LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
October 01/12

Bible Quotation for today/Adultery & Divorce
Matthew 05/27- 32: "You have heard that it was said, Do not commit adultery. But now I tell you: anyone who looks at a woman and wants to possess her is guilty of committing adultery with her in his heart. So if your right eye causes you to sin, take it out and throw it away! It is much better for you to lose a part of your body than to have your whole body thrown into hell. If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away! It is much better for you to lose one of your limbs than to have your whole body go off to hell. It was also said, Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a written notice of divorce. But now I tell you: if a man divorces his wife for any cause other than her unfaithfulness, then he is guilty of making her commit adultery if she marries again; and the man who marries her commits adultery also.

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
An exciting moment for Turkey/By Amir Taheri/Asharq Alawsat/September 30/12
Lavrov’s fabrications/By Tariq Alhomayed/Asharq Al-Awsat/ September 30/12

Fordo sabotage enabled Netanyahu to move Iran red line to spring 2013
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report September 29, 201/The sabotage of the Fordo uranium enrichment facility’s power lines on Aug. 17 gave Israel Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu extra leeway to move his original red line for Iran from late September 2012 – now – to the spring or early summer of 2013. The disruption of the underground enrichment plant's power supply caused several of the advanced IR-1 and IR-4 centrifuges producing the 20-percent grade uranium to burst into flames. Work was temporarily halted and the accumulation of 240 kilos for Iran’s first nuclear bomb slowed down by at least six months, debkafile’s intelligence sources report.
Hence Netanyahu’s new red line timeline of “late spring, early summer” - before which preventive action is imperative - in his speech to the UN General Assembly Thursday, Sept. 27.
Our military sources report that the advantage gained is already proving short-lived. Iran has pounced back fast with two aggressive counter-moves on Israel’s doorstep:
1. Thousands of elite Al Qods Brigades officers and men are being airlifted into Lebanon and Syria and deployed opposite Israeli borders (as debkafile has reported);
2. Shortly before the Israeli Prime Minister rose to speak in New York, Syrian President Bashar Assad again removed chemical weapons out of storage. Some were almost certainly passed to the incoming Iranian units. The weapons’ movements were accounted for as a precaution for “greater security,” but in practice they will be ready for use against Israel when the order is handed down from Tehran.
Friday, Sept. 28, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta was specifically asked by a reporter if it was believed that “Iran’s Revolutionary Guards or Syrian rebels had been able to get possession of any of the chemical weapons” which the secretary had just disclosed were on the move. He left the door open, saying only that he had “no firm information to confirm this.” That sort of question never comes out of thin air. It was also the second time in three weeks that the defense secretary mentioned the movements of Syrian chemical weapons out of storage. This time, he said, ‘‘There has been intelligence that there have been some moves that have taken place. Where exactly that’s taken place, we don’t know.” But he did not rule out the possibility that they were being made ready for use.
This non-denial tied in closely with the words heard that day from US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton: “Iran has left no doubt that it will do whatever it takes to protect the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad, Tehran’s staunch ally,” she said.
Syrian chemical weapons movements out of storage, the presence of crack Iranian fighting units on Israel’s borders and Tehran’s determination to keep Assad in power “whatever it takes” hung in menacing silence over Netanyahu’s powerful cartoon presentation of the Iranian nuclear peril.
Already on Sept. 16, the Revolutionary Guards chief Gen. Ali Jafary announced publicly that al Qods Brigades personnel had landed not only in Syria but also Lebanon. The chemical weapons may therefore have already reached Hizballah or be on their way there unbeknownst to US intelligence.
Both Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak have repeatedly stated that the transfer of chemical weapons to Hizballah would necessitate Israeli military action.
The IDF’s large-scale military call-up and firing exercise on the Golan of Sept. 19 failed to deter the Iranian military buildup opposite Israeli northern borders in Syria and Lebanon. The Iranian airlift continues and US intelligence has not denied that some al Qods arrivals may now be armed with chemical weapons.
The Iranian threat to Israel is therefore far from static; it is gaining substance and menace, keeping two IDF divisions on call in northern Israel after the exercise was over.
Netanyahu’s red line for preventing Iran achieving a 240-kilo enriched uranium stockpile does not cover an Iranian preemptive attack on the Jewish state before then – as threatened explicitly by the Iranian missiles Corps chief Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizade on Sept. 24. Neither had Israeli officials anything to say about the Hamas leaders’ trips to Beirut and Tehran this month to sign military accords with the Revolutionary Guards and Hizballah pledging the Palestinian extremists’ participation in an attack on Israel. The red line on the cartoon bomb which Netanyahu held up so effectively at the UN Thursday covered only one segment of the peril Tehran poses for the Jewish state. A more immediate danger lurks in the north.

