World Press on Iran, Turkey and the Caucasus (December 15, 2010)

The Washington Post has published an article entitled "Moscow riot police deployed amid ethnic tensions". The author states that resentment is rising among Slavic Russians over the growing presence in Moscow and elsewhere of people from the Caucasus, the home of numerous ethnic groups, most of them Muslim, and other ethnic minorities. According to him, the violence has raised fresh doubts about the government's ability to control the rising tide of xenophobia, which threatens Russia's existence as a multiethnic state.

The Los Angeles Times recently published an article headlined "Iran's president faces anger at home over firing foreign minister, exposes deepening rifts". President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad faced outrage at home on Tuesday over the ambush-style dismissal of his long-time foreign minister, more evidence of a growing rift in Iran's conservative leadership, just as Tehran reopens talks with world powers on its disputed nuclear program, the author reports. According to him, the fallout from some top lawmakers and the media pointed to bigger questions about growing splits between Ahmadinejad and rivals from within the country's conservative leadership, who see the move as a presidential power grab and cronyism.

The Guardian has published an article headlined "WikiLeaks: Anonymous takes down Swedish prosecution website". The website of the Swedish Prosecution Authority, Aklagare.se, was brought offline for almost 11 hours on Tuesday in the latest online attack by Anonymous, the loose-knit group committed to crippling the websites of companies and governments perceived to be acting against WikiLeaks, the author reports.

Turkish news agency Hurriyet has published an article entitled "Turkish PM sues Daily Telegraph over Iran fund claims". Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has filed a criminal complaint against the British Daily Telegraph newspaper over a story in which the daily claimed his party was receiving funds from Iran, states the author. According to a Daily Telegraph story published in September, Iran agreed to donate $25 million to the Justice and Development Party, or AKP, in a move the paper said would "increase fears that Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan is preparing to abandon the country's secular constitution."

Press-TV quotes the words of Iran's presidential advisor Esfandiyar Rahim Mashaei, who has emphasized the significance of a European move towards adopting an independent position and modifying previous approaches. According to the article, the Swiss ambassador said Tehran and Bern have always had "constructive and fruitful" cooperation and negotiations.  Despite the current undesirable situation in Europe, Switzerland has always sought to prepare the grounds for strengthening broad cooperation with Iran. The Kyrgyz ambassador, for his part, called for the expansion of ties with Tehran, saying, "Bolstering relations with the Islamic Republic is among the priorities in Kyrgyzstan's foreign policy."