World Press on Iran, Turkey and the Caucasus (February 22, 2011)

The Washington Post published an article today headlined 'Iran detains son of prominent opposition leader', recounting how an Iranian opposition website says authorities have detained the son of opposition leader Mahdi Karroubi. Ali is not known as an activist, and his detention is widely viewed as an attempt to gain leverage on his father. Karroubi and fellow opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi have been under house arrest since organizing a rally last week. At least two people were killed  in clashes on February 14 between security forces and opposition protesters in Tehran. The rallies were the opposition's largest in more than a year.

The Los Angeles Times reports that Iran has stopped its oil-related activities in Libya and will evacuate staff in the next 48 hours. The move follows the suspension of activities by many foreign energy companies due to major political upheaval in the North African state. Fifteen Iranian members of staff will be evacuated. The Iranian company was involved in technical aspects of oil drilling. “Germany Says Iran Meeting Necessary to Free Journalists” is an article published by the New York Times. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s office on Monday addressed criticism of her foreign minister’s decision to meet the Iranian president over the weekend, saying that it was the price to pay for the release of two German journalists and that it did not change Germany’s criticisms of the Iranian government. The ministry said the discussion was limited during the hour-long meeting and that Mr. Westerwelle frequently raised the question of human rights in Iran. The Turkish information agency Hurriyet reports that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday warned the Libyan authorities against making the "mistake" of ignoring the people's demands for democracy and freedom. His remarks on Tuesday followed criticism at home that his stance on the turmoil in Libya had failed to match his strong reactions on Egypt.The Iranian information agency Press TV published an article subheaded “Georgian soldier killed in Afghanistan.” It says that a Georgian soldier with NATO forces has been killed in a blast in southern Afghanistan, bringing the number of US-led forces killed in the war-torn country to almost 55 in 2011. Corporal Giorgi Avaliani was the sixth Georgian to be killed while serving in Afghanistan. Last year was the deadliest of the nearly decade-long war for US-led troops in the Asian country, with more than 700 foreign soldiers killed, compared to just more than 500 in 2009. Official figures indicate that at least 2,330 NATO soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.