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News Report is the weekly newspaper of the METU FPIRC.
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The Weekly Newspaper of Foreign Policy and International Relations Club
Volume 6, Issue 13
20 March 2012
Afghan Taliban suspend talks
The Afghan Taliban announced Thursday they have suspended a diplomatic office in Qatar
intended for talks with the United States.
The group cited what it described as the Americans' "alternating and ever-changing position" for the deci-
sion. The Taliban had opened the office on January 3 "for the purposes of reaching an understanding
with the international community and for addressing some specific issues with the American invaders
after arriving at an agreement with the government
of Qatar," the group said in a statement. Thursday's
announcement came shortly after U.S. officials said they had moved a U.S. soldier accused of killing 16
civilians out of Afghanistan and on the day that U.S.
Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta was meeting in
Kabul with President Hamid Karzai. Karzai called the
shootings in Kandahar province a cruel act against the people of Afghanistan, and told Panetta that Af-
ghans have lost trust in international forces, the
presidential palace said in a written release.
Continues on page 6
President faces harsh questioning that leads to calls for impeachment.
Iran's parliament grilled President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over a long list of accusations, including that
he mismanaged the nation's economy and defied the authority of the country's supreme leader. Ahmadi-
nejad is the first president in the country's history
to be hauled before the Iranian parliament, a seri-
ous blow to his standing in a conflict pitting him
against elected officials and the country's powerful
clerical establishment. Iran's constitution gives
parliament the legal right to question the president,
but the body had never before taken a step that
undermined Ahmadinejad's prestige and could set
the stage for his subsequent impeachment should
legislators determine his answers were unsatisfac-
tory. Continues on page 7
Iran parliament grills embattled Ahmadinejad
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
France election 2012: Nicholas Sarkozy threatens to pull France out of Schengen zone
EUROPE
IMF approves new Greek bailout, warns on missteps
Fitch Ratings revised down
its outlook on Britain's AAA
rating to negative on
Wednesday, warning the nation could lose its top-
notch status in the next
couple of years if the
government eases back on
its debt cutting stance. Reuters / March 14, 2012
Norway’s domestic intelligence
agency (PST) chief Roger Berg said there is the
possibility that another
person similar to Breivik
could succeed in carrying
out terror attacks. BBC / March 16, 2012
French far-right leader
Marine Le Pen was due to hold a press conference on
Tuesday to officially
announce her candidacy in
next month’s presidential
elections. Le Pen will
campaign for France exit the euro and is keen on
protectionist measures to
boost the economy.
Euronews / March 13,
2012
PAGE 2
The International Monetary Fund on Thursday approved a 28 billion
euro ($36.7 billion) bailout for Greece and warned Athens there was no
room for missteps in implementing the economic program.
The IMF said it would immediately disburse 1.65 billion euros to the Greek
government, part of a broader 130 billion euro international rescue
package to keep Greece funded through 2014 and avoid a messy debt default. IMF sources said there was a sense Europe was making progress
in addressing its debt troubles, although several directors stressed the
need for the euro zone to erect a strong financial firewall to keep the crisis
from spreading.IMF mission chief to Greece, Poul Thomsen said the IMF
would support Greece's rescue effort as long as Athens stuck to its prog-
ram.Greece's problem is above all a competitiveness problem and will require difficult structural reforms and this will undoubtedly be socially
and politically challenging." he added. Updated IMF estimates put Greece's
total financing needs through the end of 2014 at 165 billion euros, an
amount that is being fully covered by fellow European nations and the IMF.
Reuters / March 15, 2012
Addressing a huge rally in Budapest, the conservative premier said the na-
tion "will not live according to the commands of foreign powers". His com-
ments came a day after the EU suspended funding for Hungary over its high budget deficit. "We will not be second-class European citizens. Our
rightful demand is to have the same standards apply to us, which apply to
other (EU) countries’’ Mr. Urban said. The suspension of funds to Hungary
came as the EU allowed Spain to run a higher deficit, leading Austria to
accuse the EU of applying "double standards". But the EU's monetary af-
fairs commissioner Olli Rehn said that "different deadlines" meant direct comparisons of the Spanish and Hungarian cases were not valid, as Buda-
pest had already been given an extension. BBC / March 16, 2012
Hungarian PM Viktor Orban denounces EU's ‘colonialism’
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has accused the European Un-
ion, of treating the country as a colony.
