art Newspaper, Letter from Syria on reconstruction of historic monuments in regime-held Damascus, Homs and Aleppo, issue of June 2018. 

The National feature on Aleppo Great Mosque and its rebuilding, 9 May 2018:

https://www.thenational.ae/world/mena/is-reconstruction-of-aleppo-s-grand-mosque-whitewashing-history-1.728715

The Guardian Comment is Free article on 13-20 April 2018 visit to Syria including Homs and Aleppo, 1st May 2018:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/may/01/syria-rebuke-western-inaction-military-intervention-assad

BBC From Our Own Correspondent on Crazy Club visit to Syria and Eastern Ghouta, 28 April 2018 (starts at 07.07 minutes):

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09zt3vc

BBC Northern Ireland interview on Eastern Ghouta, 5 March 2018:

BBC World TV interview on Eastern Ghouta and Afrin, 20 February 2018:

BBC website feature on Syrian Kurds and Afrin, 24 January 2018:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-42788179

The TLS, What Our Sons are Worth, play review of Goats, 13 December 2017:

https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/private/goats-royal-court-theatre/

Chatham House, The World Today, review of three Syria books: Why Assad is still there, Oct/Nov 2017:

https://www.chathamhouse.org/publications/twt/why-assad-still-there

The TLS, Death of a City, film review of City of Ghosts, 26 July 2017:

https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/private/raqqa-is-being-slaughtered-silently-rbss/

LBC News live interview with Maajid Nawaz on new US/Russia ceasefire deal in southwest Syria, announced after first Trump/Putin meeting in Hamburg at G20, 9 June 2017

BBC News TV live interview with Simon McCoy on Syria post-Raqqa and the future of ISIS, 30 June 2017

BBC World TV live interview with Lucy Hockings on Assad and chemical weapons, 27 June 2017

BBC5Live radio interview on Assad and chemical weapons, 27 June 2017

BBC2 TV interview on Victoria Derbyshire programme on Syria and chemical weapons report by OPCW, 27 June 2017: 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b08wd8cp/victoria-derbyshire-27062017

(starts 1 hour 56 minutes in)

The TLS Summer Reading recommendation, 21 June 2017:

http://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/public/tls-summer-books-2017/

Letter to Financial Times re Little Syria in Istanbul, 25 April 2017:

https://www.ft.com/content/3483ae52-26b0-11e7-8691-d5f7e0cd0a16?mhq5j=e1

LBC interview re Assad denial of sarin attack, 13 April 2017

BBC 5Live interview re Assad denial of sarin attack, 13 April 2017

BBC interviews with BBC Scotland, BBC Guernsey, BBC West Midlands, BBC Kent on the sarin attack and Trump’s response, 10 April 2017

BBC World TV interview on the Khan Shaikhoun sarin attack and Trump’s response, 9 April 2017

BBC Breakfast TV interview on the sarin attack and Trump’s response, 9 April 2017

BBC Radio 5Live interview on the sarin attack and Trump’s response, 9 April 2017

BBC Scotland interview on LGBT Holland event and culture of men holding hands in Middle East, 8 April 2017

The TLS online A Sarin Attack and a Swing in US Policy, 7 April 2017: 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-39272511

BBC From Our Own Correspondent piece on Muslim/Christian coexistence in south Lebanon, broadcast on Radio 4, 16 February 2017:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08dr5r2  (starts at 11.40 minutes in)

The TLS online How Trump could bring peace to Syria, 9 February 2017:

http://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/public/will-trump-bring-peace-syria/

The TLS Shifting Identities, book review of three novels on Middle East conflict, 8 February 2017:

http://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/private/shifting-identities/

The TLS podcast 14 minute interview about Syria and refugee stories, 11 January 2017 (scroll down to find ‘Diana Darke on the stories of Syria’:

The TLS book review on two refugee stories, 11 January 2017:

http://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/private/journey-out-of-darkness/

