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tonight on "worldfocus" -- europe on the financial edge, facing huge deficits, the governments of greece, spain, and ireland implement strict austerity programs. the people are fighting back literally. in turkey, a high-profile crackdown on the military is raising tensions. was it a plot to overthrow the governme, or is something else going on? we look beyond the headlines. and we continue our reporting on the plight of indigenous people the world over. tonight the people of colombia. take a look, it may be the last time you see them. from the world's leading reporters and analysts, here's what's happening from around the world. this is "worldfocus." major support has been provided by rosalind p. walter and the peter g. peterson foundation, dedicated to promoting fiscal responsibility and addressing key economic challenges facing america's future. and additional funding is provided by the following supporters -- good evening, i'm martin savidge. thank you for joining us. we begin tonight with the latest on the troubled global economy. a wave of unrest is building across europe as governments there seek to impose austerity measures. several european countries, chief among them greece, spain, and ireland, aredentally in debt and under intense pressure to slash spending. today in greece tens of thousands of workers went on strike to protest those cuts. bringing the country to a standstill. yesterday spain saw similar unrest. our rtner, germany's deutsche bella, has been reporting extensively on the crisis in europe. in the lead focus we've put together several reports for a unique view of how the crisis is playing out across europe. >> reporter: a large crowd of protesters gathered in the center of athens, despite mixed feelings among the public over the strike. most greeks accept the need to bring the country's debt under control. but the demonstrators disapprove of the methods being used. >> these measures were going to be introduced by government and the e.u. anyway. they're loading them on us now using the crisis as an71 excuse. the plutocrats created the crisis and should pay for it. >> reporter: subway stations have been closed since the early morning. airports have canceled all but emergency flights. nationwide public services have been crippled as workers express their anger over cuts the government says are unavoidable. >> everyone has a right to strike or protest. but we're being judged by our behavior during these difficult times. and on the stance we take during the crisis that is plaguing our country. >> reporter: the greek government wants to cut costs in the health and pension sectors. tax collection pro have been improved. there's a hiring freeze for civil servants and public sector workers are also being hit by a wage freeze. most of people taking part in the strike are public sector workers who say they're being made to bear the brunt of the cuts. they're opposed to the spanish government's austerity measures, and they're protesting the planned raising of the retirement age from 65 to 67. >> we've worked for so long, we should be able to retire at 65. the government shouldn't save at the expense of the workers. >> reporter: mad rick thinks raising the retirement age could be a way to reduce spain's massive deficit. european commission president jose manuel barasu discussed the financial problems of several e.u. members with spanish prime minister sabatero. budget deficits in southern europe have weighed on the euro recently, but barasu expressed support for madrid. >> i'm not going to speculate on the speculators' speculations. but i will say this -- i have complete trust that the spanish economy can master this situation, which is difficult in many european countries. >> reporter: there's no question that spain has to cut spending, but demonstrators in madrid don't want it to be to their detriment. they intend to keep up their protests in the coming days. >> these irish women are feeling the full brunt of the economic crisis. betty terrell collard and her younger colleague work for the department of enterprise, trade, and employment. their pay has been cut by more than 12%, so going out for lunch has now become a rare treat. >> for me personally, i lost 80 euro a week which is 320 euro a month, right. my husband, who is also a public servant, lost 50 euro a week. so between the two of us and our household we have lost 520 euro a month. >> the fallout from the economic crisis haseft 35,000 homeowners in ireland currently unable to meet their mortgage payments. last year the economy shrunk by 7.5%. ireland has been particularly hard hit by the crisis, and since its real estate bubble burst, many offices in dublin are standing vacant. retail sales fell by 14% last year. how has that affected people? >> less chance to go out. socialize. >> money is down by 2 hundred to 300 euros a month since the last budget and everything else that has happened. so it's been very bad. we're still looking, my husband's at work, we're okay. still have jobs. >> reporter: years ago leading john -- economist john fitzgerald took action to curb the property bubble. >> don't blame the union, blame the irish government, our successive government for the problems that ireland faces. >> who has to pay for the failures of the government, then? >> the people of ireland. there's nobody else to pay for it. it's we the people of ireland through our taxes, through losing our jobs. >> okay. >> reporter: betty terrell collard is active in ireland's civil and public services union. its 13,000 members have been staging daily protests against the pay cuts. the union hopes the protests