Week # 105, Dated 30 to 5 February 2010
TURKEY
Political Front: In the stead of the democratic initiative the Turkish government has established a state institution to deal with human rights violations and make proposals to prevent them. Furthermore
Turkey has lifted a controversial security protocol that sanctioned a military coup in case of domestic security risk, after a coup plot report surfaced publicly known as EMASYA.
Sixteen former members of the now-banned
Democratic Society Party have been taken into custody in an operation under suspicion of being part of an urban branch of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.
Geo-strategic Front: Defense Ministers of NATO held an informal meeting in Turkey last week. The US envoy appreciated Turkey’s role in Afghanistan. Turkey has also granted $1 million in aid to Haiti.
Iranian FM in a recent visit to turkey reaffirmed strong relations between the two states; He deemed any threat against
Turkey as a threat against Iran and vice versa.
A senior U.S. official has called on Turkey and Armenia to ratify protocols signed last year to normalize relations. Meanwhile the
Turkish Foreign Minister said that Turkey's criticism of Israel targeted the offensive on Gaza and had nothing to do with anti-Semitism.
Turkey has also reiterated its intention to strengthen ties with
Russia. Meanwhile the Turkish PM gave warm welcome to his Bulgarian counterpart. The premier also promised support for
Kosovo’s recognition internationally. He also stressed Turkey’s determination in its efforts for EU accession despite adversity.
Social Front: Workers in
Turkey began a nation-wide one-day strike to support workers of the Tobacco and Liquor Administration. Government reiterated its stance and declared the strike to be ineffective. All the while snowfall has halted flights and traffic in
Turkey.
Economic Front: Turkish State Minister for foreign trade announced Turkey's export target for 2010 at $ 111 billion USD.
Turkey’s hazelnut export sector has yielded more than $728.87 million this year. Turkish tourist and property markets have also revived. Inflation in
Turkey accelerated in January because of tax increases and higher energy prices. Meanwhile
Turkey and
Azerbaijan have agreed on the price of natural gas imported from the latter.
FERTILE CRESCENT
Political Front: At a protest held outside
Egyptian parliament Protestors have called on the Egyptian People’s Assembly to take decisive action against sectarian acts of violence.
Iraq's Shiite-led government has alleged as illegal a decision by an appeals panel to suspend a ban on candidates with alleged ties to Saddam Hussein's outlawed Ba'ath Party until after an election. Meanwhile in a
Gaza meeting the rival Fatah and Hamas movements have formed a committee in charge of discussing field issues that are preventing reconciliation.
Geo-strategic Front: Egyptian police shot dead a sub-Saharan African migrant and wounded another as they tried to enter
Israel illegally. Meanwhile Hamas' exiled leader Khalid Meshaal, in a recent statement said that a reconciliation deal with rival
Palestinian faction Fatah was "within reach", and called on Egypt to host a meeting to seal an accord.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused
Lebanon of allowing Hezbollah to develop its military force by smuggling weapons "in violation" of the U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701. Meanwhile
Israeli Defense Minister,
Ehud Barak, warned of the possibility of military confrontations with Syria due to the lack of progress during indirect talks with the country.
A UN Human Rights Council report compiled by a team led by the South African judge Richard
Goldstone has accused both Israel and Hamas of war crimes during the three weeks war in the region. Hamas however has rejected accusations of having committed "war crimes" during last year’s Israeli offensive against the Gaza Strip.
Social Front: Female students at
Cairo University have started challenging religious and state efforts to ban the so-called controversial Niqab from schools and colleges. The battle between the Ministry of Higher Education and university students entered a new phase following last week's Supreme Administrative Court ruling that university administrations could not ban female students from wearing the niqab during exams.
Economic Front: Iraqi rice harvest has experienced a record decline where agricultural officials have blamed the slump on the falling water level of the Euphrates River
GCC
Political Front: A senior official of the
Yemeni ruling party has said that military operations against Al Houthi rebels would cease only after the rebels start implementing the six conditions set by the government.