Nicolas Sarkozy threatened to pull France out of Europe's passport-free
zone on Sunday unless the EU tightened its borders against illegal
immigration in a "make or break" campaign rally before 60,000 supporters outside Paris.
France would stay out of Schengen "until negotiations conclude," he said.
Since his official campaign launch three weeks ago, Mr Sarkozy has veered
Right in a bid to capture the far-Right National Front vote, last week saying there were "too many foreigners in France" and promising to half the influx
of migrants.He said France would not leave policing Europe's borders to
European "technocrats"."We must undertake a reform of Schengen as structural as the reform we have
just put in place for the euro," he said. His call followed a proposal last week for an action plan to stem
the tide of illegal migration into the EU. The Telegraph/March 12,2012
David and Samantha Cameron have been given a warm welcome at the
White House as the UK and the US celebrate their ‘special relationship.’
The White House was, after all, once set alight by British troops. “It’s now
been 200 years since the British came here to the White House under some-
what different circumstances. They made quite an impression. They really lit
up the place! But we’ve moved on. And today, like so many presidents and
prime ministers before us, we meet to reaffirm one of the greatest alliances
the world has ever known,” President Obama said. In addition, Britain is set
to lend a hand to the United States with the release of strategic oil reserves.
President Obama and Prime Minister Cameron have been discussing the
issue at meetings in Washington. Impending sanctions on Iran have pushed crude prices up by 15 per
cent since January. A coordinated strategic release of reserves could slow rising fuel costs that are
threatening the fragile US economic recovery. Euronews / March 14, 2012
A highly specialized U.S. military task force is
using battlefield technology to help federal po-lice hunt elusive drug traffickers slipping over
the Mexico border in hard-to-detect ultra-light
aircraft, officials said on Thursday.
Joint Task Force North, a cadre of highly specialized Marines, soldiers, sailors and airmen, is using the
military's cutting edge radar and optical technolo-
gies to help the U.S. Border Patrol nab the drug
flights in southern Arizona and New Mexico. U.S.
authorities have recorded hundreds of ultra-light incursions along the po-
rous, nearly 2,000 mile border with Mexico in recent years. Both the Obama administration and the government of Mexican President Felipe
Calderon have in recent years stepped up cooperation to curb the smuggling
of drugs and migrants north over the U.S. border and of cash and guns
south to Mexico, where about 50,000 people have been killed in drug vio-
lence in the past five years. Reuters / March 15, 2012
AMERICAS
Special U.S. military unit hunts Mexico border drug flights
Mexico, Brazil free trade talks under threat: minister
Planned free trade negotiations between Latin America's two biggest
economies are in jeopardy as a result of a dispute over auto exports, Mexico's economy minister said on Friday.
Mexico on Thursday ceded to Brazilian pressure to slash auto sales to the
southern giant for the next three years, responding to Brazil's worries about
its manufacturers, who are struggling with a stronger currency. "Certainly (the dispute) was very difficult, it was an issue that created a lot of uncer-
tainty," Economy Minister Bruno Ferrari told reporters. "After this, it would
seem irresponsible to talk about a (free trade agreement) until confidence
has returned to the market and also to manufacturers in both countries,
who are very worried because deals need to be honoured," he added. The
deal means Mexico must still reach the 35 percent target in a year but will have four more years to reach 40 percent. Reuters / March 15, 2012
Republican candidate Rick Santorum has won two
critical primary victories in
Alabama and Mississippi,
once again shaking up the
presidential nomination race.
Euronews / March 14,
2012
Brazilian prosecutors said
on Tuesday they would file
charges against a retired
colonel over the
disappearance of five guerrillas during the 1964-
1985 military dictatorship,
the first such case to be
brought against any
military officer from that
era. Reuters / March 14,
2012
A group of U.S. lawmakers
and film star George
Clooney were arrested at
Sudan's embassy in
Washington on Friday in a protest at which activists
accused Khartoum of
blocking humanitarian aid
from reaching a volatile
border region where
hundreds of thousands of people may be short of
food.
