Turkey part deaux :)

[Exit40]

Academic Altınay: Global public opinion emerges to be significant in international affairs
20 November 2011, Sunday
Hakan Altınay
As people's global interdependence grows quickly, global public opinion is emerging as a significant force in international affairs, according to this week's guest for Monday Talk who works on the issue of global civics.

“We are not far away from a world where verdicts in the court of international public opinion are as feared and respected as verdicts in the court of law,” has said Hakan Altınay, author of “Global Civics: Responsibilities and Rights in an Interdependent World.”

But before writing a book and touring the world to spread the idea of global civics, he learned while helping a blacksmith as a young boy in İstanbul how to respect hard work and how people define what is acceptable and unacceptable in their daily lives in relation to each other.

For Monday Talk he elaborated on the idea of global civics plus talked about humanity's responsibilities toward the seventh billionth person. He was a speaker at the Halifax International Security Forum in Canada where he participated in a session on the topic of sharing global responsibility.....

Interesting interview

God Bless

David

[Exit40]

Turkey warns Syria's Bashar al-Assad his days are numbered

11:15AM GMT 21 Nov 2011

"You can remain in power with tanks and cannons only up to a certain point. The day will come when you'll also leave," Mr Erdogan told a meeting in Istanbul.

Meanwhile reports said two buses carrying Turkish pilgrims came under attack near the Syrian city of Homs as at least four more people were killed on Monday in a regime crackdown in the same flashpoint region.

Russia for its part accused the West of provocative behaviour in the Syrian crisis, saying Western countries were telling the opposition to forget dialogue with the embattled president....

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God Bless

David

[Exit40]

Iraq bans Turkish planes over oil debt owed

Sunday, November 20, 2011
SEVİL KÜÇÜKKOŞUM
ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

Baghdad banned Turkish aircraft from landing at Iraqi airports yesterday in reaction to a Turkish court’s requisition order on Iraqi state planes landing in Turkey due to Iraq’s oil debt.

Iraqi companies owe more than 3 million dollars to Turkish companies, a Turkish official told the Hürriyet Daily News yesterday.....

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God Bless

David

[Exit40]

Regarding the previous article, I thought it kind of odd for Turkey to respond to Iraq in this manner, if they are trying to maintain Iraqi unity and curb Iran's influence there. Turkish claims to desire good relations appear to be souring in that region, and I believe the Syria situation is the catalyst for this. Think about this, for the price tag of 3 million bucks Turkey is willing to gum up regional relationships and make themselves appear to be petty and selfish ? I don't think so. There is a lot more going on here than meets the eye, or that appears in the news. So here are a few things going on we think we know about. Turkey, Iraq, and Iran all agree on mutual cooperation, sort of, against the PKK, the Kurdish rebels and their influence in their respective nations, that being no one wants an autonomous Kurdistan seeking their own nation by claiming lands from their respective nations. The US pull out is a contributing factor, leaving a vacuum of military enforcement power to protect Iraq from being picked apart. Yet it appears the scrap is on, and has nothing to do with Iraqi military efficacy. The sides have been choosing up for a while now, and it appears the national Iraqi govt is going with Iran and Syria, with the KRG, Kurdistan Regional Govt working on Turkey for the Kurdish populations there and subsequent support. In the balance of all this is the oil rich Kirkuk and Mosul regions of Iraqi Kurdistan. Ever wonder what happened to the Kirkuk resolution of 2007 ? That was never agreed on and passed into national law ? Turns out the region has a history of complications from before the Treaty of Luasanne which has yet to be worked out today, with the monkey and wrench being the Ankara Agreement of March 1926, not clearly defining who owns the land, so until that gets figured out Iraq has to pay oil royalties to Turkey. This is the Iraqi oil debt owed to Turkey mentioned in the previous article. It's not just the 3 million bucks they are attaching to this seemingly petty squabble.

