Turkey Electing New Government

By Dorian Jones Istanbul 21 July 2007

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Turkish voters head to the polls Sunday to elect a new government. From Istanbul, Dorian Jones reports for VOA that the election is viewed by the ruling Justice and Development Party and its nationalist rivals as a key test for country's secular democracy.

Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses an election rally of his Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party, 20 July 2007

Candidates of the 14 competing parties tried to win over voters until the last minute in what has been an exceptionally bitter campaign. The opposition parties charge the Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is a threat to the secular state.

The election was called four months early after the opposition refused to agree to the ruling party's candidate for president, Abdullah Gul, saying his Islamic background presented a threat to Turkey's secular status.

Political scientist Ali Carkoglu teaches at Istanbul's Sabanci University. He says the opposition used the deadlock over the presidency to good advantage during the campaign.

"I think the opposition parties have very successfully from their perspective made the case that the still unresolved election of the president presents a salient threat to the secularist republic principles," he said.

The first task of the incoming parliament will be to elect the next president, who has important powers in appointing key officials, including members of the constitutional court.

Prime Minister Erdogan, in his campaign, has emphasized Turkey's economic advances during his five years as prime minister, and it is in large part because of the country's improving economy that Mr. Erdogan's party is expected to win.

But in the last few weeks, according to polls, his Justice and Development Party has been losing votes to the far right National Action Party, which has strongly criticized Mr. Erdogan over the increasing attacks by Kurdish separatist forces in the Kurdish regions of southeastern Turkey.

Dozens of Kurdish nationalists are standing as independents in the southeast of the country, with as many 35 expected to enter parliament.

Price For Prized Himalayan Fungus Soars to Record High

By Steve Herman Thimpu, Bhutan 21 July 2007

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A fungus that grows out of the head of dead caterpillars has evolved into a lucrative pursuit for farmers and others seeking riches in the Himalayas. This year the elusive medicinal mushroom, known as nature's Viagra, is fetching record prices, and in some cases has led to armed clashes. VOA's Steve Herman recently went to the Bhutanese capital of Thimpu to found out why.

A closeup shot of harvested cordyceps

To scientists the fungus that invades caterpillars' bodies and kills its host is known as cordyceps sinensis.

The people of Bhutan refer to it as yarchagumba where it has long been a folk medicine. For buyers in China it is a remedy for everything from anemia to impotence. And it is rapidly becoming a popular herbal treatment in the United States and Europe.

Sellers showing up at Bhutan's annual cordyceps auctions this month are finding very receptive buyers. The fungus is fetching a record price of nearly $9,000 a kilogram, an increase of 250 percent from last year. In the early 1990's, it could be had for as little as $5 a kilo.

One of the buyers at the auctions, Bio Bhutan managing director Karma Yangzom, explains what traders believe is causing the most recent price surge.

Karma Yangzom (center) inspecting cordyceps for sale at auction

"This year in the world market the supply has gone down, because the harvest was not good in China and Tibet," she noted. "They were able to harvest a lot of cordyceps in Nepal but that was seized by the Maoist rebels which left only the Bhutanese cordyceps available in the world market."

Even in the best of times collecting cordyceps is more art than science. Some farmers and herders abandon their crops and animals in Bhutan, Nepal and Tibet to crawl flat on the harsh terrain more than 4,000 meters above sea level, hoping to spot the fungus protruding from the soil.

Nepal banned collecting cordyceps until 2001. In Bhutan, a similar prohibition was in place until 2004 to protect the rare fungus. Now limited trade is permitted so farmers can supplement meager incomes.

With prices so high for the fungus, harvesters are willing to use violence to protect supplies. A human rights organization in Hong Kong reported that earlier this month, gunfights broke out among groups of ethnic Tibetans fighting over the right to harvest cordyceps in southwestern China.

Bhutanese exporter Karma Yangzom and other buyers, hoping to satisfy a swelling demand overseas, are not satisfied with what has been brought to this season's auctions.

"Usually the price is very much based on the quality," she added. "But this year in the auctions everything has become so crazy. In some cases, even the poor quality cordyceps is fetching very high prices because the competition is more, because the demand is high in the five auctions that we've attended not much has come into the auctions in terms of quantity. It has been very low, so everybody is competing for it."

Officials here say some 700 kilograms is exported annually - about one-third of Bhutan's estimated potential yield. But many of those hardy enough to brave the climate to search for it come up empty-handed. The lucky ones make it to the auctions, some clutching as little as a few precious grams. But even that now brings enough to provide several months of food and other necessities for a typical rural Himalayan family.