Israel already passed own nuclear red line: Iran
September 29, 2012/Daily Star
TEHRAN: Israel has already breached its own red line set by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by acquiring "dozens of nuclear warheads," Iranian Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi said on Saturday.
"If having the atomic bomb is passing the red line, the Zionist regime, that possesses dozens of nuclear warheads and weapons of mass destruction, has passed the red line years ago, and it has to be stopped," he said, according to the ISNA news agency. Vahidi was responding to a speech by Netanyahu to the UN General Assembly this week in which -- using a cartoon bomb diagramme -- the Israeli leader called for a "clear red line" to be applied to Iran's nuclear activities, which he charged are aimed at developing atomic weapons.
"Is the occupying and aggressor Zionist regime that possesses nuclear weapons more dangerous? Or an Iran that doesn't have nuclear weapons and which insists more than anybody on nuclear disarmament, and seeks only to have peaceful nuclear energy abiding by international rules," Vahidi asked. Israel is the Middle East's sole, though undeclared, nuclear weapons state. Analysts estimate it has more than 200 nuclear warheads. It is a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency but has never signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Iran insists its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful and rejects Israel's accusations of military intent. Israel has had serious differences with Washington over how to respond to what it regards an "existential" threat from Tehran.
US intelligence agencies estimate that Iran has taken no decision to acquire a nuclear weapon but is merely seeking a so-called breakout capability to develop one in the future if it so decides.
It says there is more time for diplomacy and sanctions to work out.