Getting back to choosing up sides, Turkey's biggest supporter is the US, with a hesitant EU right in there, especially France, Germany, and Britain who all have an interest, purportedly backed up with legal documents, in Kurdistan ownership and natural resources, that being, umm, oil and natural gas. Then figure in Turkey's popularity on the Arab street, and PM Erdogan tiptoeing through the Regional Arab leadership, only occasionally stepping on a toe. So while Turkey is more and more dancing to the Star Spangled Banner they are also quietly attempting to let the Arabs handle the Syria problem and not get any blood on their hands, all the while pretending not to be a western puppet. The ultimate battle over Syria is Iran and it's shia crescent. Iraq siding with Syria, and so therefore Iran, has put them at odds with nearly everyone on the planet who is fed up with the Iranian regime. Guess who is getting the benefit of this right now ? Israel, but just for now. No one wants a war, but it would be nice if the Iranian regime changed it's tune, either through a diplomatic change of heart, or an actual Arab Spring type revolution. The Iranian resistance, or opposition if you want to call them that still has a name, the Green Revolution that raised itself up in the 09 elections. Parliamentary elections come around there in March next year, and if it hasn't all blown up beforehand we can expect to see them on the streets again.

The crucial factor in this is the when and how Assad of Syria gets removed from power. If that happens smoothly, and we have to consider the nature of the region in this assessment, I think we will see the fall of the shia influenced regimes, meaning a change towards moderation in Iran and Syria, with the ever popular Turkey being a model modern muslim nation still attempting to lead the way. I think it will go this way whether there is an actual war or not. But after it is over, then we can get down to the serious intrigue, corruption, and betrayal that is still coming for the Middle East and Israel.

Meanwhile, here are a couple links that elaborate on the history of this situation. Long but interesting reads.

http://www.stradigma.com/english/march2 ... es_06.html

http://www.manaz.net/?page_id=165

God Bless

David

[Exit40]

Turkish premier urges Syrian leader to step down
Updated 1h 38m ago

BEIRUT (AP) – Turkey's prime minister said Tuesday that Syria's president must step down over the country's crackdown on dissent, ratcheting up the pressure on the increasingly isolated Bashar Assad.

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said for the first time that Syria's president must step down over the crackdown on dissent.

Turkey's call came as Syrian activists reported that five people — including four children — were killed Tuesday.

"For the welfare of your own people and the region, just leave that seat," Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey said in a televised speech.

He reminded Assad of the bloody end of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and those of past dictators, including Adolf Hitler.

"If you want to see someone who has fought until death against his own people, just look at Nazi Germany, just look at Hitler, at Mussolini, at Nicolae Ceausescu in Romania," he said. "If you cannot draw any lessons from these, then look at the Libyan leader who was killed just 32 days ago."

World leaders are turning on Assad in quick succession. The military crackdown on an 8-month-old uprising against Assad's regime has killed nearly 4,000 people.

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God Bless

David

[Exit40]

Turkey’s Most Powerful Muslim Preacher Scares Kurds
22/11/2011 01:53:00 By WLADIMIR van WILGENBURG

EXETER, the United Kingdom -- There is ongoing tension in Turkey between the rebel Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the movement of the powerful Turkish Sufi preacher, Fethullah Gülen.

Debates heated up after Gülen told his followers in late October that God should burn the houses of “those among us who deserve nothing but punishment,” and criticized the army and state for not finishing off the PKK, a Kurdish guerrilla group that has fought Turkey for 30 years. Turkey, the United States and the European Union classify the PKK as a terrorist organization.

Gülen, who lives in self-imposed exile in America, is both loved and feared in Turkey. His movement controls a huge number of schools, media organizations and banks in 130 countries, including charter schools in the United States and Işık University in Erbil......

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God Bless

David

[Exit40]

Turkey investigates Israel links with PKK

22/11/11 10:10 CET

Turkey is investigating claims made by a member of the PKK Kurdish armed separatist movement that a fellow PKK member involved in a deadly attack on Turkish soldiers, has close ties with Israel.

