Europe
Abortion Access Under Threat
In recent years, some European countries have introduced “conscientious objection” clauses allowing medical institutions to summarily opt out of performing abortion or providing contraception. The move coincides with a mobilization of the Catholic Church and an American conservative Christian law firm. But many medical providers and patients are decrying the situation for undermining access to abortion in places where the procedure is perfectly legal.
Georgia’s Rocky Path to Europe
Georgia’s bid to join the European Union involves a story of cloak-and-dagger intrigue that has seen one of the world’s oldest churches engulfed in accusations of political sabotage, factional backstabbing and secret sex affairs.
The Struggle for a Reckoning With Soviet Crimes
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, condemnation of the crimes committed by its autocratic government could have allowed for “history [to] develop in some other ways,” Tomak says. This might have given Russia and Belarus the opportunity to transform their political structures. Instead, “Putin is like a successor to the USSR.”
The Human Toll of Europe’s ‘War on Smuggling’
All over Europe, thousands of migrants languish in jail on dubious charges of association with smugglers. A New Lines investigation sheds light on how the continent’s anti-smuggling laws punish innocent migrants and asylum seekers.
The Rise of the House of Osman — with Marc David Baer
For this third installment in our series on the fall of the Ottomans, historian Marc David Baer joins New Lines’ Faisal Al Yafai to look back at the 600 years of history that preceded their ultimate collapse.
Even After Decades, Europe’s Turkish Diaspora Struggles for Recognition
Today, Turkish diaspora communities encompassing roughly 5.5 million people are spread across Europe, forming one of the continent’s largest migrant groups and the largest Muslim-majority community. But 60 years and at least four generations later, many people from the Turkish diaspora still feel like second-class citizens in Europe.
Erdogan and Austria’s Far Right: Enemies Who Help Each Other
For Erdoğan, Turkish citizens in Austria as well as Germany constitute a “pool of voters for the AKP,” which he may need to draw upon in the 2023 presidential election given his declining popularity at home. But Erdogan is only able to draw on them because he is playing the kind of music Turks in Austria want to hear.