Turkey Live Coverage (5 March): A Bridging Role on Syria and Iran

2100 GMT: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan congratulated Russian President Vladimir Putin over his election victory. In return, Putin reportedly underlined the importance of bilateral relations and promised to advance ties.

2020 GMT: After the French Constitutional Council's ruling out the genocie-denial bill (which was to punish people who denied the "Armenian genocide"in the Ottoman era) as it was "unconstitutional", deputy minister Bulent Arinc welcomed this development but said that Ankara would keep its political, economic and military sanctions on Paris since French President Nicolas Sarkozy had already asked his government to have a new draft of the original bill. 

2000 GMT: Turkish Foreign Ministry says the trilateral meeting between foreign ministers of Turkey, Iran and Azerbaijan will be held in Nakhcevan on 7 March. It is stated that the first meeting that took place in Urmia, Iran on 16 April 2011 were useful in developing the understanding of cooperation and consolidating regional stability and security. 

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Turkey Special: The Government Supports a Hyper-Nationalist --- and Threatening --- Protest

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On Sunday in Taksim Square in Istanbul, there was a large demonstration organised by various NGOs, syndicates, and political parties and supported by the Turkish government. The vision was that tens of thousands of Turks would commemorate the anniversary of the Khojaly massacre, committed against Azerbaijanis by Armenian armed forces in Nagorno-Karabagh in 1992.

The reality turned out to be somewhat different.

The memorial became a charged nationalist occasion, not only emphasising Turkish and Azerbaijani identity, but also displaying hatred and racism towards Armenians and those Turkish citizens, mostly left-wing intellectuals, who have been discussing the Armenian genocide/massacre of the early 20th century.

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Regime's Offensive

2126 GMT: Turning to Bahrain, a woman who was arrested for listening to a revolutionary song in her car has been released, and was greeted by a large crowd upon getting out of prison:

Fadhila al-Mubarak was detained during martial law last year at a checkpoint for listening to a tape praising a pro-democracy protest movement that erupted in February after uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, Said Yousef al-Muhafda said.

Mubarak was sentenced to four years in jail for taking part in the Pearl Roundabout protests, inciting hatred of the government and insulting a public official, Muhafda said. The sentence was later reduced to 18 months and must still be appealed.

2025 GMT: This video, according to the Syrian Uprising 2011 Information Centre, was taken today, and shows the Assad military bombarding Zabadani (see updates below):

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Turkey Feature: Angry Kurds Bury 35 Victims of Airstrikes

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On Friday, there was widespread anger in protests, both across Turkey and internationally, over the death of 35 Kurds, 18 of whom were children, in a Turkish airstrike on Uludere village in the city of Sirnak.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan  defended the military action while promising an investigation of an "operational mistake". His words have done little to appease Kurdish regard of the incident as a further indication of their abuse by the Turkish State.

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Syria Opinion: Why There Should --- And Will --- Be a No-Fly Zone

The moral reasons for a no-fly zone have only grown as the humanitarian crisis has worsened. The geopolitical incentives are stronger than ever. Now the logistical and practical possibilities are emerging.

There will be a no-fly zone, with or without US participation. Turkey wants it, France is chomping at the bit for it, and at the end of the day the rest of the world will realize that there is at least one more domino that needs to fall.

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The Latest from Iran (28 November): The Bank Fraud Expands

The celebration that led to lengthy suspension for two members of Iran's national football team (see 0835 GMT)

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2148 GMT: Explosion Watch. An EA correspondent does some checking on the claimed location of today's blast in Isfahan (see 2020 GMT). Not only is it near the Military Academy, but it is just to the east of Darvazeh Shiraz (Shiraz city gate) is the Sepah Badr airbase.

Fars resurfaces, after dropping its original story to report --- from ISNA --- that the head of Isfahan's judiciary heard the sound of an explosion but got no information from officials.

And Tabnak has the latest rationale from Deputy Governor Mohammadi Mehdi Esmaili: "Perhaps a water boiler exploded."

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The Latest from Iran (22 November): The Security Forces v. Ahmadinejad's Senior Advisor

See also Iran Special Analysis: The Security Forces Cross Ahmadinejad's "Red Line"
Iran Feature: So What Happened When Security Forces Tried to Arrest the President's Senior Advisor?
The Latest from Iran (21 November): Let's Talk Nukes...And Nothing But Nukes

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Iran Newspaper after Monday's Raid1835 GMT: A Change in the Revolutionary Guards. Looks like we have our answer to the question (see 1045 GMT) of why Yadollah Javani, the head of the Political Bureau of the Revolutionary Guards, has been replaced --- he has been appointed as advisor to the Supreme Leader's representative to the Guards.

1828 GMT: Arresting the President's Men. Ten of the staff of Iran newspaper, detained during the raid to seize Ahmadinejad advisor Ali Akbar Javanfekr, have been released.

1825 GMT: Elections Watch. The head of the judiciary, Sadegh Larijani, has appointed Revolutionary Guards commander Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr and Prosecutor General Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei to prevent "elections crimes".

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Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Playing the Iran Card

2040 GMT: Defiance and celebration --- Protesters in Ma'arrat al Nouman chant "Screw Iran and Screw Russia!"

2032 GMT: This video (cell phone, poor quality) claims to show tanks storming Sarmeen Idlib (in the hotspot between Idlib city and Saraqeb) amongst gunfire:

2022 GMT: Evening protests in Kafersita, Hama:

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Egypt, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: The Catalyst of Alaa's Detention

See also Egypt Letter: Returning to Mubarak's Prisons (Alaa)
Libya Special: Creating Armies out of Militias (Sheridan)
Libya Special: National Transitional Council Struggles to Remain the "Good Guys" (Malone)
Syria Special: Should We Treat Calls for a No-Fly Zone Seriously? (Zenko)

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2015 GMT: Egypt's military leaders have announced plans to free 334 people detained since the fall of the Mubarak regime in February.

Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, the head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, giving no details of who would be pardoned or when, said the releases would support "continued communication with the great Egyptian people and the youth of the revolution".

Human rights groups estimate that more than 12,000 civilians have been processed by military tribunals this year. This week brought international attention to the detentions with the military court's order to hold blogger and activist Alaa Abd-El Fattah (see separate entry).

1945 GMT: Claimed footage from Al Dair in Bahrain this evening, as protesters chant, "The martyr said, 'I sacrificed my soul to my country'" and "We will sacrifice our blood and souls to the martyrs":

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Turkey Feature: Ankara Offers Itself as the Answer in the Middle East (Shadid)

President Erdoğan at UN, 22 Sept 2011 No one is ready to declare a Pax Turkana in the Middle East, and indeed, its foreign policy is strewn this year with missteps, crises and gains that feel largely rhetorical. It even lacks enough diplomats. But in an Arab world where the United States seems in retreat, Europe ineffectual and powers like Israel and Iran unsettled and unsure, officials of an assertive, occasionally brash Turkey have offered a vision for what may emerge from turmoil across two continents that has upended decades of assumptions.

Not unexpectedly, the vision’s center is Turkey.

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