The Weekly Newspaper of Foreign Policy and International Relations Club

Volume 6, Issue 17

17 April 2012

North Korea primed for rocket launch

North Korea has completed all but final preparations for an

imminent rocket launch that has been condemned as a

covert missile test by its international critics. A five-day window for the launch opened on Thursday with no signs

that blast-off was imminent, but South Korea's Yonhap

news agency reported that the three-stage rocket was

standing by, awaiting only final checks and countdown.

North Korea said on Wednesday it had installed the satel-

lite payload and fuelled the 30-metre Unha-3 rocket. Py-ongyang says the rocket is carrying a weather satellite into

space and has timed the launch to coincide with national

celebrations marking Sunday's centenary of the birth of its

founding leader Kim Il-Sung. But a government source in

Japan told the Kyodo news agency that a launch was not expected on Thursday because of weather conditions.

Continues on page 6

NATO said on Thursday that it was concerned about an incident on the Turkish-Syrian border this

week that caused casualties on the Turkish side of the frontier, after Turkish Prime Minister Re-

cep Tayyip Erdoğan said Turkey could seek NATO's help if similar incidents occur.

Two Turkish nationals and two Syrians were injured in

a refugee camp in Kilis province when Syrian forces

fired across the border during clashes with opposition

fighters that reportedly had attempted to seize control

of the border gate and then fled to Turkey. Erdoğan

called the incident a border violation and said Turkey

would pursue measures under international law in re-

sponse, raising prospects of military retaliation.

Continues on page 10

NATO says monitoring tension in Turkey-Syria

border

THIS

WEEK

EUROPE

PAGE 2

AMERICAS

PAGE 3

OPINION

PAGE 4-5

ASIA

PAGE 6

MIDDLE EAST&AFRICA

PAGE 7

ARTICLE OF THE WEEK

PAGE 8-9

TURKEY

PAGE 10

SOCIAL

PAGE 11

EDITORIAL

PAGE 12

Five-day window opens for controversial launch, but adverse weather conditions diminish pros-

pects for early blast-off.

EUROPE

PAGE 2

Trial to start for Scandinavia 'Mumbai-Style' Terror Plot

Thousands of Italians from

the country’s main labor unions have gathered in

the centre of Rome in

protest against pension

reform. They are hoping

especially to highlight the plight of those who took

early retirement but now

find themselves without

income for a period of two

years after the retirement

a g e w a s r a i s e d . Euronews / April 4, 2012

Former Italian Prime

Minister and President of

the Foundat ion for European Progressive

Studies, Massimo D’Alema

claimed that they need a

European guarantee on the

debt. “This cannot be done

as long as Angela Merkel is around. She has been very

negative for Europe. Merkel

represents a very selfish

E u r o p e ’ ’ h e s a i d .

Euronews / April 12,

2012

Italy’s borrowing costs have

jumped in its latest auction of government bonds. The

amount of interest Rome

had to offer investors on

bonds maturing in three

years time hit 3.89 percent.

Euronews / April 12, 2012

Greek prime minister calls snap election Greece will hold parliamentary elections May 6, Prime Minister Lucas Papademos announced

Wednesday.

His televised announcement came after he met with President Karolos Pa-

poulias to ask him to dissolve the current parliament. Papademos said the

past five months had shown that Greece could make the difficult decisions needed to confront its debt crisis and ensure a better future. The new gov-

ernment, once elected, would have a difficult task ahead of it, he said, as he

called for everyone to work together. Dissolving parliament does not mean

dissolving the government, as a number of significant decisions must be

made by May 6, Papademos said. The snap election announcement comes

amid collapsing support for the two parties -- New Democracy and PASOK -- which have dominated Greek politics since the fall of the military junta in

1974. CNN / April 11, 2012

Four Swedish nationals will stand trial in Copenhagen Friday in what

officials describe as the most serious ever Islamist terrorist plot in

Scandinavia.