Israel PM’s camp says NYC trip cleared air with Washington
By HERB KEINON, HILARY LEILA KRIEGER/J.post
Netanyahu returns satisfied after "red line" speech to UN General Assembly; Canada’s Harper: Those who target Israel are a threat to free societies everywhere. Photo: Pool/Eli Selman
Netanyahu returns satisfied after ‘red line’ speech to UN General Assembly; Canada’s Harper: Those who target Israel are a threat to free societies everywhere.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu left New York for Israel Saturday night with aides expressing satisfaction that the key objectives of his trip – clearly defining red lines on Iran and clearing the air with Washington – were achieved.
“The first thing that he succeeded in doing was sharpening the message on Iran,” one source in Netanyahu’s entourage said of the prime minister’s speech Thursday to the UN. “We were more specific about what we think should be the red lines, and that is important in framing the parameters of the debate.”
The official said that the visit, which included a phone conversation Friday with US President Barack Obama and a meeting Thursday with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, “strengthened and enhanced our dialogue with the US administration over these issues.”
In addition, the official noted, Netanyahu’s UN speech and his red line on a rudimentary sketch of a bomb received “almost unprecedented coverage internationally” and succeeded in putting the Iranian nuclear program “at the very center of the international political agenda.”
It is more clear than in the past what Israel means when it talks about red lines, the official said.
Netanyahu, in an interview with Channel 1, said he believed that placing a red line in front of Iran reduced the chances Tehran would cross it. He defined that line in his speech as the point before Iran had stockpiled enough low-grade and medium-grade uranium to begin working on high-grade uranium and a nuclear detonator.
Defining where the red line is, he said, gave “a great deal of legitimization” to those who might want to act if Iran crossed it.
The prime minister, in a Channel 2 interview, said he did not discuss an Israeli attack in his speech – only that the red line had to be at a point before Iran completed the second stage of enrichment needed for a bomb. Regarding his comment that the Iranians could reach that stage by springtime, Netanyahu said this would happen only if they continued enriching at their current pace.
“But lets see if they continue,” he said. “I think that placing a red line is the best guarantor to prevent the need for military action.”
Netanyahu clarified that in saying Iran would not cross the line until at least spring, he “never gave up for even a minute Israel’s right to defend itself at any time. I think that right is clear and understood by everyone.”
He added that it was important to make clear to the international community that Iran was continuing to move forward on its nuclear program, and that if it wanted to stop the program it had to do so “before the finishing of the enrichment process.”
Washington’s refusal to articulate its red line has been a source of public tension in recent weeks between Israel and the US. Netanyahu, however, said that teams from both countries were working at the highest levels to try to translate into practical terms the joint objective of preventing Iran from attaining a nuclear weapon.
The White House stressed on Friday, following the Obama-Netanyahu phone conversation, that the US and Israel were “in full agreement” on preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
The two men discussed the coordination of their efforts and cooperation in dealing with Iran, according to a statement by White House press secretary Jay Carney.
While the statement did not say how long the conversation lasted, Netanyahu said it was a “prolonged” discussion.
“The two leaders underscored that they are in full agreement on the shared goal of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon,” the statement said.
The conversation was their second in three weeks, an unusually short stretch of time for two publicly announced calls. It comes after criticism of Obama for declining a meeting with Netanyahu while the premier was in the US for the UN General Assembly, and amidst discord between the two countries on how best to thwart the threat from Tehran.
Netanyahu’s comments to the UN Thursday and his comments that Iran would not cross his red line until at least spring suggested the timeline for any Israel action would not come until well into next year, after the US elections in November, reducing some of the immediate tension between the two countries.
“The temperature is lower than it had been,” an Obama aide said after the call.
The White House readout also noted that Netanyahu “welcomed President Obama’s commitment at the UN to do what we must to achieve that goal.”
Netanyahu also spoke by phone Friday with Obama challenger Mitt Romney.
Romney, speaking to reporters on his campaign plane, said he and Netanyahu agreed that Iran must be denied nuclear capabilities but did not agree on specific red lines to confront Tehran.
“I do not believe in the final analysis we will have to use military action,” Romney said. “I certainly hope we don’t have to. I can’t take that action off the table.”
Friday’s White House phone call followed a meeting between Netanyahu and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in New York Thursday night. The meeting lasted one hour and 15 minutes and was entirely one-on-one, according to the State Department.
The pair held a lengthy discussion on Iran, and also discussed developments in the broader region and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
“It was an open, wide-ranging constructive conversation,” the State Department statement said. The Prime Minister’s Office released no information about that meeting.
Netanyahu also met Friday with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and praised Harper again for Canada’s recent decision to cut ties with Iran.
“I think that what you did, severing ties with Iran, was not only an act of statesmanship, but an act of moral clarity,” he said to the Canadian leader before the meeting.
Harper said Canada wanted to see a peaceful resolution to the Iranian crisis, “and we work closely with our allies to try and alert the world to the danger this presents and the necessity of dealing with it.”
Later in the day, at the Appeal of Conscience Foundation’s annual dinner in New York, Harper said “the appeal of our conscience requires us to speak out against what the Iranian regime stands for. Likewise, it requires us to speak in support of the country that its hatred most immediately threatens, the State of Israel.”
Harper said that while Ottawa does not sanction every policy Israel pursues, “neither its existence nor its policies are responsible for the pathologies present in that part of the world.”
He was also mindful, Harper said, “of a lesson of history, that those who single out the Jewish people as a target of racial and religious bigotry will inevitably be a threat to all of us. Indeed, those who so target Israel today are, by their own words and deeds, also a threat to all free and democratic societies.”

EU says understands Lebanon’s dissociation policy
September 29, 2012/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: The European Union said Saturday it understood Lebanon’s dissociation policy toward events in Syria and said it was committed to offering humanitarian assistance to those fleeing violence in Lebanon’s neighbor. Olof Skoog, head the Political and Security Committee (PSC) of the Council of the European Union, following a meeting with Prime Minister Najib Mikati at the Grand Serail, also said the EU would continue to offer assistance on border security, a statement from Mikati’s office read.
President Michel Sleiman and Mikati said Friday that Lebanon would maintain a disassociation policy toward Syria while extending aid to refugees.
Addressing the U.N. General Assembly Thursday night in New York City, Mikati warned that the drawn-out crisis in Syria threatens civil peace in the Middle East and said the world must isolate Lebanon from it. He also stressed that “Lebanon adheres to the disassociation policy, but not in terms of the humane duty toward Syrian refugees.”
According to the statement Saturday, Skoog said the committee had met during its visit with representatives from the Lebanese Army and that the delegation backed the work of security forces, particularly the military, which he said is tasked with maintaining the rule of law and protecting citizens in the face of external and internal threats on the basis of human rights.
Skoog also condemned repeated violations and security incidents along the border with Syria.
Since the uprising in Syria in May of last year, incidents along the border have increased, with some leading to fatalities. Thousands of Syrians fleeing the violence in their country have also sought refuge in Lebanon. The PSC, composed of ambassadors of the 27 EU states, arrived in Lebanon Friday and will end its visit to the country later Saturday.
Skoog said the EU backed Lebanon’s efforts to safeguard security, overcome differences, strengthen national unity and peace, as well as reviving National Dialogue.
He also praised Lebanese authorities, international partners and non-governmental organizations working on the ground to provide assistance to those fleeing the violence in Syria.
The PSC head also said the EU remained prepared to offer assistance and support to refugees.
The EU official urged all Lebanese to work toward defusing tensions and to search for constructive solutions to resolve issues of national unity.
Skoog also said the EU stresses the importance of capable, independent and democratic institutions for the future of Lebanon.
He said Lebanon’s commitment to U.N. resolutions 1559, 1680, 1701 and 1757 were crucial and praised the role of United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon alongside the Lebanese Army which he said played a key role for peace in the region.