Financial Times letter, 10 January 2017, ‘Villagers of Wadi Barada Continue to suffer’:

https://www.ft.com/content/faf6e860-d683-11e6-944b-e7eb37a6aa8e

BBC website feature on Damascus water crisis and Wadi Barada, 8 January 2017:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-38532338

BBC Wales interview re Syrian Ceasefire deal brokered with Russia and Turkey as guarantors, 29 Dec 2017:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0850s1h (starts at 05.30 mins)

BBC Radio 5 Live interview on Daily programme with Adrian Chiles re Russian/Turkish brokered Syrian ceasefire 29 Dec 2016 at 12.05pm

BBC World Service Newsday interview re Russian/Turkish brokered Syrian truce 29 December 2016:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04kt3nq#play (starts at 05.20 mins)

The Guardian feature on Aleppo 16 December 2016:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/16/aleppo-a-cosmopolitan-city-built-on-thousands-of-years-of-trade

Sky News The Murnaghan Show interview re Aleppo’s fall 11 December 2016

Times Literary Supplement piece on Syrian Daily Cultural Life 14 October 2016:

Times Literary Supplement, three book reviews ‘Spirit of the Place’ 21 September 2016:

LBC live interview 6 October 2016 on female American chess champion boycotting Women’s Chess Championships in Iran because of ‘hijab’ rules

BBC Radio Ulster Syria debate on Sunday Sequence programme 25 September 2016 re merits or not of foreign intervention with Peter Ford and Natasha Underhill: 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07wwkvd (starts at 33 minutes, lasts 30 minutes)

BBC World Service Newsday interview 15 September 2016 re Kurdish enclave in Aleppo and wider Kurdish context:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0475919 (starts at 02.10 minutes)

CBC Canadian Broadcasting Corporation interview 8 September 2016 re Syrian Tourism advertisements by Assad regime:

http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2694751999

RTE Radio, Morning Ireland interview 24 August 2016 on My House in Damascus and life there:

http://www.rte.ie/radio/radioplayer/rteradiowebpage.html#!rii=b9%5F21042134%5F48%5F24%2D08%2D2016%5F

Sky News interview 13 August 2016 re local population in Manbij after liberation from ISIS by Kurdish SDF

BBC Newshour interview 1 June 2016 re Manbij offensive against ISIS by US-led Kurdish SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces): 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03w5zzp (starts at 05.20 minutes)

BBC Newshour interview 23 May 2016 re ISIS bombings in Tartous and Jableh:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-36368346 (starts at 4.20 minutes)

Letter to the Financial Times 21 April 2016 re the current position on the contested Golan Heights:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0e060fea-0622-11e6-9b51-0fb5e65703ce.html#axzz47OguBDQ0

BBC website piece 13 April 2016 re Syrian Peace Talks, Syrian Parliamentary Elections and the propaganda value of Palmyra for Assad:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-36024370

BBC Breakfast TV live interview 28 March 2016 re Palmyra recapture:

Last of 9 TV and radio interviews 29 March 2016 re Palmyra recapture & rebuilding:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03nlqf8 (starts at 45.50 minutes)

First of 9 TV and radio interviews re Palmyra recapture 26 March 2016:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03n87vy (starts at 07.30 minutes)

BBC World Service  From Our Own Correspondent piece broadcast on 26 March 2016 on Syria’s Golan Heights and its Druze residents:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03n87qv  (starts at 6.36 minutes)

BBC Radio 4 From Our Own Correspondent piece broadcast 10 March 2016 on Syria’s Golan Heights and its Druze residents:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b072hlvz (starts at 19.12 minutes)

Interview for BBC World Service Newshour programme 5 February 2016 on the escalation in Russian airstrikes north of Aleppo and its effects on the Syrian crisis:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03gyhff (starts at 05.15 minutes)

Interview for BBC World Service Newshour programme 29 January 2016 on the Geneva 3 Syria peace talks:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03g5p3v  (starts at 05.20 minutes)

Interview for BBC World Service Weekend programme 24 January 2016 on the Geneva 3 Syria peace talks:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03fq2vl (starts at 04.10 mins)

Interview for BBC World Service Newshour programme 12 November 2015 untangling the complex web of Kurdish alliances surrounding the current offensive to retake Sinjar.

