This Week’s Top Five: June 8-14

Five things to know from around the globe this past week:

1. The Turkish riots are getting worse.

• At the end of May, the initially student led protests against the destruction of a park in Istanbul escalated quickly into violent, national riots against the Turkish government. The Prime Minister of Turkey is doing very little to cooperate with the protesters and has not eased up on the heavy use of tear gas and water cannons. Negotiations are pretty much at a halt. You can read the background on this uprising from our post from last week:  https://whythefshouldicare.wordpress.com/2013/06/06/protests-in-turkey/

2. Syria was struck by another fatal bombing.

• The Syrian uprising is now moving into its third year of clashes between Syrian rebels and the Syrian government lead by Bashar al Assad. The UN recently reported that almost 93,000 people have been killed as a result of the uprising. And this week, we discovered that the Syrian government has allegedly been using chemical weapons on the Syrian rebels, now causing a US decision to send military aid to the Syrian rebels. See a detailed timeline of the uprising at the Washington Post’s website. (http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/page/world/timeline-unrest-in-syria/207/)

3. 17 people were killed in an suicide bombing attack on Afghan Supreme Court employees.

• While several of Afghanistan’s Supreme Court employees were being transported by bus through Kabul on Wednesday, a suicide bomber attacked the vehicle fatally injuring 17 people on board. Although Kabul and Afghanistan as a whole are rife with frequent, deadly attacks, this one sticks out because of the targets. This story is still developing, but you can read more about the attack in Aljazeera’s report: (http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2013/06/2013611121733644409.html)

4. Putin got divorced. (This happened at the end of last week, but we’ll still throw it in).

• Even though this would seem to be a pretty big story (a major world leader is getting a divorce after almost 30 years of marriage), it is in fact a story out of how little attention it’s been getting. The Putins announced this split on national television shortly after an event they were attending together, and the divorce is extremely amicable. On top of that, as the Washington Post points out in this hilariously titled article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/russians-shrug-at-putin-divorce/2013/06/07/0fc0ef42-cf81-11e2-8845-d970ccb04497_story.html, the Russian people don’t find it to be all that important. This is a big news item because of how small a news item it’s become.

5. Iran is electing a new president.

• For the first time since 2005, Iran has a shot at a leader who isn’t Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. This election is also being considered the most democratic, fair (and unrigged) election Iran has ever had, and it could be a major turning point for the country both nationally and globally. The election is being held TODAY and Iran has already extended poll closing times to give more people the opportunity to vote. Check our post from earlier this week for more info (https://whythefshouldicare.wordpress.com/2013/06/13/iranian-presidential-election-2013/)

Iranian Presidential Election 2013

What is happening: 

Tomorrow, Iran is going to have an national election for their next president, which is being considered a turning point. Since 2005, the country has been headed up by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a previous mayor of Iran’s capital, Tehran, and only the sixth ever president of this nation. Ahmadinejad is globally known for his vehement hostility towards countries such as the United States and the UK and has not been received very well in his home country for these beliefs, as well as human rights abuses and a poor economic standing nationally. Now, you may be thinking, “how has such an unpopular guy managed to win two terms in a row?” Well, my friends, he used an ancient technique that has been utilized by numerous powerful leaders for centuries upon centuries: cheating. Yep, that’s right, Ahmadinejad used his presidential powers to fudge the numbers in his most recent election back in 2009. Although this hasn’t been officially confirmed by the Iranian government, it’s fairly safe to say that there was a abundant amount of vote rigging 4 years ago that managed to cause huge national, and international protests.

“Who rigs elections AND abuses his people? This guy!” (kattiemay.ru)

The reason why this information is relevant and why exactly this election is getting so much attention is because this generally unpopular leader who has finagled his way into a second term, cannot run for president this election season (due to term limits). For the first time since the election in 2005, Iranians have a shot at a fair election and a chance to elect a president to represent their nation more positively on a global scale, as well as creating a better environment with Iran itself.

Why you should care: 

As we mentioned earlier, Ahmadinejad is not America’s biggest fan, and the US definitely is not a big proponent of his. Whether it’s through United Nations sanctions or just general speech and press, the United States makes it obvious that is no friend to Iran. But when we critically look at where this animosity stems from, it really goes back to rhetoric from Iran’s past leaders and oligarchs, not necessarily the views of the Iranian population or the Iranian people in general. Americans may not, as a whole, see completely eye-to-eye with Iranians, but this hostility doesn’t really need to exist. It’s just based on the views of the leaders whose voices could be heard the easiest.