Reuters / March 16,
2012
PAGE 3
UK to help US in oil reserve release
PAGE 4
OPINION:ASIA
Umut Yılmaz
A third-year student in the Department of International Relations.
“The worst lie is the lie that is based on half the truth.” This is a Russian proverb. When did this
proverb come out, no one knows obviously; but it could be argued that it is very much in line with cur-
rent political conjuncture of Russian Federation. Elections are most of the time problematic in post-
Soviet countries; there is always a possibility that they cause demonstrations, civil disorder, even colorful
revolutions. Starting from December 5th 2011, one day after the State Duma elections were held which
resulted with a landslide victory for Putin’s United Russia Party, the public has raised its voice. The pro-
testors argued that the elections were fixed, that Putin cheated on the elections. The tectonic movements
of Russian soil continued on early March 2012, when another landslide took place in favor of Vladimir
Vladimirovich Putin after the Russian Presidential Elections were held.
As Russia approached to 2008 Presidential Elections, most people expected President Putin to
change to constitution to allow candidates to be elected for a consecutive 3rd term. This move would have
forced the hands of anti-Putin people both inside and outside Russia, showing that Putin sees himself
above the constitution and is no more than a power hungry dictator. But Putin did something else.
Rather than changing the constitution, he pointed his trusted First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitri Medve-
dev as the candidate for presidency, as Medvedev appointed Putin as the Prime Minister. Everyone knew
that, Putin would be coming back in 2012 elections and Putin never had a habit of disappointing
“everyone”.
Another famous proverb used in Western
countries is “If someone is to tell about their miser-
ies, they must speak Russian”. Starting from the
early 20th century, Russian people experienced
many miseries some of them being First World War,
civil war after the revolution, massacres in Ukraine
and Siberia, famine and Second World War. The end
of Cold War did not make everything better. Hu-
miliation they faced from the western world com-
bined with economic crisis in 1998 made Russians
even more pessimistic about their future. When
Putin became president in 2000, he overcame those
problems to some extent. It is important to under-
stand the security and stability Russia experienced
during the first two terms of Putin administration
for understanding the contemporary Russian domestic and foreign policies. The main characteristics of
this period were reconstruction of political system, achieving a federal security, enabling domestic secu-
rity, increase in welfare, foreign policy understanding based on “national interest” and most importantly,
returning Russian national pride. (Türker, 2008)
HAVE NO FEAR, VLAD IS HERE!
PAGE 5
OPINION:ASIA
Russia became the energy superpower of the world in the Putin era. Taking the advantage of be-
ing a permanent member of UN Security Council, Russia blocked the road of imperialistic powers many
times. Putin gained enormous popularity among the Russian citizens thanks to these policies. This is the
truth part.
Although the love of people towards Putin is obvious, one may ask, why people protested so much
after the elections. The answer may lay on the speech that Putin gave after the Presidential Election of
2012. “We won”, Putin said. “We won in an open and honest battle! Thank you friends, thank you!” . This
was the speech of a conqueror in a hostile capital. Moscow gave Mr. Putin less than half of its votes. More
than 20% went to Mikhail Prokhorov, a liberal business tycoon. There were no kind words in Mr. Putin's
victory speech for his opponents; no promise to be a president of all the people, including those who
voted against him; no offer of a compromise—only of an unrelenting fight. (The Economist Web Page,
2012) It is a political custom to thank the opponents, and to claim yourself as the president of all the
people. But Putin’s ambitions and excitement about being the one man again- was he not the one man
during Medvedev period, probably yes but not officially- prevent him from doing that.
Democracy, in theory, is a system where all the candidates have equal opportunities to present
themselves. Did other candidates have this opportunity? The answer is no. Putin used his formerly
placed bureaucrats, his formerly established national bourgeoisie and the mainstream media to launch
an extreme election campaign in his favor while his opponents did what they could in their limited power.
As a former KGB agent, Putin knows how to achieve his goals quite well, and stops at nothing before real-
izing them. This is where the lie part begins.
