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| Navalny's supporters have vowed to continue the struggle |
The conviction and jailing of Russian protest leader Alexei Navalny has led to widespread criticism.
Navalny was imprisoned for five years for embezzlement from a timber firm. He had denied the charges, saying the trial was politically motivated.
The EU said the verdict posed "serious questions" about Russian law, while the US said it was "deeply disappointed".
Amnesty International denounced what it said was "a parody of a prosecution and a parody of a trial".
The 37-year-old had been a leading campaigner against President Putin's United Russia party, and regularly blogged about corruption allegations.
Before he was handcuffed and led away, Navalny urged his supporters to continue his anti-corruption struggle, tweeting: "Don't sit around doing nothing."
Navalny had recently registered his candidacy for the next mayor of Moscow, but his campaign team said that after the verdict he was withdrawing from the race, and called on his supporters to boycott the vote.
'Parody of a trial'
The BBC's Moscow correspondent Daniel Sandford says that when the sentence was handed down, there were tears from Navalny's supporters and an explosion of anger on the social networking sites that he has used so effectively.
Anti-Putin activist and former cabinet minister Boris Nemtsov told reporters the trial was "completely fabricated from start to finish, and even the judge could not say what the reason for the crime was".
The US ambassador to Moscow, Michael McFaul, said: "We are deeply disappointed in the conviction of Navalny and the apparent political motivations in this trial."
A spokesman for the EU's top foreign policy official, Catherine Ashton, said the embezzlement charges were unsubstantiated, and that Navalny's jailing posed "serious questions as to the state of the rule of law in Russia".
Amnesty International's Europe and Central Asia director, John Dalhuisen, said in a statement: "This was a parody of a prosecution and a parody of a trial.
"It demonstrates how the Russian authorities abuse criminal prosecutions to persecute government critics and suppress political opposition and civil activism. This fits into the broader crackdown on the freedoms of expression, association and assembly under way in Russia today."
Navalny's supporters in Moscow have vowed to stage protests against the verdict later on Thursday.
'Don't get bored'
Navalny arrived at the courtroom in Kirov to hear the verdict after a 12-hour overnight train journey from Moscow.
Our correspondent said Navalny smiled in a resigned manner when the almost inevitable guilty verdict came.
Alexei Navalny (centre) took a 12-hour train journey to Kirov for the verdict.
His wife, Yulia Navalnaya, said her husband knew he would get a non-suspended sentence and was mentally prepared to go to prison.
Navalny was found guilty of heading a group that embezzled timber worth 16m rubles ($500,000; £330,000) from the Kirovles state timber company while working as an adviser to Kirov's governor Nikita Belykh.
The prosecution had asked for a six-year jail sentence, but judge Sergei Blinov decided on five years, and said there were no extenuating circumstances that would warrant keeping Navalny out of prison.
Navalny's co-accused, Pyotr Ofitserov, was also found guilty, and given a four-year jail sentence.
State television has only shown limited interest in the process despite Navalny's prominence, but online the trial has been followed extensively.
Mr Navalny came to public attention when he inspired mass protests against the Kremlin and President Vladimir Putin in December 2011.
Judge Blinov said he found the testimony of the main prosecution witness, Vyacheslav Opalev, to be "trustworthy and consistent''.
Navalny insists that Mr Opalev spoke against him out of revenge, because Navalny had recommended he be fired and his company investigated for corruption.
After the verdict, Navalny tweeted: "So that's it. Don't get bored without me. Most importantly, don't sit around doing nothing."
In an unusual step, the court allowed the whole trial to be broadcast live online.
He is now one of the key figures of the opposition - a thorn in the side of the political establishment, campaigning against the endemic corruption, our correspondent says.
Mr Navalny has also coined a phrase to describe the ruling party United Russia that has stuck in everyone's minds - "the party of crooks and thieves".
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| Children in Johannesburg celebrate Nelson Mandela's birthday in song |
Nelson Mandela is spending his 95th birthday in hospital in Pretoria, as events take place around the world and in South Africa in his honour.
South Africans are being urged to mark the former president and anti-apartheid leader's 67 years of public service with 67 minutes of charitable acts.
Mr Mandela, who is in critical but stable condition with a recurring lung infection, entered hospital on 8 June.
President Jacob Zuma said his health was "steadily improving".
"We are proud to call this international icon our own as South Africans and wish him good health," said Mr Zuma in a statement.
"We thank all our people for supporting Madiba throughout the hospitalisation with undying love and compassion," he said, referring to Mr Mandela by his clan name.
