The Weekly Newspaper of Foreign Policy and International Relations Club
Volume 6, Issue 19
8 May 2012
Socialist Francois Hollande wins French presidency French socialist Francois Hollande has won a clear victory in the country's presidential election.
Mr Hollande - who polled just under 52% of votes in Sunday's run-off - spoke of his pride at becoming president. Admitting defeat, centre-right incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy wished "good luck" to Mr Hollande.
Analysts say the vote has wide implications
for the whole eurozone. Mr Hollande has
vowed to rework a deal on government debt
in member countries. Shortly after polls
closed at 20:00 (18:00 GMT), French media published projections based on partial results
giving Mr Hollande a lead of almost four
points. Turnout was about 80%. Mr Hollande
- the first Socialist to win the French
presidency since Francois Mitterrand in the 1980s - gave his victory speech in his
stronghold of Tulle in central France.
Continuous on page 2
A mass rally and rioting in Moscow on the eve of Vladimir Putin’s presidential inauguration
showed the sustainability of anti-Putin protests, which are radicalizing because the government
failed to reason with the opposition, pundits said on Sunday.
Between 50,000 and 100,000, by various independent estimates, showed up on Sunday for an anti-
government rally on the downtown Bolotnaya Square, which was to demand repeat presidential and
parliamentary elections due to alleged vote fraud. Moscow police said the turnout stood at 8,000. But unlike similar rallies in Moscow over the past six
months, the protest quickly turned violent, with scores
of radicals in the crowd clashing with police in an
attempt to march to the Kremlin. More than 400 were
detained, and several protesters and policemen were
injured. Many spectators predicted the protest drive, which resulted in five mass rallies in Moscow between
December and March, will be dying down after the
presidential vote on March 4, won by Putin, but the
Sunday rally showed it is not the case, said
independent political analyst Stanislav Belkovsky. Continuous on page 4
Moscow Riots Show Anti-Putin Drive Sustainable – Pundits
THIS
WEEK
EUROPE
PAGE 2
AMERICAS
PAGE 3
ASIA
PAGE 4
MIDDLE EAST&AFRICA PAGE 5
TURKEY
PAGE 6
SOCIAL
PAGE 7
EDITORIAL
PAGE 8
EUROPE
PAGE 2
Local Italy poll poses problems for Monti
A French court has
sentenced a scientist at the prestigious Cern laboratory
to five years in prison for
plotting terrorist attacks.
BBC News / May 4, 2012
Ireland's top Roman
Catholic cleric, Cardinal
Sean Brady, was under
mounting pressure to
resign Friday amid renewed
allegations about his role in dealing with the sexual
abuse of children by
priests. CNN / May 4,
2012
Serbia’s liberals are ahead
in elections for parliament
and president. Incumbent
Boris Tadic and opposition
leader Tomislav Nikolic will
enter a run-off for the presidency on May 20 after
taking 26.8 per cent and
25.6 per cent respectively,
according to an unofficial
r e s u l t p r o j e c t i o n . Euronews / May 6, 2012
Socialist Francois Hollande wins French presidency French socialist Francois Hollande has won a clear victory in the country's presidential election.
Mr Hollande capitalised on France's economic woes and President Sarkozy's unpopularity. In his concession speech, Mr Sarkozy told
supporters: "Francois Hollande is the president of France and he must be
respected." Mr Sarkozy, who has been in office since 2007, had promised
to reduce France's large budget deficit through spending cuts. He is the
latest European leader to be voted out of office amid widespread voter
anger at austerity measures triggered by the eurozone debt crisis. BBC News / May 6, 2012
Elections in Italy on Sunday and Monday may only be local but they
will still provide a first snapshot of the popular mood since efforts to
turn around the country’s financial situation began.
More than nine million Italians have until Monday afternoon to deliver their
verdict on tax hikes introduced by technocrat Mario Monti. He was named
prime minister in November when the country’s worsening economic crisis forced Silvio Berlusconi from office. There elections are a test too for
Berlusconi’s former ally, the Northern League. Now in opposition, it will get
a chance to see how much public support it retains after Umberto Bossi
stepped down as leader amid a party funds scandal. Euronews / May 6,
2012
Voters in Greece prepared Saturday to take part in parliamentary
elections, with wide uncertainty over what government will emerge
from Sunday's vote and how it will handle the austerity crisis gripping
the nation.
No party is expected to win a majority of the
vote, meaning a coalition will again have to be
formed. The outgoing coalition government
pushed through a series of painful austerity
measures in order to secure emergency
bailout funding for Greece, which is at the
center of the eurozone debt crisis. The two
main parties which formed that coalition in
November, PASOK and New Democracy, are
expected to lose votes to a raft of smaller
parties, as people express their unhappiness
at their country's economic plight.