Electoral fraud allegations were present both in the Duma Elections and the Presidential Elec-
tions. On December 10th 2011, the protestors known as “For Fair Elections” came up with 5 main de-
mands: freedom for political prisoners, annulment of the election results, the resignation of the head of
the election commission and opening an investigation on the vote fraud, registration of opposition parties
and new democratic legislation on parties and elections, and new democratic and fair elections.
(Guardian Web Page, 2011) 4 of these demands were never realized; furthermore nearly 1000 protestors
were arrested that day after riot police demonstrated good examples of classical police brutality acts. A
formal investigation took place on the vote fraud but the officials claimed they did not find any evidence
of such. But since these officials are the officials of the new bureaucratic system of Russia established by
Putin himself, one may wonder how credible they are. Similar demands were raised by the protestors af-
ter the Presidential Elections, on March 5th, with similar results. Several hundred people were arrested
during the protests in Moscow and St. Petersburg, which is the hometown of Putin.
It has been over 20 years since the “undemocratic Soviet system” collapsed. But Russian people
are still ruled by a “General Secretary of Communist Party” or, if we go deeper into Russian history, a
“Tsar”. Ideological Cold War may be over for now, but economic and military Cold War still goes on and
likely to go on in the future as the unchallenged and consolidated authority of the “one man”, who has all
the bureaucratic, legislative and judiciary power, in Russia.
Bibliography
Guardian Web Page. (2011, December 10). Retrieved March 11, 2012, from The Guardian: http://
www.guardian.co.uk/global/2011/dec/10/russia-elections-putin-protest
The Economist Web Page. (2012, March 5). Retrieved March 11, 2012, from The Economist: http://
www.economist.com/blogs/easternapproaches/2012/03/russias-presidential-election
Türker, T. (2008). Rusya Başkanlık Seçimi: Putin Planı. Kronik .
PAGE 6
In this April 5, 2009 image, a rocket is lifted off from its launch pad in
Musudan-ri, North Korea. North Korea announced Friday it plans to launch a long-range rocket mounted with a satellite next month.
ASIA
Afghan Taliban suspend talks The Afghan Taliban announced Thursday they have suspended a
diplomatic office in Qatar intended for talks with the United States.
American troops should pull out of outposts in Afghan villages and return
to their main bases, Afghan President Hamid Karzai told U.S. Defense
Secretary Leon Panetta on Thursday, Karzai's office said. U.S. President
Barack Obama said Wednesday that a summit of NATO leaders in May in
Chicago will "determine the next phase of transition," including "shifting to
a support role next year ... in advance of Afghans' taking full responsibility
for security in 2014." On the other hand, the U.S. soldier accused of a
shooting rampage that left 16 people dead in southern Afghanistan has
been identified by the military as Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, a decorated combat veteran who once
exhorted against the killing of civilians. CNN / March 15, 2012
North Korea said Friday that it intends to blast a satellite into space using
a long-range rocket, an announcement that drew international condemna-
tion and seemed to run counter to Pyongyang's recent promise to halt weapons tests in exchange for food. The North's announcement comes just
16 days after an agreement with the U.S. in which the famine-stricken Py-
ongyang said it would halt parts of its nuclear program and suspend all
weapons tests in exchange for 240,000 metric tons of food aid. Even if the
North's rocket propels a satellite, rather than a missile, into orbit, the
launch could jeopardize the food deal. Both U.S. and South Korean gov-ernment officials have described the North Korean satellite program as a
cover for long-range missile tests, because they use similar technology and
are difficult for outsiders to distinguish. The key difference is a matter of
payload: satellites are designated for communication and observation; mis-
siles are for destruction. The Washington Post / March 16, 2012
Chinese premier sacks party leader from top city post
One of China's most prominent politicians, Bo Xilai, has been removed
as Communist Party boss in the city of Chongqing.
