22 April 2013 Volume 7, Issue 16
DUAL CONVERSATIONS AND ACTIONS CONCERNING SYRIA Syrian President Bashar al-Assad warned Western nations against supporting rebel groups battling his armed forces, predicting the militants will one day strike against the United States and others. The US plans to provide about $100 million in new aid to the Syrian opposition that could mean an expansion of non-lethal military assistance for certain rebel groups to include body armor and night-vision goggles, a US official said. The new assistance will stop short of supplying weapons or other lethal equipment to rebels fighting to overthrow Syrian President Bashar Assad, and also is far less than what some US lawmakers and Syrian opposi-
tion leaders are seeking. Morepathizers in Syria as he says they over, on Wednesday, US Secretary did during the Libyan uprising. of Defense Chuck Hagel ordered Continues Page 7... up to 200 troops to Jordan. The new deployment will include communications and intelligence specialists who will assist the Jordanians and "be ready for military action" if President Barack Obama were to order it. On the other hand, in an hour long interview with Syria state TV network al-Ikhbariya, al-Assad claimed the West is supporting al Qaeda sym-
Boston Bombings Kills 3 People A terrorist attack in Boston killed 3 and wounded countless others Two bombs struck near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday, turning a celebration into a bloody scene of destruction. Hospitals reported at least 144 people are being treated, with at least 17 of them in critical condition and 25 in serious condition. The death toll was 3 people. Investigators have pinpointed two men as "possible suspects" who
were seen in images near the fin- Continues Page 3... ish line of this week's Boston Marathon. At 11 p.m. on Thursday police responded to a call on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where university police officer Sean Collier, 26, was shot. Police believed the bombing suspects were responsible for the shooting.
THIS WEEK
EUROPE PAGE 2
AMERICAS PAGE 3
OPINION PAGE 4-5
ASIA PAGE 6
MIDDLE EAST&AFRICA PAGE 7
ARTICLE OF THE WEEK PAGE 8-9
TURKEY PAGE 10
SOCIAL PAGE 11
EDITORIAL PAGE 12
EUROPE Thatcher: Queen Leads Mourners at Funeral The Queen has led mourners in St Paul's Cathedral at the funeral of Baroness Thatcher; Britain's longest serving prime minister of modern times. More than 2,000 guests from around the world paid their last respects at the biggest such occasion since the Queen Mother's funeral in 2002. Thousands of members of the public and the armed forces lined the funeral procession route through London. 4000 police officers were on duty in central London but, despite concerns about demonstrations, a small number of protesters voiced their opposition to Lady Thatcher's policies and there were no arrests. Elsewhere, around the country: Residents of a South Yorkshire village scarred by pit closures "celebrated" her funeral; miners in a former pit village in County Durham gathered during the funeral, exactly 20 years after their pit's closure; a rose was unveiled in memory of Baroness Thatcher in Grantham, where she was born; students at Somerville, Thatcher's former Oxford University college, gathered to watch the funeral. BBC/April 17, 2013
The security plans for the London Marathon this weekend are being reassessed after the deadly bomb blasts in Boston, London's Metropolitan Police said Tuesday. CNN/April 19, 2013
Brussels Warns on Spanish and Slovenian ‘Imbalances’ The European Commission has warned that Spain and Slovenia must quickly tackle the imbalances in their economies. Spain has already had its banking system bailed out and Slovenia is widely expected to become the next to ask for for a debt rescue. The Commission said the pair are the worst of the 13 European Union countries currently under review. It called on Spain to deliver a "decisive" reform programme by the end of the month. The imbalances in debt, unemployment and growth were doing long-term damage, with more than half of under-25s unable to find a job, the Commission said. BBC/April 10, 2013
Seven members of a French family kidnapped by gunmen in northern Cameroon in February have been freed. BBC/ Italian President Napolitano has been re-elected following a cross-party April 19, 2013
Italy Crisis: President Giorgio Napolitano Re-elected
appeal to run for office again to resolve a growing political crisis.
