![President of Iraq's Kurdistan Region Nechirvan Barzani (R) attends a press conference with Iranian Foreign Minister in Arbil, the regional capital in northern Iraq, on July 19, 2020. (Photo by SAFIN HAMED / AFP) (Photo by SAFIN HAMED/AFP via Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2020/09/GettyImages-1227694026.jpg/GettyImages-1227694026.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=DoNxILEj)
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Amberin Zaman is Al-Monitor’s chief correspondent based in London and covers major stories on the Middle East and North Africa from across the region and beyond. Zaman’s reporting focuses on geopolitical trends, diplomacy and human rights. She has covered conflicts in Iraq, Syria and the South Caucasus. Zaman is widely acknowledged for her courageous work on Turkey and the Kurds for which she was named a “Hero” by the Coalition for Women in Journalism. Prior to joining Al-Monitor as a full time reporter in 2018, Zaman was The Economist’s Turkey correspondent for 16 years. Zaman was also a regular contributor to The Washington Post, The Daily Telegraph, The Los Angeles Times and Voice of America and penned weekly columns in the Turkish language media. Zaman, who studied political science at Franklin College in Lugano Switzerland, speaks fluent French, Turkish and Bengali. Follow her on Twitter @amberinzaman and Instagram @amberinzamanjournalist.
![President of Iraq's Kurdistan Region Nechirvan Barzani (R) attends a press conference with Iranian Foreign Minister in Arbil, the regional capital in northern Iraq, on July 19, 2020. (Photo by SAFIN HAMED / AFP) (Photo by SAFIN HAMED/AFP via Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2020/09/GettyImages-1227694026.jpg/GettyImages-1227694026.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=DoNxILEj)
![One of the two top political leaders of the Syrian Kurdish alliance and co-chair of the Syrian Democratic Council Ilham Ahmed attends a press conference, in Paris, on December 21, 2018. - Two top political leaders of the Syrian Kurdish alliance battling the Islamic State group visit Paris for talks on the planned US military withdrawal from Syria, an alliance representative said. (Photo by STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP) (Photo credit should read STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AFP via Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2020/09/GettyImages-1074542602.jpg/GettyImages-1074542602.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=0MYTtNUL)
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![Turkish police officers wearing face masks stand in front of Hagia Sophia entrance on July 11, 2020 in Istanbul, a day after a top Turkish court revoked the sixth-century Hagia Sophia's status as a museum, clearing the way for it to be turned back into a mosque. - The United States said on July 10, it was "disappointed" by Turkey's decision to turn the Byzantine-era monument Hagia Sophia back into a mosque and urged equal access for all visitors. (Photo by Ozan KOSE / AFP) (Photo by OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2020/08/GettyImages-1226228422.jpg/GettyImages-1226228422.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=_DA3Izpq)
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![A displaced Syrian boy from Ras al-Ain, a border town controlled by Turkey and its Syrian proxies, fills jerrycans with water at the Washukanni camp in Syria's northeastern Hasakeh province on April 16, 2020. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP) (Photo by DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2020/08/GettyImages-1210099800.jpg/GettyImages-1210099800.jpg?h=1d34674f&itok=tln5Xm2W)
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![ISTANBUL, TURKEY - AUGUST 05: Women chant slogans and wave signs during a demonstration for the prevention of violence against women on August 05, 2020 in Istanbul, Turkey. Women's rights groups staged simultaneous protests in various Turkish cities in support of the Istanbul Convention on domestic violence against women. The Istanbul Convention is an international agreement for the prevention of violence against women. Forty six countries signed the agreement started by the European Council in 2011. Turk](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2020/08/GettyImages-1264148552.jpg/GettyImages-1264148552.jpg?h=3c7c14d6&itok=-cUNSdd7)
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![US Vice President Joe Biden (L)attends a meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey on the sidelines of the nuclear summit in Washington, DC, on March 31, 2016. / AFP / ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS (Photo credit should read ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2020/08/GettyImages-518364218.jpg/GettyImages-518364218.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=Fz1i0ClJ)
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![The Bayraktar TB2 drone is pictured flying on December 16, 2019 at Gecitkale Airport in Famagusta in the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). - The Turkish military drone was delivered to northern Cyprus today amid growing tensions over Turkey's deal with Libya that extended its claims to the gas-rich eastern Mediterranean. The Bayraktar TB2 drone landed in Gecitkale Airport in Famagusta around 0700 GMT, an AFP correspondent said, after the breakaway northern Cyprus government approve](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2020/08/GettyImages-1189007249.jpg/GettyImages-1189007249.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=--ofywCL)
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![ISTANBUL, TURKEY - NOVEMBER 21: Turkish Lira currency is seen on November 21, 2017 in Istanbul, Turkey. The Turkish Lira plunged to a record low of 3.978 against the dollar in early Tuesday trading. Concern's over deteriorating relations with the U.S. and the central bank continue to effect Turkish markets. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2020/08/GettyImages-877063764.jpg/GettyImages-877063764.jpg?h=1d34674f&itok=Ii__84nT)
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![Kurdish Peshmerga militiamen carry their weapons as other fighters play volleyball at one of their camps in the Qandil Mountains located along the Iraq-Iran border, 05 May 2006. A top Kurdish guerilla threatened 06 May to launch hit-and-run attacks on Iran, saying the Shiite country planned to bomb his group's positions inside Iraq to gain Turkey's support against the US. AFP PHOTO/ALI AL-SAADI (Photo credit should read ALI AL-SAADI/AFP via Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2020/08/GettyImages-463842388.jpg/GettyImages-463842388.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=lrt0MXVK)
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