The alleged plot, which counter-terrorism officials in the United States and

Scandinavia believe was directed by al Qaeda operatives in Pakistan, tar-

geted Jyllands Posten, the Copenhagen-based newspaper responsible for

publishing controversial cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. The four per-

sons are alleged to have planned a gun attack on the newspaper, followed by "the execution" of hostages. The cell's alleged plans were thwarted by a

joint operation by Swedish and Danish security services, which tracked the

alleged terrorists as they drove from Sweden to Denmark in December

2010, with a submachine gun, a silencer, and several dozen 9mm subma-

chine gun cartridges. CNN / April 13, 2012

The Portuguese parliament has ratified a key pact on EU budget disci-

pline, the first country in the EU to do so.

The fiscal compact, signed by all

but two EU member states in

March, takes effect if 12 countries

adopt it. Debt-laden Portugal was

the third country in the 17-nation

eurozone, after Greece and the Republic of Ireland, to seek an

EU/IMF bailout.. Under the fiscal

pact, member states have to make

the principle of balanced budgets

legally binding and face sanctions if annual budget deficits breach

agreed limits. Portuguese Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho told parlia-

ment that the pact represented a "moment of confirmation of the European

consensus". He was backed by the opposition Socialists. BBC / April 13,

2012

Portugal first to approve EU fiscal pact

AMERICAS

PAGE 3

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum has ended his bid for the White House, leaving

Mitt Romney as the presumptive nominee.

The former Pennsylvania senator made the announcement at a news confer-

ence in the city of Gettysburg. "While this presidential race is over for me,

we are not done fighting," said Mr. Santorum, a social conservative. He had

been campaigning in Pennsylvania, his home state, ahead of its primary on

24 April. But he was far behind Mr. Romney in terms of funding and was in

danger of losing the state for the second time in six years, analysts said. In

2006 Mr. Santorum lost his Pennsylvania Senate seat by an 18-point mar-

gin. In the current race for the Republican nomination, Mr. Santorum lags

far behind Mr. Romney in terms of the number of delegates needed to seal

the nomination at the Republican convention in Tampa, Florida, in late Au-

gust. BBC/ April 10, 2012

World Bank candidate Ocampo calls for shake-up

Peru: Nine miners rescued after six days underground

The U.S. government sued

Apple Inc. and five

publishers, saying they conspired to fix the prices

of electronic books, and

reached a settlement with

three of the publishers

that could lead to cheaper

e-books for consumers. Reuters / April 11, 2012

When President Obama

arrives in Colombia for a hemispheric summit this

weekend, he will hear

Latin American leaders say

that the U.S.-orchestrated

war on drugs, which

criminalizes drug use and employs military tactics to

fight gangs, is failing and

that broad changes need to

be considered. The

Washington Post / April 10, 2012

Thousands of supporters

of President Hugo Chavez ce lebrate the 10th

anniversary of his return

to power, following a failed

coup in 2002. Reuters /

April 15, 2012

Rick Santorum suspends US presidential campaign

Nine Peruvian miners emerged into the daylight Wednesday morning

after six days trapped in a collapsed mine.

State television showed the miners leaving the mine, each supported by two

rescuers. They wore sunglasses to protect their eyes from the light, after

spending so much time in darkness. Peruvian President Ollanta Humala greeted the miners at the mouth of the mine. The group unfurled the red

and white Peruvian flag and waved at television cameras. "We are happy

that this high-risk operation was successful, this should lead us to reflect

that we have to avoid these kind of risks because the results will not always

be like today," said Claudio Saenz, a fire department official with knowledge

of the rescue efforts. he said. The miners had been stuck since Thursday in the wildcat Cabeza de Negro mine in southern Peru. Humala's government

has made a push for illegal mines and miners in Peru to be formalized and

regulated so that risks decrease since mining is big business in Peru, which

is a major world producer of copper, silver, gold and other minerals. CNN /

April 11, 2012

World Bank presidential candidate Jose Antonio Ocampo has called for

a change in culture at the organisation and more co-operation with

other global lenders.

