Extraordinary OIC Palestine summit held in Istanbul

18.05.2018

ISTANBUL

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent out a strong message against Israeli violence that martyred at least 62 Palestinians during the ongoing extraordinary summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Friday.

A large number of heads of state and government, including Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, King Abdullah II of Jordan, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Afghan President Ashraf Gani, Kuwaiti Amir Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah and Mauritanian President Mohammad Veled Abdulaziz participate in the summit meeting.

Erdogan, OIC Secretary General Yousef al-Othaimeen, King Abdullah II of Jordan and Hamdallah are expected to deliver speeches at the ongoing conference.

The event will enable the Muslim leaders to show a dedicated and joint stance against Israeli actions. A final declaration will be released afterwards.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu will also speak at the summit.

A total of 15 OIC members state foreign ministers are attending the gathering, including from Iran, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Azerbaijan, Tunisia, Lebanon, Iraq and Egypt.

Monday's protests in Gaza coincided with Israel's 70th anniversary - an event Palestinians refer to as Nakba or the "Catastrophe" - and the relocation of the US Embassy to Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Since the mass Gaza rallies began on March 30, more than 100 Palestinian protesters have been martyred by Israeli army gunfire.

Last week, the Israeli government claimed that the ongoing Gaze protests constitute a "state of war" in which international humanitarian law does not apply.

Source: Anadolu Agency.
Link: https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/extraordinary-oic-palestine-summit-held-in-istanbul/1150495.

North and South Korea say they plan bid for 2032 Olympics

September 19, 2018

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in said in a statement Wednesday that the countries planned to jointly bid for the 2032 Summer Olympics.

At a major summit, the two leaders gave no details of which cities might host certain events at the games, or how advanced the plans were. The International Olympic Committee traditionally does not announce host cities until seven years ahead of the games. That would give the Koreas until 2025 to put together a joint bid.

Germany, with a multi-city bid, Brisbane, Australia and Jakarta, Indonesia are among those who have indicated they would bid for the 2032 Games. The India Olympic Committee has also said it could bid for 2032, as has South Africa's Olympic committee in an attempt to bring the Olympics to Africa for the first time.

A successful bid by the Koreas would mark the second time South Korea hosted or co-hosted the Summer Games, the first being 1988 in Seoul. South Korea also hosted the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang in February.

Asia features in the next two Olympics — the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo and the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing, which also hosted the summer version in 2008. The joint statement Wednesday also said the Koreas would look to cooperate in major sports events such as the 2020 Games, also without elaborating.

Experts air new concerns about UN response to Myanmar crisis

September 19, 2018

GENEVA (AP) — U.N.-backed investigators who examined a bloody crackdown by Myanmar security forces that caused hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims to flee to neighboring Bangladesh issued a searing critique Tuesday of the United Nations' own response to the human rights crisis.

In a 432-page report, the members of a fact-finding mission on Myanmar fleshed out preliminary findings and recommendations released in a shorter version three weeks ago. "With a heavy heart and deep sadness, we have drawn conclusions, on the basis of the facts, that we never expected would be as grave as they are," team chairman Marzuki Darusman said he presented the report to the U.N.-supported Human Rights Council.

"What we have found are not only the most serious human rights violations, but crimes of the highest order under international law," he said. The team reiterated that some top Myanmar military leaders should be prosecuted for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide against the Rohingya during a deadly crackdown that erupted in August 2017 following militant attacks on security posts in Rakhine state.

In a rare rebuttal by Myanmar's government, its new ambassador in Geneva lashed out at what he called a "one-sided" report. The team has said Myanmar's government had not responded to its report or honored requests for access to violence-hit regions.

"The way the report portrays ... the national races of Myanmar is misleading," the ambassador, Kyaw Moe Tun, told the 47-member body. "It also undermines the government's effort to bring peace, national reconciliation and development to the entire nation."

"Regardless of the lack of balance, impartiality and fairness, the government of Myanmar takes the allegations of human rights violations seriously," he said. "The government will not condone human rights violations."

