World Press on Iran, Turkey and the Caucasus (June 4-6, 2011)

The Washington Post reported that a dispute with Syria over its refusal to cooperate with U.N. inspectors regarding its alleged nuclear program is one of several tough issues facing board members of the International Atomic Energy Agency, as they open a weeklong meeting on Monday. The United States and its allies are seeking to have Syria referred to the U.N. Security Council for stonewalling on repeated requests from the agency for information on what appears to have been secret attempts to build a nuclear reactor that would have produced plutonium, which is used to arm nuclear weapons. Heading into the meeting, it was not clear whether Russia or China would support the move against Damascus. The U.S.and its Western allies are unlikely to push for referral without such support.

The NewYork Times published an article headlined “Turkey’s Choice.” It is devoted to the situation in Turkey ahead of parliamentary elections. The author says that this year’s poll, scheduled for June 12, could have signalled a move toward political normality. However, in Turkey’s already highly-centralized system, a move toward a presidential system does not look like a good idea. It could lead either to rivalry and paralysis between a strengthened president and a traditionally powerful prime minister, both backed by a popular mandate. Or it could further erode checks and balances and reinforce autocratic tendencies.

The Guardian reports today that Iran is complaining to the world ruling body, after its women were banned from playing, moments before an Olympic qualifier against Jordan last week, due to their full-body strip that includes a head scarf. FIFA's rules for the 2012 Olympics state that: "Players and officials shall not display political, religious, commercial or personal messages or slogans in any language or form on their playing or team kits."

“Georgian radicals 'financed by Russia,' says Saakashvili” is an article published by the Turkish information agency Hurriyet. It says that Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said in an interview on Monday that he had proof that opposition leaders, whose street protests were broken up last month, are being funded by Russia. The Georgian leader said the authorities would supply evidence that radical opposition forces determined to stage a revolution had received money from Moscow.

The same agency reported that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's envoy Mikhail Margelov will meet Libyan rebel leaders in their stronghold of Benghazi on Tuesday but will not travel to Tripoli. But the fact that Margelov is not visiting Tripoli will limit the scope for Moscow in any attempts to bring about any truce between the two sides. Although Medvedev's order for Russia to abstain in a crucial U.N. Security Council vote essentially allowed the Western-led military action against Gaddafi's regime to go ahead, Moscow has become increasingly angry over the air strikes.

“Russia vows to upgrade Bushehr plant" is an article published by the Iranian information agency Press TV. It reports that Russia's Foreign Ministry says the country has placed the upgrading of the capability of the Bushehr nuclear power plant in southern Iran on its agenda. The Russian state enterprise Atomstroyexport is currently responsible for the construction of Bushehr -- Iran's first nuclear power plant, which is expected to be connected to the electricity grid. The Russian official underlined that the plant's construction and its coming on stream “are in complete accordance with the current international regulations and are being carried out under the full supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency.”

Another article published by the same agency is headlined “Ahmadinejad to visit Armenia soon.” It says that Ahmadinejad's visit to Armenia had been planned in response to the recent trip of the Armenian president to Tehran, to hold bilateral talks and sign Memoranda of Understanding. The visit, however, was postponed, because preparing and finalizing documents to the satisfaction of both countries
required more time.