World Press on Iran, Turkey and the Caucasus (December 21, 2011)

The Washington Post reported that Iran’s currency plunged against the U.S. dollar Tuesday, continuing a sharp drop exacerbated by jitters over tightening international sanctions and uncertainties about the domestic economy and regional trade. The plummeting value of the rial forced officials to backtrack on statements that Iran had cut trade relations with the United Arab Emirates, a major trading partner, for political reasons. Iranian officials including the ambassador to the emirates, Mohammad Reza Fayyaz, initially confirmed Tuesday that Iran had cut trade ties with its third-largest trading partner, the semiofficial Mehr News Agency reported. The Iranian Econews agency also quoted Mehdi Ghazanfari, the minister of industries and business, as saying that trade with the United Arab Emirates was halted because of its “anti-Iranian positions.”

The Los Angeles Times published the article headlined “France considers Armenian genocide bill.” It says that the killing of more than a million Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915 was an act of genocide. Yet Americans are free to deny the reality of either — or make outlandish assertions of all kinds — without facing punishment by the state. Residents of France will be denied that privilege if its parliament adopts a wrong-headed bill to criminalize denial of the Armenian genocide. On Thursday the lower house of France's parliament will debate a bill that would punish those who deny the genocide with a year in prison and a $58,000 fine. Turkey is livid, just as it is when legislation is proposed in the U.S. Congress to declare the killings a genocide. It has threatened "grave consequences" to the French-Turkish relationship if the bill is approved and warns that it will raise the issue of violent French colonialism in international forums. Turkey's sensitivity to the term "genocide" is nothing new, nor is the warning of a diplomatic rupture if another nation dares to use that word. That's not the reason to oppose the bill. The reason the French bill deserves condemnation is that it would be a monstrous violation of free speech.

The Turkish information agency Hurriyet reported that Russia's lower house of parliament, dominated by Vladimir Putin's party, on Wednesday opened its new session in defiance of mass protests sparked by opposition claims it was elected in rigged polls. The playing of the Russian national anthem marked the opening of the new State Duma, which is expected to be less pliant than in previous years after the United Russia party won less than half the vote in parliamentary elections. People are demanding freedom and expansion of democracy," Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the flamboyant leader of the ultra-nationalist Liberal Democratic party known for his bombastic style, said at the start of the session. "People can't hear us and therefore are taking to the streets. We, those who are sitting here in this hall, are to blame for it." The opening of parliament came as Russia freed anti-Kremlin blogger Alexei Navalny and other opposition activists after they served 15-day jail terms for taking part in an unsanctioned rally protesting the election results.

“Iran urges anti-extremism resistance” is an article published by the Iranian information agency Press TV. It says that Iran's Vice President for International Affairs Ali Saeedlou has reiterated the significance of reinforcing unity among Muslim nations, stressing the need to strengthen Islamic resistance against global extremists. The materialistic Western countries are faced with economic problems; Muslim states should bolster their unity and cooperation at the current juncture to establish an Islamic resistance front against extremists in the world, said Saeedlou in a meeting with Prime Minister of Mauritania Moulaye Ould Mohamed Laghdaf in the country's capital of Nouakchott on Tuesday. Western powers do not favor progress and unity among independent and Muslim counties, he added.