An article headlined "Iranian lawyer committed to winning U.S. hikers' freedom" was published today by the Los Angeles Times. The article tells about Mr. Masoud Shafii, the lawyer defending the two American hikers who have been detained in an Iranian prison for more than a year. Mr. Shafii has said he's oblivious to the global dimensions of the case, or the fact that his two clients come from the "Great Satan" itself. Or even that another Iranian human rights lawyer was recently jailed on unspecified national security crimes and another was just sentenced to nine years in prison. "We lawyers protest if anything illegal is committed," Shafii said in a recent interview at his modest Tehran office. "I do not chicken out if there is a violation of law regarding my clients."
In the article published today by the Washington Post, which is devoted to the upcoming visit of British Prime Minister David Cameron to China, is said that, besides trade, other issues Cameron may discuss include Iran, as Britain has pushed for stronger moves to punish Iran for its disputed nuclear program. China's dependence on Iranian oil for its rapidly industrializing economy makes it crucial to the success of UN sanctions, aimed at forcing Iran to negotiate over its nuclear program. Iran insists its nuclear program is entirely peaceful. The US and some other countries think Iran is seeking the ability to build nuclear weapons.
According to the article published today by The Washington Post, the Spanish bank BBVA has announced on Tuesday that it has agreed to acquire a 24.89 percent stake in Turkey's Garanti Bank for euro 4.2 billion ($5.84 billion) in cash and run it jointly with the Turkish bank's main shareholder. Garanti Bank is Turkey's second-largest private bank in terms of assets, equivalent to euro 60 billion as ofAccording to the article published today by The Washington Post, the June 30, and has about 20,000 employees working in 837 branch offices. If the deal goes through, BBVA will have exactly the same stake in Garanti Bank as Dogus Holding and they will run Garanti Bank together, representatives of BBVA have said.
The Times has published an article headlined "Jeremy Clarkson: Turkey joining the EU? Over my dead dog's body". In this article the well-known journalist express certain doubts that Turkey has real chance to join the European Union. "A country must have certain standards before it can become an EU member, and my No 1 line in the sand is: dead dogs at the side of the road. Turkey does not meet this criteria" says the author.
Hurriyet has recently published an article entitled "Key Turkish issues at play in US elections". As millions of Americans go to the polls on Tuesday for mid-term elections seen as a referendum on Barack Obama's two years as president, US relations with Turkey also hang in the balance. "Though Obama's administration has expressed confidence about its continued relationship with Turkey's newly energized ruling party, many lawmakers in the restless Congress seek retaliation against Turkey for Ankara's improved ties with Iran and worsened relations with Israel," says the author. While the United States has designed the missile-defense system specifically as protection against Iran, Turkey has said it perceives no such threat from its eastern neighbour. Whether or not Turkey endorses the missile-defense project will be of key importance for its relations with Washington and the rest of the West. One danger for Turkey is a vote on a resolution recognizing Armenian claims of genocide, which the House Foreign Affairs Committee narrowly approved in March. The Obama administration has thus far stood firm in its opposition to the bill, but US Armenians are seeking a full House vote on the resolution during the "lame-duck" session that will follow Tuesday's election.
Another article published by Hurriyet today touches upon the problem of Israeli-Turkish relations. Rumors in the Israeli press that Turkey has classified Israel as a strategic threat are "baseless" and "ill-intentioned," Turkish Foreign Minister, Professor Ahmet Davutolu said on Tuesday. The foreign minister declined, however, to reveal whether Turkey's National Security Document, also known as the Red Book, cited Israel as a threat and said its content was confidential. "I won't say anything about the content of the Red Book. We cannot consider such reports good-intentioned if they have no source," Davutolu said.
"Iranian and Saudi officials discuss ties" was the headline of an article published today by Press TV, a prominent Iranian news agency. Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal says interaction between Tehran and Riyadh is vital in the face of developments in the region and the Muslim world, the author reports. The remarks were made during a meeting with Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Middle East Affairs, Mohammad Reza Sheibani, in the Saudi capital of Riyadh on Monday. Al-Faisal stressed that "the current situation in the Muslim world" demanded closer ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia, since both nations shared "similar religious and historical backgrounds." The Iranian deputy foreign minister, for his part, said Tehran would welcome expansion of bilateral ties between the two Muslim nations.