Ambitious Chinese Communist Party leadership
contender Bo Xilai has been sacked from his post
as head of the city of Chongqing in a dramatic move that exposes growing ideological divisions just as a
new generation readies to take power. His abrupt
downfall, announced on Thursday by the official
Xinhua news agency, threatens to kindle tension
between his supporters, who favor a more tradi-
tional, state-dominated version of socialism, and liberal critics, who saw him as a dangerous opportunist. Times247 /March 15, 2012
North Korea announces April rocket launch
More Russians than ever
support Iran in its standoff with the United States,
though most of the
populace is against the
country taking sides in
international disputes, according to a new poll by
state-run VTsIOM. RIA
Novosti / March 15, 2012
The United States, Europe
and Japanhave joined
forces to challenge China's restrictions on exports of
r a r e - e a r t h m e t a l s ,
escalating a trade row over
access to some of the most
important raw materials
u s e d i n a d v a n c e d technologies. Reuters /
March 14, 2012
The Pakistani government
is debating a new policy to
re-draw its military rules of
engagement with the US that could threaten to
further strain diplomatic
relations between the two
countries. Al-Jazeera /
March 17, 2012
President faces harsh questioning that leads to calls for impeachment.
Ahmadinejad hit back defiantly at his questioners on Wednesday, provok-
ing the anger of the chamber with jabs and sarcastic jokes. The disrespect
drew strong condemnation from the members of parliament. "If the parlia-
ment had supported Ahmadinejad before today, it's now lost," Mohammad
Taqi Rahbar, a parliamentarian, said. Rahbar like many other conservatives
supported Ahmadinejad prior to April 2011, when the president publicly
challenged Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has final say on
all matters of state, over the appointment of the intelligence chief. This,
combined with the president's perceived reluctance to heed expert economic
advice, has convinced many hardliners that Ahmadinejad wanted to expand the powers of the Iranian
presidency that was previously subordinate to clerical leaders. Al-Jazeera / March 14, 2012
Kofi Annan leads close contacts and diplo-
matic relations between senior Syrian authori-ties, Russia and other powers to end the fight-
ing, his spokesman Ahmad Fawzi said. Also,
"The door of dialogue is still open. We are still
engaged with Syrian authorities over Mr. An-
nan's proposals," Fawzi said in Geneva. "He's been in telephone contact with the Syrian for-
eign minister during the course of the day as
well as with international actors, member
states with influence." Furthermore, Kofi An-
nan, the joint U.N.-Arab League special envoy
for Syria, prepared a proposal to settle the disputes in Syria. Annan emphasized humanitarian access to civilians, the
importance of political dialogue between Assad regime and the Syrian oppo-
sition and halting to fight and he insisted on these steps should be urgently
applied to end the fighting in Syria. Reuters / March 15, 2012
MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA
“Door of Dialogue” still open
Egypt house votes to expel Israeli envoy
Egypt's lower house of parliament has called for the expulsion of the Israeli
ambassador from Cairo and halting of gas exports. The vote was taken by a show of hands on a report approved by the Arab affairs committee of the
People's Assembly calling for "the expulsion from Egypt of the Israeli
ambassador and the recall of Egypt's envoy from Tel Aviv", on Monday.
Lower house also called on the Egyptian government "to revise all its
relations and agreements with that enemy." The motion is seen as largely symbolic as only the ruling military council can make such decisions. There
was no immediate comment from Israel on the vote. Al-Jazeera / March
13, 2012
The International Court of
Justice began hearing an
extradition request for the former president of Chad
Hissen Habre who is
described as “African
Pinochet” and indicted for
crimes of humanity. Euronews / March 12,
2012
DR Congo’s Lubanga has
been found guilty of war crimes at the International
Criminal Court. He was
accused of recruiting and
using child soldiers during
the Democratic Republic of Congo's 1998-2003 war.
Al-Jazeera / March, 15
2012
22 people were arrested by t h e au t hor i t i e s i n
Azerbaijan on suspicion of
spying for Iran. Also, they
were accused of links to
the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. BBC / March 14,
2012
PAGE 7
Iran parliament grills embattled Ahmadinejad
Parliament's lower chamber approves text which calls on the
government "to revise all its relations... with that enemy".
As Syria’s uprising enters its second year, bloodsheds still continue and
negotiator Annan is seeking a peaceful way to end the violence.
PAGE 8
ARTICLE OF THE WEEK
Tarak Barkawi
Tarak Barkawi is Associate Professor in the Department of Politics, New School for Social
Research.
A US soldier's massacre of 16 Afghan civilians is causing US-Afghan relations to fray further.