After Marzuki spoke of the rape of women and girls by military forces, the ambassador countered, "We share deep sympathy and concern for all displaced persons, especially women and girls." The full report also provided new details about the investigators' concerns about how the United Nations reacted during the spasm of violence. It noted that the "only statement" from the U.N. resident coordinator's office "was to condemn the ARSA (militant group) attacks and losses suffered by the Myanmar security forces."

The council created the fact-finding mission 18 months ago, after years of abuses against ethnic minorities in Myanmar, focusing on the time since 2011 when the country began opening up after decades of isolation under a long-ruling military junta.

Though the investigators looked at the treatment of minority groups across the Southeast Asian nation, their mandate came just six months before the crackdown against the Rohingya in Rakhine, injecting the mission with far greater importance to help detail those abuses, crimes and human rights violations.

The report provides details of violence in Kachin, Shan and Rakhine states, much of which has been documented and made public through collection of witness accounts, satellite imagery and other sources. It cited allegations of crimes by the military and other security forces including murder, torture, pillaging, execution without due process, rape, sexual slavery and hostage taking.

It said some acts by ethnic armed groups and the Rohingya militant organization ARSA could also constitute war crimes. Crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide can be considered by tribunals such as the International Criminal Court, but Myanmar is not a party to it. The country's government has snubbed a ruling by the court's judges that said the ICC has jurisdiction to investigate alleged crimes against the Rohingya. The court's chief prosecutor said Tuesday she was opening a preliminary investigation into Myanmar's expulsions of Rohingya.

The report's critique of the United Nations focused not only on the world body's response to the Rohingya crisis, but its efforts across the country. For example, the investigators noted that the U.N. had rolled out a "Human Rights Up Front Action Plan" in Myanmar in 2013, but said its "human rights driven" approach was "rarely, if ever, pursued."

"Rather, it was largely 'business as usual,' with development goals and humanitarian access prioritized only," the authors wrote. They cited allegations that some U.N. personnel who tried to pursue a human rights agenda "were ignored, criticized, sidelined or blocked in these efforts."

They alluded to criticism from Fieldview Solutions, an outside group that works to advance human rights, in July that cited some in U.N. and humanitarian circles for not doing enough to expand their "political space" in Myanmar, adding, "The Myanmar government has learned that it can count on U.N. and humanitarian self-censorship."

The U.N. experts said some U.N. entities and staffers showed "a lack of cooperation" with their work, and "appeared to view it as a threat, rather than a means to address the most deep rooted human rights challenges facing Myanmar."

"This attitude and approach must change," they added. The investigators did acknowledge that some people in the country had faced "intimidation and reprisals" for their "engagement" with the United Nations.

The team renewed its urgent call for "a comprehensive, independent inquiry into the United Nations' involvement" in hopes of "establishing whether everything possible to prevent or mitigate the unfolding crises was done." It also sought to draw lessons and — "as appropriate" — make recommendations on accountability.

The investigators bemoaned that "there has been no review of what happened, of where the approach taken had some positive effect and where it did not, and of how the U.N.'s approach could be improved in future crises."

Kingsley Abbott, senior legal adviser at the International Commission of Jurists, said the U.N.'s failure to implement the Human Rights Up Front Action Plan in Myanmar requires a credible and transparent investigation.

"The situation has demonstrated yet again that the U.N. secretary-general and his staff in Myanmar must ensure that the entire U.N. system actually puts human rights up front in its day- to-day work in the country," he added.

The team said a second fact-finding mission should be authorized to examine continued threats to human rights in Myanmar, and urged the creation of a separate team to collect evidence that could be used in possible future prosecutions.

Turkey to provide $1 million in aid to embattled Gaza

18.05.2018

JERUSALEM

The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) will provide $1 million in emergency aid to the blockaded Gaza Strip during the month of Ramadan, according to TIKA officials. 

Bulent Korkmaz, TIKA’s Palestine program coordinator, told Anadolu Agency on Friday that recent Israeli atrocities against unarmed Palestinian protesters in Gaza had prompted outrage in Turkey, leading Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to order an immediate aid disbursement. 

