Ferai Tinc: Iran has pulled everyone into this chess game
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Haziran 26, 2006 13:34
Saturday afternoon, when Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul set foot on Iranian soil, was the exact one year anniversary of President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad's election to the Iranian presidency. There is much good in looking in general terms at the current situation with Iran, trying to analyze how this nuclear crisis process is going, and what role Turkey is playing in it all as it goes on.
Ahmedinejad, who came to power telling Iranians "We will bring our petrol wealth to your supper tables," has not been able to come up with solutions to the ongoing unemployment and economic problems which plague daily Iranian life during his one year in power. He has neither opened the path to new work possibilities, nor has he brought inflation downwards. Last week, 50 Iranian economists blamed the government for badly misdirecting the Iranian economy, saying that recent steps taken have been mis-informed, and without help from experts in the area.
The bureaucracy of Iran is also not happy. High level cadres have been completely stocked by people qualified only in terms of their ideology, not their skills. And the problems created by this are of course reflected in the society at large. Pressures on the opposition forces are increasing too. In April, internationally known Iranian philosopher Ramin Cahanbeglu was arrested at the Tehran airport on his return home from a conference abroad. He was thrown in Iran's well-known Evin prison. Cahanbeglu, who was educated at Harvard and Cambridge, and who has 20 books to his name, was arrested, said the Iranian authorities, for his connections with the CIA and Mossad. Despite all this, there is news that support for Ahmedinejad, as he celebrates the end of his first year in power, is not dwindling, but in fact increasing among the people of the country. And that is because he is a leader that stands up to the US.
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An Iranian news agency, reporting on Friday that Ahmedinejad had spoken with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan by phone, said "Ahmedinejad told Erdogan that he placed high importance on cooperation between Turkey and Iran, and called Tehran-Ankara relations 'sibling' relations. He also touched on the deep cultural, religious, and historical links between the two countries......He also indicated that both countries could play important roles in international peace and security." The rest of the radio news was about Erdogan's response to Ahmedinejad's message: "As for Erdogan, he praised the nuclear 'know-how' accumulated by Iran, and said he wanted the bilateral relations between the countries to develop."
This is the message being relayed to the Iranian public. It shows how much calculation is being put into every step of the way.
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Iran is after all the country which introduced chess to the world. The signs coming in show that they have a strong inclination and desire for gaining some more time for their side. Last week, the Iranian Foreign Minister was first in Italy, and then in Germany. He told the authorities in these two countries that he had examined the suggestions, but that Iran had rejected the pre-conditions set down. There is now a response expected from Iran by July 15. Many countries, including Turkey, are involved in making sure that an answer comes forth by that date. Iran for its part says that any answer will have to wait until near the end of August. At this point, the ball is in Iran's court. Ahmedinejad, at the end of his first year, appears not to have lost any of his determination to use the strongest card in his hand, that of nuclear power and the force it gives him.
The bureaucracy of Iran is also not happy. High level cadres have been completely stocked by people qualified only in terms of their ideology, not their skills. And the problems created by this are of course reflected in the society at large. Pressures on the opposition forces are increasing too. In April, internationally known Iranian philosopher Ramin Cahanbeglu was arrested at the Tehran airport on his return home from a conference abroad. He was thrown in Iran's well-known Evin prison. Cahanbeglu, who was educated at Harvard and Cambridge, and who has 20 books to his name, was arrested, said the Iranian authorities, for his connections with the CIA and Mossad. Despite all this, there is news that support for Ahmedinejad, as he celebrates the end of his first year in power, is not dwindling, but in fact increasing among the people of the country. And that is because he is a leader that stands up to the US.
*****
An Iranian news agency, reporting on Friday that Ahmedinejad had spoken with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan by phone, said "Ahmedinejad told Erdogan that he placed high importance on cooperation between Turkey and Iran, and called Tehran-Ankara relations 'sibling' relations. He also touched on the deep cultural, religious, and historical links between the two countries......He also indicated that both countries could play important roles in international peace and security." The rest of the radio news was about Erdogan's response to Ahmedinejad's message: "As for Erdogan, he praised the nuclear 'know-how' accumulated by Iran, and said he wanted the bilateral relations between the countries to develop."
This is the message being relayed to the Iranian public. It shows how much calculation is being put into every step of the way.
*****
Iran is after all the country which introduced chess to the world. The signs coming in show that they have a strong inclination and desire for gaining some more time for their side. Last week, the Iranian Foreign Minister was first in Italy, and then in Germany. He told the authorities in these two countries that he had examined the suggestions, but that Iran had rejected the pre-conditions set down. There is now a response expected from Iran by July 15. Many countries, including Turkey, are involved in making sure that an answer comes forth by that date. Iran for its part says that any answer will have to wait until near the end of August. At this point, the ball is in Iran's court. Ahmedinejad, at the end of his first year, appears not to have lost any of his determination to use the strongest card in his hand, that of nuclear power and the force it gives him.