Rai pushing for agreement on electoral proposal: Harb
September 29, 2012/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: MP Butros Harb said over the weekend that Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai was pushing for agreement of the Bkirki Committee on an elections law with small electoral districts for the upcoming 2013 elections, the Lebanese Forces said in a statement.
“[I hope] there will be agreement on the small electoral districts proposal in Bkirki, particularly given that Patriarch Beshara Rai is pushing in this direction and we hope there is a joint formula and we are open to suggestions even though we consider small districts will secure optimal representation,” Harb said, according to the LF statement. Harb’s comments came following a meeting with LF chief Samir Geagea at Maarab. Following the meeting, the MP said he and Geagea shared the same views on the elections law. “Our views with Geagea match and we have a joint plan and we will intensify contacts to reach the adoption of a law with small electoral districts numbering 50 that leads to representation for all Lebanese and which would also provide Christians an effective role,” Harb said.
On Friday, Geagea said his rival MP Michel Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement would have to choose between the government’s draft law and the March 14 proposal for small districts.
Last Month, the Cabinet endorsed a draft law based on proportional representation with Lebanon divided into 13 electoral districts. Lawmakers from Parliament’s joint committees began debating Thursday the lines of the government’s draft law.
Last week, Christian March 14 lawmakers put forward to Parliament’s General Secretariat a proposal for small electoral districts.
The draft law, presented by Kataeb Party MP Sami Gemayel, Lebanese Forces MP George Adwan and Harb, would divide Lebanon into 50 small districts, each having two or three seats under a winner-takes-all system. On Friday, Lebanon’s Maronite Church called for a new election law that ensures a true and fair Christian representation in next year’s parliamentary polls, while rejecting the current law that is based on a winner-takes-all system. In 2009, Lebanon adopted the 1960 law, which is a qada-based, winner-takes-all system.
Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt has voiced support to the 1960 law and has outright rejected a proportional representation system in the upcoming elections.

