Peter Kenyon

Credit Gary Robbins

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.

No Breakthrough In Sight For Peaceful Transition In Syria

By Peter Kenyon

Originally published on Mon December 24, 2012 2:18 pm

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Amid continued bloodshed in several parts of Syria, international envoy Lakhdar Brahimi held another round of talks with President Bashar Assad in Damascus. But there was no sign of progress toward a peace deal.

Middle East

12:23 pm

Fri November 30, 2012

In Istanbul, A Byzantine-Era Fleet Surfaces Again

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Credit Gokce Saracoglu for NPR

Archaeologists call an excavation site on Istanbul's southern shore the world's largest shipwreck collection. The area, unearthed during construction of a railway station, was once a Byzantine-era port that harbored cargo and military vessels, and received goods from around the Mediterranean.

Credit Mustafa Ozer / AFP/Getty Images

Archaeologists in Istanbul work on the remnants of a Byzantine-era ship in June 2006.

Credit Mustafa Ozer / AFP/Getty Images

The archaeological finds include millions of shards of pottery.

By Peter Kenyon

Originally published on Mon December 3, 2012 5:24 pm

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In Istanbul, major public transit projects are back under way after years of paralysis. The problem wasn't a lack of financing, but the layer upon layer of ancient artifacts that turned up every time the earthmovers started their work.

The excavation began eight years ago on projects intended to ease Istanbul's notoriously clogged traffic.

The job included building a tunnel under the Bosphorus Strait and linking it to a rail and subway network. When the dig was stopped several years ago, eyes rolled and shoulders shrugged.

4:22 am

Thu November 22, 2012

Israelis Ponder Likud Party's Shift To The Right

Credit Bernat Armangue / AP

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman shake hands in front of the media after giving a statement in Jerusalem last month. Netanyahu said his Likud Party will join forces with the hard-line party of his foreign minister in upcoming parliamentary elections.

By Peter Kenyon

Originally published on Sun November 25, 2012 7:02 am

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Some analysts have suggested that one impetus for the Israeli military strikes in Gaza is the upcoming election season in Israel. With elections set for January, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu changed the political landscape last month by announcing that his Likud Party would run along with a right-wing party led by hawkish Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.

Likud Party leaders complained that they were left in the dark before the prime minister effectively vaulted Lieberman into the No. 2 political position.

2:24 am

Sat November 10, 2012

As Turkey Rises, 'A Real Problem' With Censorship

Credit Bulent Kilic / AFP/Getty Images

Kurdish women hold pictures of jailed journalists in Istanbul on Sept. 10, during the start of the trial of 44 journalists with suspected links to rebels from the Kurdistan Workers' Party.

By Peter Kenyon

Originally published on Sat November 10, 2012 11:25 am

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Nearly two years ago, Soner Yalcin and more than a dozen of his employees at the online news outlet OdaTV joined the growing list of incarcerated Turkish journalists. Yalcin, the owner of OdaTV, is one of the sharpest critics of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government.

As their trial proceedings dragged on, challenges to the state's case grew, and most of the outlet's journalists were released, pending the trial's conclusion. But Yalcin and two others remain behind bars, 22 months and counting.

12:25 pm

Sat October 27, 2012

Among Israelis, Romney Appears The Favorite

Credit Charles Dharapak / AP

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney places a prayer note during a visit to the Western Wall in Jerusalem in July. Israel is one of the few foreign countries where residents have a clear preference for Romney over President Obama.

By Peter Kenyon

Originally published on Sun October 28, 2012 6:51 am

Israelis view the American presidential election much the way they tend to view most issues: What does it mean for Israel?

And by a wide margin, Israelis seem to believe that Republican candidate Mitt Romney would be more attentive to Israel's interests than President Obama.

The Peace Index Poll, commissioned by Tel Aviv University and the Israel Democracy Institute, found that Romney was favored 2-to-1 by Israelis back in August.

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