New York, NY - To listen to US and European officials, all is well with the Western project in Af-
ghanistan. Absent awareness of the irony, President Obama and Prime Minister David Cameron have an-
nounced that this project is in its "final phases". "The trajectory we've set", said an advisor of President
Obama's who specialises in strategic communications, "is one of transition and Afghan sovereignty". As
the Afghans move into the lead, the US will be able to pull back. It is as if the symphony of war was set to
the rational beats of Western political calendars. For General John R Allen, the overall commander in Af-
ghanistan, "The campaign is sound. It is solid."
Faced with news of 16 Afghans murdered by a rogue US sergeant and an upcoming NATO summit
with politicians eager to pull out of an unpopular war, a European official blandly assured the media:
"The most important thing now is the messaging." Sound bites will not save the West's latest effort to
modernise Afghanistan.
We are dealing here with peoples whose historical trajectory has dealt out repeated defeats to the
world's greatest empires. You cannot make war successfully in such places as an afterthought to the cri-
ses of economy and democracy in the West.
The conflict in Afghanistan is at a decisive juncture, and the West is facing defeat on a scale not
seen since Vietnam. Few want to face facts, and the result is a gap between rhetoric and reality of a kind
that only wars gone badly wrong produce.
Lost in the rolling crisis that began with the Quran burning is an important upcoming date. At
the end of this month, the Karzai regime will see through its threat to force out the private security com-
panies who guard the contractors that carry out development projects across Afghanistan.
Humanitarian NGOs that operate without security will be unaffected. But the contractors who
carry out projects funded by Western governments face the prospect of operating under the protection of
a hastily raised "Afghan Public Protection Force". Would you put your business and your life in the hands
of such a force?
According to the New York Times, some companies are wrapping up their projects in Afghanistan
and leaving; others allow their employees to illegally keep personal weapons; and all are scrambling to
make new arrangements.
In the kind of corporate buffoonery that neoliberal privatisation creates, and which has damaged
the Western war effort in both Iraq and Afghanistan, one US company is considering suing the US gov-
ernment. The contractors had been assured that they would have a secure environment in which to oper-
ate.
Another company is stationing guards with its employees who work in Afghan ministries. So un-
welcome are Westerners assisting Afghans in developing their country that the advisors need bodyguards
inside government offices. A better indicator of just how illegitimate for Afghans the continued Western
presence is could hardly be imagined.
As one frightened US employee of an aid company commented, "We're easy pickings" for insur-
gents and angry Afghans. And there are a lot of angry Afghans. Abdul Samad is one of them. He lost 11
relatives to the rogue sergeant in Panjwai. Along with those who have demonstrated against the Quran
burnings, the Taliban, and the silent majority of Afghans, Mr. Samad has one demand: It is time for the
Americans to leave, all of them.
Denial and defeat in Afghanistan
PAGE 9
ARTICLE OF THE WEEK
There in lays the reality that Western officials
cannot face. The West is not welcome in Afghanistan
and is only present by force of arms. Westerners pre-
fer to believe that, a few bad apples aside, most
"ordinary Afghans" support Western led development.
The basic idea of the "solid" and "sound" cam-
paign is that Western combat forces will depart by
2014, leaving behind a large development assistance
programme and a small counter-terrorism and advi-
sory force, shielded by trained Afghan security forces.
Members of these forces have repeatedly
turned on their Western advisors, slaughtering them
unawares. Can there be any more sure sign of the
moral decay of the West? First it contracts out its
dirty work in forlorn campaigns of white man's burden
to its professional soldiers, then to its own hired guns, and onwards to Afghan recruits.
Shock is then expressed in all quarters of Western opinion when these Afghans turn on their in-
vaders. The fiction is that somehow the Karzai regime will be ready to "take the lead". But the regime is a
creation of the Western presence, and is mostly an opportunity for corruption for well-connected Af-
ghans. They are moving their money, much of it skimmed off Western development aid, out of the coun-
try at an increasing rate. The writing is on the wall and a comfortable exile funded by stolen Western tax
dollars beckons.
What is left unexplained in the official story is just how it is that a small Western counter-
terrorism force, civilian development contractors, and the pathetic faux-patriotic Karzai can long survive
in a country that over 130,000 first line Western troops with their full panoply could not secure.