will help them get a meeting with senior minist officials. they're seeking to have the pay cuts reversed and are considering escalating industrial action. okay. so as you heard in those reports, there are fears that the troubles of greece, spain, and ireland will spread throughout europe. for a closer look at how that could happen, we are joined again by john authors, investment editor of "the financial times." good to have you back. >> good to be here. >> so how might the economic troubles in greece and other european countries create this kind of domino effect? >> well, it will come through markets and the flows of international capital. we've had a couple of templates for what might occur in the last ten years or so. first of all, there was the asian financial crisis at the end of the 1990s where the country came under attack. then in the u.s. one bank after another comes under attack, speculatively, and regulators and governments have the dilemma of do you bail out or don't you bail out given that if you do bail out it makes it all the easier to start betting against another one of the banks in the system. that's the model that people are worried about that we could find happening in europe. >> sure. all right. when the conversion to the euro is taking place, there were those who argued against it. for a number of reasons. but i'm wondering does what we're seeing playing out in europe back them up? >> yes. plainly it it. there remains quite a good number of reasons. but the big arguments made against it at the time were that if you join the euro then you lost the ability to have your own monetary policy to set your own interest rates and you lost the ability to devalue your way out of a problem. both things that the u.k. which didn't join the euro have done to help them get through the crisis. and there was also the fear that a number of different countries that really had quite different economies didn't really need the same monetary policy, but that was what they were going to get. plainly, that is what's happened in countries like spain and greece need to tighten interest rates much earlier but didn't because they were getting interest rates that were more appropriate for countries like germany. >> okay. so some countries are responding. they are cutting back. do you think they're doing enough? >> evidently not yet because the rating agencies and the markets are still very worried about the repayments. and plainly it's big problem. these are all democracies, and as you've seen from the reports the kind of austerity that are necessary are very unpopular. it's difficult to deal with them. >> here's the real question that, of course, comes -- could what is happening in europe impact the united states and, if so, how? >> well, first of all, the kind of danger to the european economy is going to be a problem for everybody else in the world. the euro is an extremely big economy at the moment. the kind of austerity measures we're talking about could plainly slow downhe --a a customer for exports, a trading partner, very severely. also and i still think this is a remote risk, but if actually got to the level where individual countries left the euro, then that's what we've come to call a black swan event, something of course there's really no precedent that presumably would have a lot of very difficult market consequences to model, and we all know after the last few years that could have very nasty economic consequences everywhere, including here in the u.s. >> we certainly do. john author, thank you very much. >> thank you. that brings you to tonight's "how you see it." our question -- do you wary that the financial crisis in europe will slow the economic recovery here in america? you can tell us your thoughts by visiting our "how you see it" section of worldfocus.org. also from europe, there is news on a criminal case that's been followed around the world. an italian court has convicted three google executives of privacy violations for not acting quickly enough to remove an online video which showed bullies abusing an autistic child. the trial was the first of its kind. google says it considers the court's decision to be a threat to internet freedom, contending it's impossible to police everything that is posted on sites like youtube. prosecutors say that freedom of expression needs to be balanced with individual rights. >> reporter: pakistan's foreign secretary arrived ininedia for talks with his indian counterpart. the first such meetings in 15 months. peace talks between india and pakistan were put on hold full following the mumbai terrar attacks. they accused pakistan of not cracking down on militant groups inside the borders that carried out the disorder. kashmir has also layed claim to the region. there's a wrinkle in the hamas leader in dubai. officials blamed the killing on israel's secret service pointing to 11 suspects who they say entered dubai using fake passports. today police in dubai said there are 15 more people linked to the killing, and that they, too, used fake passports. those suspects carried passports from britain, ireland, france, and australia. police say the newly named suspect provided logistical support for the assassination. turning to turkey and the latest on that alleged plot to overthrow the turkish government. today, a turkish court formally charged seven senior military officers with planning a coup in 2003. on monday the turkish government arrested 51 high-ranking military officers in that alleged plot including the head of the navy and the former head of the air force. the officers were reportedly upset about what they considered the government's drift toward islam. the turkish