The Colombian also said the bank had lost ground to other development

banks and had not been forceful enough in pushing for fresh funding. He pointed the finger at outgoing president Robert Zoellick for the lack of capi-

tal. Mr. Ocampo is one of three candidates vying to replace Mr Zoellick. The

other two are Nigeria's Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and US citizen

Dr Jim Yong Kim. Mr. Ocampo said the World Bank needed to become more

inclusive. "The bank has to be a client-based organisation. The first thing

the staff has to learn is that working at the country level is actually an im-provement in its role for the bank, rather than working in Washington," said

the economist and former finance minister. BBC / April 11, 2012

PAGE 4

OPINIONS

EUROPE

AMERICAS YİĞİT AYDOĞ

The Road to the US election 2012: Romney accuses Obama of

hiding agenda

Mitt Romney broadened his election-year critique of President Barack

Obama, saying he misleads Americans about his true intentions in order to

win re-election.

The United States presidential election is to be held on November 2012 and incumbent President Barack

Obama is running for a second and final term during this election. Since 2008, Obama administration

has achieved some remarkable movements such as improving foreign relations, creating a new strategy

for dealing with the international nuclear threat, treating soldiers and veterans with respect and finally

health care reform. However, he may face though re-election bid as a democratic presidential candidate,

if we consider that US election campaign and the road to presidency are with obstacles. His rival, the for-

mer Massachusetts governor and republican candidate Mitt Romney maintained a behind-the-scenes

campaign through the first two years of Mr. Obama's term in the White House and formally declared his

candidacy for the 2012 nomination in June 2011. He has recently accused Obama of being ‘intent on

hiding’ his true positions, in a growing war of words between the two men who are increasingly likely to

face off in election. "With all the challenges the nation faces, this is not the time for President Obama's

hide-and-seek campaign," Mr. Romney told a gathering of newspaper editors and reporters in the ball-

room of a Washington, D.C Hotel. As a reply, Obama's re-election campaign has re-released years of his

old tax returns in an attempt to pressure the presumptive Republican nominee, Mitt Romney, to do the

same. It seems that final rounds of campaign will affect the results in November 2012.

ÖZGE BOZTAŞ

Funeral of Hungarian Democracy

The place of Hungary in the European Union is at stake. On the one hand,

its reforms on the laws and the authoritarian practices of Mr. Orban’s gov-

ernment are being severely criticized; on the other hand, it is facing eco-

nomic problems.

Fidesz Party has won the general election by getting the majority of the votes seven months ago. The an-

ger against it, however, began when the government passed a new constitution in early January. Since

then, the new Orban government has faced mass protests over its controversial reforms. Recently, the

government has been warned by the European Commission which says they will apply a court action if

the government does not make any changes about its controversial laws within a month. Moreover, last

year during her visit, Hillary Clinton had also warned it and called for “a real commitment to independ-

ence of judiciary, a free press and government transparency”. On the other hand, it is possible for some-

one to compare Hungary with Turkey and our conservative government’s policies. The speech of the

leader of the nationalist party, Jobbik which is that Hungary should turn its face to Turkey and Russia,

could be a supporting point for that. Furthermore, political situation is not only thing worsening in Hun-

gary, but also the budget deficit is increasing the anger of both Hungarians and the European Union. In

brief, a hard decision period for Hungarian government and its people is started, with the advance of po-

litical and economic shortcomings.

PAGE 5

OPINIONS

ASIA

TURKEY

ESRA SERGİ

Will Turkey’s search for international aid for Syrians bring solu-

tion to the refugee problem?

As the relations are at stake with Syria nowadays, Turkey is searching for

aid from international community.

Having sheltered people fleeing from Syria for a while, the concerns in Turkey has

increased due to the flow of refugees at the borders. The Minister of Foreign Af-

fairs (Turkey), Ahmet Davutoglu, has stated that delivery of international aid is

essential while the humanitarian situation is getting worse. Indeed, the search for

international aid has already begun as a large number of refugees have been fleeing from Syria. Accord-

ing to the statistics, 25,000 of refugees are staying in Turkey and 100,000 of them have fled from Syria to

Jordan so far. That increase in refugee flow to both countries apparently has made Jordanian Foreign

Minister Nasser Judeh and his Turkish counterpart Davutoglu to hold a meeting related to the current

crisis in Syria and humanitarian problem. Turkey’s incapability of solving the refugee increase at the bor-

der has made her search for alternative solutions like international aid from developed countries to which

Turkey have already asked. Even though United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have

dispatched tents and blankets to the Syrian border of Turkey, in the near future it seems that there won’t

be enough resources to go around. Like Turkey, by having difficulty in sustaining supplies for refugees,

Jordan demanded international aid given to those people. Both countries lack of sustaining supplies for

refugees wait for international community to give a hand.

