Peter Kenyon

In Istanbul, A Byzantine-Era Fleet Surfaces Again

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 7:24 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.

6:43 am

Thu November 29, 2012

Is Iran Ready For A New Round Of Nuclear Talks?

By Peter Kenyon

Originally published on Thu December 13, 2012 7:39 am

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RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

There are increasing signals from Iran that it's open to a new round of talks on its suspect nuclear program. The last round was held in Moscow in June. And with the American campaign season over, new diplomatic efforts are being explored.

But domestic politics - this time in Iran - may still limit what can be achieved at the negotiating table, as NPR's Peter Kenyon reports from Istanbul.

6:33 am

Sun November 25, 2012

Bullet Dodged In Turkey, But Kurdish Conflict Lingers

By Peter Kenyon

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RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

3:45 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 9:02 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.

4:24 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 1:25 pm

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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.

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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.

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2:28 pm

Fri November 30, 2012