A major ceremony is under way in the Polish capital Warsaw to honour Jews who fought overwhelming Nazi German forces 70 years ago in the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. BBC/ April 19, 2013
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Mr Napolitano, secured the required 504 votes in parliament. Politicians had turned to the widely-respected president after five rounds of voting failed to produce a successor. A caretaker government has been governing Italy since February's inconclusive general elections. The political deadlock has compounded concern about the stability of Italy whose economy, the third-biggest in the Eurozone, is mired in recession. At last, on Saturday, Mr Napolitano became the first president in Italian history to secure a second seven-year term. He easily won the simple majority of votes out of 1,007 electors. Mr Napolitano put forward his candidacy after the appeal by main party leaders. BBC/April 20, 2013
AMERICAS Boston Bombings Kills 3 People Continued from Page 1...
On Friday one of the suspects was injured in a shootout and pronounced dead at a hospital. A source briefed on the investigation says Tamerlan Tsarnaev was wearing explosives and an explosive trigger at the time. After he is shot, his brother drives away, according to the source. The second suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings was taken into custody Friday night, bringing to an end a massive manhunt in the tense Massachusetts capital worried by warnings the man was possibly armed with explosives. After announcing the arrest on Twitter, Boston police tweeted: "CAPTURED!!! The hunt is over. The search is done. The terror is over. And justice has won. Suspect in custody." "We've closed an important chapter in this tragedy," President Barack Obama said in a televised address. Even so, he vowed to seek answers to the motive in the attack and find out whether the suspects received any help to carry out their plot. CNN / April 15-20, 2013
“Racist Prom is a Private Issue” Georgia Governor Nathan has reacts to the campaign by four Georgia students to hold their school’s first integrated prom Deal, who previously brushed off requests for him to support integration as a “silly publicity stunt,” told an Atlanta-Journal Constitution reporter yesterday that he thought the campaign was a private matter and not one that needed the state’s intervention. Deal said “I believe that anything that’s associated with a school should not have the distinction or discrimination made based on race or gender or any other separation, but it appears to me that the parents and students have worked that out on their own, as they should. None of us condone things that would send the wrong message about where we are with regard to race relations. But by the same token, I think that people understand that some of these are just local issues and private issues, and not something that the state government needs to have its finger involved in.” Think Progress / April 18, 2013
Maduro Re-Elected in Venezuela Nicolás Maduro has won Venezuela's presidential election, giving the ruling socialist party another six years at the helm of the nation.
A letter that has tested positive for the lethal toxin ricin or another poisonous substance has been posted to a US senator Roger Wicker. BBC / April 17, 2013 Tens of thousands of people in Argentina are taking part in protests against the government of President Kirchner. The protest was sparked by a government proposal to reform the judiciary but people also showed their discontent over high inflation and crime. BBC /
In this election five weeks after Chávez's passing, Maduro competed against Henrique Capriles, an energetic state governor, who gave the Venezuelan opposition its best showing in 14 years. Maduro campaigned heavily on Chávez's image, referring to himself constantly as the "son" of the former Venezuelan president. He accused Capriles of being a "bourgeois sell out," who would cancel the many social programs put in place by Chávez. This strategy seems to have worked out for Maduro, who received 50.66% of the votes on Sunday. Henrique Capriles received 49.07% of the votes. The close vote has sparked accusations of fraud and attempts to destabilise the South American nation. Capriles has refused to accept the result and called for a recount and peaceful street demonstrations. The ruling camp have accused the opposition of plotting a coup. Reportedly there have been protests in six cities. ABC News, Guardian / April 14-16, 2013
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OPINIONS ASIA Power Corrupts Should the Iron Lady be hated or respected? Many of people describe her as the worst thing that has ever happened to Britain. They criticize her as being a conservative, increasing unemployment, ignoring workers’ rights, etc. However, there is something that they never take into consideration while criticizing her: Margret Thatcher has been through much more things than any of us have had. She was humiliated, won victories, sometimes lost her people’s trust, hoped much for her people, but could not be successful in providing those. Even if she made mistakes that affect people’s lives, she always considered her people’s good. The weakness of her was, I think, she was too ambiguous and arrogant to see people’s real situations. She was jubilant because she became Prime Minister when she was only a grocer’s daughter. Being a grocer’s daughter did not embarrass her, but encouraged her and enabled her to be inspired from her father. Her biggest success was to be the only woman Prime Minister in the history of Britain. She proved the men politicians that women can also participate in politics, maybe in a much better way. Surely, this would have been proved very well if she had not made all those bad effects in the lives of people by causing them to be unemployed, to pay more taxes, and by limiting their right to protest and strike against the government. While she looked, at first, very determined to solve her people’s problems, at the time she got the power, she corrupted and became too self-confident. Even if she damaged her people, we should not consider her as evil but as a human being who made some mistakes, at least, people should not be celebrating her death. Özge YÜKSEKKAYA
