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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GENERAL DIRECTOR

SİBEL DÜZ

COORDINATORS

ALPER AKGÜN

HANDE KAYMA

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

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