World Press on Iran, Turkey and the Caucasus (November 15, 2011)

The Washington Post published the article headlined “Presidential election in Georgia’s breakaway province of South Ossetia ends in tie.” It says that election commission head Bella Pliyeva said Monday that Anatoly Bibilov, the emergencies minister who has the support of Russia’s dominant pro-Kremlin party, and former education minister Alla Dzhioyeva each won about 25 percent of the vote Sunday. They will go head-to-head in a runoff to be held in two weeks. South Ossetia has been led since 2001 by Eduard Kokoity, who is stepping down after two terms. All 11 candidates in the race called for close ties with Russia, which recognized South Ossetia as an independent state after the brief 2008 Russian-Georgian war and still has troops in the region.

The same information agency reported that the sponsors of a would-be Chinese alternative to the Nobel Peace Prize said Tuesday that they would defy a government order to not award this year’s prize, which is to be given to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Qiao Damo, head of the China International Peace Research Center, said the group plans to proceed with a Dec. 9 ceremony to award the Confucius Peace Prize. That’s despite what Qiao said were orders from the Culture Ministry to cancel the ceremony because permission wasn’t given to publicize the award and the group had illicitly changed its name. The ministry said in September that it had ordered the prize canceled, but did not immediately respond to further requests for comment Tuesday.

The Los Angeles Times reported that Iranian media are raising questions about the reported suicide in a Dubai, United Arab Emirates, hotel room of the son of a prominent Iranian politician and former Revolutionary Guard commander. The body of Ahmed Rezai was found Saturday in his hotel suite, according to news reports. He was the son of Mohsen Rezai, secretary-general of Iran's influential Expediency Council, which advises the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The elder Rezai ran unsuccessfully as a conservative challenger to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009's disputed election. Charges by reformists that the incumbent stole the election led to widespread protests and a violent crackdown by authorities.

“Russia condemns Syria's suspension from Arab League” is an article published by the Turkish information agency Hurriyet. It says that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday condemned Syria's suspension from the Arab League over its lethal crackdown on protests, saying the move was "incorrect." "We believe this to be incorrect," Russian news agencies quoted Lavrov as saying in the Russian Far East city of Khabarovsk. "And this looks pre-planned." Late last week the League announced Syria's suspension, drawing international praise but sparking mob attacks on foreign embassies in Damascus. The move, to take effect on Wednesday, was prompted by Syria's failure to comply with an agreement to end its crackdown on protests, which the United Nations says has left at least 3,500 people dead since mid-March.