Turkey Live Coverage (23 April): The Kurdish Issue, Iraq, and the Region

1700 GMT: BDP's co-chairman Selahattin Demirtas announced his party's programme that is to start in the U.S. today. According to the official plan, the BDP commission will see Kubat Talabani, KRG's representative in Washington before meeting with Turkey's ambassador Namik Tan. The committee is also expected to meet with Assistant Secretary of State Philip Gordon, some senators and congressmen, San Fransisco Mayor Ed Lee and American Bar Association's Center for Human Rights. 

1555 GMT: BDP's MP Emine Ayna blamed Premier Erdogan for the deaths. Ayna said: "Erdogan has his own signature behind the deaths either of guerillas or of soldiers."

1540 GMT: Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) President Massoud Barzani claimed that he raised the agreement of F-16 jets sale to Baghdad during his recent visit to Washington. Barzani said:

The F-16 must not reach the hand of this man. We must either prevent him from having these weapons, or if he has them, he should not stay in his position.

1400 GMT: Ankara's ambassador Yunus Demirer was summoned by Iraqi officials following an exchange of complaints and accusations between Prime Minister Erdogan and his Iraqi counterpart Nuri al-Maliki. 

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Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A Death, A Hunger Striker, Injuries, Detentions...and a Grand Prix

Bahraini economist and activist Ala'a Shehabi, arrested this afternoon (see 1609 GMT), speaking on Friday about protest, politics, and rights

See also Saudi Arabia Opinion: "The Era of Religious Guardianship is Over"
Bahrain Video: "Free Bird" --- A Daughter's Animated Conversation with Hunger Striker Abdulhadi Alkhawaja
Syria Wired: The Latest from Social Media and EA's Readers
Saturday's Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Is Hunger Striker Alkhawaja Near Death?

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2359 GMT: We close todays coverage with this picture of Dr Ala'a Shehabi, taken shortly after her release:

Activist Alaa Shahabi has been released and shes SUMOOD with Ali Al Aali and they deportingChanel4 crew #Bahrain twitter.com/jihankazerooni…

— jihan (@jihankazerooni) April 22, 2012

2330 GMT: Dr Ala'a Shehabi, Al A'ali and the Channel 4 News team, arrested earlier in Bahrain, have all been freed.

Jonathan Miller tweeted his release first:

I've been released with my crew. Breakneck drive to Bahrain airport in police van. Being deported now.

— Jonathan Miller (@millerC4) April 22, 2012

Shortly after, Maryam AlKhawaja confirmed Ala'a and Ali's release, via fellow BCHR activist Said Yousif:

. @alaashehabi and Ali Alaali have just been released via @SAIDYOUSIF #bahrain #FEB14 #F1

— Maryam Alkhawaja (@MARYAMALKHAWAJA) April 22, 2012

Miller also added this troubling coda:

Bahraini police refused to give us back our cameras and computers.

— Jonathan Miller (@millerC4) April 22, 2012

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Turkey Live Coverage (9 April): Strong Language and Diplomacy Over Syria, Iran, and Kurdistan

1840 GMT: Co-chairman of Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), Selahattin Demirtas says:

If Prime Minister wants to talk about the Kurdish problem, he can talk anything with BDP, including education in mother language, the new constitution, constitutional citizenship and legal amendments. 

However, Prime Minister's problem has nothing to with Kurdish people's rights and freedom. Prime Minister always wants to talk about the armed conflict. The problem in his head is only the problem of arms.

1825 GMT: Turkey's famous columnist Nuray Mert writes about Ankara's plans on the Kurdish issue within the context of the Syrian crisis. Mert agrees with our snap analysis so far, arguing that Ankara is paying attention to the structure of the Syrian opposition due to its fear of facing a stronger Kurdish presence in Syria.

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Turkey Live Coverage (5 April): The "Proof" of Terrorism

1645 GMT: Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said during the joint press briefing with Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha that Syrian President Bashar Assad's continuing violence is nothing short of his "manouevres of deception" rather than "manouevres of retreat."

In response to Tehran's recent remarks on the venue of nuclear enrichment talks, Erdogan said:

Iran needs to be honest. It is losing credibility because they are not honest. This is not the language of diplomacy. It is the language of something else yet it does not suit to me.

1600 GMT: President Gul continues his speech at the War Academy. Gul says:

This environment of instability taking place in our nighbours is wanted to be turned into a new Cold War stage where regional and global power struggles will occur. 

It is possible that the tension focused on Iran's nuclear programme will lead to a close combar environment. Under these conditions, Turkey has no luxury to watch these developments from a distance.  

1510 GMT: Speaking at the War Academy, President Abdullah Gul welcomed Turkey's "virtuous power":

In the present day, one can neither speak about security without democracy, nor a real democracy without security. Hence, democracy is both the most effective way to fight terrorism and our most valuable merit that we should jealously preserve.

