World Press on Iran, Turkey and the Caucasus (March 15, 2012)

On Thursday British newspaper The Guardian published the secret e-mails of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The letters show that Bashar al-Assad took advice from Iran on how to handle the uprising against his rule, according to a cache of what appear to be several thousand emails received and sent by the Syrian leader and his wife. The Syrian leader was also briefed in detail about the presence of western journalists in the Baba Amr district of Homs and urged to "tighten the security grip" on the opposition-held city in November. The revelations are contained in more than 3,000 documents that activists say are emails downloaded from private accounts belonging to Assad and his wife Asma. The messages, which have been obtained by The Guardian, are said to have been intercepted by members of the opposition Supreme Council of the Revolution group between June and early February. The documents, which emerge on the first anniversary of the rebellion that has seen more than 8,000 Syrians killed, paint a portrait of a first family remarkably insulated from the mounting crisis and continuing to enjoy a luxurious lifestyle. The Guardian has made extensive efforts to authenticate the emails by checking their contents against established facts and contacting 10 individuals whose correspondence appears in the cache. These checks suggest the messages are genuine, but it has not been possible to verify every one.

The Washington Post published an article by Fareed Zakaria entitled 'Deterring Iran is the best option.' "Strikes on Iran would probably delay its program a few years while driving up domestic support for the government in Tehran and providing it with a much stronger rationale for pursuing nuclear weapons," the author says, adding - "Yet sophisticated conservatives insist that this route is preferable to deterrence." Deterrence is a difficult concept to accept because it is counterintuitive, Zakaria admits. Still I may be quit successful. The United States and the Soviet Union had a more intense and far-reaching rivalry than almost any two great powers ever. Each thought the other wanted to destroy its way of life. And yet this rivalry did not result in war. Both sides were deterred. That is why it will be much better to deter Iran than to launch an actual attack, the author concludes.

Turkey's Hurriyet published an article by Mehmet Ali Birand headlined 'Religious high schools do not train the enemy,' devoted to the political tensions surrounding new eduction bill adoption. This bill is being criticized by the Turkish opposition as it believes that in case of adoption  the draft would increase the number of religious schools in the country and religion's role in the social life. However, establishment of religious schools would be dagerous for the secular charachter of the Turkish state, the author believes. According to him, there is no threat from optional religious education. In addition to that, the author underlines that the Turkish education system is mediocre and needs changes.