Continue reading the main story
As Nelson Mandela spends his 95th birthday in a Pretoria hospital, South Africans are being urged to mark the former president and anti-apartheid leader's 67 years of public service with 67 minutes of charitable acts.
Mr Mandela's daughter, Zindzi, said he was making "remarkable progress", and that she had found him watching television with headphones on and communicating with his eyes and hands when she visited him this week.
"We look forward to having him back at home soon," the South African Press Association quoted her as saying.
Mr Mandela's birthday is also Nelson Mandela International Day, a day declared by the UN as a way to recognise the Nobel Prize winner's contribution to reconciliation.
The former statesman is revered across the world for his role in ending apartheid in South Africa. He went on to become the first black president in the country's first multi-racial elections in 1994.
The governing African National Congress (ANC) said that on this Mandela Day homage was being paid to 95 years of "life well-lived", dedicated to the liberation of South Africans and people all over the world.
Activities throughout the day included:
- School-children across the country singing a synchronised Happy Birthday to the former president
- Mandela family members handing out gifts to Mamelodi township residents before holding a birthday lunch with Nelson Mandela. They have prepared 95 cupcakes in his honour
- President Zuma visiting Mr Mandela in hospital and overseeing the donation of houses to poor white families in the Pretoria area
- Volunteers spending 67 minutes each renovating schools and orphanages, cleaning hospitals and distributing food to the poor to mark the former statesman's 67 years as a lawyer, activist, prisoner and president
- Mr Mandela becoming the first recipient of South Africa's new Smart ID Card, introduced on Thursday. His card will be collected on his behalf by his daughter Zindzi
- The forming of a human chain from Johannesburg's Fashion District into the heart of the city
Events are also taking place internationally, with an image of a large Mandela painting by South African artist Paul Blomkamp featured in New York's Times Square.
British entrepreneur Richard Branson, speaking in a recorded message, has pledged 67 minutes of community service on Thursday to "make the world a better place, one small step at a time".
Meanwhile, concerts are planned later this week in the Australian city of Melbourne, featuring local and African artists.
'Less anxious'
Mr Mandela's ill-health gives extra poignancy to this year's Mandela Day, correspondents say.
For South Africans, the best birthday present for Mandela would be for him to recover and be among the people who love him most, says the BBC's Pumza Fihlani in Johannesburg.
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela told a local radio station her former husband's 95th birthday was "a gift not only to the family... but to the nation".
She rejected the "prophets of doom" who have warned of chaos in South Africa when Nelson Mandela dies.
"The country will solidify and come together," she told Radio 702.
Mr Mandela's third wife, Graca Machel, said last Friday that she was "less anxious" about his health than before and that he was continuing to respond well to treatment.
Thursday also is the 15th anniversary of the couple's marriage.
Ahead of the anniversary, Mr Mandela's close friend and lawyer George Bizos described them as "a loving couple", the AFP news agency reports.
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| Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan speaks at an iftar dinner organized by his party. |
“I am a perfect Alevi if being Alevi means loving Caliph Ali,” Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Wednesday during an iftar (fast-breaking) dinner organized by his ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) in Ankara.
Among other topics on Erdoğan's agenda was the Egyptian coup. He once again condemned the coup and hailed democracy.
“Everyone should respect the results that come out of the ballot box. The ballot box exists to prevent the minority imposing its will on the majority. Some [in Turkey] say that Hitler came out of the ballot box. So what? Should we remove the ballot box because Hitler might come out of it?” Erdoğan asked supporters of the military takeover in Egypt.
“Saying that Hitler can come out of the ballot box is nothing but a hostile attitude towards democracy,” he further stated.
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| Turks protest treating wounded Syrians after stray bullets from Syria killed one person and injured another in the Ceylanpınar district. |
The Turkish army has said it returned fire into Syrian territory after more than a dozen bullets were fired into Turkey throughout Wednesday and two Turkish citizens were killed by a stray bullet from Syria.
The statement also said a stray bullet hit Nezir Atilla in the head on Wednesday morning in Ceylanpınar's Cumhuriyet neighborhood but his condition is not critical.
It added that four bullets also hit houses in Ceylanpınar during overnight clashes and up to 10 bullets had hit the Ceylanpınar Police Department building. The army statement said the units in Cenkeser Border Post responded to the fire as part of Turkey's “engagement rules.”
The army's statement came after one Turkish citizen was killed and another critically injured when they were hit by stray bullets in Ceylanpınar from Syria.
