Appalling Rise in Murders of Women in Turkey Highlights that its Secular Liberal Democratic System is no Model for a New Arab World

H. 27 Rabi' I 1432
M. 2011/03/02

New statistics from the Turkish Justice Ministry reveal that that murders of women in Turkey rose by 1,400% over seven years, from 2002 to 2009, with over 950 being killed in the first seven months of 2009 alone. According to the government study, "Research of Domestic Violence against Women in Turkey" almost 42% of women are subjected to violence in the country.

Turkey has been hailed by many Western politicians and commentators as a model for the future political system of Egypt and a new Arab world, praised for supposedly marrying a Muslim majority population with a secular liberal democratic system. This scandalous treatment of women within the country should give serious re-consideration of whether such a system can truly herald a positive future for the women of Turkey or the Arab world.

Dr. Nazreen Nawaz, Central Media Representative of Hizb ut-Tahrir commented, "Beyond the glossy exterior of Turkey's economic growth lies the ugly social consequences of secular liberalism where women's security and dignity are primary casualties. Some have blamed Islam's prescription of defined roles for the genders in family life for this rise in violence towards women, such as the man as the head and guardian of the family, suggesting that this ‘inequality' in gender roles breeds disrespect for the woman. However, if this is the case, what explains the epidemic level of violence against women in Western secular liberal democratic states where such Islamic rules do not exist and where numerous gender equality bills are enshrined in law? In the UK, 1 in 4 women face domestic violence, 2 die each week at the hands of their partner, and the police receive a call every minute from a victim of such abuse according to Home Office figures. In the US a woman is battered every 15 seconds by a partner according to FBI statistics."

"The treatment of women depends upon the prevalent attitudes within any society and in secular liberal states a contradiction exists between the call for respect for women and liberal freedoms that either allow the exploitation of the bodies of women in advertising or entertainment that cheapens the view of women, or promote the belief that men are ‘free' to treat women as their desires dictate. Under such systems, whether in the West or in Turkey, legal reforms to establish gender equality are hollow, meaningless words that have failed miserably to secure the safety and dignity of ordinary women. Women in Turkey have therefore borne the brunt of this detrimental system and its values. Islam in contrast may define specific gender roles in family life but also prohibits the exploitation that devalues women as well as vehemently rejecting the ‘freedom' of men to view women as they wish that are 2 of the main contributors to domestic violence under secular liberal systems."

Women in the Muslim world cannot afford nor should they tolerate any more Western inspired foreign experiments in shaping the form of their political system. They should not settle for the least worst political option in levels of stability or repression in the region. The tried, tested, and failed secular liberal democratic system as seen from Bangladesh to Central Asia, Pakistan to Indonesia should be no model for those who have sacrificed so much for a brighter and more just future. A system that continues to ban Muslim women from access to educational and political institutions simply for adopting Islamic dress can surely never be an example to emulate for those whose heritage, beliefs, and strength lies in Islam."

Real change for women in the Muslim world will only materialize with the establishment of the Khilafah state shaped purely upon Islamic laws. This is a system that has also been tried and tested but with a track record of centuries of success in securing the rights and respect of women. This was a state that mobilized whole armies to protect the dignity of 1 woman; a state that recognized women's important contribution to the politics of society and that encouraged female education and generated thousands of female scholars. It is a state that on re-establishment will use its political, educational, and media systems to nurture a mentality of elevated respect towards women within society - Muslim and non-Muslim - as obliged by Islam, with serious judicial repercussions if their dignity or physical well-being is harmed in any way."

Dr. Nazreen Nawaz
Central Media Representative of Hizb ut-Tahrir

Kazakhstan to open plant in Kyrgyzstan, create 1,000 jobs

04.03.2011

Kazakhstan Avinu Company plans to build ferroalloy recycling plant in the town of Tash - Kumyr in Jalal - Abad region of Kyrgyzstan, said Acting Mayor Mamidaly Kuldyshev , Kazakhstan Today reported.

The construction of ferroalloy plant will begin in April, he said. A total of 22 hectares have been allocated for the plant area, equipment has already started to be delivered.

The project costs $75 million. The plant is expected to produce output worth $50-60 million

Around 1.3 million tons of coal was extracted in Tash-Kumyr in the soviet times. Currently the volume of coal production barely reaches 30,000 tons.

