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Peter Kenyon

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Peter Kenyon is NPR's international correspondent based in Istanbul, Turkey, covering the Iran crisis and the business of Persian Gulf oil.

Prior to taking this assignment in 2010, Kenyon spent five years in Cairo covering Middle Eastern and North African countries from Syria to Morocco. He was part of NPR's team recognized with two Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University awards for outstanding coverage of post-war Iraq.

From 2001 to 2005, Kenyon was based in Jerusalem and covered the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In addition to regular stints in Iraq, he has followed stories to Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lebanon, Bahrain, Qatar, Algeria, Morocco and other countries in the region.

Arriving at NPR in 1995, Kenyon spent six years in Washington, D.C., working in a variety of positions including as a correspondent covering the US Senate during President Bill Clinton's second term and the beginning of the President George W. Bush's administration.

Kenyon came to NPR from the Alaska Public Radio Network. He began his public radio career in the small fishing community of Petersburg, where he met his wife Nevette, a commercial fisherwoman.

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Middle East
4:13 pm
Thu February 23, 2012

Syrian Forces Tightening Grip On Parts Of Homs

Credit Local Coordination Committees in Syria / AP
Flames rise from a house, the result of Syrian government shelling, in the Baba Amr neighborhood of Homs, Syria, on Wednesday, in this image provided by citizen journalists to the Local Coordination Committees.
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The Syrian army has cut off all escape routes from a rebel-held neighborhood in Homs, the city that has seen the most intense fighting in recent days, according to opposition activists.

Syrian tanks were seen moving closer to the Baba Amr neighborhood Thursday, as efforts continued to negotiate a cease-fire to evacuate the wounded, including two Western journalists.

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Middle East
3:00 am
Thu February 23, 2012

Syrian City Homs Besieged By Government Troops

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Syrian government troops are continuing to bombard the central city of Homs. The United Nations says more than five thousand people have been killed during the 11-month uprising. Syrian activists say the number is much higher. Yesterday, two foreign journalists were among those killed.

Middle East
2:13 pm
Tue February 14, 2012

Iran Can Disrupt Key Waterway — But For How Long?

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Credit Hassan Ammar / AP
The USS Abraham Lincoln sailed from the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday. This photo was taken from the bridge of the aircraft carrier and shows U.S. aircraft parked on its flight deck. In the background, a U.S. destroyer patrols.
Credit Jumana El Heloueh / Reuters/Landov
A helicopter from the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln hovers over an Iranian patrol ship during a transit through the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday.
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The dispute over Iran's nuclear program has again rocked oil markets. And Iran is threatening to close the Strait of Hormuz, which is just 34 miles wide yet serves as the passageway for 20 percent of the world's oil.

This is not a new drama. In fact, it was a recurring issue in the 1980s. Still, there's been relatively little activity among Gulf oil producers to find alternative routes to get their oil to market.

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Middle East
2:00 pm
Fri February 10, 2012

A Year After Revolution, Tensions Rising In Bahrain

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Tensions are growing in the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom of Bahrain. Protests by Shiites in outlying areas are growing ahead of next week's anniversary of the uprising. There are daily clashes between protesters and police and some fear that the violence will escalate as the anniversary approaches on Feb. 14, perhaps spreading to the streets of the capital, Manama.

Middle East
11:01 pm
Tue January 31, 2012

In Booming Istanbul, A Clash Between Old And New

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Credit Peter Kenyon / NPR
Rapid building in Istanbul is remaking the city, and activists are seeking to preserve historic places. The Haydarpasa train station, which dates to the 19th century, is closing for renovations. But longtime station workers suspect the city will convert the station into a luxury hotel or other commercial property.
Credit Peter Kenyon / NPR
Demonstrators in Istanbul's Taksim Park protest against several development projects that would also include forced evictions from working-class neighborhoods. Yves Cabanne, a professor from University College in London, speaks to the crowd.
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Originally published on Wed July 25, 2012 2:43 pm

On a frigid January morning, bundled-up travelers step off a ferry and scurry toward the imposing stone walls of the Haydarpasa train station, a 19th century landmark in Istanbul, a city full of history.

The people boarding this morning are nostalgic. They're longtime station employees, taking one of the last train runs to Eskesihir, where the station's first director-general is buried.

They're going, as it were, to give him bad news — that Haydarpasa's 150-year service as a public transportation center may be coming to an end.

