Middle East Today: Turkey --- Defiant PM Erdogan Returns to Istanbul

Supporters of Prime Minister Erdogan at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport last night (Photo: Reuters)

---

Turkey: New Speech by PM Erdogan Blasts Protesters and Social Media

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has used a speech this afternoon to continue his challenge to protesters. He has also attacked social media, saying they carried out a "disastrous lie campaign with respect to" the demonstrations.

Erdogan has also asked, "Where was the outrage over [police use of tear gas?" in other cases like Occupy Wall Street --- where he said 17 people had been killed --- Greece, and London.

Click to read more ...

Bahrain (and Beyond) Live: The Protests, the Opposition, and the Grand Prix

See also Yemen 1st-Hand: When the US Drones Attacked My Village
Syria Live: International Support for the Insurgency?
Saturday's Iraq (and Beyond) Live: Provincial Elections Amid Spike in Violence

---

1540 GMT: Egypt

Minister of Justice Ahmed Mekki has offered his resignation, a day after President Morsi had stated there would be a government reshuffle and two days after thousands of Islamist demonstrators calling for the "purging of the judiciary"

According to judicial sources, Mekki complained about the demonstrations in his resignation statement. He also condemned attempts, led by the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party to amend the judicial authority law to decrease the retirement age of judges without taking their view on the issue.

The amendment would mean the forced retirement of more than 3,000 judges.

Click to read more ...

Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Qatar Says No More Aid to Cairo

Qatari Minister of Finance Youssef Kamel1617 GMT: Bahrain. An interesting political development --- a royal decree has appointed Crown Prince Salman, often framed as a "moderate" within the regime, as 1st Deputy Prime Minister --- working with his uncle, the "hard-line" Prime Minister --- "to develop the performance of the executive".

1610 GMT: Egypt. Cairo is studying an offer from the International Monetary Fund of a bridging loan, a source at the Ministry of Finance ministry has said.

The funding, known as the IMF's Rapid Financing Instrument, is temporary and would not replace Egypt's negotiations with the IMF on a $4.8 billion loan, the source said.

The source added, "Egypt continues to work towards restructuring its economy through the economic reform programme."

Click to read more ...

Bahrain Analysis: Does Al Wefaq Still Lead the Opposition to the Regime? (Dickinson)

Protest in Manama on "Martyrs Day" on Monday

---

"I appreciate how hard they have pushed for reform," she said in a café, in between homework assignments. "But sometimes Al Wefaq drives me crazy."

Jamana is not alone in her growing disgruntlement with the Shiite bloc and its allies.

Since long-running protests against the government intensified last year on the heels of upheavals in Tunisia, Egypt and elsewhere in the Arab world, the Al Wefaq-led opposition has taken pains to reiterate its support for the monarchy even as they call for political reform. Their peaceful, licensed marches have been supported by tens of thousands of Bahrainis. Two weeks ago, the head of Al Wefaq asked supporters not to chant anti-regime slogans.

As the kingdom's political stalemate has ground on, however, mounting frustration among once-moderate critics and opponents of the government has translated into growing support for groups whose goals and tactics are more extreme.

Click to read more ...

Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Stumbling Towards a Referendum

See also Syria Live Coverage: "Assad Forces Using Scud Missiles"
Wednesday's Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: People Divide in Protests

---

1725 GMT: Palestine. An image of today's Hamas rally in Nablus in the West Bank, an impresssive turnout in an area overseen by rival party Fatah:

Click to read more ...

Bahrain Analysis: 5-Point Guide to Crown Prince's "Return to Dialogue" (Gengler)

Crown Prince Salman's speech at the Manama Dialogue last Friday

---

How fitting it would be if Bahrain's uprising were finally resolved in the same manner in which it originally was not resolved --- with a political deal brokered by the Crown Prince --- an appropriately absurd result to highlight even more starkly how far the turmoil, bloodshed, and political posturing of the previous two years accomplished *literally* nothing.

Click to read more ...

Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Feuding About a Plane --- Meanwhile, 200+ Die

2102 GMT: Syria. A multi-story building collapsed after government forces shelled the Palestinian refugee camp in the Yarmouk district of Damascus. Videos show ambulances evacuating the wounded and survivors trying to rescue the wounded from the rubble.

Protests have reportedly been held to demonstrate against the shelling.

2047 GMT: Egypt. While things have calmed considerably, Tahrir Square was an eventful place, as supporters and detractors of the Muslim Brotherhood and President Morsi clashed for several hours in Tahrir Square.

#Tahrir square is full of revolutionaries arguinh and debating...beautiful. twitter.com/tarekshalaby/s…

— Tarek Shalaby (@tarekshalaby) October 12, 2012

Click to read more ...

Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Gathering Fight In and Around Aleppo

Uncollected rubbish piles up in Aleppo

See also Jordan Discussion: The Future of the Country and "Reform"
Syria Snapshot: Armed Groups Complicate the Fight in the Northwest
Syria Snapshot: The "Jihadists" in the Fight in the Northeast
Monday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Is Aleppo "A Nail in Assad's Coffin"?

---

1845 GMT: Sudan. Six people were killedtoday at a protest in Nyala in South Darfur, according to a Government source . The specifics of the killings are still unconfirmed, but witnesses have reported that police used batons and tear gas against protesters who were chanting "No, no to high prices" and "The people want to change the regime". AFP reports, citing an eyewitness, that protesters "threw stones at government buildings and burned tyres in the street":

Four bleeding protesters and three security officers were taken away for medical treatment from the demonstration, the witness said.

Nobody was allowed inside the city's hospital where a crowd had gathered outside, he added.

Click to read more ...

Bahrain Feature: Pushing A Deal with the Crown Prince (Delmar Morgan)

Crown Prince Salman with Al Wefaq's Sheikh Ali Salman (Mazen Mahdi/The National)Ever since the start of the mass protests in February 2011, the US Government's hope has been that the opposition could reach a deal with the regime, notably through the "moderate" Crown Prince Salman, over "reform".

That hope was dashed in March 2011 with the regime crackdown, backed by a Saudi-led military force, on the demonstrations and the subsequent polarisation of support and opposition to the monarchy and the Government. However, after the publication of the Bahraini Independent Commission of Inquiry's report in November, with its call for significant change, Washington returned to the strategy.

There have some discussions between the regime "moderates" and representatives of the largest opposition society Al Wefaq this year. These have been halting in any progress, but Alex Delmar Morgan, US officials, and an Al Wefaq member try to give the initiative a boost in The Wall Street Journal....

Click to read more ...

Bahrain Feature: The Stalling of Economic Reforms (Hammond)

Bahrain's economic reforms --- once hailed as the most ambitious in the Gulf --- seems to have stalled as hardliners in the Sunni ruling family who see Shi'ite protesters as a threat to the state bring the programme under their wing.

Stalling the reforms has involved replacing the heads of key institutions and altering their remits. And the process has the added advantage of reinforcing patronage networks stemming from resources under the control of powerful figures in the state.

Click to read more ...