Interview
Thousands of Muslim Tatars fought for the Wehrmacht against the Soviet Union. The historian Iskander Gilyazov speaks to zenith about the Muslim Idel-Ural Legion, taboos and how history views national heroes and collaborators.
Syria expert Bassma Kodmani explains the recent conflict between Assad and his cousin Makhlouf – and calls on Europe to take advantage of Russia’s discontent with the Syrian regime.
Neysatu, the queen of the Tunisian underground music scene, speaks to zenith before her latest concert in Berlin about rediscovering her Amazigh heritage, her musical Africanity, and the perils of performing under Ben Ali’s dictatorship.
Syrian journalist and filmmaker Waad al-Kateab talks to zenith about life in Aleppo under siege, taking the Syrian regime to courts, and knocking on doors the world over in pursuit of justice.
Afghanistan’s youngest mayor, Zarifa Ghafari, talks to zenith about the importance of cleaning up local politics and how the fear of the Taliban stalks Afghans’ day-to-day lives.
Meryam Joobeur, director of the Oscar-nominated short film, ‘Brotherhood’, talks about how a chance encounter in rural Tunisia spawned a powerful collaboration, the renaissance in Tunisian cinema, and why young people find themselves drawn to ISIS.
Feras Fayyad, the director of the Oscar-nominated documentary, ‘The Cave’, speaks to zenith about seeing the future of Syria in his female protagonist, surviving torture in Assad’s cells, and facing discrimination in the USA and Denmark.
As recent events have deepened uncertainty in the Gulf, zenith asks former Saudi intelligence chief Turki al-Faisal for his thoughts on the death of Qassem Suleimani, Saudi support for Iraq and a possible rapprochement between the kingdom and Iran.