Mideast Brief: Turkey Blocks Twitter Ahead of Local Elections Friday, March 21, 2014 A Special Project with the New America Foundation and the Project on Middle East Political Science Turkey Blocks Twitter Ahead of Local Elections Turkeys courts have blocked Twitter ahead of local elections set to begin on March 30. The move came just hours after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at a rally on the campaign trail, Twitter and the rest, we will root out all of them. I dont care what the international community says, they will see the power of the Republic of Turkey. When trying to access the site, users have reported being redirected to a message by Turkeys telecommunications regulator citing a court order to apply protection measures on the website. Turkey is within the top ten countries for number of Twitter users in the world, but it is being criticized as joining the ranks of North Korea, Iran, and Syria in repression of social-media. However, Turkish residents are still able to access Twitter through the sites SMS service. Twitter played a major role in Turkeys protests in the summer of 2013 and has been a vehicle for the release of wire tapping recordings in a recent corruption scandal. Turkish President Abdullah Gul said complete social media bans are unacceptable, and circumvented the block tweeting I hope this implementation wont last long. Turkeys opposition Republican Peoples Party (CHP) said it will file a legal challenge on Friday to the court decision to block Twitter access, and is additionally planning to file a criminal complaint against Erdogan for violating personal freedoms. Syria The Syrian army seized a historic Crusader castle Thursday. The Crac des Chevaliers, a UNESCO World Heritage site that dates to the 12th century, had been a symbolic rebel stronghold. The victory came as part of a string of battlefield gains in a regime offensive to reclaim rebel held territory along the Lebanese border and sever opposition supply lines. Government forces have overtaken at least four towns and villages in the region in the past two weeks including Yabroud and al-Hosn. With three years of fierce fighting sparking mass refugee flows, Syrians topped the worlds list of asylum seekers for the first time in 2013. According to a UNHCR report released Friday, in 2013, 56,351 Syrians sought asylum, more than double the number in 2012. Most have been turning to Europe, and U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Anotonio Guterres said, There is clear evidence in these numbers of how the Syria crisis in particular is affecting countries and regions of the world far removed from the Middle East. Headlines The United States has canceled a summit planned this month between President Obama and Gulf leaders over splits with allies in the region, however he will still meet with Saudi Arabias King Abdullah in Riyadh.. Lebanons parliament has approved a newly-formed cabinet breaking a political deadlock and giving the country a fully empowered government for the first time in over a year. The Israeli army has discovered what it has described as one of the longest and most advanced tunnels running from the southern Gaza Strip into Israel found to date. As Iranians celebrate the New Year, price increases for energy and commodities are overshadowing festivities and hopes for President Rouhanis promised economic recovery fade. Arguments and Analysis Saudi Arabias Muslim Brotherhood predicament (Stéphane Lacroix, Washington Post) Although this isnt the first strain in the Saudi-Muslim Brotherhood relationship, the kingdom is unlikely to backtrack on its anti-Islamist stance -- at least anytime soon. The royal family is now convinced by the argument, often made by UAE officials, that the Muslim Brotherhood and all similar groups represent an existential threat for Gulf monarchies. Seen from Riyadh, the solution is to turn the clock back to the pre-1970s era, when the official religious establishments quietist brand of Salafism had a monopoly over Saudi Islam. In a globalized kingdom with the largest proportion of social media users in the world, this will not easily succeed. Iraqs Do-Nothing Legacy (Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, Defense One) We may think Iraq is done, but Iraq isnt, says former U.S. ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker, who served in Baghdad from 2007 to 2009. Once you are in, you are in. You can have a great philosophical debate about whether it was wise or not, but it doesnt affect the reality; you are there. Only America isnt there. Iraq is largely on its own -- and largely by its own request -- to build institutions, battle an insurgency and fight back against sectarian violence taking hold across the region fueled by Syrias chaos. -- Mary Casey & Cortni Kerr BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images The Latest from FP Turkey Blocks Twitter Ahead of Local Elections Nearly Half of Syria’s Chemical Stockpile Has Been Removed Israel Attacks Syrian Sites in Response to Golan Bombing Iran and World Powers Resume Nuclear Talks as Tensions Rise Over Ukraine Crisis U.S. Navy SEALs Seize Rogue Libyan Oil Tanker FP Passport Blog | ForeignPolicy | Subscribe to FP | Feedback | About FP FOREIGN POLICY | 11 DUPONT CIRCLE NW, SUITE 600 | WASHINGTON, DC 20036 © 2014 The FP Group. FOREIGN POLICY is published by the FP Group, a division of the Washington Post Company. 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Posted on: Fri, 21 Mar 2014 18:06:46 +0000
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