Turkey Live Coverage (5 April): The "Proof" of Terrorism

1645 GMT: Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said during the joint press briefing with Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha that Syrian President Bashar Assad's continuing violence is nothing short of his "manouevres of deception" rather than "manouevres of retreat."

In response to Tehran's recent remarks on the venue of nuclear enrichment talks, Erdogan said:

Iran needs to be honest. It is losing credibility because they are not honest. This is not the language of diplomacy. It is the language of something else yet it does not suit to me.

1600 GMT: President Gul continues his speech at the War Academy. Gul says:

This environment of instability taking place in our nighbours is wanted to be turned into a new Cold War stage where regional and global power struggles will occur. 

It is possible that the tension focused on Iran's nuclear programme will lead to a close combar environment. Under these conditions, Turkey has no luxury to watch these developments from a distance.  

1510 GMT: Speaking at the War Academy, President Abdullah Gul welcomed Turkey's "virtuous power":

In the present day, one can neither speak about security without democracy, nor a real democracy without security. Hence, democracy is both the most effective way to fight terrorism and our most valuable merit that we should jealously preserve.

It is very important to separate our citizens who voice their demands within the democratic system without resorting to violence from those who are tied to terrorism.

I believe that Turkey should act as a ‘virtuous power.’ A ‘virtuous power’ cares not only about the military/political dimension of security, but also justice and human values side.

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Iran Feature: The Week in Civil Society --- From Nature's Day to A Site for Repression (Arseh Sevom)

In the US, 1 April is marked with practical jokes. In Iran the date is celebrated as Nature’s Day (sizdah-be-dar) with millions taking to parks all over the country. Iranians around the world mark the end of the celebrations marking the new year with picnics, family, and friends. However, this year during the new year’s holidays, just 14 prisoners of conscience were given furlough to spend time with family.

In keeping with the theme of nature and sizdah-be-dar, we begin this week’s review with some environmental news. The cranes have returned to one of their habitats in the Salmas plain in Northwestern Iran. According to IRNA’s report they are being well protected by park rangers.

Four park rangers were injured while doing their jobs while another one, Assad Taghizadeh, is on the death row after being charged with manslaughter when he killed a poacher who had fired upon him and his co-workers. This sentence is based on the Islamic princible of Qesas (an eye for an eye). Many environmental activists have demanded Assad Taghizadeh’s release.

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The Latest from Iran (5 April): How Serious Are the Economic Problems?

See also Iran Feature: The Week in Civil Society --- From Nature's Day to A Site for Repression
Iran Feature: The Disappearing Interview with a US Official
The Latest from Iran (4 April): Admitting the Economic Tensions

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1522 GMT: Rafsanjani Watch. Juan Cole, drawing from US Open Source monitoring, has published English extracts of the article by former President Hashemi Rafsanjani that has raised the political temperature in Tehran --- on relations with the US:

After all, our current practice — of not speaking to or having ties with America — could not persist forever. America is the super power of the world. What is the difference between Europe and the US, China and the US, or Russia and the US from our point of view? Why should we not negotiate with the US if we negotiate with them? Talks do not mean that we should surrender to them. We will negotiate and if they accept our positions or we accept their positions, then it would be all over.

On relations with Saudi Arabia:

Having relations with Saudi Arabia is not a minor issue for the region. First of all, it is a wealthy country and the majority of the scholars from Muslim countries have ties with Saudi Arabia first and foremost considering the hajj and pilgrimages and second because of their own interests. It (Saudi Arabia) renovates their (Muslim countries) mosques, provides facilities, prints Korans and has provided numerous facilities for spread of their religious issues. Most of the works Al-Azhar University has done in Egypt, even the academic works, are now in the hands of Saudi Arabia.

More important is the issue of oil. Would the West impose sanctions on us, if Saudi Arabia had good ties with us? Only Saudi Arabia could take Iran’s place. Saudi Arabia does not need to do anything. If it produces oil according to OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) limits, no one could harass us. As the world economy could not carry on without our oil, I believe that it is still possible to establish good relations. However, there are people here who, as you see, do not want that. You are an expert in international relations and foreign policy and know well that if they say one word without thinking, it would immediately be reflected. Some harsh words from both sides should not be tolerated and should be corrected.

On Iran's nuclear programme:

We really do not seek to build nuclear weapons and a nuclear military system. In a Friday prayer sermon in Tehran, I even once said that an atomic bomb would not benefit the occupation regime of Israel. Eventually, if one day a nuclear conflict takes place, Israel as a small country, will not be able to bear an atomic bomb. It is a small country and all its facilities would be destroyed. However, they interpreted this advice as a threat. We really believe that there should not be any nuclear weapon in the region and this is a part of the principles of our politics.

