The Weekly Newspaper of Foreign Policy and International Relations Club

Volume 6, Issue 14

27 March 2012

France on high security alert after 4 killed in shooting at Jewish school

French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Monday night put the country's southwest region on the

highest possible security alert level, hours after a teacher and three children were gunned down at

a Jewish school in Toulouse.

The incident at the Ozar Hatorah school marked

the third time in the past 10 days that a gunman

on a motorcycle has fired on minorities in the re-

gion. The gunman drove away on a scooter, a na-

tional police officer said. Patrick Rouimi, the father of a child at the school, told AFP news agency that

a man opened fire on a group of people standing at

a spot where children were picked up for school.

The attacks, two targeting soldiers from ethnic mi-

norities, and the third focused on a Jewish school, have stunned the country, and left local residents

dreading the gunman's next move. Continues on page 2

At least four police officers, one lawmaker and several protesters are injured during unofficial

Nevruz celebrations in several of Turkey’s eastern and southestern provinces. While officials re-

lease messages of peace and solidarity, today’s officially scheduled celebrations are cancelled in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır.

Tensions continued to mount across east-

ern Turkey yesterday, as independent Mardin deputy Ah-met Türk was rushed to hospital due to an injury sus-

tained during a clash between police and demonstrators

celebrating the Nevruz Festival, despite official bans. Four

police officers were also heavily injured during the dem-

onstrations in Hakkari’s Yüksekova district. Law enforce-

ment officials also seized nearly two kilograms of remote controlled A4 plastic explosives reinforced with metal

nails for cluster effect and a timing device near the area

designated for Nevruz Festivities in Van. Continues on

page 6

Scores injured as Nevruz protests lead to clashes

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

Former Irish PM took secret payments, probe finds

A former Lutheran pastor

and human rights activist Joachim Gauck has

become Germany's new

president after legislators

voted overwhelmingly for

him.

Al-Jazeera / March 18,

2012

As Greek wallets take a hit

from deep spending cuts,

the country’s farmers are fighting back in what has

been branded the ‘potato

revolution’. The idea is

simple: selling their

produce straight to the consumers. No middlemen,

no distributors and so

lower-than-supermarket

prices for a squeezed

nation.

Euronews / March 19,

2012

Queen Elizabeth II pledged

to rededicate herself to the

service of her people

Tuesday, as she addressed both houses of Parliament

as part of celebrations of

her Diamond Jubilee, or 60

years on the throne.

CNN / March 20, 2012

PAGE 2

Former Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern received at least $276,000 in

secret payments and repeatedly lied about this under oath, a mam-

moth fact-finding judicial investigation ruled Thursday in a long-awaited verdict.

The three judges led by Justice Alan Mahon stopped short of finding Ahern guilty of corruption, because they couldn’t prove that Ahern gave favors to

any of his cash donors when he was finance minister in the 1990s.The

judges did find two other former lawmakers in Ahern’s Fianna Fail party,

including former Cabinet minister and European Union commissioner

Padraig Flynn, guilty of corruption for soliciting payments from property de-

velopers for personal use. They also found 11 past and present 11 members of local councils guilty of the same offense. The Washington Post / March

22, 2012

Portugal public sector workers go on strike

French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Monday night put the country's southwest region on the

highest possible security alert level, hours after a teacher and three children were gunned down at

a Jewish school in Toulouse. "He shot at everything he could see, children and adults, and some children

were chased into the school," Michel Valet, the local prosecutor, told jour-

nalists. Three children among four people shot dead in Toulouse attack de-

scribed by Nicolas Sarkozy as "national tragedy". ‘’It is a national tragedy,"

said Sarkozy, denouncing the "savagery" of the attack, UN chief Ban Ki-

moon sent his condolences to the victims’ families saying he was saddened by the tragic deaths. And the UK’s foreign minister said: “such a calculated

act of cruelty would unite all decent people in condemnation.” It is described

as a clear anti-Semitic crime that happened this morning in Tou-

louse. CNN / March 20, 2012

Public sector workers in Portugal have gone on strike to protest against

the government’s austerity measures.