The incident, which happened on Tuesday, was the most serious spillover of violence into Turkey in weeks and highlights the growing concern that Syria's civil war is dragging in neighboring states.
The bullets came from the adjacent Syrian town of Ras-al Ain, where Kurdish militants have been battling anti-government opposition fighters under the flag of the FSA since Tuesday.
A 17-year-old Turkish man, Mahsun Ertuğrul, died on Wednesday after a stray bullet from the Syrian town of Ras al-Ain hit him in the chest, while another teenager, Ahmet Gündüz, remains in critical condition as of Wednesday afternoon after being hit by another stray bullet from the war-torn country on Tuesday.
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| A militant of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) stands guard near the Syrian-Iraqi border in this Oct. 31, 2012 file photo. |
Ankara should be alarmed by a declaration from the Democratic Union Party (PYD), a political offshoot of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Syria, announcing that it will declare its autonomy in Syria's northern region, experts say, as this development at Turkey's southern border may pose a huge security problem.
Syria's Kurds have come closer to their aspiration for autonomy now that al-Assad's forces have left the country's north to Kurdish militants. Although many Kurds say they are distancing themselves from both sides because they do not want to be included in violence, some groups, like the PYD, are thought to be collaborating with al-Assad's regime. Opposition forces have accused Kurds of taking sides with al-Assad's forces.
With these developments on the ground, the PYD's declaration of autonomy, which will go into effect on July 19, can bring great risks for Turkey, which is already suffering from a decades-old terrorism problem and has been witness to severe clashes between the PKK and the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK). In a bid to solve the terrorism problem, the Turkish government recently launched a settlement process with the PKK, yet the process is still in its early phases with PKK terrorists starting to leave Turkey.
Dr. Nihat Ali Özcan, a specialist on the PKK, says the establishment of a Kurdish autonomous region in northern Syria is not an unexpected development as the PYD has been working for this political end since the beginning of the Syrian uprising.
According to media reports, the PYD has received support for the autonomous region plan from some Kurdish politicians in Syria. If the PYD succeeds in establishing an autonomous region, the group is expecting to hold elections in three months and rule over the Kurdish region with the new administration. The PYD forces have been holding talks with different political parties, belief groups and representatives of nongovernmental organizations in an effort to determine potential figures for the new government it will soon establish.
The declaration was announced by a high-ranking PYD official, Aldar Khalil, who said the group's plan for autonomy will be put into effect in all cities and villages “freed” by the group. “We believe the Syrian Kurdish regions should be controlled by Kurdish parties. Therefore, we have prepared a plan which we will be able to be set into motion in all villages and cites. The control of all regions will then be decided in a democratic election after three months,” Khalil told the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat.
According to Sedat Laçiner, rector of Çanakkale 18 Mart University and an expert on the Middle East, the PKK and al-Assad's regime have agreed on the establishment of the Kurdish autonomous region, a development which not only troubles Turkey but also the Syrian opposition. Laçiner speculates that if al-Assad is included in Syria's future, Turkey might still be dealing with a terrorism problem -- this time with terrorist groups residing to its south. Al-Assad and Iran might continue to use the PKK and its offshoot groups to threaten Turkey's security, Laçiner notes.
Özcan says that, failing joint efforts to depose him, if al-Assad stays in power he will continue his alliance with the PYD just to be able to play the terrorism card against Turkey. Ankara and Damascus, two neighbors that once enjoyed good relations, cut their ties after al-Assad launched a war against his own people, who were rebelling in opposition to his rule and Baathist policies.
Although the PYD has been given support from Kurdish parties for its autonomy plans, the militant group was not able to collaborate with Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani to that end. The PYD and Barzani have long been at odds. Recently, Barzani warned the PYD against declaring itself as the representative of the Kurdish population in Syria, a move that has deepened tension between Barzani's Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the PYD.
Laçiner says that an autonomous Kurdish region in northern Syria is not only a threat to Turkey but could plunge Syrian Kurds into a civil war against each other.
On the other hand, for Birol Akgün, a specialist from the Institute of Strategic Thinking (SDE), an autonomous Kurdish region is not a threat to Ankara. On the contrary, Turkey might benefit from an established autonomous region in its south, as this will decrease the risk of spillover from Syria, he says. The Kurdish autonomous region could function as a “buffer zone” for Turkey, according to Akgün.
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| Following Tuesday’s Kr 8 hike, the price of 95-octane unleaded gasoline reached TL 5 per liter. This means Turkey now sells the most expensive gasoline among all OECD members. |
Turkish consumers were hit by a new hike in gasoline prices late on Tuesday, only eight days after a similar increase, bringing the price per liter of gasoline to over TL 5 ($2.64), a new record.