Geo-strategic Front:
Tehran has slammed plans by the United States to beef up defenses in the Gulf against potential
Iranian missile attacks, with the Islamic republic insisting it posed no threat to its neighbors.
Saudi Arabia has retaliated against US decision to place special security checks against people of 14 countries including Saudis. Meanwhile a leading
Bahraini lawmaker has expressed "tremendous concerns" that claims about the alleged threat of Al Qaeda in
Yemen may prove to be as baseless as the reports of WMDs in
Iraq.
Qatar and
Iran are expected to sign agreements in oil and gas industry, tourism, investments and other important fields to boost their economies. Meanwhile
Kuwait has claimed that it would not allow anyone including the US to use its territory for launching attacks against any country.
Social Front:
GCC member states are making concrete efforts for increasing job opportunities. Meanwhile
Kuwait's immigration bureau has directed to not allow maids into the country without police approval for the sponsors.
A
Bahrain women's rights group has stepped up pressure to make the citizenship issue a top priority in the application of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Meanwhile the Ministry of Labor has made a proposal to the cabinet laying out the framework for a new employment system for expatriates.
UAE has maintained in 2009 its third spot on the press freedom Index among Arab countries, following Kuwait and Lebanon. Meanwhile
Saudi Arabia's Assistant Minister of Education for Girls' Affairs has vowed support for the ongoing pay parity drive for almost 100,000 female teachers with their male counterparts.
CENTRAL ASIA
Political Front: The ruling party of
Azerbaijan has expressed joy over the registration of its 500,000th member as the number of party members crossed that of the Communist party in Soviet era. Meanwhile leaders of the
Kazakh Communist Party and the unregistered Algha (Forward) party are demanding an immediate investigation into accusations of corruption against President Nursultan Nazarbaev's son-in-law.
President of
Kyrgyzstan has fired the chief of Culture Agency for permitting the U.S. photographer Sergei Melnikoff (who has been critical of
Russia) to hold a photo exhibit in Bishkek. Meanwhile an enlarged meeting of the
Tajik Cabinet to review the results of the past year’s work opened in Dushanbe last week. Also three judges from the
Tajik Supreme Court and a Dushanbe court filed lawsuits against three independent newspapers.
Ge
o-strategic Front:
Azeri Parliament has confirmed the agreement on mutual visa-free travel between
Azerbaijan and
Kazakhstan.
Kazakh protesters collided with police at a rally against their government's burgeoning ties with neighboring China. Meanwhile Kazakhstan has recently offered to hold joint military exercises with Turkey. Also Russia remains Kazakhstan’s main strategic partner in space exploration.
Kyrgyz nationals in the United States have established a group called the
Kyrgyz Movement for Democracy.
President of
Turkmenistan recently held a meeting with his French counterpart.
Social Front: Nearly 23,000 people have been vaccinated against H1N1 virus (swine flu) in
Azerbaijan’s capital.
Two
Kazakh newspapers criticized a libel suit brought by President Nursultan Nazarbaev’s son-in-law against them, calling it an attack on the country's independent media. Meanwhile a private foundation has urged
Kazakhstan to free Yevgeny Zhovtis, a prominent government critic and civil rights lawyer, jailed for four years over a road accident late last year, saying he was imprisoned in "an unfair trial". Also around 200 protesters rallied in a southern
Kyrgyz village demanding the release of imprisoned former Defense Minister.
Increase in infectious and parasitic diseases rate has been registered in
Kyrgyzstan in 2009. Meanwhile in
Tajikistan 71of 81 religious groups and organizations functioning have been able to reregister by January 1 deadline.
Europe's main democracy and security watchdog has sharply criticized
Uzbekistan for jailing and harassing journalists, saying there has been no real improvement in its media freedom.
