World Press on Iran, Turkey and the Caucasus (July 1, 2011)

The Washington Post reported that Israel’s foreign minister warned on Thursday that Iran is using the Middle East unrest as a smokescreen to advance missile and nuclear programs in its alleged development of nuclear arms. Britain believes Tehran has conducted at least three secret tests of medium-range ballistic missiles since October, amid an apparent escalation of its nuclear program and increased scrutiny from the International Atomic Energy Agency. Like its missile program, Iran’s nuclear activities are under U.N. Security Council sanctions because of fears Tehran is seeking nuclear weapons — something the Islamic Republic denies.The New York Times published an article headlined “In Turkey, Lawmakers Refuse Oath in Protest.” It says that Turkey’s newly elected parliament convened on Tuesday, but 169 deputies refused to take their oaths of office in response to court rulings that barred 8 of their colleagues, currently in jail on terrorism-related charges, from joining the assembly. Thirty-five pro-Kurdish lawmakers boycotted the opening, and 134 members from the Republican People’s Party, the main opposition, took their seats but refused to be sworn in. They said the court rulings, which were issued last week, were undemocratic.

The Guardian reported that a prominent Iranian documentary film-maker and women's rights activist, whose work includes banned films about Iran's society, has been arrested by unidentified officials. Mahnaz Mohammadi, 37, was picked up from her home in the capital Tehran by security officers who refused to show a warrant for her arrest and was taken to Evin prison, where many activists are being held. Speaking by phone from Tehran, her lawyer told the Guardian that Mohammadi had been denied access to her family or proper legal representation and was being kept incommunicado. Meanwhile, despite the crackdown on the country's film industry, Iran's film-makers have won international recognition. A Separation, a drama by Asghar Farhadi which won the Golden Bear at this year's Berlin film festival, is released on Friday
in London cinemas.
“Turkish economy at top of growth league” is an article published by Hurriyet Daily News. It says that, with private investments and domestic consumption leading the charge, Turkey claimed the top spot in economic growth worldwide for the first quarter of 2011 with a blistering 11 percent, according to the Turkish Statistics Institute, or TurkStat. At this rate, Turkey will surpass $742 billion, its pre-crisis 2008 level of gross domestic product, by the end of the year, Premier Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Thursday during a meeting with his ruling Justice and Development Party’s parliamentary group. Turkey led the world in first-quarter growth this year, posting an astounding rate of 11 percent thanks mainly to private investment and consumption.

Press TV published an article subtitled “Iran launches hybrid power plant.” It says that Iran has launched its first wind-solar hybrid power plant on a Persian Gulf island, in order to increase the country's share of renewable energies. The plant, with a daily capacity of 50 kWh of electricity, was installed in Iran's southern Kharg Island by Iranian experts at a cost of 100,000 dollars, Mehr news agency reported. Inauguration of the plant came as Iranian Energy Minister Majid Namjou announced that Iran plans to generate more than 5,000 megawatts of electricity from renewable energy resources by 2015. ВНИМАНИЕ!
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