The aid will include the distribution of food packages throughout Ramadan to 12,000 Gazan families and hot fast-breaking (iftar) meals to 1,000 families each day, Korkmaz said.

He added that the aid would also include the provision of medicine and medical equipment worth $200,000 to hospitals in Gaza.

According to Palestine’s official statistics agency, the poverty rate in Gaza reached 53 percent in 2017, with at least 250,000 people -- of the strip’s roughly two-million-strong population -- facing unemployment.

An ongoing Israeli blockade, imposed since 2006, is believed to be the primary reason for the economic stagnation.

Ramadan this year comes amid heightened tensions in the Palestinian territories.

On Monday, scores of Palestinian demonstrators were martyred -- and thousands more injured -- by Israeli troops near the fence separating the Gaza Strip from Israel.

Source: Anadolu Agency.
Link: https://www.aa.com.tr/en/todays-headlines/turkey-to-provide-1-million-in-aid-to-embattled-gaza/1150201.

Turkey to continue aid efforts for Rohingya in Ramadan

17.05.2018

ANKARA

Turkish charitable groups aim to reach thousands of Rohingya in Myanmar and Bangladesh during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) plans to deliver food parcels to 5,000 families living in refugee camps and in villages in Myanmar's Rakhine state.

The agency is also set to set up tents to serve iftars, or fast-breaking meals, for as many as 30,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

TIKA will also supply a separate group of 30,000 people with food parcels that contain salt, sugar, biscuit, persimmon, tea, onion, potato, pepper and chickpea, along with personal care items.

The agency will also establish new shelters for 180 families in Rakhine.

Also, the Turkiye Diyanet Foundation (TDV) -- the charity organization of Turkey's Directorate of Religious Affairs -- is set to distribute more than 6,000 food packages for Rohingya in Myanmar and provide 5,000 families with iftar meals.

The foundation also plans to deliver 10,000 food packages and serve iftar meals for 13,000 Rohingya in Cox-Bazaar, Bangladesh.

The Turkish Red Crescent Society will give food parcels and personal care products to 2,000 families in Bangladesh on a weekly basis during Ramadan.

The Turkish Red Crescent will also organize two iftar meals in Cox Bazaar.

Since Aug. 25, 2017, some 750,000 Rohingya, mostly children, and women, fled Myanmar when Myanmar forces launched a crackdown on the minority Muslim community, according to the Amnesty International.

At least 9,000 Rohingya were killed in Rakhine state from Aug. 25 to Sept. 24, according to Doctors Without Borders.

In a report published on Dec. 12, the global humanitarian organization said the deaths of 71.7 percent or 6,700 Rohingya were caused by violence. They include 730 children below the age of 5.

Source: Anadolu Agency.
Link: https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/turkey-to-continue-aid-efforts-for-rohingya-in-ramadan/1149094.

Extraordinary summit of OIC on Palestine to be held in Istanbul, Friday

May 16, 2018

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) will hold an extraordinary summit in Istanbul on Friday to discuss “the latest serious developments in the State of Palestine.”

The organization, which comprises 57 member nations, said in a statement that the summit will be held at the invitation of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the chairman of the 13th session of the Islamic Summit Conference.

The Israeli occupation army killed 61 Palestinians on Monday, including a baby girl, and injured nearly 3,000 during a protest in the Gaza Strip against the transfer of the US Embassy to the occupied city of Jerusalem.

Turkey also declared a three-day mourning period for those killed in Gaza on Monday, and called its ambassadors in Washington and Tel Aviv for consultations.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180516-extraordinary-summit-of-oic-on-palestine-to-be-held-in-istanbul-friday/.

Turkey, Russia agree on demilitarized zone in Syria's Idlib

September 17, 2018

MOSCOW (AP) — The leaders of Russia and Turkey agreed Monday to establish a demilitarized zone in Syria's Idlib region, the last major stronghold of anti-government rebels where fears had been running high of a devastating offensive by government forces.