Economic Front: Azerbaijan and Turkey have agreed on price of the Azerbaijani gas in the first stage of the Shah Deniz project. Meanwhile
Kazakhstan has announced its plan to increase the assets in its sovereign fund to $90 billion by 2020 from current $24.4 billion, while allocating $8 billion a year from it on industrial development.
The International Monetary Fund has granted Kyrgyzstan $337.5 million for 17 years of cooperation. Also the Cabinet of Ministers of
Uzbekistan held a session on 29 January to consider the results of the socioeconomic development of the country in 2009 and the main priorities for 2010.
EAST ASIA
Political Front: Analysts have claim that the
Indonesian Finance Minister enjoys real authority and power as a consequence of weak presidential leadership. Currently the nation’s vice president is the only potential challenger for such political weight.
The
Thai PM has denied any chances of a coup in his country while expressing satisfaction with his party’s popularity in Central and Northern regio. Meanwhile in the
Philippines Presidential candidate Aquino’s popularity has declined while that of Villar has gained momentum according. All the while in recently held talks with rebels,
Philippines’ government has offered ‘enhanced autonomy to Moro Islamic Front in order to resolve Mindanao’s issue.
Geo-strategic Front: The
Cambodian government has sent a strongly-worded letter to US internet giant Google, complaining that its online Google Earth map has incorrectly placed parts of the 11th century Preah Vihear temple in
Thailand.
Social Front: In
Indonesia, following protests by thousands of people a bronze statue of President Obama, previously erected in the National Park has been relocated to the school that the American president attended as a child. Meanwhile Rights activists have termed the new anti-pornography laws in
Indonesia a crusade against regional traditions and religious minorities, where some fear it to be a push by some Islamic parties for Shariah.
Meanwhile a huge death-toll of ducks in southern
Cambodia has raised concerns of the government.
Economic Front: Statistics of World Bank Economists evince that the
Indonesian economy has almost recovered from the effect of the Global economic crisis. The process of economic recovery has also started in all of the
East Asian states including
Vietnam and
Malaysia.
Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) for
Malaysia rose by 16 points to 112 in the fourth quarter of 2009, lifting the figure above the neutral point of 100 for the first time last year.
Malaysia’s exports rebounded in December, climbing the most in 17 months amid a global economic recovery that led the government to predict higher overseas sales this year.
SABAH economic and business planners have expressed interest in forming alliances with Brunei in the halal business in a bid to strengthen trade ties. Meanwhile
Vietnam has launched its first dispute at the World Trade Organization with a case against US anti-dumping measures on its key exports of shrimp.
SOUTH ASIA
Political Front:
Bangladesh’s Supreme Court declared as illegal a Constitutional amendment that had allowed religion-based political parities to flourish in the country, paving the way for the government to ban such groups. On the Sri Lankan Independence Day, amidst allegations of electoral rigging, President Mahinda Rajapakse vowed to build an efficient, advanced nation through commitment, discipline and elimination of corruption.
Maldives Department of Information has collected an audio recording of a radio station in its investigation, consisting live coverage of a protest which sparked outside the president’s palace and Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) head quarters. Meanwhile
Nepali Maoists have asked former PM Koirala to play his role in constitution making and bring an end to the ongoing political crisis.
Geo-strategic Front: Bangladesh has hinted at handing over a top jailed Indian separatist leader, but wanted New Delhi to reciprocate by deporting some of its wanted terrorists allegedly hiding in India.
The third edition of the
India-Bhutan Friendship Car Rally was flagged off from Kolkata. Meanwhile India has announced $2.7 million worth material donation to war-hit
Sri Lanka.
Maldives has claimed that it would not allow any terrorist group to use its land for any kind of terrorist activities against India. Meanwhile the UK Immigration Service, now known as "UK Borders Agency" has suspended the applications process for student visas from northern India, Nepal and Bangladesh after a dramatic upsurge in numbers and allegations of fraud.