Schools were closed as teachers

walked out, commuters faced se-

vere delays on trains and buses,

and hospitals had to work with

reduced staffing.The strike was

called by Portugal's biggest trade

union, the General Confederation

of Portuguese Workers.Hundreds

of union members marched from

central Lisbon to the parliament building on Thursday afternoon, with

separate youth movement and leftist demonstrations taking place

elsewhere. It is Portugal's second strike in four months. It has privatised

several industries, cut public sector wages and raised sales, income,

corporate and property tax. Welfare benefits have also been curtailed.

BBC / March 22, 2012

France on high security alert after 4 killed in shoot-ing at Jewish school

Two rival marches have been held over the Ecuadorian government’s

plans to develop large-scale mining in the Amazon region.

Indigenous groups say it will pollute their homelands and displace

thousands of people. Supporters of President Rafael Correa held a counter-

demonstration to back his plans to open up the mining industry to more

foreign investment. Correa says he will spend the proceeds on welfare and development projects. “Our opponents say we must choose between clean

water or mineral resources, as if we cannot have both, comrades,” he said.

Earlier this month, the government agreed a one billion euro deal with a

Chinese mining firm to develop a new copper mine near El Pangui. Correa

sees the plans as essential if Ecuador’s economy is to become less

dependent on oil exports. Euronews / March 23, 2012

AMERICAS

Rival marches held over Ecuador mining plans

U.S. sanctions on Iran oil exempt Japan / 10 European countries also

win waivers The U.S. State Department announced Tuesday that Japan and 10

European countries will be exempt from U.S. sanctions on crude oil imports from Iran, which have been imposed to prevent the Middle

East nation from developing nuclear weapons.

This is the first time waivers under the the National Defense Authorization

Act, which includes a section stipulating economic sanctions against Iran, have been applied since its enactment in December. With the decision,

Japanese financial institutions will not be subject to U.S. sanctions for

conducting deals with Iran's central bank. In reaching the decision, the

United States evaluated that Japan has cut a significant amount of Iranian

crude oil imports. The 10 other countries exempted are EU members. U.S.

Secretary of State Hilary Clinton said in a statement released Wednesday that "We commend these countries for their actions and urge other nations

that import oil from Iran to follow their example." The Daily Yomiuri /

March 22, 2012

US lawmakers have released $88.6m (£56m) in

development aid for the

Palestinians that has been

frozen for more than six

months. BBC / March 24, 2012

President Obama has

nominated Korean-born

US academic Jim Yong

Kim to be the next

president of the World Bank. BBC / March 24,

2012

Dozens of families cleared

r u b b l e f r o m t h e i r

destroyed homes in southwestern Mexico on

Wednesday following a

major 7.4-magnitude

earthquake that caused

landslides, knocked down

school walls and cracked a church tower. Reuters /

March 21, 2012

PAGE 3

U.S. soldier charged with 17 murders in Afghan killings

A U.S. Army sergeant was formally charged with 17 counts of murder on Friday for killing eight

adults and nine children in a pre-dawn shooting rampage in southern Afghanistan that further

eroded U.S.-Afghan relations already frayed by a decade of war.

Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, a decorated 38-year-old veteran of four combat

tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, also was charged with six counts each of

assault and attempted murder for attacking two other adults and four children in the March 11 shooting spree, a U.S. armed forces statement

said. Premeditated murder is a capital offence under the U.S. military

justice code, so Bales could face the death penalty if convicted. He would

face a mandatory minimum sentence, if convicted, of life imprisonment with

eligibility for parole, the military statement said. Bales is accused of walking

off his base under cover of darkness and opening fire at civilians in their homes in at least two different villages in Panjwai district in Kandahar

province. Reuters / March 23, 2012

PAGE 4

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev asked the government on

Thursday to work out a road map for privatization and less state interference in country's economy.

ASIA

Annan heading to Moscow, Beijing for Syria

Kofi Annan, joint special envoy of the United Nations and Arab League, will leave this weekend on

a trip to Moscow and Beijing for talks with senior Russian and Chinese officials on the crisis in

Syria, his spokesman said on Friday.

A team sent by Annan has returned from three days of "intensive and busi-

nesslike" talks in Damascus on implementing his six-point peace plan

aimed at stopping the killing, securing humanitarian aid and launching a

political dialogue with the Syrian opposition, spokesman Ahmad Fawzi said

in a statement. "Mr Annan and his team are currently studying the Syrian responses carefully, and negotiations with Damascus continue," Fawzi said.