To be sure, as long as large numbers of Western troops are present, the insurgents cannot win.
But neither can those troops decisively defeat the insurgency, nor can they win the allegiance of the Af-
ghan population in the middle of a shooting war.
Inevitably, the troops will leave one way or another and the Karzai regime and the Western devel-
opment enterprise will be swept away by angry Afghans of many different stripes.
The West's only realistic option is to regroup in a statelet based on the old Northern Alliance, from
which it can launch counter-terror operations and continue to deny Afghanistan as a base for terrorism.
A problem here is that the Europeans, with their exhausted liberal publics, could never go along with
such an exercise in realpolitik.
President Obama, too, probably lacks the ruthlessness, while his political advisors will tell him to
cut and run from an unpopular war in an election year. After all, exiting and forgetting has worked so far
in Iraq.
Western opinion and financial crisis have decreed that the troops must come out of Afghanistan
by the end of 2014. Yet the Western project there is doomed without those troops, and even their contin-
ued presence guarantees only a longer run for the tragic and bloody status quo.
These contradictions will come to a head before the next two years are out. Withdrawal of Western
troops is likely to be followed by a collapse of the Karzai regime and civil war. While some committed hu-
manitarian NGOs will always remain in the country no matter the circumstances, such chaos and disor-
der will see off the bulk of the Western development presence.
The upshot will be that the West has little to show for over ten years in Afghanistan but the
corpses of Osama bin Laden and his fighters. Al-Jazeera / March 15, 2012
PAGE 6
TURKEY
Turkey: 2 missing Turkish journalists held by pro-government forces in Syria
Turkish Minister of Justice
Sadullah Ergin says they are preparing a series of reform
packages on freedom of
expression, press freedom
and human rights to
decrease cases involving Turkey at ECHR.
Hurriyet Daily News /
March 17, 2012
Journalists Ahmet Şık and
Nedim Şener are free after
375 days in prison after
an Istanbul court ordered their release in the ongoing
OdaTV case late yesterday.
Hurriyet Daily News /
March 13, 2012
The 1993 Sivas Massacre
Case was dropped on 13 March by the Ankara High
Criminal Court due to a
statute of limitations.
DHA / March 12, 2012
PAGE 10
Helicopter crash kills 12 Turkish soldiers, 4 Afghans
A NATO helicopter crashed into a house on the outskirts of the Af-
ghan capital, Kabul, on Friday, killing 12 Turkish soldiers on board
and 4 Afghan civilians on the ground, Turkish military and Afghan authorities announced.
The helicopter, a Sikorksy, crashed during training. Nine of the military members were officers, two of them were non-commissioned officers, while
one of them was a special sergeant, news agencies reported. The officer
said the cause of the crash appeared to be a technical fault. NATO's Inter-
national Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said earlier that the cause of the crash was still unknown but
that there had been no reports of insurgent action in the area. Friday’s helicopter crash increased the
number of Turkish troops killed in Afghanistan to 15. Turkey, the Muslim nation with the highest num-ber of troops and civilian workers in ISAF, has some 1,650 troops in the country. In 2009, Turkey took
over leadership from France of the Kabul Regional Command for a year, which was later extended for one
year periods. Turkey will be the leader of the Kabul Regional Command until Nov. 1, 2012, and Turkey’s
mission in Afghanistan is expected to end in 2014. Today’s Zaman / March 16, 2012
Buffer zone for Syria not on agenda of Turkey
Turkey suspends its consular services in Damascus and ‘strongly’ rec-
ommends nationals to leave Syria due to the security risks, while
hundreds of refugees cross hills into Turkey, to be taken into camps there.
Turkey does not plan to establish a buffer zone for refugees on the Syrian
side of its border with the Arab republic unless there is a United Nations initiative to do so, senior officials told the Hurriyet Daily News March 16.
The news came after Deputy Prime Minister Beşir Atalay announced
that Turkey was preparing to establish a buffer zone in order to host refu-
gees fleeing clashes in Syria. The head of the Turkish Red Crescent also
said Ankara was laying plans to host upward of 500,000 possible refugees.