Campaigning came to a close on Friday. CNN / May 5, 2012
Greek voters prepare for key election amid austerity crisis
AMERICAS
PAGE 3
President Barack Obama formally opened his re-election bid Saturday
with two rallies in which he highlighted accomplishments over his three and a half years in the White House and argued that America
can't afford to adopt Republicans' "bad ideas."
"We are making progress and now we face a choice," said the president, at
his first rally at the Schottenstein Center on the campus of The Ohio State University in Columbus. "This is a make or break moment for the middle
class, and we can't turn back now." In this 36-minute-long address, Obama
said presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney would
"rubber stamp" the congressional GOP agenda, telling the crowd that "we
cannot give him that chance." "That's the choice in this election, and that's why I'm running for a second
term as president of the United States," added Obama. The speech highlighted the narrative that the Obama campaign hopes to push this year: reminding voters how many millions of jobs were lost before
the president took office. CNN / May 6, 2012
‘9/11 Five’ defy judge at Guantanamo Bay hearing
Mexico presidential debate puts Pena Nieto in rivals' sights
17 papers found after bin
Laden was killed in a raid
a year ago have been
declassified and posted
online by the Combating Terrorism Center showing
that Osama bin Laden
wanted to assasinate US
president Barack Obama.
Euronews / May 4, 2012
Argentina's Congress has approved the controversial
nationalisation of Spanish-
controlled oil company
YPF. CNN / May 4, 2012
The US economy created
115,000 jobs during April, down on the previous
month and fewer than
analysts had expected,
official figures have shown.
BBC News / May 4, 2012
Obama outlines case for re-election at first official campaign rally
Mexico's presidential hopefuls square off in a televised debate on
Sunday with the trailing candidates seeking to land heavy blows
against hot favorite Enrique Pena Nieto to spoil his chances of victory in the July 1 election.
Polls show Pena Nieto, of the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), is heading for a comfortable victory, and could capture as many votes
as his two main rivals combined. Though the gap has lately narrowed
slightly, second-placed Josefina Vazquez Mota of the ruling conservative
National Action Party (PAN) and leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the
2006 runner-up, are running out of time to catch up with Pena Nieto. After
a number of embarrassing public gaffes at the turn of the year, Pena Nieto has ducked several invitations to debate with his rivals, prompting
accusations from critics that he cannot think on his feet and will be
vulnerable on Sunday. Reuters / May 6, 2012
Five men accused of plotting the 9/11 attacks have refused to answer
a military judge’s questions during a court hearing at Guantanamo Bay.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four
other defendants remained silent and
refused to enter pleas to murder and
terrorism charges. Defence lawyers say the military tribunals are
illegitimate because of the restricted
access they have to their clients. A
relatives of one of the nearly three
thousand people who died described
the men’s behaviour as “courtroom jihad”. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has
c l a i m e d r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r
masterminding the hijackings 11 years ago. Defence lawyers are expected to
argue that confession was obtained through torture. Euronews / May 6,
2012
PAGE 4
ASIA
Moscow Riots Show Anti-Putin Drive Sustainable – Pundits
A mass rally and rioting in Moscow on the eve of Vladimir Putin’s presidential inauguration
showed the sustainability of anti-Putin protests, which are radicalizing because the government
failed to reason with the opposition, pundits said on Sunday.
“The society has potential for protest. The drive for change did not vanish,
and many people still push for Russia to become a normal European
country,” Belkovsky said. Protests has united a variety of political and ideological groups, all of whom accuse Putin’s government of
ineffectiveness, corruption and curtailing civil liberties. Putin and his
supporters responded by labeling protesters West’s henchmen seeking to
undermine Russian sovereignty. The opposition is radicalizing because
Putin’s government failed to enter a full-scale dialogue with it after the first
rallies in December, said Alexei Makarkin of the Center of Political Technologies think-tank. Ria Novosti / May 7, 2012
A NATO servicemember was shot to death by a gunman in an Afghan
army uniform Sunday in southern Afghanistan, the allied command in
Kabul reported.
The attacker was killed by coalition forces who returned fire, NATO's
International Security Assistance Force reported. An investigation was under way, ISAF said, and no further details were immediately released. In
a separate attack, a roadside bomb struck a vehicle carrying U.S. troops in
eastern Afghanistan, killing one American and wounding two, a Western
official said. The bombing happened about 10 km (6 miles) south of an
outpost in Paktia province, near the Pakistani border, the official said.
NATO's International Security Assistance Force initially reported three deaths from from an improvised explosive device Sunday, but later revised
the toll to one. It did not identify the victim or nationality. CNN / May 7,
2012
Clinton calls for Bangladesh political calm
US Secretary of State says government and opposition must work
together amid violent unrest over missing politician.
Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State,
has called on Bangladesh's political parties
to end their most recent bout of discord, and pressured the county's government not
to undermine the effectiveness of micro-
lender Grameen Bank. Bangladesh has been
paralysed by weeks of strikes and protests,
and at least five people have been killed sin-
ce Elias Ali, a prominent opposition leader, disappeared last month. On Sunday,
Clinton said that the unrest had undermined development and was scaring
away foreign investors. She appealed to Bangladeshis to respect the rule of
law, and called for a government investigation into the case of the missing
politician, as well as allegations of a brutal crackdown on dissent. Al-Jazeera / May 6, 2012
Afghanistan attacks kill 2 NATO members
Japan is switching off its
last working nuclear
reactor, as part of the
safety drive since the
March 2011 tsunami
triggered a meltdown at the Fukushima plant. BBC
News / May 5, 2012
A Kremlin threat to launch
pre-emptive strikes on a
planned NATO missile
defense system in Europe
is unjustified as the system
poses no threat to Russia's security, the head of the
Atlantic alliance said on
Friday. Reuters / May 4,
2012
Dozens of people are still
missing in Nepal after a
mountain river burst its
banks ne a r Mo un t Annapurna, in the west of
the country, causing flash
flooding, police say. BBC
News / May 6, 2012
PAGE 5
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Sunday for early
elections.
Speaking at a convention of his Likud faction in Tel Aviv, Netanyahu
suggested September as his preferred date for Israelis to vote. "It is preferable to hold a short election campaign for four months that would
enable us to quickly restore stability of our political system," Netanyahu
told supporters. "Political instability always leads to blackmail and
populism; I will not allow that to happen." The prime minister kicked off his
campaign with a comprehensive, prime-time review of his government's political, financial and security achievements and used the occasion to attack his political rivals. "I respect all the heads of parties who
are running for the next Knesset, but the state of Israel cannot afford itself a chief who has no political,
security and financial experience," he said. CNN / May 7, 2012
A curfew has been imposed around Cairo’s Defence Ministry, after
protesters clashed with security forces. According to health officials, more than 300 people were injured. There are also reports of three
deaths.
Demonstrators turned out to renew their calls for an end to military rule. They are also furious about candidates being barred from standing in the
upcoming presidential
election. “We are getting
killed here,” one
protester said. “This is the army that is
supposed to protect us,
this is Mubarak’s
army.” The crowd
hurled projectiles and
insults at soldiers, sent in to shield the Defence
Ministry after 11 people
were killed in fighting
there on Wednesday.
The army responded by firing water cannon and then tear gas. Egypt’s presidential election is less than three weeks away and there is a real
suspicion amongst protesters that the military will continue wielding power.
Euronews / May 5, 2012
MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA
Hundreds injured in Cairo clashes
Iran President Ahmadinejad in parliamentary poll setback
Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has suffered a fresh setback in
run-off parliamentary polls.
Mr Ahmadinejad's supporters won only 13 of the 65 seats up for election in
Friday's vote, further reducing his power base in the 290-seat parliament.
Conservative supporters of the Supreme Leader had already won an outright majority in March's first round. Iran's parliament lacks executive power but
plays a part in choosing next year's presidential contenders. Mr
Ahmadinejad's influence has been falling since he fell out of favour with the
Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, last year. BBC News / May 5, 2012
Sudan has endorsed the
African Union's (AU)
roadmap to avert an all-out war with South Sudan,
though it insisted on
retaining the right to self-
defence. Al-Jazeera /
May 4, 2012
Syrians are expected to go
to the polls Monday to vote
in parliamentary elections
that are being held amid ongoing violence and
increasing international
pressure on the embattled
government of President
Bashar al-Assad. CNN /
May 7, 2012
Saudi Arabia's ambassador
to Egypt will return to
Cairo next week, a Saudi official has said, signalling
the end of a diplomatic
row. Al-Jazeera / May 4,
2012
Netanyahu calls for early elections
TURKEY
Turkey angry at S&P for downgrading ratings
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan denounced Standard
and Poor's rating agency on today, saying its downgrading of Turkey's Outlook was clouded by an "ideological approach."
Erdoğan told a televised meeting in Istanbul: "This is entirely an ideological
approach. You cannot fool anybody, you cannot fool Tayyip Erdoğan." He
condemned the outlook revision as "very odd" and hit back at what he implied was discrimination by S&P, which had improved the outlook of
crisis-hit neighboring Greece, while lowering the perspective for Turkey.