TURKEY Influential Mans of Year Time Magazine revealed their annual list of “The 100 Most-Influential People in the World” last week. Two controversial Turkish names were on that list; Jailed leader of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) Abdullah Öcalan and religious preacher Fethullah Gülen. They both were added to the list under the leaders section. Gülen was introduced as a ‘Man of Mystery’ and it was mentioned that his great influence in government shows him like a shadowy puppeteer. The reason given for Öcalan being on the list is mostly the engage talks with government. As stated in the magazine, Öcalan has become a voice for peace, a leader willing to offer the hand of friendship to those he has fought against for most of his life. “Persuading enemies that there are alternative ways to resolve long-standing differences takes patience and a willingness to engage in dialogue, but most important, it requires leadership.” was also said for Öcalan. Magazine has also draw attention to the similarities between PKK and IRA. IRA (Irish Republican Army) was also founded as a revolutionary, terrorist organization but then become ruling party in Ireland after stopping the violence and started to only interest with politics. PKK goes through the same process nowadays. However, is it possible to have same result IRA did? I don`t think so. While IRA represents most of the Irish people, Kurdish people are consisted of different parts which have their own agendas in the peace process. Moreover, the perspective of Turks towards PKK is negative thus PKK cannot be seen as a large scale political movement. Even though it seems like a long shot, if they want to become ruling party they need to concentrate on this problem and must be appealed to everyone. It doesn`t seem as a close future but it is also true that they become recognized as a political authority. Okan İDUĞ
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OPINIONS ASIA China versus the USA Japan, one of the most powerful countries in the world, has a new number one export country, the USA. Because of the dispute over islands in the East China Sea, China started boycotts of Japanese goods. Therefore, Japan's exports to China fell 9 per cent to Y11.3tn, while exports to the US rose 10 per cent to Y11.4tn. Those gains were enough to push the US back ahead of China for the first time in three years as Japan’s largest overseas market. Japanese economy has been transforming since 2011, when the government made the decision which is stopping the nuclear reactors to produce energy after the earthquake and tsunami. Japan use liquefied natural gas most of which is import from Qatar and Australia to produce energy that leads to economic dependence. Seven prime minister changed in six years in Japan because of economic crisis and its tremendous effects. I think Japan has an only one future plan: political and financial stabilization. Japan must find an exit from the crisis and it doesn’t have a chance to choose its trading partner. Name of country, China or the US, is not important for Japan; important thing is net profit amount. On the other hand, China is worried about a new Japan-US alliance that means a barricade against rising of the red dragon. However, the red dragon needs more market and profit share to adapt capitalist system, not the barricade. It will try expand its market and continue the raise regularly despite its rivals like the US and Japan. Moreover, the USA must be careful about keep traditional trade partners like Turkey, Israel and Japan after the raising of Shangai Five. The boycott was a chance to be more effective in Japan and the US made hay while the sun shines. Earthquake and tsunami is a tragedy for Japan but Japan islands are becoming an economic battle field that is a bigger tragedy. H.Sinan GÜLER
AMERICAS Boston Bombings This week was very active and restless for America with Boston Marathon bombings, Texas explosion and the shootings afterwards. Nearly 15 people died and more than 200 were hurt, however I want to emphasize the other side; the way the media handles it and the relationship between police and the press. First of all, it is very interesting that the photos of the suspects were distributed immediately that is normally an undesired situation. This is different from what the police should do: which is to provide information necessary for protection of the people. In previous shootings, for example the Dark Knight shooting, media avoided broadcasting the suspects’ photos in the headline in order not to glorify the guy. However, this time the process is shown moment by moment. Actually I think this will encourage the offenders when we consider their aim; the impact of their action is widened. Secondly, after one of the suspects was captured; the reviews of policemen and the behaviors of citizens were very engrossing as well. For instance, I saw news such as “people flooded the streets, cheering every passing police car … people danced in the streets…CAPTURED!!! The hunt is over. The search is done. The terror is over. And justice has won.” said the Boston Police Department on its Twitter account. To sum up, I found the responses very exaggerated because of the provocations of police and media. I don’t ignore innocent people died in this act. What I’m trying to say is that in many parts of the world innocent people die for the same reason; why aren’t they acknowledged but this attack and the ensuing police success constitutes the whole agenda of the world? Ayça ŞEN