military has a history of coups, ousting four governments since 1960. and that brings us to tonight's "beyond the headlines." although the people of turkey are overwhelmingly muslim, what role religion should play in public life has also always been a sensitive issue. so much so that the mixing of religion in government is forbidden by turkish law. "worldfocus'" producer was born in turkey. as she discovered there are those who are making a new push for islam to have a bigger role in turkish society, much to the dismay of many. >> reporter: in the studio of a popular turkish radio station, a talk show host conducts his weekly program. at the offices of turkey's biggest daily newspaper, a group of reporters finish up the next day's edition. and in a classroom at one of istanb istanbul's most prestigious schools children work through analogy bra lesson. three different scenes of turkish life, but with one thing in common. an islamic spiritual leader named fetzula gulan. all of these institutions were founded by his disciples and aimed to spread his message. in america, the notion that religion should have a role in every day life may not be controversial. but in turkey, groups like the gulan movement are causing enormous anxiety. although just about everybody in turkey is muslim, by law turkey is a secular country. religion and the state are strictly separated. but today there are those who'd like to see religion have a bigger role in public life. the followers of gulan are among them. in turkey it's estimated that gulan may now have as many as two million members. the group promotes what it calls ethical and moral values based on the teachings of islam. this is the radio talk show host and a follower of gulan. >> the gulan movement, as the namings is, isn't a cult or a political party but a social movement. its members believe the world needs the ideas of gulan, especially his ideas on moral and ethical values. >> a sociologist at one of istanbul's biggest university sees the gulan movement as similar to the evangelical movement in america. it's popular with many who believe modern secular society has lost its sway. >> what we see today is the rise of religious values in turkey and the fundamentalist movement. i don't think that turkey will be a -- what is changing is emphasized on religious morality and religion to others. >> reporter: the new emphasis on religion instills fear in many turks. for them turkey's status as a secular state is not only a matter of personal freedom but the key to economic and political integration with the west. this man is known around the world for his art. in turkey he's well known as a vocal defender of the secular system. >> in politics, you question everything. so all the political freedoms of a country are shattered in pieces when you bring religious values that cannot be discussed in any way because there are dogmas, you have to accept them as they are. >> reporter: gulaners go to great pains to say their agenda is social, not political. but baicom isn't buying it. as evidence of their motives, baicom points it a videotape of 1999 in which gulan is said to be urging his follow force undermine turkey's secular system of government. because of that tape, turkish authorities charged gulan with breaking the law, which strictly forbids religious groups from interfering in politics. gulan of eventually acquitted. nonetheless, he's since chosen to live in exile in the united states. but the gulan movement isn't the only islamic group in turkey winning converts. an organization called mustafa flagar, the association for the oppressed, has gained a widespread following in rural eastern turkey. much of its focus has been on charity work like handing out food and providing free medical care. however, many of its members once belonged to the radical group hezbollah. some of them are suspected of having committed acts of terrorism. the general manager of the group -- >> has bolda has advocated the changing of the turkish government sometimes by using violence. >> we don't approve of violence, and we want nothing to do with violence. if someone does something illegal, even something like smuggling cigarettes, we expel that person. why -- because he will be a stain on our group. >> reporter: but in recent years, the group have become more politically active. when it sponsored this rally in december, 2008, by israel, thousands of people turned out. a study published in late 2007 by the washington institute for policy said the group could "become an influential power in southeast turkey." the army and hamas in palestine. adding to the suspicion about groups like this and the gulan movement is the question of who's really running them. in the case of gulan, he himself claims to have no active role in the day-to-day affairs of those schools and media companies. manage them seems to be left to a loose alliance of conservative businessmen. >> they have been heating the water very slowly so people kept saying, hey, there's no danger. it's the same lifestyle. there is no problem. >> reporter: or is there? that's the question facing turkey as traditional religion and modern democracy try to co-exist. i'm gizem yarbil reporting for "worldfocus" from istan bill, turkey. turning back to arrests of the turkish military officers. here to help understand their significance is omer taspinar, director of the turkey project at the brookings institution. thank you very much for joining us. how significant is the arrest of these turkish military commanders, and what are the charges against them? >> those charges are very significant. the charges against them is that they were plotting for a coup. more precisely, that