Turkey also called on its citizens to leave Syria amid hints by Prime Minis-ter Recep Tayyip Erdoğan that Ankara was considering cutting ties with
Damascus. “We are considering all options, including the withdrawal of
our ambassador,” Erdoğan said. Turkey announced March 16 the end of
consular services in Damascus. Hurriyet Daily News / March 17, 2012
Turkey’s deputy prime minister says two missing Turkish journalists
are being held by Syrian forces and that his government is trying to
get them released.
The journalists — a writer for Milat newspaper and a freelance cameraman
— last called the paper on Saturday from the northern city of Idlib, a bas-tion of rebel support which the Syrian army took control of three days
later. Ali Adakoglu, managing editor of Milat, says the paper will work to
bring writer Adem Ozkose and cameraman Hamit Coskun back home. Tur-
key’s state-run Anadolu Agency, citing unidentified local sources, says the
journalists were handed over to Syrian intelligence agents near the north-
ern town of Binnis. The Washington Post / March 15, 2012
19 March 2012 :
“Sunay AKIN” (Show)
Cüneyt Gökçer Stage / 20.00
“Set” (Party)
Passage Pub / 20.00
20 March 2012 :
“Gelecekte Kariyer” (Seminar)
A-D Halls METU KKM / 11.15-18.45
“Kirli Beyaz” (Party)
IF Performance Hall / 21.30
“Kartpostal, Panorama, Cep Telefonları”
(Photography Exhibition and Course)
AFSAD / 19.00
21 March 2012 :
“Gelecekte Kariyer” (Seminar)
All Halls METU KKM / 11.15-17.15
“Edepsiz Komedi” (Theater)
IF Performance Hall / 21.00
“R&B Nights” (Party)
Club Escape / 20.00
22 March 2012 :
“Yasemin MORİ” (Concer)
IF Performance Hall / 23.30
“Karaoke Night” (Party)
Passage Pub / 20.00
“Zorba” (Ballet)
Opera Stage / 20.00
23 March 2012 :
“YAŞAR“ (Concer)
Meşrep Çayyolu / 21.30
“SILA” (Concer)
Anadolu Gösteri ve Kongre Merkezi / 21.00
“Gökhan TÜRKMEN” (Concer)
Jolly Joker / 22.00
24 March 2012 :
“HALİL SEZAİ” (Concer)
Jolly Joker / 22.30
“Hayal Kahvesi” (Theater)
Ku-Ka Stage / 20.00
25 March 2012 :
“Şan Piano Recital” (Concer)
Operet Stage / 20.00
“Kerbela” (Theater)
Cüneyt Gökçer Stage / 15.00
ODDLY ENOUGH
PAGE 11
WHAT IS ISAF?
The International Security Assistance
Force (ISAF) is a NATO-led security mission in Af-
ghanistan established by the United Nations Secu-rity Council on 20 December 2001 by Resolution
1386 as envisaged by the Bonn Agreement.
ISAF was initially charged with secur-ing Kabul and surrounding areas from the Taliban,
al Qaeda and factional warlords, so as to allow for
the establishment of the Afghan Transitional Ad-
ministration headed by Hamid Karzai. In October
2003, the UN Security Council authorized the ex-pansion of the ISAF mission throughout Afghani-
stan, and ISAF subsequently expanded the mission
in four main stages over the whole of the coun-
try. Since 2006, ISAF has been involved in more
intensive combat operations in southern Afghani-
stan, a tendency which continued in 2007 and 2008.
Troop contributors include the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New
Zealand, Germany, France, Hungary, Italy, Spain,
Turkey, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Croatia, Geor-
gia, Denmark, Belgium, Czech Republic, Norway,
Bulgaria, South Korea, Slovakia, Albania, Azerbai-jan, Slovenia and Singapore.
EDITORIAL
ANKARA - 100.YIL
36.CAD. NO:23 / B 100.YIL
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GENERAL DIRECTOR
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COORDINATORS
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HANDE KAYMA
MEHMET YETİM
ÖZLEM MELİS MUTLU
TALYA YÜZÜCÜ
CORRESPONDENTS
BEGÜM ÇELİKTUTAN
MANSUR ALİ GEDİK
MELTEM SÖĞÜTCEPINAR
RYSBEK AKYLBEK UULU
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Official website of the organization:
http://eurosima2012.org/home/