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ASIA
ASIA Musharraf Placed on Home Arrest Former military ruler Pervez Musharraf has been ordered held for two weeks until the next hearing in a case related to his 2007 decision to sack and detain several judges. After the judge's order, Islamabad's administration declared that the ex-president could be held under house arrest. Musharraf appeared before the anti-terrorism court amid tight security, as hundreds of lawyers opposing him shouted slogans against him. "Our lawyers denied the allegations that General Musharraf sacked judges and kept them under house arrest for six months." told Muhammad Amjad, spokesman for Musharraf's party. "We had requested the court to send General Musharraf on judicial remand, so that we can go to higher courts for relief," he added. He has been allowed to return to his house, saving him the hardships of a Pakistani prison where police said he would face "security threats" He was taken into police custody after being arrested ahead of key elections, an unprecedented move against a former army chief of staff. Secular parties are calling on the government to do more to protect them ahead of elections after the Taliban began acting on threats to systematically target their leaders and supporters. Al Jazeera / Apr 20, 2013 At least 13 Afghan progovernment fighters have been killed in a militant attack on their checkpoint in Ghazni province, officials say. The Taliban have said they carried out the attack. They also seized weapons and a vehicle. BBC / April 19, 2013
North Korea Lists Demands for Talks Withdrawal of UN-sanctions and end of US-South Korea military drills called for to start talks amid heightened tension.
The list of pre-conditions outlined on Thursday, which came from the North's top military body, insisted on a general apology for all "provocative acts" taken against North Korea. The North's statement said: "Dialogue can never go with war actions. "The conditions will likely be rejected by South Korea and the US, which have themselves made any talks conditional on New Zealand's parliament the North taking steps towards denuclearisation. Dialogue has become the has legalised same-sex new focus of a blistering rhetorical battle that has sent military tensions marriage, the first country soaring on the Korean peninsula ever since the North carried out its third in the Asia-Pacific region to nuclear test in February. Some analysts see the North's engagement in a do so.Lawmakers approved debate over dialogue as a welcome shift from the apocalyptic threats of nuthe bill, amending the 1955 clear war that have poured out of Pyongyang in recent weeks. Al Jazeera / April 18, 2013 marriage act, despite opposition from Christian lobby groups. The bill was passed by 77 votes in favour and 44 against. The two brothers accused of blowing up homemade bombs at the BosBBC / April 17, 2013 ton Marathon came from a Chechen family.
Boston Bombing Suspects from Chechnya
A bomb planted on a motorcycle exploded near the office of India's main opposition party in the southern city of Bengaluru wounding 16 people, including eight policemen. No one has claimed responsibility fort he blast. Al Jazeera / April 17, 2013
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The family for decades had been tossed from one country to another by war and persecution. Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, who was killed in a shootout, and his 19-year-old brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was captured alive, had moved to the US about a decade ago with their parents and two sisters. By all accounts, the younger brother had many friends, but his older brother felt alienated from American society and in recent years had turned increasingly to Islam. Although neither spent much time in Chechnya, both strongly identified themselves as Chechens. On the other hand, Russians appeared shocked and bewildered by the revelation that the Boston bombing suspects have ties to the region. CBC News / April 20, 2013
MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA DUAL CONVERSATIONS AND ACTIONS CONCERNING SYRIA Continues from Page 1… He compared the support of rebels in Syria now to the backing of fighters in Afghanistan during their war with Soviet troops in the 1980s. "The West has paid heavily for funding al Qaeda in its early stages. Today it is doing the same in Syria, Libya and other places, and will pay a heavy price in the heart of Europe and the US," he said. Al-Assad also spoke harshly of Jordan, saying thousands of fighters were crossing the border to take part in the civil war in Syria. It called it "illogical" for Jordanian officials to deny this was happening. He guaranteed victory in the conflict, which began two years ago and which has led to the deaths of more than 70,000 people according to the UN. "There is no option but victory, otherwise it will be the end of Syria" he said. Haaretz & CNN / April 19, 2013
Simultaneous Bomb Attacks Across Iraq Leave 36 Dead Ahead of Weekend Elections Insurgent bomb attacks carried out almost simultaneously across northern and central Iraq killed at least 36 and wounded over 200 people today.