YAĞMUR ERŞAN

Sony ‘plans to cut 10,000 jobs worldwide’

Last week the Japanese newspaper, The Nikkei, reported on that Sony, the big

Japanese electronics company will lay off 10,000 workers which is the 6 per-

cent of its workforce all around the world.

Not just Sony, some other companies like NEC, which is one of the biggest elec-

tronic companies in Japan, also announced that they will lay off 10 percent of their

workers and 7 percent will be in Japan. The most striking thing is that, although

the export of electronic devices consists a considerable amount of Japanese annual

revenue, these big electronic companies lay off their workers in such a significant amount because of ret-

rogressive economy of Japan. The first reason of these economic conditions is that the slowdown in global

economy and the European Dept Crisis in 2008 which affected not just Europe or the United States, but

all over the economies in the world and Japanese economy as well. As a result of this crisis, the trust to

Japanese economy was reduced and the demand to Japanese products also decreased which led Japan

to lose big share in the European market. Other reasons are the earthquake and the tsunami which hit

Japanese coasts last year. Although one year passed over the earthquake and the tsunami, Japanese

economy couldn’t revert itself because of the big destruction. The third one is the reconstruction of coun-

try after tsunami increased the demand to Japanese yen and it gained huge value against dollar, so the

price of Japanese products were increased and the demand was decreased which led to a narrow in

Japanese economy. The last reason was explosions at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan. It

necessitates that 13 million people in its metropolitan district had to be evacuated because of a radiation

cloud heading its way. Also, Japan's nuclear industry supplied a third of the country's electricity. In to-

tal, 11 of Japan's 50 nuclear reactors shut down following the disaster. The capacity to produce electric-

ity has been reduced by as much as 40% for now, so it is a significant energy loss for a country that is

growing robustly.

PAGE 6

ASIA

ASIA

Pakistan calls for end to U.S. drone attacks

South Korea's ruling party

The conservative New

Frontier Party has won the parliamentary election seen

as a key test of sentiment

before the presidential vote

in December. Al-Jazeera /

April 12, 2012

China took a milestone step

in turning the yuan into a

g loba l currency on

Saturday by doubling the size of its trading band

against the dollar, pushing

through a crucial reform

that further liberalizes its

nascent financial markets. Reuters / April 14, 2012

Afghanistan's president

Hamid Karzai has said he

is considering holding presidential elections a year

early, in 2013, and does

not want to put too much

pressure on the country

when NATO combat forces are due to leave in 2014.

Al-Jazeera / April 12,

2012

Pakistan’s Parliament unanimously demanded Thursday that the

United States end its long campaign of drone strikes inside Pakistani

territory, a vital component of the Obama administration’s strategy against al-Qaeda and other militant groups.

North Korea primed for rocket launch

The launch has been condemned by the US and its allies, who say it

contravenes UN restrictions on North Korea's nuclear weapons programme.

Yoshihiko Noda, the Japanese prime minister, said his country was on full alert, while urging North Korea to show "self-restraint until the last

minute". "But we want to be fully prepared for any possible contingency,"

Noda said, after ordering the deployment of anti-missile batteries on land

and at sea to shoot down the rocket if it threatens Japanese territory.The

Unha-3 rocket is expected to fly past western Japan, raising concerns that

a failed launch, or a falling stage of the rocket, could endanger Japanese lives or property. South Korea has already threatened to deliver a "firm re-

sponse" to "provocation" if the North goes ahead with the launch.

Al-Jazeera / April 12, 2012

Five-day window opens for controversial launch, but adverse weather conditions diminish pros-

pects for early blast-off.