Mideast meets Far East in Downtown Beirut
September 29, 2012 /By Brooke Anderson/The Daily Star /BEIRUT: On a quiet street in the middle of bustling Downtown Beirut, a splash of bright colors and minimalist designs catches the attention of passersby.The furniture designed by Nada Debs is neither Arab nor foreign. The designs are from a combination of inspirations from her upbringing in a close-knit family of Syrian textile merchants living in Japan. Arab mosaic designs, known for their extravagant details, are given a sleek, minimalist look, a clear influence of her time in the Far East.
“In Japan I was surrounded by beauty,” she recalls. “There’s a kind of organizational aesthetic – even in the way people eat and in their handwriting. There’s lots of attention to detail. It’s subtle and innate, you don’t even question it.”
It was in this atmosphere that she grew up in the southern Japanese city of Kobe, part of the third generation of a family of Arab merchants that migrated from Damascus. Debs’ great uncle left the Syrian capital in 1917 in search of business opportunities. The family eventually came to thrive in the textile and grocery industries.
There, in one of the world’s greatest economies, she says she learned the importance of hard work, respect for time and a love of craftwork.
Now back in Beirut, she says, “I’m struggling because people don’t have industrial mentality. It’s the Lebanese nature to be entrepreneurs. They don’t like to work behind the scenes. All my workers are Syrians.”
Indeed, from her small studio in Downtown she is trying to instill those same values in those around her, as she endeavors to take her business to the next level with more exports.
She admits that in Lebanon, the country of her birth, she often still doesn’t feel at home amid the chaotic traffic and often lax work environment.
“I’ve been working since age 18. I worked in everything, it didn’t matter what it was. If had the chance to do anything I did it,” says Debs, whose early jobs included teaching English in Japan.
“I started at the bottom and I worked my way up. When you have experience, people respect it. I know about sales and production because I did it. When you reach a management level and you tell someone to do something, you know what you’re talking about.”
In fact, Debs’ role as an entrepreneur and manager came about somewhat by chance. In 1991, after studying at the American University of Beirut and completing her master’s degree in interior architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design, she moved to London, a city she chose for its vibrant Arab community.
There, she said it was difficult to find work at a design firm. When she became pregnant with her first child and was unable to find good children’s furniture, she began designing and making her own pieces from her home. Word quickly spread, and soon she was getting requests from people who wanted custom-made furniture – including Queen Rania of Jordan.
In 2000, she and her family moved to Beirut, where she continued designing children’s furniture – this time from her home in Verdun. But she also wanted to make furniture for adults.
In 2004, she got the chance to prove herself when she opened a studio in Downtown’s newly built Saifi Village. There, she says people would walk in to buy her pieces – only they weren’t for sale. Then, she opened a boutique on the same street, where again news of her interesting designs quickly spread.
Today, with the help of Endeavor, a global NGO that helps accelerate the growth of high-impact businesses, Debs is looking to expand her exports, which already account for 65 percent of her sales.
“This region has a very long tradition of handicrafts, and it’s something that’s to our competitive advantage,” says Tarek Sadi, managing director of Endeavor in Lebanon.
“There are some great industries flourishing in Lebanon, such as technology and services. But other industries can help us diversify our economy. We need to encourage people to come and work in these sectors.”
At her Saifi studio, Debs works on her latest collection – chairs and tables inspired from the 1950s and couches with brightly colored cushions made with fabric from the 1970s. She has heard that in Damascus people ask designers to “do Nada Debs,” a bittersweet attribute of her success that forces her to continually change directions and reinvent herself.
Sadi says, “In a region where we’re used to having our senses attacked, hers just slices through.”

Iran's rial dives 6 percent to new record low
Daily Star/TEHRAN: Iran's currency, the rial, dived six percent to a new low of around 28,600 to the dollar in open trading on Saturday, deepening a month-long sell-off, according to exchange tracking websites. The new rate was sharply lower than the 26,900 rials per dollar fetched on Thursday, the last day of trading.
The plunge -- and a steep rise in the price of gold bought in Iran -- suggested Iranian families and companies were rushing to convert their money to dollars, other foreign currency and precious metals because of economic uncertainty. The rial has lost over 60 percent of its value since the end of last year, as draconian Western economic sanctions take effect. That has spurred already high inflation to even greater heights, with food costs soaring more than 50 percent. Speculation of military action against Iran by Israel, with or without the help of its ally the United States, has grown in the past couple of months.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a speech Thursday to the UN General Assembly, implied action would have to be taken against Iran before the middle of 2013 if it continues with its nuclear activities at the current rate. Iran, which denies Israeli and US allegations that it has nuclear weapons ambitions, has made some efforts to mitigate the weakening of the rial, but to little durable effect.
The head of Iran's central bank, Mahmoud Bahmani, predicted on Saturday that the rial's slide would be halted once the market realised the country "has enough (foreign) currency in reserve."
Iran was estimated to have up to $100 billion in foreign reserves at the end of last year, earned from record prices on its oil exports.
This week Iran opened an "exchange centre" which puts importers and exporters in touch which each other to arrange informal swaps of currency aimed at skirting US financial restrictions that curb the ability to repatriate money to Iran.

Mars rover finds first evidence of water: a river of it
September 29, 2012 /Daily Star
This image provided by NASA shows shows a Martian rock outcrop near the landing site of the rover Curiosity thought to be the site of an ancient streambed, next to similar rocks shown on earth. Curiosity landed in a crater near Mars' equator on Aug. 5, 2012, on a two-year mission to study whether the environment could have been favorable for microbial life. (AP Photo/NASA)
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida: NASA's Mars rover, Curiosity, dispatched to learn if the most Earth-like planet in the solar system was suitable for microbial life, has found clear evidence its landing site was once awash in water, a key ingredient for life, scientists said Thursday. Curiosity, a roving chemistry laboratory the size of a small car, touched down on August 6 inside a giant impact basin near the planet's equator. The primary target for the two-year mission is a three-mile (five-km) -high mound of layered rock rising from the floor of Gale Crater.

