In the first Middle East Analysis podcast of 2014, regular studio guest Dr Harry Hagopian, a regional expert and Ekklesia associate, looks at the upcoming Geneva 2 meeting about the on-going crisis in Syria, Egypt’s constitutional referendum, and other Middle East and North Africa related concerns.


In the first Middle East Analysis podcast of 2014, regular studio guest Dr Harry Hagopian, a regional expert and Ekklesia associate, looks at the upcoming Geneva 2 meeting about the on-going crisis in Syria, Egypt’s constitutional referendum, and other Middle East and North Africa related concerns.

Also covered is the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) prosecuting those responsible for the assassination of former president Rafic Hariri; Palestinian refugees and the siege of Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus; Gulf Churches Fellowship; Archbishop Nichols becoming a Cardinal, and Turkey.

The programme is hosted by James Abbott from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales (CBCEW).

Harry Hagopian is an international lawyer, ecumenical consultant and political advisor. He also acts as Middle East and inter-faith advisor to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales and ad hoc ecumenical consultant to the Bishop of the Armenian Orthodox Church in the UK and Ireland (including as part of the Council of Oriental Orthodox Churches). He is a regular Ekklesia contributor on http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/HarryHagopian as well as a recent Huffington Post blogger on www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/dr-harry-hagopian. Formerly Assistant General Secretary of the Middle East Council of Churches, he was subsequently Executive Secretary of the Jerusalem Inter-Church Committee and Executive Director of the Middle East Council of Churches during the Oslo chapter of negotiations. An international fellow at Sorbonne III University, he is author of The Armenian Church in the Holy Land. His own website is www.epektasis.net and you can follow him on Twitter on @harryhagopian

* The full podcast (30 mins, 15mb) can be downloaded as an MP3 file here: http://www.catholicnews.org.uk/content/download/44137/342277/file/MEA-2014-1.mp3