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Middle East
11:01 pm
Wed January 25, 2012

For Turkish Journalists, Arrest Is A Real Danger

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Credit AP
Hundreds of journalists protest the arrests of members of the media, including Ahmet Sik (poster on the right) and Nedim Sener (center) in Ankara, Turkey, in March 2011. Critics say the government is trying to stifle dissent by arresting journalists — for doing their job.
Credit Mustafa Ozer / AFP/Getty Images
Rakel Dink, the widow of murdered journalist Hrant Dink, walks with thousands of people people during the ceremony commemorating her slain husband.
Credit AP
Ahmet Sik, an investigative reporter and a journalism professor, was arrested nearly a year ago, prompting huge outcry. He has been charged with aiding and abetting a terrorist organization.
Credit Getty Images
Thousands of people in Istanbul participated in a rally on Jan. 19 that marked the fifth anniversary of the murder of journalist Hrant Dink by an ultranationalist teenager. Many Turks condemn a recent court ruling that found no official involvement in the killing — a verdict that even one of the judges expressed discontent with.
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Originally published on Thu January 26, 2012 10:42 am

In the wake of the Arab Spring, some Muslims in North Africa are looking across the Mediterranean to Turkey as a potential model of a state that can be modern, Islamic and democratic.

But some analysts in the region say that model is flawed, and they are questioning Turkey's human-rights record and its dealings with the press.

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Middle East
2:04 pm
Wed January 11, 2012

Death Of Iranian Nuclear Expert Adds To Tensions

Credit Sajad Safari / AFP/Getty Images
Iranian security forces inspect the site where a magnetic bomb attached to a car by a motorcyclist exploded outside a university in Tehran on Jan. 11, 2012, killing nuclear scientist Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan.
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An explosion in Tehran Wednesday killed an Iranian nuclear scientist while he was driving his car. It's the fifth such death in five years, and Iranian officials immediately blamed Israel. The attack is the latest manifestation of escalating tensions between Iran and the West.

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The Arab Spring: One Year Later
11:01 pm
Thu January 5, 2012

The Turkish Model: Can It Be Replicated?

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Credit Mustafa Ozer / AFP/Getty Images
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (right) has been enthusiastically received by Arab Spring countries that look to Turkey as a potential model. Here, Erdogan hosts Mustafa Abdul Jalil, chairman of the National Transitional Council of Libya, in Istanbul, last month.
Credit Mustafa Ozer / AFP/Getty Images
Many Arabs admire Turkey as an Islamic state with a modern economy and a democratic political system. Here, Turks break their fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan on a bridge in Istanbul in August.
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Originally published on Mon January 9, 2012 10:09 am

In the Arab states that have ousted dictators and begun building new political and economic systems, many are looking to Turkey as an example of a modern, moderate Muslim state that works. Perhaps no country has seen its image in the Arab world soar as quickly as Turkey, a secular state that's run by a party with roots in political Islam. As part of our series on the Arab Spring and where it stands today, NPR's Peter Kenyon examines whether the "Turkish model" can be exported.

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Middle East
3:06 pm
Wed December 21, 2011

Iran And Its Rivals Dig In On Nuclear Dispute

Credit Atta Kenare / AFP/Getty Images
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad regularly defends his country's nuclear program despite international criticism. The president is shown here on a visit to Varamin, south of Tehran, on Wednesday.
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The year began on a note of cautious optimism on the Iran nuclear front. But talks in Geneva and Istanbul proved inconclusive, and the Arab Spring uprisings soon pushed Iran off center stage. And as 2012 approaches, observers see little reason for optimism regarding a diplomatic solution to the Iran nuclear dispute.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, under attack from other conservative factions at home, continues to find a safe rhetorical haven in defending Iran's nuclear program — and in attacking the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.

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Europe
4:00 am
Sat December 3, 2011

Turks Enjoy A Little Schadenfreude At EU's Expense

Credit Bulent Kilic / AFP/Getty Images
A woman walks up the stairs of Galata Bridge in Istanbul. With the financial crisis in the eurozone, Turks are rethinking their years-long bid to be a part of the European Union.
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As he prepares for the midday rush, Mustafa Baljan puts the finishing touches on the kebabs, salads and stews that make up many a working Turk's lunch. As the steam carries the scent of lamb and garlic into the street, the 37-year-old restaurant owner considers a popular question: With European economies on the ropes, should Turkey still be seeking to join the European Union?

"Are you kidding? Of course I don't want to join," Baljan says. "Countries are going bankrupt. Why would we want to join a union like that?"

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Middle East
7:00 am
Sat November 26, 2011

Turkey Feels Pressure To Act On Syria

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Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

The Arab League meets today in Cairo to consider imposing sanctions against Syria after Damascus rejected the League's demand that Syria allow an observer mission into the country. As protests there continue and the death toll mounts, neighboring Turkey says it's ready to join the Arab League in levying punitive measures against the government in Damascus. But as NPR's Peter Kenyon reports from Istanbul, Turkey's deep reluctance to endorse a military option underscores the complex risks surrounding any foreign intervention in Syria.

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