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Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Hunger Strike of Abdulhadi Alkhawaja

2121 GMT: According to our sources, and many reports on Twitter, there is chaos in many parts of Bahrain, particularly in Manama where there are many night protests and clashes with police:

صورة ؛ اجياب الخليفية تقتحم البلاد القديم من شرق ، pic;roit police attacking bilad alqadeem w/jeeps @BiladQadeem twitter.com/elnetfa/status…

— ZahraNew (@elnetfa) April 5, 2012

29 #Bahrain #UK #USA #HumanRights All roads are on fire demanding the immediate release of #AlKhawaja twitter.com/14Feb_Media/st…

— 14 Feb Media Network (@14Feb_Media) April 5, 2012

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Syria Feature: Isolation in Damascus (Roman)

The process of applying for a visa to visit another country has become more costly and more risky. It can involve several trips across borders to visit embassies in Amman or Beirut.

The main road to Jordan has become dangerous with frequent assaults and the destruction of the bridge on the Deraa motorway that connects Damascus to Amman. Many Syrian men have reported that they have been turned back at the border for no specific reason. Travelling to Beirut is a bit safer for now, but also involves uncertainties because the roads can be blocked at any time.

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Egypt Feature: The Muslim Brotherhood Comes to America (Bohn)

Sondos AsemSondos Asem has butterflies, formulating answers to questions she expects to be asked and practicing her diction with the devotion of a high school debate champion. The gentle 24-year-old graduate student at the American University in Cairo is in a hotel room in downtown New York, figuring out what to wear on national television. ("This blazer would look good, right?" "Should I wear more color?")

Like many young Egyptians, she's been tweeting the fallout after the 2011 uprising that brought down former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. The stakes are higher than 140-character dispatches might suggest. Asem has emerged as an unlikely unofficial spokeswoman for the Muslim Brotherhood, helping to run its English-language Twitter feed, @Ikhwanweb, and in turn revamp the group's image in the West.

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Syria Wired: The Latest from Social Media and EA's Readers

Latest news and stories from the Syrian crisis, courtesy of EA readers in our Comments section....

US Politics Analysis: Obama Brings Out His "Fair Share" Campaign (and Why It's Important)

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On Tuesday afternoon, at an Associated Press luncheon in Washington, President Obama criticised the Republican budget, passed on a party line vote 228-191 in the House of Representatives last week. Doing so, the President outlined the basic message of his re-election campaign, contrasting his "fair share" economic plan for America's future with the radical Social Darwinist politics of the GOP.

Every Presidential campaign yearns to find a short and catchy phrase that captures the appeal of its candidate. Obama's "Hope and Change" from 2008 is the most recent example, but "I Like Ike" was credited by some Robert Taft supporters in 1952 for delivering the Republican nomination to his rival Dwight Eisenhower, and well before that, "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too", was turned into a song that was “in the political canvas of 1840 what the 'Marseillaise' was to the French Revolution. It sang [William Henry] Harrison into the Presidency.”

That brings us to Obama and a "Fair Share".

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Iran Feature: The Disappearing Interview with a US Official (Esfandiari)

The Controversial Alef ArticleSince Tuesday, we have paid close attention to the curious episode of a conservative Iranian newspaper/website, linked to leading MP Ahmad Tavakoli, announcing and then withdrawing the announcement of an interview with the State Department's Persian-language spokesperson Alan Eyre.

Golnaz Esfandiari, writing for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, summarises the developments, which came amidst confusion over Iran's forthcoming nuclear talks with the US and other powers....

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Turkey Live Coverage (4 April): A "Casus Belli" for Syria?

1830 GMT: Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc spoke about the "importance of press in counter-terrorism." Arinc continued:

Freedom of press is essential and it should not be censored. However, the limits of this freedom is clearly written in the European Convention on Human Rights. We shall think that every country also needs to pay attention to these limits. However, there should be a mentality expanding these borders and interpreting freely so that the press can work more freely and more comfortably.   

1745 GMT: A 4.3-magnitude earthquake hit Turkey's Bingol province. No injuries reported yet. 

1700 GMT: President Abdullah Gul commented on the ongoing coup trial. Gul said:

We are living a period of our political history from which lessons must be drawn. This will lead to a very important mentality change that there will be no such attempts anymore.

1620 GMT: Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized all opposition parties in the Parliament, Republican People's Party (CHP), Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) for their previous positions on the government's plan to bring the 1980 coup makers to justice.

Erdogan said that all parties issued statements against the 12 September referendum, claiming that Justice and Development Party (AKP) couldn't bring them on trial and that it was a big lie. 

1540 GMT: Thousands of Kurds have gathered in Strasbourg, in front of the central building of the Council of Europe. Protesters want the Council to take an initiative on the Kurdish issue and to bring the problem forward in talks with Turkey.

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