The Turkish premier also threatened not to recognize the Standard and
Poor's as a credible ratings agency. On Tuesday, Standard and Poor's
revised the outlook on Turkey's long-term foreign and local currency
sovereign credit ratings to stable, from positive. Hurriyet Daily News / May 3, 2012
A Turkish delegation
composed of lawmakers and
media professionals is set to
embark on Monday for a five
-day visit to Germany to be
briefed on the progress of investigations into racially
motivated attacks by neo-
Nazis that claimed the lives
of 10 people, eight of whom
were Turks. Today’s Zaman / May 6, 2012
Visiting a border camp in
the southern Gaziantep
province which shelters Syrians who fled violence in
their country, PM Erdoğan
strongly challenges the al-
Assad regime and delivers a
message of support to migrants. Hurriyet Daily
News / May 7, 2012
KRG PM Barzani labels
Turkey a strategic partner and says the ongoing crisis
between the al-Maliki
government and Arbil should
be resolved in line with the
constitution. Hurriyet Daily News / May 7, 2012
Two Turkish journalists detained two months ago in Syria to be freed
Turkish Cypriots push for int’l
recognition as negotiation hopes fade
PAGE 6
Two Turkish journalists who were detained while covering the Syrian uprising two months ago are
expected to be released in a few days, one of their colleagues said Saturday.
Turgut Alp Boyraz, foreign editor at Milat, says the two telephoned
their families on Saturday and that an Islamic aid group based in
Turkey was involved in negotiations in Damascus for their release. The two journalists, writer Adem Özköse of Turkey’s Milat newspaper
and freelance cameraman Hamit Coşkun, had not been heard from
since they were reported missing in early March. “Hopefully, they will
come in a few days. This is the first time we have heard from them
[since March 10],” Boyraz said. Meanwhile, Coşkun’s brother Mustafa
Yahya Coşkun dismissed claims that the two journalists have already been released and will return to Turkey by plane on Saturday. Today’s Zaman / May 6, 2012
The lack of progress in the latest round of UN-sponsored talks on the
unification of the divided island of Cyprus has prompted the Turkish
Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC) to speed up its efforts to gain recognition by other countries through bilateral ties while increasing
its visibility at global and regional organizations.
The strongest indication yet of this
intense lobbying endeavor is the
increased traffic between the KKTC
and the 57-member Organization of
Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the largest
intergovernmental organization after the UN. Mehmet Hasgüler, a Turkish
Cypriot academic who teaches at Lefke
University, told Sunday’s Zaman last
week that increased economic
cooperation between the KKTC and the
rest of the world may act as a sufficient impetus for the Greek Cypriots to reach a compromise. Today’s Zaman /
May 6, 2012
PAGE 7
WHAT IS OIC?
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation is
an international organisation consisting
of 57 member states. The organisation
attempts to be the collective voice of
the Muslim world (Ummah) and attempts
to safeguard the interests and ensure the progress and well-being of Muslims.
The OIC has a permanent delegation to
the United Nations, and is the largest
international organisation outside of the United Nations. The official languages of
the OIC are Arabic, English, and French. It
changed its name on 28 June 2011 from
the Organisation of the Islamic
Conference to its current name.
Caliphate after World War I left a vacuum
for a pan-Islamic institution. Losing
the Arab-Israeli War provided the incentive
needed in 1967. Leaders of Muslim nations met in Rabat to establish the OIC on
September 25, 1969.
According to its charter, the OIC aims to
preserve Islamic social and economic values; promote solidarity amongst member
states; increase cooperation in social,
economic, cultural, scientific, and political
areas; uphold international peace and
security; and advance education, particularly in the fields of science and
technology.
The flag of the OIC (shown above) has an
overall green background (symbolic of Islam). In the centre, there is an upward-
facing red crescent enveloped in a white
disc. On the disc the words "Allahu
Akbar" (Arabic for "God is Great") are
written in Arabic calligraphy.
On August 5, 1990, 45 foreign ministers of
the OIC adopted the Cairo Declaration on
Human Rights in Islam to serve as a
guidance for the member states in the matters of human rights in as much as
they are compatible with the Sharia, or
Quranic Law.
On 24 February 2009, the International Zakat Organization in cooperation with the
Organisation of the Islamic Conferences
announced the selection of the BMB
Group to head up the management of the
Global Zakat and Charity Fund, with its CEO Rayo Withanage becoming the co-
chairman of the zakat fund. The fund is
expected to contain 2 billion ringgitsin
2010, about US$650 million.
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CORRESPONDENTS
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RYSBEK AKYLBEK UULU
YAĞMUR ERŞAN
YİĞİT AYDOĞ
ZEYNEP NUR GÖZÜTOK
Dear all,
This is our last issue for
News Report Volume 6. I’m
glad to work with my
energetic team who devoted
themselves to inform you
w e e k l y a b o u t t h e
international news from all
over the world. I hope that
you will follow us next year
with the same flame of
enthusiasm. Enjoy in Spring
Fest and good luck in your
finals!
SİBEL DÜZ
EDITORIAL