But lawmakers, acting after weeks of fractious debate, tacitly allowed the

passage of oil, food and other nonlethal goods across the country’s borders

to supply NATO troops fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan. Pakistan has barred NATO convoys for several months in retaliation for U.S. air-

strikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers at two border outposts. Reflecting

public anger over the war in Afghanistan, drone attacks and other elements

of U.S. policy, some 440 lawmakers supported the recommendations of a

national security committee that set out to reconfigure what it called Paki-

stan’s “terms of engagement” with the United States. The two countries en-tered into acounterterrorism partnership shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001,

attacks. The Washington Post / April 13, 2012

“We would be open to any contacts

with all groups of the opposition,”

Gatilov said. “We maintain contacts with the external opposition in capitals

where they seat, where they reside, but

not in Moscow yet. So we are open and

we would be happy to invite them to

Moscow, to start political contacts with

them.” Talks with Syrian opposition’s National Coordination Committee are

due in Moscow on April 17-18, the

Russian Foreign Ministry earlier said. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei

Lavrov said that Moscow expects discussions with various opposition

groups. RIA Novosti / April 11, 2012

Russia Ready for Talks with All Syrian Opposition Groups

Russia is ready for talks with all Syrian opposition groups, both

‘internal’ and ‘external,’ Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Ga-

tilov said in an interview with the Russia Today TV channel.

MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA

PAGE 7

Iran has enough funds to cope with a total embargo on its oil sales for two to three years, Mahmoud

Ahmadinejad, the country's president, has said. In comments quoted by the Iranian media on Tuesday, Ahmadinejad said his country would be able to withstand a complete em-

bargo. "We must say to them that we have that much saved that even if we

didn't sell oil for two to three years, the country would manage easily."

Ahmadinejad's remarks came days before the resumption of talks with world

powers on Tehran's nuclear programme. The European Union is set to im-pose a total embargo on Iranian crude oil from July following similar meas-

ures imposed by the United States to try to force Iran to abandon uranium

enrichment. Washington and its allies hope the sanctions on Iran's energy

and financial sectors will force it to abandon uranium enrichment. Al-

Jazeera / April 10, 2012

“The new Libyan authorities have sent signals that they would be inter-

ested in maintaining economic ties,” Putin said. His statement came in re-sponse to a question from one of the lawmakers about steps to be made to

recover Russia’s economic losses in the Middle East as a result of the Arab

Spring. Russia abstained from a UN Security Council vote on a resolution

authorizing a no-fly zone over Libya in March 2011, giving the green light to

a NATO military operation that eventually led to the overthrow of Libyan Muammar Gaddafi. Russian officials have esti-

mated the country’s economic losses caused by

regime change in Libya at $4 billion. Russia’s

efforts to persuade the new Libyan authorities to

honour its arms supplies, railroad construction,

oil and gas mining contracts signed under Gad-dafi have been hampered by what some observ-

ers describe as Moscow’s initial reluctance to

back the Libyan uprising, as well as by Russia’s

strong criticism of the NATO military operation

in Libya. RIA Novosti / April 11, 2012

Libya ‘Signals’ Readiness to Cooperate with Russia

Egypt bans former Mubarak officials from the presidency

The new law could thwart former Vice President Omar Suleiman’s bid to

lead the country. First round elections take place over two days from May 23.Egypt’s ruling military still needs to approve the plan before they an-

nounce a list of final candidates later this month. The law does not include

former ministers, which means Amr Moussa, who spent a decade as Muba-

rak’s foreign minister could still run. The influential Muslim Brotherhood

backtracked last week after promising not to field a presidential candidate. Millionaire businessman Khairat al-Shater will represent one the Islamic

world’s most dominant groups in the vote. Euronews / April 13, 2012

The first president of

independent Algeria, Ahmed Ben Bella, has died

at his home in Algiers

following an illness. Mr

Ben Bella led Algeria to

independence from France before becoming president

in 1963. BBC / April 11,

2012

The authorities in Saudi

Arabia have denied that a prominent human rights

campaigner, who has been

detained for a year, is on

hunger strike. However,

the Saudi Association for

Civil and Political Rights (ACPRA) said Mohammed

al-Bajadi had refused food

for a month and that his

health was deteriorating.