India Elects First Woman President Amid Controversy

By Steve Herman New Delhi 21 July 2007

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India has elected its first woman president. Results show a landslide victory for a long-time loyalist of the country's foremost political dynasty. But as VOA's Steve Herman reports from New Delhi, the selection of Pratibha Patil for the figurehead post comes after what Indian analysts are describing as one of the most bitter presidential elections there in decades.

Pratibha Patil (file photo)

It was a landslide victory for Pratibha Patil, 72, the governing coalition's choice for president. The long-time Congress Party ally defeated, by nearly a two to one margin, India's vice president, Bhairon Singh Shekawhat, 83, who was backed by the opposition.

The results for the largely ceremonial post were announced Saturday, two days after local and national level legislators voted by secret ballot.

Officials say the governing coalition candidate garnered 638,116 votes to the vice president's 331,306 votes.

The new president, moments after the results were announced, briefly spoke to supporters gathered in front of her residence.

"I am grateful to the people of India and to the men and women of India," she said. "And this is a victory of the principles, which our Indian people uphold. Once again, I thank every one of you. Thank you."

Ms. Patil, a lawyer by training and largely unknown nationally until her nomination, has close links to the Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty and was a steadfast loyalist of India's first female prime minister, the iron-fisted Indira Gandhi.

The former Rajasthan governor's election comes after weeks of mudslinging by the opposition, which questioned her fitness to serve. It was alleged that she protected her brother in a murder investigation and had allegedly been involved in numerous financial irregularities. She also raised eyebrows by stating that one of her disciples had channeled a dead religious leader who proclaimed that Ms. Patil would soon be handed "great responsibility."

With legal proceedings pending against members of her family, some observers question whether India's first female president is likely to have a controversy-free five-year term as did her predecessor in what is supposed to be a non-political post. She succeeds the popular APJ Abdul Kalam, one of the country's most distinguished scientists, who chose not to stand for another term.

VOASE0720_In the News

20 July 2007

Intelligence Report Says al-Qaida Remains Top Threat to US Security
On another issue, Bush appoints a cabinet group to look for ways to make sure food and other imported goods are safe.

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This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

A new report says al-Qaida is still, and will remain, the major threat to the United

Firemen near the wreckage of the World Trade Center in New York. Al Qaida terrorists hijacked two passenger airplanes and crashed them into the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001.

States. The report is known as a National Intelligence Estimate. Officials this week released only what are called the key judgments of the sixteen American intelligence agencies.

The organization led by Osama bin Laden is said to have re-established itself as a center of worldwide Islamic terrorism. The report says al-Qaida operates from the safety of Pakistan's tribal areas on the border with Afghanistan.

An estimate last year said al-Qaida was becoming less organized. But Ted Gistaro, a national intelligence officer, says that appears to have changed. He says al-Qaida has become more organized again and seeks to extend its reach, especially with the group called al-Qaida in Iraq.

The report says al-Qaida is expected to intensify efforts to put operatives in the United States. But it also says increased worldwide efforts to fight terrorism have restricted the group's ability to attack the United States homeland again. It says terrorist groups now see the country as a harder target to strike than on September eleventh, two thousand one.

President Bush, commenting on the report, said al-Qaida is strong today, but not nearly as strong as before the September eleventh attacks. He says the reason why is because of efforts, in his words, "to defeat them where we find them."

Peter Zeihan is with Stratfor, a private intelligence company in Texas. He agrees that al-Qaida leaders want to launch another major attack in the United States. But he believes they lack the ability.

Another finding is that Hezbollah in Lebanon may be more likely to consider attacking the United States over the next three years. The report says this is possible if it sees the United States as a direct threat to the group or Iran.

In Congress, lawmakers from both parties used the intelligence estimate to support their arguments over Iraq war policy. Republicans said the report shows the continued need to fight al-Qaida in Iraq. Democrats said it shows the war has created new terrorists while permitting al-Qaida to re-organize in Pakistan.

On Wednesday, Republican senators blocked an attempt to withdraw troops from Iraq by April. This followed an all-night debate called by Democratic leaders to persuade more Republicans to support it.

Lawmakers are expected to return to the Iraq debate in September. Congress wants the American ambassador and top commander in Iraq to report then on the progress of the recent troop increase.

For Americans, not all safety concerns involve terrorism. There is growing debate about the safety of imported goods. Attention has centered on China after recalls of a number of products made there.

On Wednesday, President Bush directed a group of cabinet members to look for ways to make sure food and other imports are safe. They have sixty days, possibly longer, to identify steps that can be taken without adding new costs.

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake. I'm Steve Ember.