World Press on Iran, Turkey and the Caucasus (April 7-9, 2012)

The controversy caused by the publication of Günther Grass's poem
"What Must Be Said" is covered in the German newspaper Süddeutsche
Zeitung. The poem calls for international supervision of Israel's
nuclear program and accuses the country's authorities of threatening
to break the fragile peace between Iran and the West. The Israeli
Interior Minister reacted to the poem by declaring the famous German
writer persona non grata in Israel. "Israel Bars German Laureate Grass
Over Poem" is an article published by the New York Times on Sunday.
According to the newspaper, Grass's poem places "Israel and Iran on the
same moral plane, echoing language and themes that have long stirred
anti-Semitism." The poem is seen in the context of a public revelation
that Grass made in 2006 that he was a Nazi soldier at the end
of World War II.

The controversy over the poem by Grass is unfolding on the eve of a
new meeting between the Western powers and Iran on its nuclear
program. "Iran Sends Mixed Signals Ahead of Nuclear Talks" is another
article published by the New York Times. The newspaper states that the
position of Iran before the new talks remains unclear. Thus, a senior
official in Tehran was quoted on Monday as admitting that there was
room for a modest compromise to partially meet some Western concerns
about the country’s uranium-enrichment program. At the same time, a
high-ranking figure, Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, was quoted as
saying that Iran would not accept preconditions for the discussions.
The Egyptian elections taking place on May 23 and 24 are another
subject in the focus of international media. In an article "Muslim
Brotherhood candidate says he is running to cement the group’s rise in
Egypt" the Washington Post explores the controversial political
situation in Egypt on the eve of elections. According to the newspaper,
the main struggle for the presidential seat will take place between
Khairat el-Shater, a multimillionaire who has been the Brotherhood’s
chief financier and strategist, and the Mubarak-era spy chief Omar
Suleiman, who on Sunday registered 100,000 signatures in support
of his candidacy. "The election next month is shaping up to be a
battle between a symbol of the Mubarak government and the candidate
for the ascendant Muslim Brotherhood," the newspaper writes. The
Washington Post also supposes that the generals, who are currently in
power in Egypt and who promised to hand power over to an elected
president at the beginning of June 2012, might chose a different
strategy of behavior in order to protect their vast economic
privileges. The New York Times' contribution to the subject is an
article entitled "Egyptian Presidential Candidate Carries Banner of
the Old Order." The newspaper quotes Mr. Shater's interview with
Reuters on Sunday, in which the Muslim Brotherhood representative
running for presidency called Mr. Suleiman's candidacy “an insult to
the revolution and the Egyptian people.” He said that Mr. Suleiman
could “only win through forgery, and if this happens, the revolution
will kick off again.”

The participation of Turkey in the tender for the construction of a
nuclear power plant in China and the visit of Turkey's premier Recep
Tayyip Erdoğan to China is in the focus of the Turkish newspaper
Hurriyet Daily. "Ankara has in the past heavily criticised Beijing's
actions in Xinjiang -- home to mainly Muslim Uighurs who complain of
repression under Chinese rule -- but the two nations have nevertheless
forged closer ties in recent years," the newspaper writes. Today
a Turkish Prime Minister visited China for the first time in
27 years. The premiers of Turkey and China discussed the nuclear
program of Iran and the situation in Syria. Two agreements were signed
during the meeting on deeper nuclear cooperation between the two
countries, although no concrete information has been released yet.