It is very important to separate our citizens who voice their demands within the democratic system without resorting to violence from those who are tied to terrorism.

I believe that Turkey should act as a ‘virtuous power.’ A ‘virtuous power’ cares not only about the military/political dimension of security, but also justice and human values side.

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Iran Snap Analysis: Is Tehran Pulling Back from the Nuclear Talks?

Is Iran pulling back from the nuclear talks with the 5+1 Powers (US, UK, France, Germany, Russia, and China), only nine days before they were supposed to begin?

We thought the discussions had been agreed for Istanbul. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the meeting would be in Istanbul. The Iranian Foreign Minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, had said Istanbul.

All of us may have been wrong.

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Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: 70+ Dead, 70+ Bodies Found as Homs Hospital "Liberated"

Claimed video of Syrian forces moving through the destruction in the Baba Amr section of Homs --- at the end of the clip, a soldier looks in on a family slain in their home

See also Saudi Arabia Feature: Assessing The Regime's Counter-Revolution
Bahrain Propaganda Special: Introducing the Regime's Best Friends in the US Congress
Syria Wired: The Latest from Social Media and EA's Readers
Monday's Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: What Happens After the "Friends of Syria" Meeting?

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2001 GMT: A march towards Bahrain's Ministry of Interior tonight:

1851 GMT: In the Bahraini capital Manama, prominent activist Nabeel Rajab has been protesting at the roundabout by the Ministry of Interior, holding a photo of political prisoner and hunger striker Abdulhadi Alkhawaja.

Nearby, protesters chanted "Free free Khawaja" before they were attacked by police --- one woman kept shouting, "Free Khawaja", as they ran away:

Mary Lawlor of the Irish activist group Front Line Defenders sends the message:

Leaving demo for Release of#Abdulhadi .the pent up aggression of the police was very obvious. Brave participants

— Mary Lawlor (@MaryLawlorFL) April 3, 2012

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Turkey Live Coverage (28 March): Any Outcome from Tehran Talks?

1845 GMT: Iran's First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi reportedly said that Iran was ready to share its experience on nuclear energy with Turkey. 

As mentioned earlier, at the Nuclear Security Summit in the South Korean capital Seoul, Erdogan said that Turkey was determined to provide about 10% of its electricity from nuclear facilities by 2030.

1800 GMT: Due to Iranian President Ahmadinejad's suffering from gastrorrhagia, the scheduled meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan postponed.  

1645 GMT: The co-chairman of BDP, Selahattin Demirtas is speaking to Turkish HaberTurk channel now. When asked what BDP's role in the Kurdish problem, Demirtas said that BDP can only facilitate the solution of the problem yet it can only be solved between the government and Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) at the end of the day. Therefore, Demirtas argued that sidelining Kandil and dialogue with the outlawed organisation would produce nothing. 

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Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Conditions for Dialogue

2020 GMT: At this late hour, there are new reports of battles between the Free Syrian Army and regime troops in Harasta, in eastern Damascus. The CFDPC also reports battles in Irbeen.

It's going to be another long night in Syria's capital.

1922 GMT: An interesting video, reportedly from Douma, posted by the CFDPC. It appears that the FSA soldiers are trying to scope out regime positions while remaining hidden. In other words, the FSA soldiers want to be able to shoot at the Syrian soldiers if needed, but they are trying to hide so that the regime does not have an excuse to fire.

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: At Least 58 Dead on Sunday

2227 GMT: While we continue to look for more details on the explosion in Barzeh, it is worth noting how important the Barzeh district is. While we only know the general area of the explosion, it is only a little over a mile away from Tishreen Palace, the home of the President, and is within short distance of many other important buildings in Damascus.

2150 GMT: The explosion appears to have happened somewhere in the Barzeh district of Damascus, but as you can see from the reports below, the area where the explosion occurred is extremely large:

View Syria - 2012 March 5 - EA Worldview in a larger map

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Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Violence Escalates

Protesters throw Molotov cocktails at security forces in Aldair in Bahrain on Saturday

See also Palestine Letter: Khader Adnan "Why I Am on Hunger Strike"
Bahrain Feature: Updated List of 68 Killed Since February 2011
Sunday's Syria Live Coverage: Defiance in Damascus
Saturday's Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Story Gets Out

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1244 GMT: At least 15 people have been killed and 21 wounded when a bomber wearing a suicide vest blew himself up near the entrance to the Iraqi Police Academy in the east of Baghdad.

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Deadly attacks have also been reported in and around the city of Baquba, to the north of Baghdad. Four police informants were killed by suspected Al-Qaeda gunmen.

Gunmen also attacked a checkpoint in Abu Khamis, north of Baquba, killing one policeman and two members of the Sahwa (Awakening) militia.

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