An exciting moment for Turkey
By Amir Taheri/Asharq Alawsat
With the Grand National Assembly (parliament) returning next week from its summer recess, the firing shot will be sounded for an exciting, and dangerous, moment in Turkey’s quest for redefining its identity under Prime Minister Recep Tayyib Erdogan
Erdogan is likely to enter history as one of his country’s greatest political leaders since the establishment of the republic in October 1923. Slated to be at the centre of an adulatory exercise during the current congress of his Justice and Deelopment Party (AKP), Erdogan could justly murmur to himself: so far, so good!
During his stewardship of the government, Turkey has broken out of the vicious circle of poverty and inflation, to start building a modern economy.
Erdogan’s political record is no less impressive.
He has brought the Islamist fringe into the mainstream by developing the theme of “an Islamic society with a secular state”. Abroad, he has gained a new voice for Turkey in its geopolitical habitat, especially the Middle East.
Thus, it is no surprise that Erdogan is seeking to celebrate his record by leaving behind two monuments. The first would be a mosque in Istanbul, already described as “the biggest in the world”, to dwarf the one constructed under Suleiman the Magnificent. The second is a new Constitution to create a presidential system in the hope that Erdogan would be the first president in a post-Kemalist Turkey.
How the planned mosque will turn out and whether or not it would rival the architectural beauty of numerous Ottoman edifices in Istanbul is anybody’s guess.
Nor does that really matter in the bigger scheme of things.The same cannot be said about a new constitution.
Most people agree that the current constitution, enacted under the military in 1982 and amended twice, would benefit from substantial re-writing.
The question is: what kind of re-writing?
Concocting a new constitution simply to allow Erdogan to rule as president, rather than as prime minister, is not a convincing argument for reform.
One could even argue that a parliamentary system in which executive power is exercised by a prime minister and his cabinet would better suit Turkey's needs. Such a system provides for greater political participation and flexibility in adjusting policies through parliamentary give-and-take. It also reduces the risk of conflict between a parliamentary majority and a president from a rival camp.
However, the problems that Erdogan and, ultimately, would-be authors of a new constitution face are not limited to such concerns. Perhaps, the most daunting problem they face concerns the question of identity. The modern Turkey that emerged from the debris of the Ottoman Empire adopted an identity in line with the 19th century European Zeitgeist in which the world was divided into nations. Suddenly, the rump of a multinational, multi-faith empire was declared to be a European-style nation-state. Turkey was defined as a "nation" although it was composed of peoples with many different national backgrounds. The successive constitutions of the Kemalist republic are full of references to the nation, nationalism, national interests, national culture, and “the absolute supremacy of the will of the nation".
Nevertheless, all successive texts contain key contradictions. Chief among these is the definition of the state as a republic and the system of the government as democracy. And yet, concepts such as republic and democracy are best suited to a system in which citizenship and popular will are emphasized.
A democracy could be multi-national, as is the case in the United Kingdom or Turkey's own neighbor Iraq. A republic belongs to its citizens, regardless of ethnic and/or national backgrounds, as is the case with the United States where double-barrel self-definitions transcend national identities.
Limiting Turkey's identity to its ethnic-linguistic Turkish component means denying the Kurdish self-definition of at least 20 per cent of the citizens. Whether anyone likes it or not many loyal and law-abiding Kurdish citizens of the Turkish Republic do not feel they are part of a Turkish nation or that their aspirations are reflected in Turkish nationalism.
How to deal with that conundrum?
One way is to deny its existence, as do some pan-Turk nationalists. Any attempt at defining Turkey as a bi-national republic could produce a political backlash and, perhaps, even a return to military rule.
Another is to preach Kurdish secession as does the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) which, its denials notwithstanding, dreams of a separate nationalist, this time Kurdish, state in eastern Anatolia. A third and, perhaps, more sober way, is to define Turkey as a democratic republic in which all citizens enjoy equal rights and responsibilities regardless of their diverse national self-identifications.
Logically, Erdogan should be sympathetic to this last view. The reason is that, at least in private, Erdogan defines himself as a practicing Muslim. As such he would know that Islam has never felt comfortable with the modern concept of nationalism, shaped in 19th century Europe. At the same time, Erdogan knows that few even in his own party would agree to define Turkey as part of an Islamic ummah. The best way out is not to imprison Turkey either into an outdated nationalistic identity or the even more illusory one of ummah.
Common sense suggests a constitution based on Turkey’s existential reality as a society that enjoys a rich diversity of ethnic backgrounds, languages, cultures and degrees of belief and un-belief- a society bound together by the concept of citizenship based on the rule of law in a democratic republic.
An exciting moment awaits Turkey. What the leadership elite do with it remains to be seen.