Baris Kizilcay, who was arrested by Turkish police last week, says that Kenan Yildizbakan was a frequent visitor to Israel, where he stayed in the house of his Israeli girlfriend. Yildizbakan is suspected of playing an important role in the attack in Iskenderun in May, 2010 in which seven Turkish policemen were killed. According to Kizilcay “I cannot say that the Iskenderun attack was the work of Israel but I can confirm that Yildizbakan spent a lot of time in Israel and in our conversations he was speaking very supportively of Israel.”

These allegations have sparked hot debate in Turkey about whether Israel is giving military support to the PKK. ....

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God Bless

David

[Exit40]

Turkey’s Democratic Dusk
Dani Rodrik
2011-11-22

Turkey’s Democratic Dusk

CAMBRIDGE – When questioned recently about a constitutional law professor who was arrested for lecturing at an institute run by the country’s main pro-Kurdish political party, Turkey’s interior minister, Idris Naim Sahin, couldn’t hide his irritation: “I am having a hard time understanding those saying a professor should not be arrested while thousands of other people are being arrested in Turkey.”

Presumably, Sahin meant to say that a professor cannot claim special treatment under the law. But his remark inadvertently underscored Turkey’s new reality, in which any perceived opponent of the current regime can be jailed, with or without evidence, for terrorism or other violent acts.

Special courts, tasked with prosecuting terrorism and crimes against the state, have been working overtime to produce charges that are often as absurd as they are baseless. For example, journalists have been imprisoned for producing articles and books at the behest of an alleged terrorist organization called “Ergenekon,” whose existence has yet to be confirmed, despite years of investigation. ....

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God Bless

David

[Exit40]

Turkish PM Erdogan calls for ‘coward’ Assad to step down

Agence France-Presse Nov 22, 2011 – 8:57 AM ET

By Fulya Ozerkan

ANKARA — Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan Tuesday urged Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad to step down, branding him a coward and warning that he risked the same fate of dictators who met bloody deaths.

In his fiercest criticism yet of his one-time ally, Erdogan also ridiculed Assad for pledging to fight to the death against domestic opponents while being unwilling to risk his life to retake the occupied Golan Heights from Israel. “Quit power before more blood is shed … for the peace of your people, your region and your country,” Erdogan told the Turkish parliament in Ankara.

After weeks of mounting criticism of the Syrian president, it was the first time the Turkish premier had directly called for his removal from power. He is the second leader of a neighbouring country to do so, after Jordan’s King Abdullah last week called on Assad to go....

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God Bless

David

[Exit40]

CHP opposes PM’s plan to release Dersim documents
22 November 2011, Tuesday / TODAY'S ZAMAN, İSTANBUL

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said at his party's group meeting in Parliament on Tuesday that the state plans to release a number of state documents about the long-controversial 1937 Dersim massacre this Wednesday, an announcement that prompted harsh criticism from opposition chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu later in the day.

The two politicians' clash over the documents is the latest development in an increasingly volatile political bout over the massacre and comes in the wake of calls by President Abdullah Gül and Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç earlier this week for the foundation of a parliamentary commission to establish the truth of 1937.

In his announcement about plans to release the previously classified documents, Erdoğan called on the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) to “face up to and investigate its history,” castigating the opposition group for its defiance against plans for a state-led investigation. “If the party does not face up to what happened in Dersim at this point, it will not be able to catch hold of such an opportunity again,” Erdoğan said of the CHP, which was the ruling government at the time of the massacre....

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God bless

David

[water]

Closer every day.

[Exit40]

Closer every day.

Kinda like waiting for the other shoe to drop.

God Bless You

David

[Exit40]

Turkish PM apologizes over 1930s killings of Kurds

(AP) – 28 minutes ago

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey's prime minister has apologized for the first time for the killings of nearly 14,000 people in a bombing and strafing campaign to crush a Kurdish rebellion in the 1930s.

The apology Wednesday by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan comes at tense time for relations between Turkey and its minority Kurds. Erdogan's government is currently fighting against autonomy-seeking Kurdish rebels and despite efforts to seek peace, it says it is determined to crush the rebels if they don't lay down arms.....