Annan will meet Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and foreign minister

Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Fawzi told a news briefing in Geneva. The Rus-

sian news agency Interfax has said Annan is expected in Moscow for talks

on Saturday. Reuters / March 23, 2012

"I absolutely support of working out a road map for privatization to

deregulate the economy and determine a schedule for it," Medvedev told a

working group in charge of "open government." The Russian president also asked the open government group to provide crowd sourcing to optimize

business processes for the most important state services. In his state of the

nation address to parliament last December, Medvedev proposed setting up

a wider government to address the country’s most urgent issues. Under

Medvedev's plan, open government would unite all levels and branches of

power, and incldue public figures prepared to participate in running the state, and scrutinizing the most important decisions and programs.

Medvedev also said the implementation of the current privatization program

must be transparent. RIA Novosti / March 22, 2012

Japan readies anti-missile defence for N Korea rocket

Japan has ordered missile defence systems to prepared in response to the planned launch of a North Korean long-range rocket next month,Japanese Defence Minister Naoki Tanaka has said.

Reports said the defence systems would be deployed

near tha island of Okinawa to shoot down the rocket

should it threaten Japanese territory.North Korea says the rocket will put a satellite into orbit.But the US

and its allies believe the launch is a pretext for a

missile test. Pyongyang said last week it was to mark

the 100th birthday of its late Great Leader Kim II-sung

with the launch.The announcement drew widespread

criticism that the launch would violate UN Security Council resolutions. The resolutions were imposed

after a similar launch in April 2009.Japan is particularly concerned as the

last North Korean rocket was launched over the country. BBC / March 23,

2012

Medvedev Calls for Privatization Road Map

South Korea is prepearing

to host the heads of more than 50 nations and

international organisations

at a nuclear security

summit in Seoul.

Al-Jazeera / March 23,

2012

Al-Qaida’s leader lashed out at Afghan clerics and

politicians who support the

Kabul government in an

audio message posted

Thursday.

The Washington Post /

March 22, 2012

North Korea has invited the

Internat ional Atomic

Energy Agency to return,

nearly three years after it kicked U.N. nuclear

inspectors out of the

country, the IAEA said

Monday.

CNN / March 19, 2012

PAGE 5

Obama calls Abbas to discuss the retarded Middle East process, the White

House said. He called Abbas and told him the United States was committed to Middle East peace and both sides need to reinforce the efforts that have

brought an end to recent fighting and to avoid provocative actions, White

House spokesman Jay Carney said. The first conversation between Obama

and Abbas was in New York in September 2011.The Middle East peace proc-

ess between Israel and Palestine has been overshadowed by other significant problems in the region. By the way, the establishment of a Palestine state on

all land occupied by Israel in 1967 war is seen as a condition for negotiation

by Abbas. Reuters / March 21, 2012

Nine years after the invasion of Iraq, a militant group with al Qaeda

links claims responsibility for the deadly wave of bombings across Iraq.

A spate of car bombings rocked

Iraq on Tuesday, the ninth anni-versary of the U.S. invasion and

days before the nation hosts a

meeting of Arab leaders. The vio-

lence left at least 45 people dead

and 216 wounded, officials said. Attacks took place in Baghdad,

Kirkuk, Karbala, Hilla, Tikrit, Baiji,

Ramadi, Mosul, Falluja, Diyala

province, Salaheddin province,

Samarra and Mahmoudiya. The

Islamic State of Iraq, an umbrella group that includes al Qaeda in

Iraq, made the claim in a state-

ment posted on an al Qaeda website. The bombings were meant to target

the security plan "of the government of fools inside the Green Zone, in

preparation of the meeting of Arab tyrants in Baghdad," the statement said. The country is hosting the next Arab League summit March 29.

CNN / March 21, 2012

MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA

Dozens killed in widespread attacks on Iraq invasion anniversary

Iran 'ready to retaliate if attacked' Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says Iran will "attack to defend

itself" if targeted by US or Israeli aggression.

