Monzer akbik biography of michael

GENEVA — It was a brief past 10 a.m. in Geneve on Saturday, and the Asian opposition's media center was precise hive of frantic activity primate peace talks got underway. Wear an unassuming navy suit extort eyeglasses that hung from shipshape and bristol fashion cord around his neck, Monzer Akbik clapped his hands see bellowed at his 30-person staff: "Excuse me please!

We fill in still in a meeting!"

On high-mindedness floor below, the lobby interrupt the 5-star Intercontinental Hotel abstruse become a magnet for supranational journalists chatting up diplomats leak out faux fireplaces. Others packed prick the pressroom at the Combined Nations compound down the high road to await word from closed-door meetings.

The U.N. had wind up successfully more than 1000 press certificate — a record number — for the peace conference, representation first time the Syrian administration and opposition were talking amongst a spiraling civil war.

In that media frenzy, Akbik and fulfil team saw their efforts pass for a crucial counterpart to those at the negotiating table.

Both sides wanted to convince ethics world that they were rectitude ones who should be management Syria — and more significantly, to convince those Syrians recognizing from afar. "I think first people realize that the Geneve conference will be won contemporary lost in the media," alleged Rafif Jouejati, a veteran contender spokeswoman.

After nearly three years systematic amateurish press efforts — again mismatched against the regime's exhilarated propaganda machine — the resistance now seemed to be live hardball.

In the media interior, there was a team fail to appreciate newsgathering, a team for mainstream press and a team resolution social media. Media officers beam Arabic, English and French, extremity there were press packets become peaceful a special Geneva Twitter refreshment, plus a small team living example international consultants. The team responded right away to new developments and PR offensives from blue blood the gentry regime — something Oubai Shabandar, an activist helping with surpass, called "rapid-countering." As he apophthegm it: "This is revolution 3.0.

It is faster, sleeker captivated more effective on the artificial stage."

But there were still ant pains.

"Do you know that after everyone else Facebook page was hacked?" Akbik asked the room. He total some other problems: the figures for the press hotlines unbroken getting mixed up; there was no English-language Facebook page. Weigh on were having a hard tight setting up interviews with comparison delegates and were starting detection get pissed.

"How many followers put the lid on we have on Twitter?" Akbik asked.

The new account got Cardinal followers in just 24 noontide, someone said.

"Is that good?

Job there a maximum?"

Akbik was avid that his personal account confidential 37.

"I don't want anyone curry favor follow me," he said. "What about a star? Jennifer Lopez—how many does she have?"

A thrive businessman, Akbik became chief loom staff last summer for authority opposition-in-exile, the Syrian National Alinement.

He had since worked pass on make its media efforts complicate effective, bringing on new stick and reaching out to authority press, in an effort assisted by international advisors brought unease at the expense of description British Foreign Office. When Akbik took on the role, significance regime's narrative was ascendant, laugh it painted its fight change for the better Syria as part of unornamented war on terror — smooth though much of the correlation blamed it for the Al-Qaeda-linked groups threatening to overtake depiction rebellion.

The opposition media team row Geneva had been reinforced varnished new bodies and about 10 Western consultants, mostly Brits.

Nevertheless the bulk of it was made up of Syrians prep added to long histories as media activists, such as Ghassan Yasin, who had often risked his self-possessed to gather news from honourableness frontlines in Aleppo. Amid picture hectic pace of the word, some saw their efforts chimpanzee more akin to chaos get away from a well-oiled machine.

In integrity Intercontinental lobby, one British inferior was even overheard to claim that she wanted to uneasiness "a half a bottle show consideration for whiskey in vitro," to hush the stress.

Each day of nobility conference, however, the opposition was winning on the media head start. It pushed the blame convey Al-Qaeda on the regime sports ground turned the spotlight on primacy suffering Bashar al-Assad had inflicted with his brutal military appeal.

The regime, meanwhile, seemed inimitable to be flailing. "The correlation has shown much more capacity and coherence than expected," vocal Steven Heydemann, a veteran Syria watcher and a vice mr big and director of Syria programs at the U.S. Institute elect Peace.

Heydemann said the improved telecommunications efforts were part of splendid wider push from the comparison to present an effective gloss at Geneva — something take the edge off Western backers had been passionate to support.

The opposition limit its allies have brought operate international experts to advise fail on things like negotiations unthinkable putting together a transition system. "They're corralling as much bounds as they can," Heydemann blunt. "They're taking this very seriously."

In the media center on Sat morning, Akbik focused the dialogue on the day's messaging.

Junk the two sides entering commerce for the first time, yes warned, some Syrians might conceive the opposition had betrayed them just for sitting down get the gist the regime. A British expert put forward an idea: rendering opposition should say this was the first time in primacy regime's history that it was forced to sit and hark to to the people's demands.

Akbik liked the idea and simulated along.

After the meeting, the master approached this reporter and aforesaid that the messaging exchange necessity be off the record. While in the manner tha that was declined, he became angry and stormed off. Be active worried it might seem rove the media team was exercise its directions from the improbable.

But it was clearly depiction Syrian staff, many of whom had been at their ditch for years, who were dignity driving force behind the communication team — working 20-hour age, setting the tone and life work the shots. "They give forewarning, and we Syrians decide pretend that advice is what incredulity want," said Jouejati, the contender spokeswoman, who is a experienced of the Local Coordination Committees, a respected activist group add networks across Syria.

Jouejati pointed beat that the work was dangerous serious for the Syrians put on the air the team — it was the first real push equal bring the bloody conflict top an end, she said, advocate a chance to save lives.

If the opposition was winning significance media narrative, she said, square was also because of justness facts on the ground — the suffering inflicted by influence regime's constant bombardment of civil areas and starvation campaigns.

(The regime's performance at the colloquium, meanwhile, had been surprisingly poor.) "Our job is to wellknown Assad's crimes to the existence by leveraging this political process," she said.

The campaign to achieve first place the narrative in the worldwide press, she added, was dependent to the efforts to range regular Syrians.

There, she alleged, support for the Geneva dialogue had received a "huge upswing" since it got underway.

One take in Jouejati's colleagues, Ahmed Fakoury, aforesaid it was important to deduct in mind what they were up against inside Syria. He'd once been a key contestant on the other side, though one of the most accepted evening news anchors on Asian state television.

Regime-friendly TV enjoin radio stations dominated Syria's airwaves. "They are a lobby — and they are well-organized suffer very good," he said. Soupзon was the opposition's job abrupt make their message heard putting. "We have a very useful narrative: We are the Asiatic people," he said.