The zone will be established by Oct. 15 and be 15-20 kilometers (9-12 miles) deep, with troops from Russia and NATO-member Turkey conducting coordinated patrols, President Vladimir Putin said at the end of a more than three-hour meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Sochi.

The deal marked a significant agreement between the two leaders and effectively delays an offensive by Syria and its Russian and Iranian allies, one that Turkey fears would create a humanitarian crisis near its border.

Putin said "radical militants" would have to withdraw from the zone. Among them would be those from the al-Qaida-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham — Arabic for Levant Liberation Committee. The group denies it is linked to al-Qaida.

It was not immediately clear exactly how the deal would be implemented in the province, which is home to more than 3 million Syrians and an estimated 60,000 rebel fighters from various groups. "I believe that with this agreement we prevented a great humanitarian crisis in Idlib," Erdogan said at a joint briefing with Putin.

Turkey has been eager to prevent an assault by Syrian government troops in the province. Putin said he believed the agreement on Idlib could hasten final resolution of Syria's long and devastating civil war.

"We agreed that practical implementation of the steps we plan will give a fresh impetus to the process of political settlement of the Syrian conflict and will make it possible to invigorate efforts in the Geneva format and will help restore peace in Syria," he said.

Asked whether Syrian President Bashar Assad's government agreed with the Putin-Erdogan plan, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told reporters in Sochi that "in the coming hours, we will agree with them on all the positions put forth in this document."

Ahmed Ramadan, a spokesman for the Syrian political opposition in exile, said the agreement offered Russia a chance to walk back its threat against Idlib and represented a success for diplomatic pressure from Turkey and the United States, which was also against an offensive.

Ramadan also said the deal offers the Syrian government and Russia one of their main demands, which is securing the highway that passes through Idlib and links northern Syria with other cities. That was one of the government's strategic aims in an offensive in Idlib.

"Turkey offered Putin a ladder with which to climb down from the tree, threatening a military offensive in Idlib that had little chance for success," Ramadan said in a series of text messages with The Associated Press. "The Turkish and U.S. serious pressures were the reason behind Russia abstaining from the offensive and offering an air cover which means Iran alone won't be able to carry out the offensive with the overstretched forces of the Assad regime."

He said Russia has also refrained from its accusations that the rebels are all terrorists. "Russia swallowed all its accusations," he said. "Turkey is in a strong position." He said the zone would be enforced by Turkish patrols on the opposition side and Russian patrols on the government side.

Ramadan added that the opposition was now stronger than when it was after losses in Daraa and Ghouta. He said the Russians reached the agreement without negotiating it first with the Syrian government, pointing to Shoigu's comments that Moscow will discuss the deal with the Syrian government later.

Abu Omar, a spokesman for the Turkey-backed rebel group Faylaq al-Sham, thanked Erdogan for preventing an offensive and giving the rebels time to defend their rebellion and people. Millions "of civilians in Idlib are in peace," he tweeted.

He said he was confident that the deal "would not have been possible without the steadfastness of our people and fighters. Thank you, Erdogan." Capt. Naji al-Mustafa, a spokesman for the Turkey-backed umbrella group of opposition fighters known as the National Front for Liberation, said diplomatic efforts have prevented a wide-offensive on Idlib but that his group still needs to learn the details of the deal.

He said the nature of the demilitarized zone and how it would be implemented are not yet clear. "We need details," he said, adding that the Assad government has broken many agreements before, including the Russian-Turkey negotiated de-escalation zones.

"We will remain ready for fighting," he said. Russia has called Idlib a hotbed of terrorism and had said the Syrian government has the right to retake control of it. In recent weeks, Russian officials repeatedly claimed rebels in Idlib were preparing a chemical weapons attack that could be blamed on the Syrian government and prompt a retaliatory strike by the West.

Turkey had appealed to Russia and Iran, its uneasy negotiating partners, for a diplomatic resolution. At the same time, it has sent reinforcements to its troops ringing Idlib, a move designed to ward off a ground assault, at least for now.

