World Press on Iran, Turkey and the Caucasus (February 9, 2011)

The New York Times has published an article by Thomas Friedman headlined "Up with Egypt". The author, who is a correspondent in Egypt, suggests that the opinion, according to which the Egyptian revolution is dying down, is nothing but a general misconception. More and more people are coming to Tahrir Square demanding President Mubarak's resignation. The revolution is a true people's movement, says Friedman, and the USA should support it and force the Egyptian
army to do so.

On Wednesday The Guardian published an article devoted to the situation in the Middle East entitled "What will become of Israel if Mubarak falls?" The author underlines that the Israeli perspective on the historic events currently under way in Egypt is quite different from those commonly found in western countries. The US and Europe are more likely to support the removal of a government that denies its citizens basic freedoms, while Israel's main concern is that the unrest in Egypt will have serious regional security implications. The question is whether these fears are well-founded. "Now, as Cairo plunges into an uncertain transition, a question mark hangs even over the fate of the old peace agreement with Egypt," the author writes.

Turkey's Hurriyet newspaper has published an article headlined "Egypt needs the new Turkish model". The author admits that the days of Hosni Mubarak, the country's long-time dictator, are numbered. That's why, according to him, the nature of the post-Mubarak era, which is uncertain, is the real big question. He thinks that what Egypt needs is a so-called "new Turkish model", in which Islam and a free society co-exist. He thinks that the Muslim Brotherhood can adopt such a model
and come to power.

Another article published recently by Hurriyet is entitled "Egypt is not an appetizer". The author derides Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan, who has welcomed Egyptian democracy, as the situation in Turkey, according to him, is far from ideal. "What about Turkey? Don't Turks deserve a democratic electoral law? Don't Turks deserve to have their will reflected in Parliament? Why does Erdogan categorically reject doing away with the anti-democratic 10 percent national electoral
threshold in Turkey, but call for a just election system for Egypt?" the author asks.

Today The Moscow Times published an article by outstanding Russian journalist Yulia Latynina, headlined "Terrorists Without Borders". "It is amusing to watch CNN and the BBC and hear all the talk about "freedom" coming to Egypt, particularly when the Muslim Brotherhood, one of the main future beneficiaries of a revolution, is presented as a peaceful conservative religious organization," says Latynina. According to her, the Muslim Brotherhood is not just your run-of-the-mill undamentalist organization; it is the mother of all Islamist fundamentalist organizations, the one from which all others have sprung. That is why she believes that the Middle East is turning into a region of Islamist states, where terrorism is a major form of foreign policy.