Djerejian available to comment on Syria and Turkey

David Ruth
713-348-6327
david@rice.edu

Djerejian available to comment on Syria and Turkey
The founding director of Rice University’s Baker Institute is a former US ambassador to Syria and assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs

HOUSTON – (Nov. 27, 2012) – Edward Djerejian, founding director of Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and former U.S. ambassador to Syria, is available to comment on the Syrian crisis and Turkey’s request to NATO to assist in protecting Turkey from Syria with Patriot anti-aircraft missile batteries. In June, Djerejian traveled to Istanbul, where he met with Turkish policy experts and Syrian opposition representatives.

A leading expert on the complex political, security, economic, religious and ethnic issues of the Middle East and South Asia, Djerejian served in the U.S. Foreign Service under eight presidents, from John F. Kennedy toBill Clinton. Prior to his nomination by Clinton as U.S. ambassador to Israel, he was assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs in both the George H.W. Bush and Clinton administrations. In 2003, Djerejian chaired the Advisory Group on Public Diplomacy for the Arab and Muslim World at the request of then-Secretary of State Colin Powell and was senior adviser to the Iraq Study Group in 2006. Djerejian is the author of the book “Danger and Opportunity: An American Ambassador’s Journey Through the Middle East.”

The Baker Institute has a radio and television studio available for media who want to schedule an interview with Djerejian. For more information, contact David Ruth, director of national media relations at Rice, at david@rice.edu or 713-348-6327.

To see a previously aired interview with Djerejian discussing the Israel-Hamas cease-fire, click below or go to http://tinyurl.com/EPDonCNN.

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Djerejian on Twitter: www.twitter.com/EdwardDjerejian @edwarddjerejian

Djerejian biography: http://bakerinstitute.org/personnel/fellows-scholars/edjerejian

Photo courtesy: Rice University’s Baker Institute