World Press on Iran, Turkey and the Caucasus (July 8, 2011)

The Washington Post reported that Weapons flowing from Iran into Iraq are becoming more lethal and sophisticated, the top U.S. military officer said as Washington and Baghdad negotiate over whether American troops will remain in the country beyond the end of the year. He said the delivery of armor-piercing explosives and airborne homemade bombs to Shiite extremists has increased significantly in recent months, all with the full knowledge of top Iranian government officials. Iran’s move to boost the flow of weapons to Shiite extremists, which spike in 2006-2007, but then declined, has been a deliberate move on Tehran’s part, he added.

The New York Times published the article headlined “Israeli and Turkish Diplomats Try to Heal Rift From Raid on Flotilla.” It says that Spurred by the recent upheaval in the Arab world, diplomats from Israel and Turkey were in talks aimed at mending relations that were badly fractured by the deadly Israeli raid on a Turkish flotilla to Gaza last year. The diplomats said Turkey and Israel were eager to find a compromise over the wording of the report by a United Nations committee that is led by former Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer of New Zealand and has Turkish and Israeli representatives. Diplomats said the committee’s findings — made following heated deliberations that lasted nearly a year — would be likely to leave both countries
uncomfortable.

“Iran's judicial killing spree” is an article published by the Guardian. It says that according to Amnesty International, Iran has admitted executing 190 people between January and the end of June this year; an additional 130 reported executions have gone unacknowledged. These figures put Iran on course for a record year for capital punishment. In 2010, 252 people were executed, according to official figures, with 300 more also believed to have been killed. Iran Human Rights, an independent monitoring organisation, claims the true picture is much worse. The number of public hangings is also on the increase. Overall, Iran's execution "average" is running at almost two people per day in 2011, making the regime the world's number two executioner after China.

The Turkish information agency reported that meeting with the leader of the main opposition Thursday, the Turkish Parliament speaker said he would contribute to a solution to the crisis that has erupted around opposition party deputies’ refusal to take the oath of office. The issue is a matter of freedom, over the right to elect and be elected and should not be considered a type of political “arm wrestling,” Republican People’s Party, or CHP, leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said following his meeting with Parliament Speaker Cemil Çiçek. In a separate statement to journalists following the meeting, Erdoğan said the opposition deputies should come to Parliament and take the oath. Speaking to media after the meeting, Çiçek invited the CHP and BDP to reconsider their boycott decision and open a fresh, new and positive page.

The Iranian Press TV published the article subtitled “Iran urges Saudi pull-out from Bahrain.” It says that ran has called on Saudi Arabia to rectify this policy, withdraw its forces from Bahrain and prepare the ground for regional cooperation, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said on Thursday, Fars News Agency reported. The Iranian official added that negotiations between Tehran and Riyadh could be beneficial to the region but underlined that “the conditions should be provided” for such negotiations. Iran's fundamental policy is to improve relations with neighboring countries and to promote collective work with regional states, he pointed out. Mehmanparast also described the military interference of Saudi Arabia and certain other regional countries in Bahrain as a “wrong” move.