Iraqi Arabs want to establish Sunni authority
By Ma'ad Fayad/London, Asharq Al-Awsat - Sunni leadership sources in Amman and Istanbul revealed that "Iraqi Sunni figures have held many meetings in Istanbul with a view to forming a Sunni authority and to pave the way for the creation of an Arab Sunni region in Iraq." Furthermore, they pointed out that "the Association of Muslim Scholars, led by Harith al-Dhari, participated in these meetings with former Iraqi MP Adnan al-Dulaimi, a representative of Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, and a number of Sunni groups".
These sources spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat yesterday via telephone, under the condition of anonymity. They said that "Iraqi Arab Sunni figures have convened for three meetings in Istanbul, two of which were preliminary, while the founding conference was held ten days ago”. Additionally, they pointed out that "despite the absence of Turkish participation in these meetings – the Turks have never declared their intentions to form a Sunni region – Turkey has at least hosted and sponsored them. What was once thought to be mere rumors has today transformed into practical, openly declared action".
Meanwhile, a source close to al-Hashimi denied participating in the meetings. Bashar Muhammad Faydi, member of the Association of Muslim Scholars, told Asharq Al-Awsat by telephone yesterday from Amman: "We did not attend these meetings; we did not sit down with Adnan al-Dulaimi or any other advocate of the creation of a Sunni region, or the foundation of a Sunni authority". Furthermore, he underlined that "the Association of Muslim Scholars in Iraq is against sectarianism and it does not present itself as a Sunni authority or a representative of the Sunnis of Iraq".
On the other hand, another source close to al-Hashimi described the meetings that took place in Istanbul as "merely a series of dialogues between Iraqis committed both to Iraq and the Sunnis, who have suffered and continue to suffer discrimination. The Sunni leadership is divided and there is no unity in its decisions or practices". The source denied that "Vice President [al-Hashemi] or his representative participated in these meetings, which discussed the idea of forming a political authority, not a religious one, to address the conditions of the Sunnis who do not know what direction things are moving in Iraq". He stipulated that "there is no project, sign or plan of action, but rather the meetings held in Istanbul merely debated current issues". This source, speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat from Istanbul, stated that "it is necessary to unite the efforts of the Sunnis and protect them from discrimination, in order to ensure their national political role in the building of Iraq, and to achieve a dignified life for all Iraqis away from sectarianism".

