In the July 22 ballot, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan secured the largest share of votes in a Turkish election since 1965, in a contest which saw heated controversy about the country's future as a secular republic. His Justice and Development (AK) party—its pro-capitalist brand of political Islam sometimes dubbed "Islamic Calvinism"—captured constituencies across Turkey, leaving only isolated pockets to the secular nationalist parties. "The divide between the AK Party and its secularist-nationalist opponents has emerged as one of the most important fault lines in Turkish politics," writes Turkey's Zaman.

Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said initial investigations into the July 2 suicide-bombing that killed seven Spanish tourists indicate that al-Qaeda was behind the attack. Moratinos said the information was provided by his Yemeni counterpart Abu Bakr Abduallah al Quirbi, whose government has given Spain authority to conduct its own investigation parallel to that of the Yemen government.

The Egyptian government has refused to allow human rights groups to observe the military trial of 33 leading members of the Muslim Brotherhood, undercutting the government’s claims that civilians will have a fair trial before military courts, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said in a joint press release June 4.

Turkish authorities have announed the seizure of weapons hidden on a Syria-bound train from Iran after Kurdish PKK guerillas derailed it with a bomb near the town of Genc in Bingol province. News reports said the weapons included 300 rockets and a rocket launch pad. Turkish authorities suspect Iran is using Turkey as a transit route to send arms to Hezbollah in Lebanon via Syria.

The separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) denied responsibility for the May 22 bomb attack that killed six and wounded up to 100 in the busy Ankara shopping district of Ulus. "We have no connection with the attack," the PKK said in a statement posted on the Firat news agency website, which has ties to the guerrillas. Turkish authorities initially said a suicide bomber carried out the attack, but that the use of A-4 plastic explosives points to the PKK. The PKK has used the explosive in the past, but typically does not carry out suicide bombings. (Hurriyet, Reuters, May 24)

Yemen has recalled its ambassador to Libya over its suspected support to Shi'ite guerilla followers of Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, who have been fighting government forces in the northern province of Saada since the beginning of the year. "The decision to recall the ambassador...came a day after popular demands for cutting Yemeni ties with Libya and to close its embassy in Sanaa over accusations of Libyan involvement in supporting the terrorist elements," the web site of the ruling People's Congress Party said, quoting "well-informed" sources. The statement said that residents of Saada had urged the government to sever ties with Tripoli.

From Human Rights Watch, May 2, via AllAfrica.com:

A criminal court in Cairo today sentenced Huwaida Taha Mitwalli, a journalist for Al-Jazeera and the London-based daily Al-Quds al-Arabi, to six months in prison on charges of "possessing and giving false pictures about the internal situation in Egypt that could undermine the dignity of the country" in connection with an Al-Jazeera documentary she made about torture in Egypt. The court also fined her 20,000 Egyptian pounds (US$3,518). An Egyptian national, Taha is currently free on bail in Qatar, pending appeal.

From Amnesty International, April 24:

Amnesty International condemns the harsh sentence handed down today on human rights lawyer Anwar al-Bunni, following an unfair trial that appeared to be politically driven and during which he was not given full access to his lawyers.