Apart from
India,
China too intends to play an effective role in
Nepal. Meanwhile the US government has proposed that no military aid be made available to Nepal unless the secretary of state certifies that the Nepali Army is fully cooperating with investigations related to violation of human rights by its officials.
The interrogation of a top Maoist leader Kobad Ghandy, currently in the custody of Delhi Police's Special Cell, has confirmed the Nepali link to the Maoist movement.
Social Front: The
Sri Lankan government has announced to increase the salaries of its security forces.
Meanwhile in
Bhutan the ban on worship by Christians and other minorities continues despite wide spread prevalence of ‘western’ practices such as ‘discos’. The main reason cited for this is to prevent any cause for fragmentation in the small kingdom. The promotion of the tourism industry has also been at the forefront in the government’s agenda.
At environmental front ‘climate change’ has become a serious source of concern for developing countries including Bhutan. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) too has added climate change as a primary concern in Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) for Nepal along with strengthening peace and good governance.
Maldives has sought the help of CBI to help tackle attempts by international drug cartels to smuggle in contraband using Indians.
Economic Front: Bangladesh has been trying to attract $7 billion of foreign investment to boost its electricity generation, a shortage of which has slowed the country's economic development. The nation’s tea exports sank by slightly more than two thirds in 2009 as most of the crop produced was consumed locally, a trend expected to continue this year.
Bangladeshi workers abroad sent home a record $6.48 billion as remittances in the first seven months of the current fiscal year, registering a 20.89 percent growth.
Opening of the first Commercial Bank in
Bhutan has become a source of delight for the entrepreneurs. Meanwhile
Sri Lankan shares rose 0.24 percent led by hopes of better earnings due to post-war economic recovery. Also after more than a year of slack, Malaysia has placed a record high demand for 100,000 Nepalese for blue collar jobs within the next six months.
INDIA
Political Front: Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Mumbai and his statement ‘Mumbai for all Indians’ has provoked Shiv Sena who have been at odds with the Congress party over the immigrant’s issue. Meanwhile the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) criticized Congress leader Dig Vijay Singh’s visit to the family of an alleged Indian Mujahideen (IM) operative, accusing him of "vote bank politics". The visit was also opposed by the Muslim Ulema Council. Meanwhile the Sangh Parivar has asked its volunteers in Maharashtra to try to prevent the spread of anti-north Indian and anti-Hindi sentiments.
Regional Front: The BJP in Madhya Pradesh has elected 100 Muslim representatives in urban local bodies. 82 Muslims, including 36 burqa-clad women, were elected on the BJP symbol in the recent elections to 268 urban bodies. Meanwhile Samajwadi Party expelled Amar Singh and Jayaprada from the party on the charges of indulging in anti party activities and damaging its political interests and image.
Meanwhile a dispute over formation of the new state of Gorkhaland disrupted the law and order situation in Darjeeling, West Bengal.
Geo-strategic Front: India has proposed the resumption of talks with Pakistan, while Pakistan has sought clarity of the content of the talks. Meanwhile India and Germany have expressed keenness to enhance bilateral ties.
Social Front: Hindutva activists damaged minority worship places and institutions in Kampala. They threw stoned Mosques, Churches and an orphanage. In the meantime Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan has come under severe criticism of Shiv Sena for his sympathetic support to Pakistani cricketers against the IPL decision of their exclusion from the league.
Chief Justice of India (CJI) has stressed on an urgent need to ban websites that circulate pornography and hate speeches, and has emphasized the need for cyber law enforcement in India.
A recently published report claims that almost 45,000 children die in Maharashtra every year due to malnutrition.
Economic Front: The Trinamool Congress opposed increase in the prices of LPG and other petroleum products recommended by an expert panel; saying a new burden of raised prices would hit the common people hard. Also Indian firms have made plan to increase hiring remarkably.
CHINA
Political Front: Chinese PM paid a visit to a village and an urban community in order to get feedback from the people for his work report that he has to deliver at the annual session of the National People's Congress, in March.