Source: Trend.
Link: http://en.trend.az/capital/business/1840467.html.

Iran to build three more ports on Caspian Sea

04.03.2011

Azerbaijan, Baku, March 4 / Trend /

The Caspian Sea has a large and important potential for Iran’s development, which country has not used before, İRNA news agency quotes Iranian Gilan Province head Ruhulla Kahramani, as saying.

He added that railway infrastructure and an airport exist in the Gilan Province.

Kahramani said that three more ports will be built on the Caspian Sea in the near future. "We intend to build Chamkhale, Kiyashekhre and Chabuksere ports in Lengerud, due to which a relevant program is under development," Kahramani said.

He added that the Chabukser port is designed to serve tourists.

Kahramani noted that capacity of the Anzali port’s loading and unloading facilities will be increased.

"Over the next 18 months, this capacity will be increased to 11 million tons. Thus, the Anzali port will become the largest port in the region," Kahramani said.

At present, five Iranian ports - Anzali, Noushahr, Abad, Gyaz and Neka operate on the shore of the Caspian Sea. Work is underway to develop the Astara port.

Source: Trend.
Link: http://en.trend.az/capital/business/1839717.html.

Algeria launches charm offensive to head off unrest

Thu Mar 3, 2011

* Government stung into action by revolts in Arab world

* Officials offer handouts, turn blind eye to lawbreakers

* Critics say deeper problems must be addressed

By Lamine Chikhi

ALGIERS, March 3 (Reuters) - Ahmed Gotari, a 28-year-old unemployed man from the Algerian capital, has grown accustomed over the years to being treated dismissively when he calls on local officials to ask for a job.

So when he went this week to the district mayor's office, he was shocked at his reception: the mayor received him personally, welcomed him to his office and told him he would help.

"It was so great that I asked myself if he was going to bring me a coffee," Gotari told Reuters a few days later. "Not three months ago, we were treated like dogs and even the security guard would not look at us."

It is not an isolated case. Algeria's usually unbending officialdom is handing out business loans, letting off rule-breaking motorists, easing up on tax dodgers and turning a blind eye to people trading without a license.

What changed was the revolts in Egypt, Tunisia and other parts of the Arab World.

Algeria's leaders, wary that their country, too, could succumb to a popular uprising, are taking unprecedented steps to try to win people over to their side.

Critics of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika say that despite its huge oil and gas resources, Algeria has deep structural problems: a lack of democratic freedoms, persistent unemployment and poor housing conditions.

These are issues that cannot be resolved overnight, so the authorities are targeting the problems that can be fixed.

"This is just an aspirin for somebody who has cancer. It would calm the pain for a while but it will not solve the problem," said Mohamed Lagab, a political analyst and teacher of political sciences at Algiers university.

BIGGER PROBLEMS

The government is not ignoring the bigger problems.

It lifted a 19-year-old state of emergency and gave opposition voices airtime on television, key demands of its opponents. It also is investing billions of dollars in modernizing the economy and building new homes.

But its tactic of focusing on day-to-day issues appears to be working -- at least for now.

In January there were several days of rioting across the country triggered by rises in the prices of sugar and cooking oil. Since then there has been no violence and a series of political protests has lost momentum.

Officials throughout Algeria have received instructions to take a more lenient approach with citizens.

In one example, police have been given instructions to take away the licenses of drivers who commit traffic violations only in "very grave" circumstances, according to a government document seen by Reuters.

An instruction signed by Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia told the tax authorities to postpone some of their demands for payment.

A police officer said the authorities also were turning a blind eye to black market activity, known in Algeria as "trabendo", and which consists of youngsters selling cheap good in the street without a license.

"They don't pay taxes. We are not sure about the quality of the products they sell, but we don't care about this now," said the officer in the working class neighborhood of Bab El Oued.

"We want them to be doing something."

Another popular measure was the waiver of 24-month compulsory military service for men who had not done their service by the age of 30.

The government also has promised to fund 100 percent of the start-up costs for young people who present a plan for opening a small business.

Finance Minister Karim Djoudi said on state radio the new measures to help young people were costing the state 160 billion Algerian dinars ($2.45 billion).

The policy of making life easier for ordinary citizens has become the subject of satire, with newspaper columnist Hakim Laalam comparing it to a huge, nationwide free-for-all.