BBC / April 11, 2012

At least eight soldiers and

three militants have been

killed in an attack by

militants on an army

checkpoint in central Yemen, officials say.

Gunmen opened fire with

automatic weapons on the

checkpoint in Maarib

province just after dawn. BBC / April 10, 2012

Ahmadinejad says Iran can withstand embargo

Defiant president says country has enough oil saved up to manage "easily" for two to three years

without any oil sales.

The Egyptian parliament has banned officials who worked under Hosni

Mubarak from running for the presidency.

The new Libyan authorities have signalled their readiness to continue

economic cooperation with Russia.

PAGE 8

ARTICLE OF THE WEEK IDLIR LIKA

A third-year student in International Relations.

Syria: Quo Vadis Turkey?

Tuesday, 10th of April 2012. This was the deadline given by Kofi Annan, special envoy

of UN- Arab League to Syria, for Syrian troops to withdraw from the cities where major

clashes happened with opposition army and also to be able to implement a ceasefire be-

tween the 2 parties. It was to be seen if the six-point peace plan of Annan would pro-

duce any result. Syrian regime accepted in table the conditions put forward by Annan,

but if it it were going to respect it in the field too remained a question mark in the

minds of everyone. Indeed, the question mark was transformed into anxiety as everyone

saw how the mass killings and repression continued in the Syrian cities even after the

deadline was over. The Syrian regime, with Bashar al- Assad at the top of the power hi-

erarchy, hadn’t kept its promise, confining itself to mediocre justifications that it must

be the opposition forces that must stop fighting first. Anyway, these are only words.

What is a matter of importance is that innocent people continue to be slaughter every

day in Syria and the international community is completely deadlocked over how to re-

spond to the crisis, which continues to precipitate in unseen dimensions.

The way to respond to the crisis is also the fact that most preoccupies the minds of

Turkish political and foreign policy elite. One needs to remind that Turkey is one of the

few countries which have immediate staking interests on what is happening in Turkey.

That fact that Turkey shares a considerable 822 km border with Syria suffices to ex-

plain why Turkey is one of the most active countries trying to give a solution to the Syr-

ian conflict. Last week the number of Syrian refugees fleeing their cities as a result of

the fierce armed clashes there amounted to more than 24,000 refugees, according to

official figures. Turkey hosts in it the Syrian opposition forces by giving them support.

Furthermore, Turkey became the home country which welcomed ‘’The Friends of Syria’’

meeting in Istanbul on the 1st of April. The meeting produced nothing more than an al-

ready prevailing consensus between major European, Arab League countries and the

U.S. that it is time for Assad to go now and open the way for a smooth transition to de-

mocracy in his country. No progress on finding a way to force Assad to leave and no

progress on changing the implacable opposition views of China and Russia, as two ac-

tors with increasing influence in global politics.

PAGE 9

ARTICLE OF THE WEEK

I argue that what Turkey has done so far regarding Syrian crisis is to be considered as

something positive, though not sufficient. Anyway, it is not possible, feasible and advis-

able for Turkey to do something more than this. The current international and regional

balances pose a serious restraint on Turkish capabilities and I think Turkish authori-

ties are well-aware of this. Based on this context, I further argue that Turkey should

neither intervene unilaterally in Syria nor be a part of a broader coalition intervening in

Syria, like the one in Libya. Turkey possibly should also avoid the establishment of

‘buffer zones ‘ on Syrian territory providing a kind of sanctuary for its citizens.

There are two main reasons why I have this kind of opinion. Firstly, the ground for top-

pling the Assad regime isn’t ready and the process of it being formed is in the initial

phases. The main reason for this is the lack of unity between the Syrian opposition and

the great support that the military gives to the regime. Until these 2 facts would not

change, for a long time the political context in Syria will not be conducive to a political

transition. At the same time, these 2 facts relate directly with the possibilities for suc-

cess that an intervention in Syria, be it unilateral or a coalition, would have. Adding

here the sectarian divisions in the Syrian society, the possibility for success becomes

really bleak. So, just try to imagine what a bluff would be to Turkey’s image in the eyes

of Syrian people, if the intervention brutally fails. The situation could be something

similar to what is happening in Iraq where sectarian clashes are so evident. So, if the

situation becomes worse than is actually, after a possible intervention, a great part of

the fault would certainly go to Turkey as it is the greatest regional power in the region. I

don’t think Turkey would like that happen.