Iran will retaliate against any attack by Israeli or US forces, the country's

supreme leader has declared shortly after US President Barack Obama had issued a message directly to the Iranian people. Both Khamenei and Obama

were speaking on Tuesday to mark Nowruz, with Khamenei reiterating once

again that his country did not intend to build nuclear weapons. "We do not

have nuclear weapons and we will not build them but in the face of aggres-

sion from the enemies, whether from America or the Zionist regime, to de-fend ourselves we will attack on the same level as the enemies attack us"

Khamenei said. Al-Jazeera / March 20, 2012

In Mali, soldiers made a

military coup against the p r e s i d e n t A m a d o u

Toumani Toure because of

military anger about a lack

of resources to fight

against Tuareg rebels. After coup, soldiers looted

the palace of the president.

Euronews / March 23,

2012

Egypt decided to send oil

to help ease a lengthy fuel crisis in Gaza. In mid-

February, Cairo shut down

supplying fuel to the Gaza

strip because of a dispute

between Egypt and the

Hamas government in Gaza. BBC / March 23,

2012

On Thursday, at least 70

people died in clashes in

Syria, although UN

Security Council had

called for an end to all v i o l e n c e . S e c u r i t y

Council’s peace plan, put

forward by Kofi Annan was

supported by China and

Russia. Euronews / March 22, 2012

Middle East peace is at Obama’s agenda

US president Obama has spoken to Palestinian Authority President Abbas on the phone for the

first time in the six months.

At least four police officers, one lawmaker and several protesters are injured during unofficial

Nevruz celebrations in several of Turkey’s eastern and southestern provinces. While officials re-lease messages of peace and solidarity, today’s officially scheduled celebrations are cancelled in

the southeastern province of Diyarbakır.

A bomb demolition squad later destroyed the explosives. The official cele-brations that were planned for today in Diyarbakır have been canceled due

to yesterday’s clashes, according to reports. Meanwhile, in a message on

the occasion of Nevruz, President Abdullah Gül called for “everybody to

display caution and not to provide opportunity for attempts that could

harm the climate of peace and fraternity.” He stressed that “our differences and diversity are our greatest wealth” and that “everybody is an insepara-

ble and equal part of this nation regardless of their ethnic roots, language,

faith or political conviction.” Hurriyet Daily News / March 23, 2012

TURKEY

With no int’l consensus, Turkey and allies run out of options on how to

stop Syria’s Assad Turkey stands at the forefront of calls for the ouster of Syrian

President Bashar Assad, but there are an awful lot of red lines that it won’t cross to realize that goal.

Like its Western allies, Turkey says it won’t arm outgunned Syrian re-

bels, and has no plans to set up a buffer zone in neighboring Syria

where civilians and army defectors can shelter and regroup. That leaves

countries like Turkey, which staked credibility on a misguided belief that it could persuade Assad to reform, casting around for ways to pres-

sure the regime even though nobody knows what might replace it if it

ever falls. A so-called “Friends of Syria” meeting of nations that seek As-

sad’s downfall, planned for April 1 in Istanbul, runs the risk of yielding

just another bout of handwringing over the government crackdown in

Syria. The Washington Post / March 21, 2012

An annual U.S. government

report is adding U.S. ally Turkey as well as Tajikistan

to a list of the worst violators

of religious rights. The

Washington Post / March

20, 2012

Turkey will be represented at

the Nuclear Security Summit

by a large delegation that

also includes Prime Minister,

Foreign Minister and Energy and Natural Resources

Minister. TRT / March 23,

2012

Boyko Borisov and Recep

Tayyip Erdogan signed

around 20 agreements, i n c l u d i n g c u l t u r a l

exchanges, the setting up of

a ferry route between their

t w o c o u n t i e s a n d

cooperation over natural

disasters. Euronews / March 20, 2012

Scores injured as Nevruz protests lead to clashes

Turkey debates Afghan mission after helicopter crash

Turkish politicians are debating the necessity of Turkey's presence in

Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led peace mission.

“The same helicopter could have crashed in our country, too,” Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said at a joint news briefing with his

Bulgarian counterpart, Boyko Borisov, in Ankara on Tuesday, as he count-

ers increasing questioning of Turkey's Afghan mission. A Turkish military

helicopter crashed into a home near the Afghan capital on Friday, killing

12 Turkish soldiers on board and four Afghans on the ground. The Turkish

Foreign Ministry released a statement on Friday, reaffirming the nation's commitment within the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force

(ISAF) command and said Turkey will continue helping the Afghan people.

