![Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan sits during an interview with Reuters in Manhattan, New York, U.S., September 25, 2018. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly - RC1F60EA5800](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2018/09/RTS22XBZ.jpg/RTS22XBZ.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=xHnitxfQ)
![Amberin Zaman 2](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2024-06/AmberinZaman2-480x480.jpg?h=7f412c8f&itok=e2cJgWXs)
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.
![Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan sits during an interview with Reuters in Manhattan, New York, U.S., September 25, 2018. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly - RC1F60EA5800](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2018/09/RTS22XBZ.jpg/RTS22XBZ.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=xHnitxfQ)
![German Chancellor Angela Merkel greets Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the beginning of the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, July 7, 2017. REUTERS/Bernd Von Jutrczenka/POOL - RC16778A3FD0](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2018/09/RTX3AG1U.jpg/RTX3AG1U.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=DpKe2YNO)
![A picture taken on March 20, 2018 shows an Airbus plane on the tarmac at the airport in the Iraqi Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah, three months after the lifting of a ban on international flights.
Iraqi authorities had announced on March 13 the lifting of a nearly six-month air blockade imposed on Iraqi Kurdistan in response to its holding of an independence referendum. / AFP PHOTO / SHWAN MOHAMMED (Photo credit should read SHWAN MOHAMMED/AFP/Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2018/09/GettyImages-934975330.jpg/GettyImages-934975330.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=cby74YBy)
![A man holds a flag with a picture of imprisoned Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan during a gathering to celebrate Newroz, which marks the arrival of spring and the new year, in Istanbul, Turkey March 21, 2018. REUTERS/Murad Sezer - RC1FB1A51280](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2018/09/RTS1OLGZ.jpg/RTS1OLGZ.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=Wze8KVzK)
![Syrian rebel fighters from the recently-formed "National Liberation Front" parade following military training at an unknown location in the northern countryside of the Idlib province on September 11, 2018, in anticipation for an upcoming government forces offensive. - The Syrian regime and its Russian ally are threatening an offensive to retake the northwestern province of Idlib, Syria's last rebel bastion. (Photo by Aaref WATAD / AFP) (Photo credit should read AAREF WATAD/AFP/Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2018/09/GettyImages-1031552858.jpg/GettyImages-1031552858.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=6Hu5FwT_)
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![TOPSHOT - This picture shows the destructions after govenrment forces' bombings in the town of Al Habit on the southern edges of the rebel-held Idlib province on September 9, 2018. - Russian air strikes on Syria's last major rebel bastion today were the "most violent" in a month since Damascus and its ally Moscow started threatening it with an imminent attack around a month ago, a monitor said. (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP) (Photo credit should read OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP/Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2018/09/GettyImages-1029787240.jpg/GettyImages-1029787240.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=15wGFhOT)
![Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan arrives for a news conference with President Hassan Rouhani of Iran and Vladimir Putin of Russia following their meeting in Tehran, Iran September 7, 2018. Kirill Kudryavtsev/Pool via REUTERS - RC1DC2377000](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2018/09/RTS20FIK.jpg/RTS20FIK.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=P9OhJJ9C)
![Police guard the government headquarters in Chisinau April 8, 2009. Moldova's Communist rulers arrested 193 opposition protesters early on Wednesday and riot police regained control of the presidential offices and parliament, ransacked in anti-government riots. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich (MOLDOVA CONFLICT POLITICS ELECTIONS) - GM1E5481HG202](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2018/09/RTXDRVS.jpg/RTXDRVS.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=c0NZcXeX)
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![Turkish forces are seen in a convoy on a main highway between Damascus and Aleppo, near the town of Saraqib in Syria's northern Idlib province, on August 29, 2018. - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in a press conference today that there is "full political understanding" between Russia and Turkey, who support opposing sides of the Syrian civil war but are currently in intense negotiations to ensure Idlib does not become a breaking point in their alliance. (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP) (](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2018/09/GettyImages-1025003228.jpg/GettyImages-1025003228.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=DFPKB4XM)
![ISTANBUL, TURKEY - AUGUST 29: People wait to change money at a currency exchange office in front of the underconstruction, Taksim Square Mosque on August 29, 2018 in Istanbul, Turkey. Turkey's lira extended its slump to a third day to 6.45 against the dollar after the central bank announced it would alter Turkish banks borrowing limits on overnight transactions, the move failed to reassure investors and combined with the decision by ratings agency Moody's to downgrade the credit rating of twenty Turkish fi](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2018/08/GettyImages-1025019946.jpg/GettyImages-1025019946.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=-i6PQZ58)