A Cairo court on Saturday ordered Egypt's former president Hosni Mubarak released pending a verdict on illicit gains charges, the second release order in a week, but he will remain in detention because he still faces other charges, court sources said. Reuters / April 20, 2013
The bombings, almost certainly carried out by al-Qaida, are stoking fears that the jihadist organization, which focuses its attacks on Shia civilians, is becoming stronger because of the rebellion in Syria. Car bombs exploded across Baghdad at about 9am, killing at least 15 people, mostly passers-by in Shia neighborhoods. A further six car bombs blew up in and around Kirkuk, the Kurdish-controlled oil city disputed between Kurds, Arabs and Turcoman, killing nine people. The simultaneous timing of the bombs shows the Iraqi security forces’ failure to eliminate al-Qaida in Iraq. Iraqi officials say that the group is now receiving weapons and foreign fighters from Syria. Independent / April 15,2013 Seven members of an alleged al-Qaeda cell have been arrested over plans to attack targets in the Five health workers have been killed when South Sudan soldiers at- United Arab Emirates, tacked a hospital in revenge for the deaths of eight members of the seofficials tell state media. curity forces, the local MP, David Mayo, has told the BBC. BBC / April 18,2013
South Sudan Army Attacks Hospital
Although the state governor denied the reports, local community leaders confirm that the hospital in the village of Lorema was attacked killing four nurses and a doctor. Mr. Mayo said that 13 soldiers were currently being treated in hospital, in the state capital, Torit but he blames the soldiers for the violence, saying they opened fire indiscriminately upon arriving in Lorema, before going on to attack the hospital and set fire to local homes. Human rights groups have accused the army, consisting of former rebels, of committing numerous abuses against civilians— charges the army has strongly denied. BBC/ April 19 2013
Security forces in the West African country of Guinea have fired tear gas to dispe rse opposition protesters angry over the date designated by the government for legislative elections. BBC / April 18,2013
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ARTICLE OF THE WEEK Richard FALK Albert G. Milbank Professor Emeritus of International Law at Princeton University and Visiting Distinguished Professor in Global and International Studies at the University of California
Collective Self-Reflection in the Wake of a National Tragedy The American global domination project is bound to generate all kinds of resistance in the postcolonial world. The dominant reactions to the horrific bombing at the Boston Marathon on April 15 - which also happened to be the Patriots Day - have been so far: compassion for the victims, a maximal resolve to track down the perpetrators, and a pundit's notebook that reports to Americans that they have been protected against terrorist violence since 9/11 and that the best way to prevail against such enemies is to restore normalcy, avoid dwelling on the gory details, not memorialise the scene of the mayhem with reminders, and move forward with calm resolve and freedoms undiminished. Such responses are far preferable to the war fever nurtured by leaders, the media and a vengeful public after the 9/11 attacks. Of course, the scale and drama of the attack, while great, was not nearly as large or as symbolically resonant as the destruction of the World Trade Center and damage to the Pentagon. Also, although each life is sacred, the magnitude of tragedy is somewhat conveyed by numbers, and the Marathon incident has so far produced three deaths as compared to 3,000, or a 1/1,000th. Also important, the neocon presidency of George W Bush, was in 2001 prior to the attacks seeking a pretext to launch a regime-changing war against Saddam Hussein's Iraq, and the 9/11 events, as interpreted and spun, provided a supportive domestic climate for launching an aggressive war against the Baghdad regime that was undertaken despite the UN Security Council failure to lend its authority to such an American deadly geopolitical venture. In 2001, the preferred American grand strategy, as blueprinted by the ideologues of the American Enterprise Institute and the Hoover Institution, was given a green light by the Bush/Cheney White House even in the face of the UN red light. Although there are many distressing continuities that emerge if the Obama presidency is compared in relation to the counter-terrorist agenda of his predecessors, but there are also some key differences of situation and approach. Obama came to Washington after the failed wars of Afghanistan and Iraq that had devastated two countries, seemingly beyond foreseeable recovery, added nothing to American security, and wasted trillions expended over the several years during which most Americans still felt the hardships and pain of the deepest economic recession since the 1930s. In other words, temporarily at least, the Beltway think-tanks and the government are doing their best to manage global crises without embarking on further wars. The brief period of easy and victorious wars (quickly concluded, and with minimal casualties), as was the Gulf War of 1991 and the NATO Kosovo War of 1999, is over. Irresponsible and unlawful warfare seems no longer to be the centrepiece of America's foreign policy as it was in the first decade of the 21st century. What unfortunately remains taboo at this moment of 24/7 commentary on American security policy is any type of self-scrutiny by either the
