World Press on Iran, Turkey and the Caucasus (September 23, 2011)

The Washington Post published the interview with Iran’s president headlined “Ahmadinejad says UN nuclear agency succumbing to US pressure.” It says that Ahmadinejad accused the U.N. nuclear watchdog of being in the pocket of the United States and illegally releasing the names of three nuclear scientists who were then assassinated by alleged Israeli-trained killers. He also claimed that explosive material — and not airliners alone — brought down the World Trade Center, attacked U.S. policies from Libya to Afghanistan, and said when his second and final term ends in two years “new elections will be held and someone else will occupy this office.” When asked who is in charge in Iran as the power struggle rages, Ahmadinejad launched into a civics lesson on the separation of powers in the country and said there are political rivalries, just like there are in the United States.

The same information agency reported that a Kurdish militant group on Thursday claimed responsibility for a car bomb attack near a school in the Turkish capital that killed three people and wounded 34. The Firat news agency said the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons, an offshoot of the autonomy-seeking Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, claimed Tuesday’s attack and threatened more bombings in Turkish cities, warning that the explosion in Ankara was “a start.” The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons also claimed responsibility for a small bomb attack in the Mediterranean resort town of Kemer that wounded 10 people, including four Swedes on Aug. 28, Firat said.

“Turkish ship sets sail for gas search off Cyprus” is an article published by the Turkish Hurriyet Daily News. It says that A Turkish seismic ship set sail Friday for gas exploration off Cyprus, live television footage showed. The ship "Piri Reis" departed from a local port in the Aegean province of Izmir, in an apparent response to a move by Greek Cypriots to press ahead with offshore gas drilling in the eastern Mediterranean. Regional tensions are rising as the Cyprus government, recognised internationally but not by Turkey, has made a deal with US energy firm Noble, which has started exploratory drilling for gas off the south coast.

The same agency reported that Armenia flexed its military muscle Wednesday at a showpiece parade to mark 20 years of independence from the Soviet Union amid a simmering territorial conflict with neighbor Azerbaijan. Some 4,000 troops lined up in Republic Square in Yerevan accompanied by tanks, missiles, helicopters, fighter planes and, for the first time, Armenian-manufactured spy drones. Addressing the parade, President Serge Sarkisian said that when the small Caucasus state of 3.2 million people became independent in 1991, “a huge part of our country was a disaster zone after an earthquake and we stood on the brink of war.”

The Iranian information agency Press TV reported that Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has called on the West to abolish its policy of confrontation towards the Islamic Republic. The West, in particular European countries, need to abolish their policy of “confrontation” specifically towards Iran as an influential country in the region and Muslim nations, Salehi said in a meeting with British Foreign Secretary William Hague. He said that Iran was ready to talk and cooperate with the West on issue like Afghanistan, the fight against terrorism and drug trafficking based on mutual respect. He also criticized Western double standards toward recent developments in the Middle East and North Africa.