they were involved in an organization that wanted to destable eye the country -- destabilize the cub country with multiple designations in order to create chaos and in an environment whereby the country would intervene in politics. >> is there evidence to say they really were planning a coup, or are there some who believe there is a trumped up charge? >> well, the country is extremely polarized between the pro-military camp, the pro-secularist and those who believe that there is really a threat of islamization in the country and that the current government which is a moderately islamic government is politicizing the judiciary and that they established basically a witchhunt against all opposition forces against them. so there is a credibility problem to a certain degree. but what we know about these arrests is that some of these generals had e-mail exchanges, phone conversations, and their computer records show that they were actually planning a level of destabilization of the country. so there is an element of truth. however, to what degree this can be substantiated in court remains to be seen. >> of course, the big concern is how do you think the military is going to respond now to these arrests, this investigation. do you think there might be a fierce reaction? >> well, there is already a fierce reaction within the military. and the top leadership of the military has a hard time in fact controlling the young officers and mid-level generals within the military who are very much disturbed, troubled by these developments. we have to understand the revolutionary dimension of what is happening in turkey. this is the first time in the history of the turkish republic that active duty generals and retired generals are being arrested. so i'm sure that within the military establishment there are those who actually want to send a very strong signal to the government that this is not acceptable. how they can do this is a big question. i think the days of basically a coup in turkey with tanks and industries is over, but they could issue a memorandum warning the government that the military is really troubled by these developments. >> omer taspinar, thank you very much for joining us today. >> thank you. finally tonight we continue our special series of reports on the challenges facing indigenous people around the world want tonight we take you to the south american nation of colombia. there as in many places in the world indigenous people find not just a way of life under threat, but their very existence. al jazeera english recently paid a visit to the remote town of san jose del guavieri. there he met one group of people who may be the last of their kind literally. >> reporter: thisidge dijnous child innocently plays -- this indigenous child innocently plays with his monkey, unaware of the dire circumstances his tribe faces. these children may be the last generation of their tribe because the group is on the brink of total extinction. you that have been forced to flee the jungles of colombia to escape conflict from the army, guerrillas and paramilitary. the people who for generations roamed freely through the jungle hunting, fishing, and living off the land now live in squalid camps like this on the outskirts guaviere. when nonadicic tribes get ticked off the land and have to live in squalor conditions confined to small areas, cockroaches running around everywhere, it totally kills their way of life and their culture. so much so that their very esince remains in doubt. there were 1,5 new new nukok indians when the tribe had its first contact with the outside world in 1988. today there are just 400 left. and it's not just the nukok. the ju, also a nomadic tribe, are down to 500 members. 400 of which are displaced in camps. >> here we don't have animals or wild fruit. where we used to live we were surrounded by hills. it was clean. we didn't suffer diseases. here the water's polluted, and we get sick. >> reporter: the conditions are taking a serious toll on an already vulnerable people. >> the indigenous people suffer from health problems, a products of malnutrition and bad weather and sanitation. they have high rates of diarrhea, skin infections and pneumonia. >> reporter: earlier this year the colombian constitutional court said indigenous people face extermination and grave violations of their human rights and called on the government to take urgent measures to protect 34 indigenous groups that are at risk of cultural or physical extinction because of the armed conflict. but action seems slow. >> there is little political will to help these people. if we don't do anything in five years or less, the nukok and tribes like them will be exti t extinct. >> reporter: a dire prediction that with each passing day comes closer to being realized unless these people can return to their land and original way of life. gabriel alsondo, al jazeera, colombia. all of the stories we've had on the indigenous peoples have really, really been interesting. if you miss any, you can find them again on worldfocus.org. drop us a line. that is "worldfocus" for a wednesday evening. i'm martin savidge in new york. as always, thank you for joining us. we'll look for you back here again tomorrow and any time on the web. again tomorrow and any time on the web. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com major support for "worldfocus" has been provided by rosalind p. walter and the peter g. peterson foundation, dedicated to promoting fiscal responsibility and addressing key economic challenges facing america's future. and additional funding is provided by the following supporters --

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