Jacob Resneck

Reporter

Jacob Resneck is a journalist based in Istanbul.

Jacob Resneck started his journalism career near his home in Northern California where he helped write and edit a weekly newspaper that he delivered out of his red 1976 Toyota pickup.

He later moved to harsher climes to work as an inkslinger in New York’s Adirondack Mountains where a dispute over pay at a small daily newspaper led him to discover the magic of radio.

Fast forward to 2012. He moved to Istanbul to become a full-time freelancer covering hard, soft and downright bizarre stories for such news sources as GlobalPost, Christian Science Monitor, Deutsche Welle and Radio France Internationale.

When he’s not haranguing long-suffering editors with a new story idea he likes to ride his mountain bike through Istanbul traffic and scour tide pools for tasty mussels and limpets near his seaside home.

Such is the spartan existence of the modern freelancer. He still misses that truck.

Ibrahim Esmael Ibrahim at the train station in Idomeni, Greece. As a teenager, he worked as a translator with the US military in Iraq.

An Iraqi translator for the US military is now stuck in Greece

The European Union is preparing to send thousands of asylum seekers back to Turkey. One of them is a man who worked with the US military in Iraq.

An Iraqi translator for the US military is now stuck in Greece
Flowers and handwritten signs for the sexual assault victims have been left on the steps of Cologne's Gothic cathedral. Hundreds of women reported being victimized in this area during a chaotic New Year's Eve.

Men of Arab descent not finding Germany as welcoming as they used to

Men of Arab descent not finding Germany as welcoming as they used to
Climate activists formed a 2-mile human chain Sunday along Parisian sidewalks after authorities banned a full-fledged climate march following the Nov. 13 attacks in the French capital. Demonstrators said they were determined to find ways to express their

France bans marches, but climate activists make their voices heard

France bans marches, but climate activists make their voices heard
A public park in downtown Brussels houses a tent city with scores of families camping out in donated tents. Charity workers say they've never seen so many refugees occupy a public space at one time in Belgium.

Refugees are camping out in 'Europe's capital city'

Refugees are camping out in 'Europe's capital city'
Team Switzerland competes during their synchronized swimming free routine team final at the 1st European Games in Baku, Azerbaijan.

European Games are going swimmingly, although no one seems to know they're happening

European Games are going swimmingly, although no one seems to know they're happening
Supporters of other Turkish soccer teams rally in support of Carsi soccer fans Tuesday morning outside the Istanbul Palace of Justice.

These Turkish soccer fans are not cheering on their government right now

Members of the Carsi soccer fan club in Turkey are under fire now, with prosecutors seeking life in prison for up to 35 people accused of plotting a coup. But human rights advocates — and the fans themselves — say the charges are bunk.

These Turkish soccer fans are not cheering on their government right now
Syrian volunteer

Turkey faces a daunting challenge in trying to educate hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees

Inside Syria, almost six million children have been affected by the country's ongoing civil war, and millions more have fled the country to find safety in refugee camps. Turkey, for example, has opened its doors to about a million-and-a-half Syrian refugees since spring 2011. But as the war drags on, Turkey is finding itself with a long-term humanitarian and education problem.

Turkey faces a daunting challenge in trying to educate hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees
A student-led protest marches to Istanbul University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences with a banner that reads, “Through the imagination to the Power” and “From Campus to Kobane”.

Conflicts over ISIS turn physical and violent on Turkey's college campuses

On college campuses in Turkey, masked, stick-wielding students have clashed with leftist activists over banners criticizing ISIS and Turkey's seeming indifference to the fight that's raging in nearby Syria. Many say the conflicts are reminiscent of the country's violent past.

Conflicts over ISIS turn physical and violent on Turkey's college campuses
Doctor Samet Menguc, Secretary General of the Istanbul Chamber of Medicine, reads a press statement decrying the Turkish government's inaction over the plight of Kobane. About two thousand people marched in Istanbul - one of several rallies across the cou

Iraqi peshmerga finally enter Kobane, but Turkey's Kurds still hold their government accountable

Turkey has given in to international pressure and allowed Iraqi peshmerga, as the Kurdish fighting force is known, into Kobane, Syria. But Kurds in Turkey say they're still not happy with the way they're being treated by the ruling AK Party, headed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Iraqi peshmerga finally enter Kobane, but Turkey's Kurds still hold their government accountable
A Syrian woman holding her infant waits near an informal border crossing to go back to Kobane, Syria, despite ongoing clashes between ISIS and Kurdish fighters. Many Syrian Kurds are finding Turkey expensive and inhospitable.

Kurds threaten dark days for Turkey if Kobane falls

As Turkey continues to resist taking action against ISIS in the Syrian Kurdish city of Kobane, Turkey's Kurds are growing angrier. Now that anger may help end the ceasefire between Kurds and Turks that had held for over a year.

Kurds threaten dark days for Turkey if Kobane falls
Scores of Syrian refugees from Kobane - under threat of capture by Islamic State - sit in the sun waiting to be allowed to cross into Turkey. Sept. 26, 2014. The outskirts of the village are visible in the background.

Turkey's Kurds are outraged that they're being prevented from fighting ISIS in Syria

Turkey has shut its border with Syria, near a Kurdish village at risk of being overrun by ISIS. Turkish Kurds are desperate to cross and help fellow their Kurds in Syria.

Turkey's Kurds are outraged that they're being prevented from fighting ISIS in Syria
Vivien Dance, a vocal YES campaigner. She's standing in front of Faslane, the military installation that houses the UK's nuclear arsenal and employs some 6,000 people.

If Scotland votes 'Yes,' the UK's nuclear force could be in trouble

Some Scots argue that independence from the UK could have many unintended consequences. One would be this: Britain's entire nuclear arsenal is based there and would no longer be welcome.

If Scotland votes 'Yes,' the UK's nuclear force could be in trouble
Mihail Formuzal, governor of the autonomous Moldovan province Gagauzia, speaks on the phone during an interview at his office in Comrat, the administrative centre of Gagauzia.

In tiny Moldova, Russia is repeating its Ukraine playbook

Tiny Moldova is Europe's poorest country, and it relies on exports — mostly to Russia — to keep its economy going. But as it makes overtures to the European Union, Russia is using embargoes to pressure the country and its Russian-speaking minority to resist, drawing inevitable comparisons to Ukraine.

In tiny Moldova, Russia is repeating its Ukraine playbook
Members of a pro-Ukrainian militia in training.

Pro-Ukraine militias are forming to counter the pro-Russia separatists

Ukraine's military is starting to fight the masked, pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine who have been taking over government buildings. As fears of civil war grow, there's another sign that the conflict is escalating. New, masked militias with a pro-Ukraine agenda are now training to counter the separatists.

Pro-Ukraine militias are forming to counter the pro-Russia separatists
Turkey's courts have blocked access to Twitter a little over a week before local elections as Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan battles a corruption scandal.

Twitter schmitter? Turkey's prime minister vows to block the social media site

“Twitter, Schmitter! We have a court order now. We will wipe out all of these social media sites. The international community can say this or that, I don't care at all. Everyone will see how powerful the Republic of Turkey really is.”

Twitter schmitter? Turkey's prime minister vows to block the social media site