"I, who do not have a car, walk for hours in the streets looking at the beautiful and luxurious cars which pass," he wrote in the Soir d'Algerie newspaper.

"Who knows, maybe there is a government department charged with giving the keys of new cars to all those, who, like me, dream of having such a vehicle."

(Editing by Michael Roddy)

Source: Reuters.
Link: http://af.reuters.com/article/algeriaNews/idAFCHI22910820110303?sp=true.

Iran says its two warships return via Suez Canal

03.03.2011

Iran on Thursday confirmed earlier reports that its two warships which had docked in a Syrian port last month were returning via the Suez Canal, dpa reported.

The news network Al-Alam quoted navy officials as saying that the frigate Alvand and the supply ship Kharg have entered the Suez Canal, steaming toward the Red Sea on their way back to Iran.

The two Iranian warships, the first to enter the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal since 1979, docked on February 24 at the Syrian port of Latakia.

Israeli officials have described the Iranian naval mission as a "provocation."

Iran's navy chief Habibollah Sayari however said that the visit by the two warships to Syria was not meant to provoke anyone but they were "carrying a message of peace to the nations of the world."

Source: Trend.
Link: http://en.trend.az/regions/iran/1839793.html.

Bangladesh government brutally torturing Hizb ut-Tahrir activists, including administering electric shocks

H. 22 Rabi' I 1432
M. 2011/02/25

Hizb ut-Tahrir delegation handed over protesting letter to Bangladesh embassy in Islamabad

A delegation of Hizb ut-Tahrir comprising Imran Yousafzai, Deputy Spokesman Hizb ut-Tahrir and member Hizb ut-Tahrir Tahir Khan visited the Bangladesh embassy yesterday and delivered a protesting letter against the brutal torture inflicted on the arrested activists of Hizb ut-Tahrir in Bangladesh. The delegation requested the meeting with the ambassador but the representatives of the coward government refused the meeting. Khilafah has strongly protested in the letter against the brutal torture on more than a dozen arrested activists of Khilafah by the notorious sadist agency "Task force For Interrogation". The members were arrested and handed over to this sadist agency on 22nd December and 19th January. The notoriety of this agency knew no bound when recently Guardian printed several stories of their torture. Despite the fact that all Muslim and western government knew with full certainty that Khilafah is a political party and its members are not involved in militancy, Bangladesh government banned the party under the diktats of their western masters. Its Spokesman, chief coordinator and other position holders were arrested and its members are being subjected to inhumane torture. These tortures include blindfolding and severely beating with batons, subjecting to electric shock, applied to their genitals, for up to the duration of 45 minutes, stripping naked, tied and left hanging upside down and squashing between slabs of ice for lengthy periods. In this letter, Khilafah also convulsed the human right organization to mobilize against this brutality on these prisoners of conscious. Let the rulers remember, Khilafah will take stock of their animosity with Islam and subservience to Kufr. And InshaAllah, the day is not far!

Hizb-ut Tahrir: Media office
Wilayah of Pakistan

Address & Website
http://www.hizb-pakistan.org/.

Source: Hizb ut-Tahrir Media Office.
Link: http://www.hizb-ut-tahrir.info/info/english.php/contents_en/entry_11874.

Egypt to release Muslim Brotherhood leaders

CAIRO — Two senior leaders of the Egyptian opposition Muslim Brotherhood are to be released on Wednesday after nearly six years behind bars, their lawyer told AFP.

Khairat al-Shater -- the Islamist group's number three and one of its main financiers -- and businessman Hassan Malek were detained in 2006 and sentenced to seven years in 2008.

"The security services informed the Muslim Brotherhood that there has been an order for their release. They will be released within hours," Abdelmoneim Abdel Maqsud said.

The two were part of a larger group tried in a military court on charges of money laundering and terrorism.

The government at the time said it was trying to dismantle the opposition movement's financial network.

The Muslim Brotherhood is the country's largest and most organized opposition, but it operated illegally until the resignation of president Hosni Mubarak on February 11 after nearly three weeks of anti-regime protests.

Before stepping down, Mubarak handed power to a military council which has vowed to pave the way for a free and democratic system.

Members of the Muslim Brotherhood have since come out of the fold, and one of their members now sits on a panel charged with overseeing constitutional amendments.

Copyright © 2011 AFP. All rights reserved.