The statement added that Turkish troops are serving in Afghanistan to

train Afghan national security forces and help the people improve security

and stability and with development. Today’s Zaman / March 21, 2012

PAGE 6

PAGE 7

26 March 2012:

Randejavu (Theater)

Ankara Hayal Kahvesi / 20.00

Ahmet Ümit (Conversation and Book Signing)

METU U3 / 17.30

Gülsin Onay (Piano Recital)

METU KKM Kemal Kurdaş Hall / 18.30

27 March 2012:

Giderayak (Theater)

METU KKM Kemal Kurdaş Hall / 20.00

Bir Opera Gecesi (Trumpet and Trampoline

Recital) Operet Hall / 20.00

28 March 2012:

DJ Jimmy Key (Party) Friends & Trends / 23.00

Mabel Matiz (Concert) Passage Pub / 21.30

Cem Adrian (Concert) IF Performance Hall /

22.00

29 March 2012:

Yasemin Mori (Concert) IF Performance Hall /

22.00

Hava Kuvvetleri Bando Komutanlığı (Spring

Concert) METU KKM Kemal Kurdaş Hall / 20.00

Bir Yaz Gecesi Rüyası (Modern Dance)

Opera Hall / 20.00

30 March 2012:

Çellistanbul Çello Dörtlüsü (Concert)

METU KKM Kemal Kurdaş Hall / 20.00

Fehim Paşa Konağı (Theater)

Müjdat Gezen Art Center / 20.30

Canlı Yayın (Theater) Cüneyt Gökçer Stage /

20.00

31 March 2012:

Geriye Kalan (Movie and Conversation with

the Director and Actors) METU KKM Kemal

Kurdaş Hall / 18.30

Don Giovanni (Opera) Opera Hall / 20.00

1 April 2012:

Stress Out Party (Party) Haniel Club / 22.00

April Fool’s Day Party (Party) IF Performance

Hall / 21.00

Four in the Pocket (Party) Passage Pub / 21.30

İş Hayatına Bir Adım Önde Başlayın (Seminar)

Ramada Ankara / 10.30 – 17.30

ODDLY ENOUGH

WHAT IS IAEA?

The IAEA is the world's center of cooperation in the nuclear

field. It was set up as the world´s "Atoms for Peace"

organization in 1957 within the United Nations family. The

Agency works with its Member States and multiple

partners worldwide to promote safe, secure and peaceful

nuclear technologies.

The IAEA Secretariat is headquartered at the Vienna

International Centre in Vienna, Austria. Operational liaison

and regional offices are located in Geneva, Switzerland;

New York, USA; Toronto, Canada; and Tokyo, Japan. The

IAEA runs or supports research centers and scientific

laboratories in Vienna and Seibersdorf, Austria; Monaco;

and Trieste, Italy.

The IAEA Secretariat is a team of 2300 multi-disciplinary

professional and support staff from more than 100

countries.

The IAEA works for the safe, secure and peaceful uses of

nuclear science and technology. Its key roles contribute to

international peace and security, and to the world's

Millennium Goals for social, economic and environmental

development.

EDITORIAL

ANKARA - 100.YIL

36.CAD. NO:23 / B 100.YIL

(0312) 284 20 00

Çalışma Saatleri: 11:00 - 23:00

Servis Süresi: 30 dakika

GENERAL DIRECTOR

SİBEL DÜZ

CO-EDITOR

MEHMET YETİM

COORDINATORS

ALPER AKGÜN

FURKAN ÖZTÜRK

HANDE KAYMA

ÖZLEM MELİS MUTLU

TALYA YÜZÜCÜ

CORRESPONDENTS

BEGÜM ÇELİKTUTAN

BETÜL OFLAZ

MANSUR ALİ GEDİK

MELTEM SÖĞÜTCEPINAR

NURGÜL ÜLKÜ

RYSBEK AKYLBEK UULU

SELÇUK SUNAY

YAĞMUR ERŞAN

YİĞİT AYDOĞ

ZEYNEP NUR GÖZÜTOK

Official website of the organization:

http://eurosima2012.org/home/