World Press on Iran, Turkey and the Caucasus (January 19, 2011)

The Washington Post reported yesterday that Iran's U.N. envoy said Tuesday the most important thing that world powers can do at upcoming talks in Istanbul is recognize his country as major player with "nuclear capability" that is ready to cooperate on major issues including nonproliferation. Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee warned Iran will never respond to sanctions, threats or political or economic pressure - and will "never negotiate on our inalienable right to use nuclear energy for ... peaceful purposes." Also, Khazaee blamed Israel for trying to infect Iran's computers but told reporters that according to specialists in Iran's atomic agency "they have not been successful."

The Guardian has published an article entitled "Google to release Chrome, Earth and Picasa downloads for Iran". The author of the article muses on the impact of the Google products on the Iranian society. It's evident that the free access to information will contribute much to the development of the country, believes Scott Rubin, the Chief Executive Officer of the company. "These tools, like Chrome, are about allowing people to access information. Chrome is the most secure browser out there, but also serves globally accessible information," said Mr. Rubin.

Turkish news agency Hurriyet has recently publsished an article headlined "What just happened to the AKP?" According to the author, In the past few weeks, the incumbent Justice and Development Party, or AKP, and particularly Prime Minister Erdogan have managed to alienate many liberal intellectuals who have been supportive of their cause. In other words, these days, the AKP looks both much less reformist than it used to be, and it sounds much less tolerant than it once was. "As disappointing as this is, it is also a bit understandable", says the author, "This party has been in power for more than eight years, and it simply got tired of managing a very challenging country. Besides, since it is very likely to win the next elections decisively, it doesn't feel the need to revise and renew itself.

"Iran warns West of meddling in Tunisia", an article with such a headline was published today by Iranian news agency Press TV. Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has recently warned the United States, Israel and some Western states not to interfere in Tunisia and Lebanon's internal affairs, the author reports. Addressing crowds of people in the central Iranian city of Yazd on Wednesday, President Ahmadinejad emphasized that Western countries aim to deprive the Tunisians of their rights through psychological warfare.

The Georgian Times newspaper has recently published a short article devoted to the problem of Russian-Georgian relations. The author quotes the Chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Mevlut Gavusoglu, who has said during the PACE monitoring committee meeting that Russia and Georgia should leave their confrontation in the past and focus on the future. According to him, the cornerstone of the future is regulation of conflicts within the guidelines of international norms and security guarantees. Human rights and freedoms should also be taken into view, he added.