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God Bless

David

[Exit40]

U.N. and Turkey Increase Pressure on Syria's Assad

Published November 23, 2011

NEW YORK – Syria's violent repression of political dissent was blasted by the United Nations General Assembly in a resolution condemning "continued grave and systematic human rights violations by the Syrian authorities."

The vote came amid rising pressure on Damascus, as Turkey's prime minister for the first time called for Syrian President Bashar al Assad to step down -- warning of a fate like that of Libya's Muammar Qaddafi, who was captured and killed last month.

The U.N. resolution calls on Syria to immediately end all human-rights violations and to implement an Arab League plan to end the violence, two days before an emergency Arab League session on Thursday.....

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God Bless

David

[Exit40]

23 November 2011 - 13H41

Turkey and Shell sign energy exploration deal

AFP - Turkey signed a deal with Anglo-Dutch energy giant Shell on Wednesday for exploration on Turkish soil and in the Mediterranean Sea that could further stoke tensions with Cyprus.

The contract between the state-owned Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) and Shell comes after Cyprus launched its own gas exploration projects off the south coast of the divided island in September.

Ankara does not recognise the Greek-Cypriot government of Cyprus and says it has no right to conduct offshore energy exploration while UN-backed talks on reunifying the eastern Mediterranean island continue.

Energy Minister Taner Yildiz, who oversaw the signing of the contract, however brushed aside claims that with the agreement Turkey was retaliating against Cyprus's moves.....

**** Snip ****

"Israel acting as if nothing had happened about the massacre of our nine citizens is naturally unacceptable for us," he said. "Therefore, this represents a serious obstacle for our cooperation and energy projects we will develop together (with Israel)," he added.....

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**** We've seen the stick, this must be the carrot... D.

God Bless

David

[Ready1]

Just saw two disparate articles articles above so I will post them together...

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey's prime minister apologized Wednesday for the first time for the killings of nearly 14,000 people in a bombing and strafing campaign to crush a Kurdish rebellion in the 1930s.

"Israel acting as if nothing had happened about the massacre of our nine citizens is naturally unacceptable for us," he said. "Therefore, this represents a serious obstacle for our cooperation and energy projects we will develop together (with Israel)," he added.....

[Exit40]

Hi Ready1. Many have noticed the duplicity of this nations leaders, but they continue to rise in power and influence. As for the apology, it appears to be an internal political move by Erdogan that comes with an admonishment towards his AKP party's main opposition, the CHP party. They were the ones in power at the time of the massacre. This has been an ongoing debate for a time that has come to a head, and at the time when they are attempting to rewrite their constitution. This becomes an issue of sorts as many of the articles they are trying to get written in are going to referendum, the people will have to vote on them. And so the political back biting. A very clever and astute maneuver. I think he is getting advice from his buddy Obama.

God Bless You

David

[Exit40]

Main opposition CHP in disarray after Erdoğan's Dersim call
24 November 2011, Thursday / TODAYSZAMAN.COM,

A call by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) to apologize for the killing of thousands of people in the Alevi region of Dersim in the 1930s has caused disarray within the CHP, whose administration dismissed a local branch head who complied with Erdoğan's call amidst the widening row.

CHP parliamentary group Deputy Chairman Akif Hamzaçebi was the first CHP official to respond to Erdoğan and accused him of engaging in separatism. “The prime minister is spreading hatred, anger and animosity. He is engaging in separatism. The prime minister has launched a war against the republic. Next is [Mustafa Kemal] Atatürk,” he said.

Hamzaçebi added, “Every rebel is a victim in the eyes of Erdoğan,” accusing the prime minister of “cheap politics.”

CHP Deputy Chairman Gürsel Tekin reacted to Erdoğan's words in a written statement and also accused Erdoğan of inciting animosity among people. “I congratulate the prime minister. He put dynamite under the basis of unity in our nation and country with his language, style and explanation. He has been successful in creating animosity among the people. We learned our history, thanks to him. What else is left to say? What is the next step for the prime minister? What is the end goal of his campaign?” he said....

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God Bless

David