World Press on Iran, Turkey and the Caucasus (March 31 – April 2)

The nomination of Khairat el-Shater by the Muslim Brotherhood in
Egypt's presidential elections on Saturday has been in the focus
of international newspapers in the past few days. By nominating Mr.
Shater to run for the presidency, the Muslim Brotherhood have broken
the pledge not to run for important offices and not to monopolize
power. "His candidacy is likely to unnerve the West and has already
outraged Egyptian liberals, who wonder what other pledges of
moderation the Brotherhood may abandon," the New York Times wrote.
The Washington Post quotes the opinions of analysts, saying that the
nomination of "a business tycoon and the group’s top
strategist would chip away at the organization’s credibility" and
might become potentially dangerous for the Brotherhood. The Los
Angeles Times wrote that "Shater's nomination symbolizes the change in
political fortunes that have defined the nation since the fall of
Mubarak," and wondered how the military, the current power in
Egypt, would react to Shater, taking into consideration the fact that they had
promised to hand power to civilian authorities.

Syria continues to be the focus of international media. "U.S.
Joins Effort to Equip and Pay Rebels in Syria" is an article which was
published in the New York Times on April 1. As the newspaper reports,
the United States as well as dozens of other countries have moved
closer on Sunday to direct intervention in the fighting in Syria,
against the background of growing concerns over the country. The sum of
$100 million pledged by the Arab nations to pay opposition fighters
and the communications equipment to help rebels proposed by the Obama
administration were designated after Kofi Annan's attempts to
peacefully resolve the conflict had failed. According to the New York
times, the gathered resources are aimed at drastically turning the
situation in favour of opposition forces, since Russia and China have
blocked military intervention in Syria.
The next day the New York Times reported on the reaction of Syria to
the meeting held over situation in Syria on April 1. The New York
Times quoted the official Syrian newspaper Al Baath, which called the
meeting "the conference of 'Enemies of Syria' " and stated that it
had become another failure of the international community to help the
situation in Syria. The article published on April 2 is called "Syria
Dismisses Notions of Foreign Intervention."

"Turkish opposition urges Gül to veto education bill" is an article
published by the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet Daily. The leader of the main opposition
Republican People’s Party (CHP), Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, has urged
President Abdullah Gül to veto the controversial educational bill that
was passed by Parliament on March 30, the newspaper reports. The
education bill proposes increasing mandatory education to 12 years,
divided into three four-year periods, profoundly overhaul Turkey’s
education system and introduce the Quran as an elective course for
middle and high schools.