Letter in Financial Times 11 November 2015 on the implications of the exodus of middle class professionals from Syria for the country’s brain drain and the European migration crisis.

Interview with John Humphries on the Today programme, BBC Radio 4, 31 August 2015 on the destruction of Palmyra’s Temple of Bel and the shredding of Syrian society:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0316kz4

BBC website piece on the story of a Syrian refugee friend in Germany ‘Weeping for a Lost Generation’

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-33817958

BBC From Our Own Correpondent piece, part of Migration Special, on meeting a Syrian refugee friend in Saarbrucken, Germany, after his journey from Turkey:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0320hpl (starts at 06.35 mins)

Sunday Telegraph Commentary, 28 June 2015: We must not let a few fanatics ruin this fledgling democracy:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/tunisia/11703755/We-must-not-allow-a-few-fanatics-ruin-this-fledgling-democracy.html

Daily Telegraph article, 27 June 2015: Tunisia “Lessons were not learnt from Bardo attack”: 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/11701610/Tunisia-lessons-were-not-learnt-from-Bardo-museum-attack.html

Al-Araby Al-Jadeed article, 8 June 2015, Turkey: Free from costly conflicts with its own minorities:

http://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/comment/2015/6/8/turkey-free-from-costly-conflicts-with-its-own-minorities

Al-Araby Al-Jadeed article, 18 May 2015, Palmyra’s fame will outlive the Islamic State group:

http://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/comment/2015/5/18/palmyras-fame-will-outlive-the-islamic-state-group 

The Sunday Times article re Palmyra, 17 May 2015, Silk Road base of queen who bloodied Rome:

 http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/world_news/Middle_East/article1557098.ece

BBC1 TV interview re Palmyra, 5 May 2015

BBC Radio 4 Today programme interview with Michelle Husain re Palmyra, 15 May 2015: 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05tpwc1 (starts at 49 mins in)

 

BBC Radio 4 From Our Own Correspondent, 5 March 2015, on Tunisia and how it is resisting the charms of ISIS now that its new secular government and president have been elected

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0542zv0   (starts at 06.06 mins in)

The Guardian, Comment is free, 3 February 2015, Kobani’s destruction is an opportunity for rebuilding hope:

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/feb/03/kobani-destruction-opportunity-rebuilding-hope-isis-syria

BBC Website feature, 17 December 2014, Damascus, A Strange Normality:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-30494989

Letter in The Financial Times, 4 November 2014 re the meaning of   ‘Tawheed’ and ISIS abuse of Islamic ideology, in response to Ed Husain’s “Until we understand the ideology of ISIS, we cannot hope to defeat it” (31 October 2014):

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c04480ac-60fa-11e4-b935-00144feabdc0.html?siteedition=uk#axzz3IU98rE3m

BBC Website Feature, Middle East, “Love and Hypocrisy” 2 November 2014:

‘The book in every Iranian home’: 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-29648166

BBC Radio 4 From Our Own Correspondent 18 October 2014 on Iranian society and the hypocrisy of its ruling clerics, set at the Tomb of Hafez, Shiraz :

http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/fooc (18 Oct 2014, Episode title ‘Spectres of Afganistan’, starts at 17.25 mins)

BBC World Service Newsdesk interview on 14 October 2014 re Syria, Turkey, the Kurds and Kobane:

Oil and water, not religion, are fuelling Isis campaign to wipe out minorities (published 10 August 2014 in The Sunday Times):

http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/focus/article1444902.ece

Who are the Yazidis? (published 8 August 2014 on BBC website):