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political leadership or the mainstream media, but at least there are a few hopeful signs of awakening on the part of the citizenry. Listening to a PBS programme hours after the Boston event, I was struck by the critical attitudes of several callers: it is horrible, but we in this country should not be too surprised, given our drone attacks that have unwittingly targeted weddings and funerals in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Another caller asked if it is not retribution for the kind of torture inflicted by American security forces acting under the authority of the government, verified by pictures of the humiliation of Islamic prisoners at Abu Ghraib or in light of the authoritative reports of officially sanctioned torture as detailed in the 577 page report of a task force chaired by two former senators - one a Republican, the other a Democrat - and containing senior military and security officials. Is it not time that one among our politicians had the courage to connect these dots? Can we not ponder WH Auden's haunting line: "Those to whom evil is done/do evil in return"? The American global domination project is bound to generate all kinds of resistance in the post-colonial world. In some respects, the US has been fortunate not to experience worse blowbacks, and such could yet happen, especially if there is no disposition to rethink US relations to others in the world, starting with the Middle East. Some of us hoped that Obama's Cairo speech in 2009 was a beginning of such a process of renewal, timid in many ways, yet with a tonality that seemed to acknowledge that relations with the Islamic world needed a fundamental shift in the direction of reconciliation, including a move toward a more balanced approach to the Palestine/Israel situation. But as the months passed, what became evident, especially given the strong pushback by Israel and its belligerent leader, Bibi Netanyahu, was the accelerating back peddling of the Obama presidency. Now at the start of his second presidential term, it seems that Obama has recognised the constraints, and seeks to confine his legacy to such domestic concerns as immigration, gun control and health care, abandoning the international agenda except to handle crisis diplomacy in a manner that does not disturb the global status quo or shorten America's global reach. Obama's trip to Israel, punctuated by his speech in Jerusalem on March 21, was more in the spirit of a love letter to the Israeli public than a genuine effort to bring a just peace, and contrasted with the much more visionary outlook exhibited in his early first term visit to the Middle East. Self-scrutiny and mid-course correction of America's global role is long overdue. Such a process is crucial both for the sake of its own future security and for the wellbeing of others. Such adjustments will eventually come about either as a result of a voluntary process of self-reflection or through the force of events. How and when this process of reassessment occurs remains a mystery. Until it does, America's military prowess and the abiding confidence of its leaders in hard power diplomacy make the US a menace to the world and to itself. This is as true if Mitt Romney rather than Barack Obama was in the White House. The continuity reflects bipartisan support of a globe-girdling geopolitics, which has so far refused to acknowledge the evidence of national decline that is accentuated by pursuing an unsustainably ambitious global security role. Al Jazeera / April 19, 2013