The price hikes will likely take a toll on the Turkish economy, and the country's purchasing power per capita performance is still weak. The TL 5 level has long remained a psychological barrier in markets.
The major burden on Turkish gasoline prices comes from indirect taxes, while the rest is processing, transportation and distribution shares. Before the gasoline can reach end users, it has to go through certain procedures. The imported crude oil first reaches TÜPRAŞ and then is transported by fuel distributors to pump stations, which sell the gasoline with taxes added. At each step the price of crude increases; around 2 percent is refining process, 8 percent goes to distributors and gas stations, while 65 percent is private (ÖTV) and value-added (KDV) taxes. The remaining 25 percent is the original price of imported crude. Turkish consumer unions say they will step up calls on the government to revise this pricing mechanism and cut taxes.
Meanwhile, Energy Minister Taner Yıldız stressed that petroleum has an automated pricing mechanism and if financial regulations need to be made, the Ministry of Finance is the address to do so. “Turkey buys the petroleum with dollar and sells it in Turkish lira, meaning that the price is prone to negative effects of foreign currency exchanges as well as rises in crude oil prices.
Also commenting on the issue on Wednesday in İstanbul, Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan also blamed "international developments" for high gasoline prices in Turkey. The price of oil remained near $106 a barrel on Wednesday as investors awaited a report on US crude inventories and the Federal Reserve chairman's congressional testimony.
‘Public awareness, discontent on the rise'
Engin Başaran, former head of the Consumers Association (TÜDER), told Today's Zaman that the government has ignored their calls for an extensive change in taxation on gasoline. The hike in gas prices will affect tens of other consumption fields, exacerbating the burden on consumers. The purchasing power of people is not very strong. This also impacts on economic and political stability in Turkey. "People are growing increasingly irritated by the price hikes. The government is losing its accountability and this is not good; it always offers international price increases as an excuse, but we need a radical, sustainable solution."The Turkish Consumers' Union acting president, Hatice Saadet Kalyoncu, says consumers are also nervous about the timing of the latest price hike, highlighting the increased consumer spending during Ramadan. “Turkish consumers have seen this [TL 5 per liter of gasoline] coming; the only thing was we did not know when," she said, asserting that more and more people are tired of these hikes. The timing of the hike was also meaningful, according to Kalyoncu. She said the government may have thought that Ramadan –-most people are on vacation as the holy month coincides with summer –- might help mitigate possible reactions from consumers. The government may have to face harsh criticisms and reactions unless the prices are not reduced, she opines.
"I think the latest Gezi protests have helped establish a reactional mood among people. We must make sure our reactions are democratic and reasonable," she adds.
One factor that the government may have had in mind is the approaching local elections. In Turkey it has traditionally been the case that governments ramp up public spending while at the same time offering some tax cuts. "All of these are done to help boost the incumbent government's popularity, and we may see similar price cuts in gasoline. … However, public awareness is higher than ever in Turkey and people will question these actions and demand more,” she argues.
Turkey is heavily dependent on foreign oil reserves; the country imports 92 percent of its oil demand from abroad, while this share is 98 percent in natural gas. The share of crude in Turkish electricity energy production is 29 percent, while the country generates 33 percent of its electricity from natural gas-fueled plants. The total installed energy power is 60,000 megawatts and the government has issued certificates to build natural gas-fuelled plants with a new capacity of 50,000 mw --17 percent of this is under construction. The government is not helping minimize Turkey's vulnerability in energy, but makes the country more dependent on foreign resources, Energy analyst Necdet Pamir told Today's Zaman.
Pamir expects the government to introduce comprehensive reforms to its energy production model, boosting the focus on local renewable energy resources.
Turkish Fuel Stations, Oil and Gas Company Employers' Union board member Mehmet Şüküroğlu tells Today's Zaman the distributors and dealers are not happy with the price hikes either, adding their share in the price is too low for them to make high profits. Following a regulation by the EPDK in 2009, Turkish distributors have to keep their shares in prices below a defined price ceiling. Şüküroğlu says that despite the image in public, distributors cannot make arbitrary changes in prices, but a current automated pricing mechanism defines it. “We have earlier offered the government an alternative pricing mechanism that could help reduce the price per liter of gasoline by as much as TL 1. The Finance Ministry has their own budget balances scheme and it falls down on them to make the necessary changes to taxes on gasoline,” he explains.