Second reason, which is directly linked with the first, is that a failed intervention would

give a blow also to the hard-won prestige that Turkey has recently won in the Middle

East and as another consequence would exacerbate its interior Kurdish problem.

Turks forget, but Arabs do not! So, after the bitter experiences of the past with the Ar-

abs, Turkey would be better leave its moral commitments and continue its traditional

policies towards the Arab countries and the Middle East in general: neutrality.

TURKEY

PAGE 10

NATO said on Thursday that it was concerned about an incident on the Turkish-Syrian border this

week that caused casualties on the Turkish side of the frontier, after Turkish Prime Minister Re-

cep Tayyip Erdoğan said Turkey could seek NATO's help if similar incidents occur.

On Wednesday, he further said that “NATO has responsibilities to protect the Turkish border according to Article 5.” The premier was referring to the fifth article of the alliance's treaty stating that an attack

against one NATO member shall be considered an attack against all members. Carmen Romero, a NATO

spokeswoman, expressed concern over the incident and said Thursday that

the military alliance is “monitoring the situation very closely and will con-

tinue to do so.” Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said Turkey, a NATO member, could seek help from the military alliance if there are future viola-

tions. Turkey's powerful army is capable of dealing with a threat from

Syria, but Turkey could benefit from the alliance's advanced missile de-

fense systems. However, Turkey is unlikely to take any unilateral military

action unless there is a direct and strong provocation from Syria. Today’s

Zaman / April 12, 2012

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu met with EU foreign policy chief

Catherine Ashton on Friday for a working breakfast in Istanbul.

Ashton is also the representative of the P5+1, which is composed of the five

permanent members of the UN Security Council -- the US, Russia, China,

Britain and France -- plus Germany, in dealing with Iran. The breakfast took place behind closed doors at Istanbul's Hilton Hotel and lasted

around one-and-a-half hours. The first round of nuclear talks between the

two sides in January 2011 also took place in Istanbul, but no break-

through was achieved. This is the first time in 14 months that nuclear

talks will be held. Today’s Zaman / April 13, 2012

Turkish Prime Minister

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan arrived in Riyadh, Saudi

Arabia, early on Friday for

discussions on a number of

pressing issues, including

the recent developments in Syria and Iran's nuclear

program.

Today’s Zaman / April 13, 2012

Despite harsh criticism from

some figures of the Armenian Diaspora, some

reconciliatory Armenians

and Turks came together for

an event in Washington on

Thursday to discuss ways

for Turkish-Armenian dialogue.

Today’s Zaman / April 13, 2012

A senior Justice and

Development Party (AKP) lawmaker has said that

judicial investigations into

Turkey’s military coups will

not suffice to heal the

wounds the coups caused,

and proposed an “apology law” to compensate for the

suffering of those victimized

by coups since 1960.

Hurriyet Daily News /

April 14, 2012

NATO says monitoring tension in Turkey-Syria border

FM meets EU foreign policy chief in

Istanbul on eve of nuke talks

The European Commission (EC) has once again called coup

investigations “an opportunity” for Turkish democracy while

underlining the need to respect the rights of defendants.

