Middle East Today: Turkey --- 1st Death as Protests Spread

Protest in the village of Ayvalik (pop: 40,000) on Tuesday

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Tonight's Protests

Thousands of protestors returned to Istanbul's Taksim Square on Tuesday night --- Turkish pipe music and singing blared over speakers as the crowd clapped and danced in a festive atmosphere.

In Ankara, residents carried out ther nightly protest of banging pots and pans, leaning from their windows, and marching in the street. Some waved red and white Turkish flags and drivers honked their horns, amid yells directed toward Prime Minister Erdogan: "Tayyip, resign!"

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Middle East Today: Turkey --- How Serious Are the Protests?

A protester is injured by a water cannon after challenging a police van

See also Friday's Turkey Today: Protesters Defy Police Crackdown as Demonstrations Spread Beyond Istanbul

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Protests Beyond Istanbul

Headlines tonight are of the thousands who gathered in Istanbul's Taksim Square as police pulled back and allowed demonstrations; however, there have been large rallies in other Turkish cities. This is Bursa, Turkey's fourth-largest city, in the northwest of the country:

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Middle East Today: Iraq --- Deadly Bombings Continue

Egypt: Concern Over Effect of Proposed Law on NGOs

Human Rights Watch has expressed concern that a draft law, placed by President Morsi before the legislature on Wednesday, would allow the Government and security agencies to arbitrarily restrict the funding and operation of independent groups.

HRW claims the Associations Law will reinforce and formalise State control over non- Governmental groups by denying them access to both domestic and international funding and giving "complete discretion" to authorities to object to activities of Egyptian and international organisations.

HRW said there were improvements in the draft, notably over the withdrawal of the designation of all NGO funding as "public" and thus open to Government supervision; however, it said the Government still retains excessive powers.

HRW cited the requirement of submission of an annual financial report, as well as copies of all internal decisions and a report on annual activities, to the authorities --- who could object and try to shut down the NGO. Groups also must notify the government in advance every time they wish to raise money through TV campaigns, charity events, or mail campaigns, and a Government committee has absolute discretion to block all access to foreign funding.

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Middle East Today: Iraq --- At Least 57 Killed in Bombings on Monday

Iraq: Dozens Killed in Monday Bombings

In the latest deadly spike in violence in Iraq, at least 57 people have been killed and more than 140 wounded in a series of bombings in and around Baghdad.

More than 350 people have been slain so far this month, and more than 700 people were killed in April, the highest monthly toll in almost five years.

Several of the attacks targeted markets and shopping areas in predominantly Shia Muslim areas. Areas struck included Habibiya, near Sadr City in the east of the capital, an open-air market in the al-Maalif area, and the main commercial hub Sadoun Street in central Baghdad.

Deadly explosions were also reported in the largely Shia neighbourhoods of Sabi al-Boor, Bayaa, and Kazimiyah.

In other parts of the country, shootings in the disputed province of Kirkuk killed an anti-al-Qaeda militiaman and a private generator operator, while a police colonel was slain by a roadside bomb in the main northern city of Mosul.

http://m.aljazeera.com/se/201352715214869598

Middle East Today: Lebanon --- Two Rockets Hit Near Beirut

Iraq: At Least 11 Killed in Attacks

Gunmen and other attackers killed at least eleven people and wounded more than two dozen in attacks on Sunday.

In Kazimiyah district in northern Baghdad, gunmen in a speeding car killed three civilians and wounded another.

In the northern city of Mosul, a car bomb went off at a house early in the morning while a joint army-police unit was conducting door-to-door searches. The blast killed three policemen and one soldier. Twenty people, including four civilians, were wounded.

Attackers gunned down a policeman in his car in in central Mosul, about 360 kilometers (225 miles) northwest of Baghdad.

In the western province of Anbar, three soldiers were killed and five wounded in two separate attacks by roadside bombs.

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Middle East Today: Tunisia --- Clashes as Salafist Conference Banned

Iraq: Death Toll Rise from Car Bombs

The death toll from today's car bombs is now at least 68, with 195 injured.

More than 200 people have been slain in the past week.

The heaviest-hit area today was Baghdad, where ten car bombs hit open-air markets and other areas of Shia neighbourhoods, killing at least 47 people and wounding more than 150.

Photo: Reuters

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Middle East Today: Iraq --- Deadliest Day in More than 8 Months

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Bahrain: Protests Against Raid on Senior Cleric's Home

Thousands of Bahrainis marched on Friday to protest the early-morning raid by security forces on the home of Sheikh Isa Qassim, the leading leading Shia cleric in the Kingdom.

Qassim, a supporter of the mass pro-reform demonstrations that began in February 2011, was not at home but his family was present during the operation.

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Turkey Analysis: Beyond the Car Bombs --- The Kurds, Iraq, and Syria

Last week, two car bombs exploded in Reyhanli in southern Turkey, close to the Syrian border, killing almost 50 people and injuring more than 100.

While nobody claimed responsibility for the deadly incident, it raised the immediate question of whether Turkey would escalate its intervention in Syria, either alone or with others.

However, that reaction was too narrow and missed the wider context. This is not just about the Syrian conflict but also Turkey's internal politics, specifically its attempt to resolve the sensitive Kurdish issue.

The primary concern for the Erdogan government is the ongoing peace drive with the Kurdish leadership, including imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan. So the question is not just whether the events in Reyhanli complicated Turkey's position inside Syria but also whether they threaten these delicate internal negotiations.

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Turkey Audio Feature: Kurdish Fighters Withdraw From Turkey To Iraq

A PKK fighter works on her laptop after arriving in the northern Iraqi city of Dohuk on 14 May 2013, after leaving Turkey as part of a peace drive with Ankara. (Photo: AFP -Safin Hamed)

EA's Scott Lucas spoke with Monocle 24's The Daily on Thursday night, discussing the implications for Turkey after the first group of militants from the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) withdrew from southeast Turkey and entered Iraq, at the behest of their leader, Abdullah Ocalan --- who is serving a life sentence in Turkey --- and as part of a peace plan aimed to end three decades of conflict.

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Middle East Today: Iraq --- Bombs Kill More than 35 on Wednesday

Photo: Ako Rasheed/ReutersIraq: Security Forces Raid Farm of Sunni Tribal Leader

Security forces have raided the farm of prominent Sunni tribal leader Sheikh Ali Hatem al-Suleiman, seeking to arrest him.

Al-Suleiman, emir of the Dulaim tribes, has been instrumental in setting up the "Army of Pride and Dignity", a tribal force in Ramadi and elsewhere in Anbar Province, west of Baghdad.

The emir said that dozens of Army of Pride and Dignity members later tracked down the Iraqi army convoy that conducted the raid and clashed with it, freeing three farmers who had been seized.

"This is it; enough is enough. We will attack every Iraqi army checkpoint in Anbar if they don't withdraw from Anbar province immediately," Al-Suleiman said. "We will not accept any talks or negotiations with the government anymore."

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