Yeah, we did that (www.alarab.co.uk)

And that is why you should care. With Iran seizing an opportunity to elect a leader with less animosity towards the Western world, the United States is also given a chance at an unprecedented neutral relationship with Iran’s government. To say that the US and Iran have a shot at a positive symbiotic relationship would be hyperbole, but there is a chance that they could dissolve the extreme hostility they’ve maintained for years. This could mean dropping sanctions, more oil through opening up trade, and just a better relationship with the Middle East as a whole. It is still a long shot to have THIS good of a relationship, but with a new president elect coming in tomorrow, there’s a lot of hope for a more positive relationship with Iran.

Where you can read more: 

HufPo’s 5 Things To Know About This Election: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/09/iran-presidential-election-5-things-to-know_n_3412334.html?utm_hp_ref=iran-election-2013

Interesting Read on Iran’s Presidential Vetting Process: http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2013/05/201352395840316274.html

AWESOME Graphic on the Presidential Candidates: http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/page/world/who-will-be-irans-new-president/174/

Protests in Turkey

What is happening:

It all started less than two weeks ago with a demonstration you would think would only ever make the local news. In the metropolitan capital of Turkey, Istanbul, the Turkish government was in the midst of planning for a new “urban development project” to be placed where the current Taksim Gezi Park stands. Not totally surprisingly because Istanbul is already a highly urbanized city, a sit-in protest at the park involving mostly college students began. Should have been your typical young-person-protecting-the-environment demonstration, right?

Two days later though, escalating the situation in a zero to sixty manner, police commenced using tear gas and water cannons to attack the non-violent protest of 100. The police also went on to burn down the demonstrators things and tents. All of this being the first formal effort to get the activists out of the park.

Bandanas and clapping totally seem tear gas deserving to me. (kplr11.com)

Of course, after the police went to ridiculous extremes, victims of the violence called for help across Turkey, and soon there were thousands of people joining this once minor demonstration.

Now, the protest has become a nation-wide youth movement. People are gathering in Istanbul by the thousands and already police have upped their presence and have started intimidating protesters again. Along with other issues the Turkish people have already been struggling with with their government, this once small protest may be in the beginning stages of a domestic uprising.

Why you should care:

Despite the ridiculous response to early protesting in Taksim Gezi Park, the Turkish government has not done much to resolve the situation. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan apologized for the unnecessary force used by the police, but that’s pretty much all that’s been done. Police still have a presence in the protest and the Prime Minister still plans to go through with the original plans for the park. Needless to say, people are maintaining their animosity and the movement has not been stifled in the slightest.

See that, kids? That’s a man who’s about to lose his political power. (www.atlasinfo.fr)

The question of “what happens next” is being answered in a variety of ways. Sources like Al-Jazeera continue to allude to a potential anti-government uprising to be born out of this protest. Inversely, The New York Times argues that this protest will not end in an attempt to oust the current Prime Minister or to overthrow the current government. Plenty of other places have given mixed reports and because the protest is in its early days, there are still multiple outcomes, ranging from minor results to extremely significant changes for the country.

So why should you care? Turkey could become the next country in the domino effect that is the Arab Spring (with a 99.8% Arab population, it very easily qualifies to be the next link in that chain). The United States has continued to ignore these hugely important uprisings in the Middle East and Africa, despite the fact that there has been at least one protest happening since the end of 2010. With increasingly severe situations continuing in these countries, like Syria and now Turkey, it’s going to be harder for the Obama administration to look away from these problems. You should care because if the situation in Turkey becomes an uprising, the US is going to have to deal with these movements that it’s been dreading to face.

Where you can read more:

Interactive Timeline of the Arab Spring (only goes to 2012, but still highly recommend): http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/interactive/2011/mar/22/middle-east-protest-interactive-timeline

The Chain of Events Leading to the Protest at Present: http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2013/06/20136513414495277.html

In Depth Information on the Protest Now: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/turkish-protest-leaders-meet-erdogan-deputy-as-turmoil-continues/2013/06/05/6f0e955a-ce21-11e2-8845-d970ccb04497_story.html

Escalation of the Protesters: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/06/world/europe/turkey-protests.html