Peter Stano, the spokesperson for Commissioner for Enlargement and

European Neighbourhood Stefan Füle, also pointed out concerns about the

rights of defendants. Stressing that detention on remand should be used

only when necessary, Stano said: “The duration of trials involving such

detention is kept to the minimum compatible with the quality of the judicial process and the respect for the rights of the defendant. Finally,

information on all these issues of general public interest needs to be

provided from either the prosecution offices or the courts.” The EC, in a

statement last week, also called the commencement of trials of

perpetrators of the Sept. 12, 1980 coup “an opportunity” for Turkish democracy. Today’s Zaman / April 13, 2012

EC says Feb. 28 probe an opportunity for Turkish democracy

16 April 2012:

Fasıl (Entertainment)

Checkpoint / 20.00

Foursquare Day 2012 (Party) IF Performance Hall / 19.00

Türk Telekom - Anadolu Efes (Basketball)

Ankara Sport Hall / 19.00

17 April 2012:

Kariyer Günleri (Seminar) METU KKM B-H Halls / 09.00-17.00

Rus Gecesi (Concert)

Operet Stage / 20.00

Ferhangi Şeyler (Theater)

METU KKM Kemal Kurdaş Hall / 20.00

18 April 2012:

Die Entfuhrung Aus Dem Serail (Opera)

Opea Stage / 20.00

Amman Arap Dörtlüsü (Concert) Resim Heykel Müzesi / 20.30

19 April 2012:

Berlin Virtözleri (Concert)

MEB Şura Hall / 20.30

CSO / Burak Tüzün Cumhurbaşkanlığı Senfoni Orkestrası / 20.00

Bir Yaz Gecesi Rüyası (Modern Dance)

Opera Stage / 20.00

20 April 2012:

Mantar Parti (Party)

IF Performance Hall / 20.00

Emrehan Halıc / Ankara Müzisyenleri

(Concert)

ODTÜ KKM Kemal Kurdaş Hall / 20.00

Azınlık – Levent Kırca ( Ankamall Sanatolia Hall / 21.00

21 April 2012:

Fettah Can (Concert)

Jolly Joker Anakara / 22.00 Freddie Mercury & Queen Tribute by CiNGi

(Party)

Crossroads Live Çayyolu / 21.00

22 April 2012:

Genç Osman (Theater) Büyük Tiyatro / 15.00

Queen Tribute Konseri (Prag) (Concert)

IF Performance Hall / 20.00

Hiç – Neyzen Tevfik (Concert)

Mavi Sahne / 20.00

ODDLY ENOUGH

PAGE 11

WHAT IS IBRD? IBRD is one of five institutions that compose

the World Bank Group. The IBRD is

an international organization whose original mis-sion was to finance the reconstruction of nations

devastated by World War II. Now, its mission has

expanded to fight poverty by means of financ-

ing states. Its operation is maintained through pay-

ments as regulated by member states.

The IBRD provides loans to governments, and pub-

lic enterprises, always with a government (or "sovereign") guarantee of repayment subject to gen-

eral conditions.[1] The funds for this lending come

primarily from the issuing of World Bank bonds on

the global capital markets—typically $12–15 billion

per year. These bonds are rated AAA (the highest

possible) because they are backed by member states' share capital, as well as by borrowers' sover-

eign guarantees. (In addition, loans that are repaid

are recycled, or relent.) Because of the IBRD's credit

rating, it is able to borrow at relatively low interest

rates. As most developing countries have considera-

bly lower credit ratings, the IBRD can lend to countries at interest rates that are usually quite

attractive to them, even after adding a small margin

(about 1%) to cover administrative overheads.

EDITORIAL

ANKARA

100.YIL (0312) 284 20 00

BATIKENT (0312) 354 54 44

KARDELEN (0312) 566 51 51

ÜMİTKÖY (0312) 235 78 88

Çalışma Saatleri: 11:00 - 23:00

Servis Süresi: 30 dakika

GENERAL DIRECTOR

SİBEL DÜZ

COORDINATORS

ALPER AKGÜN

HANDE KAYMA

MEHMET YETİM

TALYA YÜZÜCÜ

CORRESPONDENTS

BEGÜM ÇELİKTUTAN

BETÜL OFLAZ

FURKAN ÖZTÜRK

MANSUR ALİ GEDİK

MELTEM SÖĞÜTCEPINAR

NURGÜL ÜLKÜ

RYSBEK AKYLBEK UULU

YAĞMUR ERŞAN

YİĞİT AYDOĞ

ZEYNEP NUR GÖZÜTOK

Official website of the organization:

http://eurosima2012.org/home/