World Press on Iran, Turkey and the Caucasus (April 3, 2012)

The Guardian published an article headlined 'The Arab spring has shaken Arab TV's credibility'. According to the author of the article, Ali Hashem, biased coverage of the Arab Spring is undermining viewers' faith in the Middle Eastern satellite channels that sprang up in the 1990s and 2000s. "The new Arab TV channels seemed to be flourishing and gaining credibility until the Arab spring came along and they began providing daily coverage of the revolutions. From Tunisia to Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Bahrain and Syria, people expected TV stations to embrace their dreams and defend their causes, but it seems that the major networks decided to adopt some revolutions and dump others, Hashem says. "One example was the way they dealt with the uprising in Bahrain. It was clear that Gulf-financed stations were more interested in regional security than Bahrainis' dreams of democracy and freedom and their revolt against tyranny."

The Washington Post published an article by Richard Cohen entitled 'Bosnian war offers lessons for Syria’s conflict.' The author underlines that the NATO operation in Bosnia, no matter how hard it was, did stop the violence. According to him, no one should trust Bashar Assad, who has agreed to the Kofi Annan plan. "For Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, there is no turning back. He will never agree to any plan in which he surrenders power because that would mean his death," Cohen says. "Much more killing is on the way." That is why he believes the US should interfere.

Hurriyet published an article by Barcin Yinanc entitled 'Turkey’s frustration with Syria vs US frustration with Iran'. "Just as Turkey was stepping up pressure on the Syrian regime, the international community (in the form of Kofi Annan) stepped in to strike a deal with Bashar al–Assad," the author says. "This is exactly how the U.S. and its allies must have felt two years ago when, just as the international community (in the form of UN Security Council) was preparing to take new measures to increase pressure on Iran, Turkey struck a deal with its neighbor." According to Yinanc, it is quite striking to see how Turkey has managed to diverge itself from the majority in the international community. On Iran, it is one of the few to be so understanding about Tehran’s controversial nuclear program, while in Syria it stands alone with only a handful countries, having placed all its bets on al–Assad’s departure.