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TURKEY Pianist Fazil Say Convicted of Insulting Islam World-renowned Turkish pianist Fazil Say has been given a suspended 10-month jail sentence for insulting Muslim values. An Istanbul court found Say guilty over a series of posts on Twitter. Deputy Prime Minister Arınç harshly responded to the criticisms made to Fazıl Say’s charge, adding that even former chiefs of General Staff are currently being charged in Turkey. “If you insult others’ beliefs, it requires a penal sanction; and if this law has been valid for years, it does not make any sense to say more,” Arınç said. The case renewed concern about the influence of religion on politics in Turkey. Pointing to the prosecution of several artists and intellectuals for voicing their views, critics have accused the governing AK Party of undermining Turkey's secular values and pandering to Islamists. Moreover, Mr Say has previously said he was "amazed" at the charges. Mr Say, 43, has played with the New York Philharmonic, the Berlin Symphony Orchestra and others, and has served as a cultural ambassador for the EU BBC Hurriyet Daily News / April 15, 2013 After a cancer patient offended by minister, a strategic document on medicine is produced by Industry Ministry aims to encourage producing drugs in Turkey instead of import, which will also include drugs used in treatment of cancer. Hurriyet Daily News / April 20, 2013 An environmental impact report prepared regarding the construction of a third airport in İstanbul has revealed that over 657,000 trees will have to be cut down and that air pollution will increase considerably if the airport is built in the planned location. Today’s Zaman / April 15, 2013
New EU Chapters To Give Pace The Reforms European Parliament prepared the ground for détente between Brussels and Ankara that would include the new accession chapters. The European Parliament’s General Assembly adopted a 2012 progress report on Turkey, providing a potential catalyst for the opening of new accession chapters for Turkey after years of deadlock between Ankara and Brussels. Members of the European Parliament called on the European Council to open negotiations on the judiciary and fundamental rights (Chapter 23) and justice, freedom and security (Chapter 24) to accelerate the reform process, while stressing the reform of Turkey’s judiciary as central to its democratic consolidation and modernization. The Parliament welcomed the adoption of Turkey’s third and fourth judicial reform packages but insisted on fully narrowing the broad definition of criminal offences, namely of the act of terrorism, shortening excessively long pre-trial detention periods and curbing the role of special courts. Hurriyet Daily News / April 19, 2013
Dicle University Clashes The clashes between Dicle University and outsider groups left many students wounded and caused a three day shut-down of education on campus.
A tension between Dicle University students and a group of outsiders who came to campus to publish a poster on Prophet Mohammed's Birth Week activities quickly turned into a full-blown fight. Police brutally intervened the clashes with tear gas and clubs, detaining many students. A group of A new law adopted by roughly 35 people loaded with knives and metal bars reportedly attacked Turkey will regulate the students on campus, leaving 6 students hospitalized. After the recent atentry, stay and exit from the tacks, Dicle University administration declared a three day break to classes. At the end of three days of fighting, country for foreign the leader of HÜDAPAR, political party of nationals, and it will help Hizbullah has called for a cease-fire between the protection of the rights the PKK and Hizbullah. Besides, several uniof human trafficking versities across the country protested against attacks on students and police viovictims. Hurriyet Daily lence. Bianet / April 14, 2013 News / April 19, 2013
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EVENT CALENDAR 22 April 2013 -5. Uluslararası Tango Festivali (Festival)
VENEZUELA
Ramada Plaza Ankara/21.30
Capital: Caracas
- Arkas Trio (Concert)
National Language: Spanish
Resim Heykel Müzesi (Operet Sahnesi)/20.30
Government: Federal Presidential Constitutional Republic
23 April 2013
President: Nicolas Maduro
-Fantastik (Musical)
Population: 28,946,101
Resim Heykel Müzesi (Operet Sahnesi)/20.00
Area: 916,445 km2
24 April 2013 -Hüseyin Arıcı "1" (Exhibition) CerModern/11.00-18.30 -Yosunlar (Theater) Oda Tiyatrosu/18.30 25 April 2013 -Johannes Moser (Concert) MEB Şura Salonu/20.30 -Vega (Concert) IF Performance Hall/22.00 26 April 2013 -Antonio Gades Flamenko Topluluğu (Dance Show) MEB Şura Salonu/20.30 -Cyrano De Bergerac (Theater) Büyük Tiyatro/20.00 27 April 2013 -EUROsimA 2013 Party Hard (Party) IF Performance Hall/20.00
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INFO & ADS GENERAL DIRECTOR Alper AKGÜN CO-EDITOR Yiğitcan ERDOĞAN COORDINATORS Hazal AKGÜL, Cansu BULUKLU, Recep Sinan USTA, Asude Dilan YİĞİT EUROPE CORRESPONDENTS Ekin BOZKURT, Özge YÜKSEKKAYA AMERICAS CORRESPONDENTS Didem ELERMAN, Ayça ŞEN ASIA CORRESPONDENTS H. Sinan GÜLER, Ayşenur ŞANLI M. EAST & AFRICAS CORRESPONDENT Meriç YAŞAR, Merve O'KEEFE, Deniz AYYILDIZ TURKEY CORRESPONDENT Okan İDUĞ, Deniz PERÇİN SOCIAL EVENTS CORRESPONDENT Yağmur ÇİFTÇİ Twitter: @metunewsreport
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