World Press on Iran, Turkey and the Caucasus (December 21, 2010)

Today The Washington Post published an article headlined "WikiLeaks translated into Arabic by Jordanian sites". Two Jordanian websites have begun translating into Arabic the U.S. State Department cables pertaining to Jordan released by WikiLeaks, the author reports. The sites, AmmanNet.net and 7iber.com, said on Tuesday that they wanted to inform Jordanians and Arabs about the secret cables by "removing the language barrier" and called on experienced translators to help with the material.

"Acclaimed Iranian filmmaker sentenced to six years in prison", is the headline of an article published today by The Los Angeles Times. A celebrated Iranian filmmaker and opposition supporter has been
sentenced to six years in prison and barred from making films or participating in political activity for two decades, the article says. Jafar Panahi was a supporter of the protest movement that sprang to
life after the disputed 2009 re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The same topic was discussed in an article headlined "Cry freedom for Jafar Panahi", published today by The Guardian. The author calls upon the international film-making community to support the outstanding art director. "The international film community should use all its powers to protest against the imprisonment of the Iranian film-maker", the author writes.

The Guardian has published an article entitled "Subsidy reforms threaten legitimacy of Ahmadinejad". The article touches upon the economic reform announced recently by the Iranian Government. In the
framework of the reform, subsidies for major food and energy commodities will be reduced. At the same time, the government will provide monthly cash payments, depending on the income of each family.  According to the author, on the surface, this plan may seem sensible. However, beneath the surface all is not well. The method by which Ahmadinejad is implementing the reform package, plus its timing, means that the regime could be about to bring in one of the most self-defeating measures in its history. In fact, the package could cause more damage to the legitimacy of the regime, and its
all-important economic engine, than any western-imposed sanctions. This is because the scheme is very likely to hurt the poor, from whom the regime gets most of its support.

The Turkish news agency Hurriyet has published an article entitled "From Lebanon, Egypt, Syria and Israel with love". "I was wrong when I doubted the wisdom of Ahmet "Strategic Depth" Davutoglu's ambitious peace plans for the ever-chaotic Middle East. The Turkish foreign minister's vision has already created what was unthinkable only a few years ago: Israel, Egypt, Syria and Lebanon are agreeing on borders - well, not their own, but Cyprus's offshore borders", the author writes.

The Iranian news agency Press TV has published an article entitled "Iran hails Lukashenko's re-election". Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has conveyed a congratulatory note to his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko on his recent re-election, urging enhanced ties between the two nations, the author reports. In his message to Lukashenko, President Ahmadinejad said the recent presidential election in Belarus was another "golden page in the honourable history" of the Belarusian people and indicated popular support for the president's plans.