Chinese vice Premier stressed that civilians and army should develop favorable interactions to secure both economic and defense development. Meanwhile a senior leader of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has urged party organs, government departments and law enforcement departments to make more efforts in solving social conflicts, promoting innovative social management and law enforcement in a just manner.
The mayor of Urumqi, capital of northwest
China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, has promised a persistent crackdown on the "three forces" of terrorism, separatism and extremism.
Geo-strategic Front: Chinese Foreign Minister has asked the US to stop selling arms to Taiwan and has warned to ban companies involved in arms sale. China also suspended its plan to have military exchange with US. Meanwhile the US has been highly critical of China’s Internet policy after Google threatened to pull out of
China, citing problems of censorship and hacking attacks.
Chinese high officials held meetings with their counterparts from
Jamaica, France, Serbia, Vietnam,
Russia and
Britain and focused on bilateral ties. China has also expressed positive hopes regarding peaceful settlement of the Iranian nuclear issue.
Social Front: President of China's Supreme People's Court has asked to speed up efforts to fight corruption in the country's court system. Government has started focusing on rural development along with that of the urban areas.
Chinese central and local governments have poured money into the building of national cultural information and resources sharing network.
Last week the State Council of
Ch ina issued an urgent notice urging relevant departments and local authorities to settle pay disputes involving migrant workers as millions of them are heading home for lunar New Year reunion. Meanwhile one of the China's top political advisors called on the country's Buddhists to contribute to ethnic unity, social stability and national unification.
13 more Swine flu deaths have been reported in
China, while 74 million people have been vaccinated against the influenza. Meanwhile on the environmental front Chinese State Councilor has urged northern Shanxi Province,
China's main coal mining hub, to adopt low-carbon technologies.
Hong Kong & Macao: A total of 101,298 people in Macao have been inoculated with the A/H1N1 vaccines so far. Meanwhile Police of
Hong Kong and
Chinese mainland has agreed to join forces in security, especially to enhance cooperation in training.
Economic Front:
The Bank of Communications (BoCom) has claimed that China would enter a new round of upward economic growth cycle in 2010. Also centralized procurement by the Chinese government has helped save close to 2 billion Yuan (about 290 million U.S. dollars) in 2009. In fact government cut down expanses in many aspects and focused more on energy efficient and innovative products. Of the GDP growth of 8.7 percent last year, investment growth contributed 8 percentage points. Meanwhile Land sale revenues for China's local governments rose more than 60 percent in 2009 as the country's property market surged.
The US has been asking
China to increase the value of Yuan; an issue that has strained relations between the two countries. Meanwhile China and Switzerland held their first study meeting on the feasibility of a Free Trade Area (FTA) in Beijing. Besides all that Preliminary data released by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) shows that
China's current account balance dropped 35 percent in 2009 to 284.1 billion U.S. dollars.
Hong Kong & Macao: At the economic front Hong Kong stocks initially moved up 0.61 percent, to close at 20,243.75; later on stocks in
Hong Kong dropped by 3.12%. Macao's gaming sector generated record high monthly revenues of 1.7 billion U.S. dollars in January 2010, which was a significant increase of 55 percent over the same period of last year. However Macao's total value of merchandise exports in 2009 fell by 52.1 percent year-on-year to 970 million U.S. dollars. §
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and foreign aid contributions to Afghanistan, convincing a highly skeptical public of the functionality of their Afghan policy and continued troop contributions. The Conference also marks a phase commencing plans for the transition of power, reconciliation and reintegration in the war ravaged nation. According to Gen Stanley McChrystal: "We're here to give time and space to the Afghan people to build a nation" 
and foreign aid contributions to Afghanistan, convincing a highly skeptical public of the functionality of their Afghan policy and continued troop contributions. The Conference also marks a phase commencing plans for the transition of power, reconciliation and reintegration in the war ravaged nation. According to Gen Stanley McChrystal: "We're here to give time and space to the Afghan people to build a nation" 