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-28686607

Postcard from Nusaybin, Chatham House’s The World Today magazine, Aug/Sep 2014: http://www.chathamhouse.org/publication/postcard-nusaybin-turkey#

Journal of an Arabist, World of Interiors, August 2014:

BBC Radio 4 From Our Own Correspondent piece on Syriac Christians in Eastern Turkey 10 July 2014: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p022kkk3

BBC News Magazine piece 10 July 2014 on the damage to Syria’s cultural heritage and ongoing efforts to save it: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-28191181

Letter in The Financial Times 13 June 2014 re Assad and ISIS: Syria’s Assad has helped ISIS thrive: 

Comment piece in The Guardian on 2 June 2014 on Syrian elections: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jun/02/syria-election-vote-for-assad-or-else   BBC Worlds Service Outlook interview on 6 May 2014 about new book My House in Damascus: An Inside View of the Syrian Revolution, starts at 36.36 mins:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01y59y9  

BBC Radio 4’s Midweek programme with Libby Purves on 16 April 2014, talking about new book My House in Damascus: An Inside View of the Syrian Revolution, with other guests Sir Roger Bannister, Professor Kevin Warwick and Rachael Stirling:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b040hzys (starts at 25.25 mins)

BBC World Service From Our Own Correspondent first broadcast 28 March 2014, repeated in ‘Best of …’ on 5 and 6 April 2014, based on my Damascus lawyer coming out to meet me for the day in Lebanon’s Sidon: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p01vzjqj/From_Our_Own_Correspondent_Cyprus_and_Lebanon/(begins at 4.12 mins)

‘Curious ironies of the Olympics-timed ceasefire in Homs’, 11 February 2014: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/19e29742-8f60-11e3-be85-00144feab7de.html?siteedition=uk#axzz2tCBcBUxZ ‘ISIS has filled the vacuum in Syria left by the West’s inertia’, 9 January 2014: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/590bf29c-77b9-11e3-afc5-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2pzl5K7Ny Evening Standard letter 17 Dec 2013 BBC Arabic TV:  Guest on 7 Days  programme,  discussing the week’s media coverage of the Middle East, 13 December 2013. BBC Radio 4 and World Service From Our Own Correspondent  ‘Kurdish grievances and Water in Eastern Turkey’ 23 September 2013: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p01gsjdw/From_Our_Own_Correspondent_Turkey_and_France_What_Lies_Beneath/

BBC Arabic:  Guest on 7 Days  programme,  discussing the week’s media coverage of the Middle East, 13 September 2013. BBC Radio 4 Today programme interview with John Humphries on Maaloula, the Christian village in Syria and its significance, 12 September 2013: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b039q5nd/Today_12_09_2013/ (begins at 2.45.18 till 2.50.10, ie just under 5 mins). BBC World Service Newsday interview on the looting of Syria’s cultural heritage, 6 September 2013. BBC Website: 11 August 2013  Monk on a Mission  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23614968

BBC Radio 4  and World Service From Our Own Correspondent  ‘A House in Damascus’ 4 July 2013: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0368kp4.html  (begins 6 minutes in) The Guardian Newspaper: 2 Jan 2013 Damascus in Peril http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jan/02/damascus-survive-terrible-conflict-syria

The Financial Times: 23 Mar 2013  Trekking into Petra, Jordan http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/7e0541fc-7c29-11e2-99f0-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2X2SEjqLq

Palestine News May 2013: The Forgotten Golan http://www.palestinecampaign.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Palestine-News-Spring-2013.pdf

Minerva Magazine, The International Review of Ancient Art & Archaeology Jan/Feb 2013:  On the St Paul Trail, Turkey http://minervamagazine.co.uk/archive_pdfs/2013_Vol_24_01.pdf Signatures compared Bashar and Hafez Al-Assad typeset for BAoG journal April 2012 (Article for British Academy of Graphology on signatures of Hafez and Bashar Al-Assad)