Lavrov’s fabrications
By Tariq Alhomayed/Asharq Al-Awsat
For once I listened to the Russian point of view towards Syria, via the noteworthy television interview conducted by veteran US media figure Charlie Rose with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, which was an interview full of fabrications, and I was struck by the truth, not to mention the Russian Foreign Minister’s erroneous reading of the events in Syria, stemming from the flawed Russian stance in support of Bashar al-Assad.
Lavrov, who prompted the longstanding American interviewer to frequently interrupt him and attempt to clarify his points, said that his country’s stance is based on a rejection of intervention in Syria and a refusal to accept the demand for al-Assad to leave, first and foremost because al-Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood are primarily responsible for the armed violence there, with the support of other countries. In other words, Lavrov is saying that the Muslim Brotherhood, along with the Gulf States, France, Britain and America, have become allies of al-Qaeda. This is the kind of rhetoric that we only hear from Walid Moallem or Jihad al-Maqdisi, and it is the talk of those who have completely lost hope and have tied their survival to that of al-Assad. It is not the rhetoric of any rational person or professional politician, especially when we see that nearly thirty thousand Syrians have died at the hands of al-Assad’s forces!
It is strange that Lavrov says his country’s approach to Syria is based on one priority, to stop the killing, because innocent Syrians are being killed and they know that the al-Assad regime is behind the murder. Furthermore, who gave the Russians the right to speak for the Syrians and outline their priorities when the Syrians, for the last 19 months, have been categorically saying “down with al-Assad and down with the regime”? What is worse is that in the interview Lavrov talks about Iranian interference in Syria, but he dismisses it and puts it down to the “power of the media”. Yet what Lavrov seems to have forgotten, or is ignoring, is that the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards himself talked about Iran’s presence and support in Syria. He said this in front of cameras, not in the form of a written press statement, which shows that the Iranians are more credible than Lavrov when it comes to defending al-Assad!
The wonders of the once-called “Mullah Lavrov” do not stop there, for he went on to blame America and the West for their stances towards Milosevic in Yugoslavia, Saddam Hussein in Iraq and Muammar Gaddafi in Libya, but is there anything worse than a policy of defending the most abhorrent dictators in the world? In the televised interview, Lavrov not only fabricated, he undermined Russia’s policy as a whole, and in a spectacular manner he exposed its weak and flawed defense of al-Assad. The Russian Foreign Minister was not content with tarnishing the reputation of the Syrian revolution, what is worse is that he also accused part of the Free Syrian Army of extending an open invitation to al-Qaeda to participate with them in their battle against al-Assad. This, apart from being untrue, is something we have not heard anyone say before other than al-Assad, and even then not in the crude manner of Lavrov!
In the end, Lavrov’s provocative interview is nothing but a genuine indication that Moscow has become convinced that it will now be difficult for al-Assad to stay in power. If this is not the case, then why would the Russian Foreign Minister resort to such fabrications and distort the facts in such a crude form?

Report: Turkish pilots killed by Assad, not crash
Roi Kais Published: 09.29.12/Ynetnews
Classified files obtained by Al Arabiya reveal that Syrian President ordered killing of two Turkish air force pilots who were captured after their fighter jet was shot down in June; Western sources deny report
Newly-leaked classified Syrian intelligence documents indicate that the two Turkish air force pilots who were flying the F-4 Phantom jet that was shot down in June by Bashar Assad's regime, survived the crash but were later executed by Assad's soldiers.
The classified documents were recently obtained by the United Arab Emirates-based Al Arabiya network, with the assistance of members of the Syrian opposition. The report was later denied by Western sources. According to the report, one highly confidential document that was sent directly from the presidential office of Assad to brigadier
Hassan Abdel Rahman, the chief of the Syrian Special Operations Unit, states the following: “Two Turkish pilots were captured by the Syrian Air Force Intelligence after their jet was shot down in coordination with the Russian naval base in the Syrian city of Tartus.”
The file reveals two critical reports: First, the pilots were still alive after the plane had crashed. Secondly, that Russia was involved in this secretive mission.

Aoun Says Proportional Representation Draft Law Will Pass 'Eventually'
Naharnet / 29 September 2012,
Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun stressed on Saturday that the stances adopted by the cabinet provided the country with the necessary stability, noting that the new electoral law based on proportional representation will be approved “ultimately.”
“We fear if Syria lost then extremism and Takfiri thinking will widely spread, such as in northern Lebanon. We can't accept these abnormal cases on our land and that threaten our existence,” Aoun said during a tour in the towns of Jbeil.
He pointed out that the first component to defend the nation and safeguard it is the national unity, which “can be carried out only if we are open to others who are different.”
Aoun noted that Jbeil is deprived from development projects as some “members in the cabinet are obstructing them.”
Concerning the new controversial electoral law, the FPM leader said that a new electoral law based on proportional representation “will be approved eventually.”
“They (the March 14 alliance) have no strong argument to reject it. They will lose the upcoming 2013 parliamentary elections even if we adopted the 1960 electoral law,” Aoun said.
He stressed that change and reform are two necessary elements in Lebanon.
Rival political parties in Lebanon are deeply divided over the electoral law as the Bkirki committee tasked with studying the best representation of Christians in the 2013 parliamentary elections agreed to prepare a study on three draft-laws proposed to the parliament after wrangling between the March 8 majority and March 14 coalition MPs over the conflicting proposals.
The government's draft-law calls for dividing Lebanon into 13 medium-sized districts based on proportionality while the opposition's proposal made by MPs George Adwan, Sami Gemayel and Butros Harb supports the formation of 50 small-sized districts in a winner-takes-all system while a plan suggested by Free Patriotic Movement chief Michel Aoun’s Change and Reform bloc that would allow every sect to elect its own MPs under a proportional representation system with Lebanon as a single district.