World Press on Iran, Turkey and the Caucasus (March 22, 2012)

The Washington Post reported that a top Russian military official says that the way the United States and NATO respond to Moscow’s concerns about a planned missile shield in Europe will be a test of the West’s relations with Moscow. Washington says the NATO missile defense plan is aimed at deflecting potential missile threats from rogue nations such as Iran, but Russia fears it could undermine Russia’s nuclear deterrent. Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said Thursday that the issue is a “litmus test” that shows whether the alliance is “ready to consider us an equal partner in defining the structure of international security.” NATO has said it wants to cooperate with Russia on the missile shield. But it has rejected Russia’s proposal to run the shield jointly.

The same agency reported that Israel and the US disagree on what would be a realistic timetable for stopping Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, Israel’s defense minister said Thursday, but stopped short of threatening unilateral Israeli action. Ehud Barak reiterated concerns that Iran is trying to make its suspected nuclear weapons program immune from attack before taking a decision on assembling atomic bombs. Israel “cannot afford” to wait in such a situation, Barak told Israel Radio. However, several more months can be given to allow sanctions and negotiations to work, he said. During this period, it would become clear “if the Iranians intend or don’t intent to stop their nuclear weapons program.”

The New York Times published the article headlined “The Only Option on Iran.” It says that A military attack against Iran risks igniting a period of confrontation across the region with consequences that no one can fully predict. The turmoil could end up producing several nuclear-armed states in what is probably the most volatile area of the world. And there could be war both with and within the Muslim world.  The argument is not only about giving diplomacy a chance. It is about recognizing that diplomacy is the only alternative for those seeking a lasting and sustainable solution to the Iran nuclear issue and peace in the region. The other options are recipes for war and in all probability a nuclear-armed Iran.

The Turkish information agency Hurriyet reported that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has called on Turkish citizens of Kurdish origin not to lend their support to the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP). “I want to address my Kurdish-origin brothers: My brothers, the BDP is a party that cannot stand on its own feet and pursue its own political agenda,” Erdoğan said yesterday during the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) parliamentary group meeting. The prime minister added that BDP deputies “who were elected by the people act on orders not from the voters but from Kandil,” in reference to the area in northern Iraq where the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party is based. “This party can never create solutions to the Kurdish issue and the problems of my Kurdish-origin brothers,” Erdoğan said, calling on Kurds to support the AKP, which he said was “the solution to [your] problems.”