The International Rescue Committee, a New-York based humanitarian group, said the people of Idlib "will rest easier tonight knowing that they are less likely to face an impending assault." However, Lorraine Bramwell, the group's Syria country director, cautioned that previous de-escalation deals didn't last long.

"In order to give people in Idlib peace of mind then, this agreement needs to be built upon by the global powers working together to find a lasting political solution that protects civilians," Bramwell said. "It is also essential that humanitarian organizations are allowed to reach those who will remain in need throughout Idlib, including in any 'demilitarized zone.'"

Idlib and surrounding areas were quiet Monday, a continuation of the calm that started less than a week ago amid Russia-Turkey talks.

Associated Press writer Jim Heintz reported this story in Moscow and AP writer Sarah El Deeb reported from Beirut. AP writer Neyran Elden in Istanbul, Turkey, contributed to this report.

Leaders of Russia, Turkey meet to discuss Syria's Idlib

September 17, 2018

MOSCOW (AP) — The presidents of Russia and Turkey were meeting in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi on Monday in a bid to find a diplomatic resolution to the crisis around a rebel-held region in Syria.

The province of Idlib in the country's north-west is the last stronghold of Syrian rebels, and Turkey has been eager to prevent a potential government offensive there. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday was meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin for the second time in just 10 days after Russia and Iran expressed support for the idea of an offensive.

Russia calls Idlib a hotbed of terrorism and says the Syrian government has the right to retake control of it. Turkey has appealed to Russia and Iran, its uneasy negotiating partners, for a diplomatic resolution to the ticking bomb. At the same time, it has sent reinforcements to its troops ringing Idlib, a move designed to ward off a ground assault, at least for now.

Putin and Erdogan sat down for talks Monday afternoon. Putin told Erdogan in opening remarks carried by Russian news agencies that he and Erdogan will be "looking for solutions where there are none right now," without mentioning Idlib by name.

Erdogan in his reply expressed hope that the joint statement that the two leaders are expected to make later on Monday will be "a different hope for the whole region." It was quiet in Idlib and surrounding areas Monday, a continuation of the calm that started less than a week ago amid Russia-Turkey talks.

Idlib and surrounding areas is home to over 3 million Syrians, and an estimated 60,000 rebel fighters.

Merkel, Algerian officials discuss migration, Libya

September 17, 2018

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel has met with Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on Monday during a one-day visit to the country to discuss migration and the situation in neighboring Libya.

Algeria's official APS news agency reported the meeting happened in the presence Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia and other government members. The discussions take on particular significance before April's presidential election in Algeria. No candidate has yet emerged because everyone is waiting to learn whether Bouteflika, 81, partially paralyzed from a stroke and rarely seen in public, will seek a fifth term.

Bouteflika travelled to Switzerland earlier this month for medical check-ups. Algerian television channels showed images of Merkel and Bouteflika talking together. In a joint news conference, Merkel and Ouyahia said they agreed on a process to send about 700 Algerian migrants identified as illegally staying in Germany back to their country.

Ouyahia suggested that German airline Lufthansa should help with their transfer in addition to Air Algeria. Algerian authorities requested that no special flight is chartered, he said. "Algeria will take back its children staying irregularly in Germany," he said.

Merkel said they also discussed the situation in neighboring Mali and Libya, without providing details. Before the talks, Merkel visited the hilltop memorial to "martyrs" who died in Algeria's war of independence with France that ended in 1962.

Germany was Algeria's fourth-largest commercial partner in 2017, with 200 German companies working in various sectors in the North African country. This was Merkel's first visit to Algeria in a decade. Initially set for February 2017, it was postponed because Bouteflika was stricken with the flu.

Both countries also sought to deepen their economic cooperation. Mohamed Saidj, professor of political science in Algiers, told The Associated Press that Merkel's meeting with Bouteflika provided the Algerian president an occasion to "show his adversaries that he keeps assuming normally the prerogatives of his office."

Saidj stressed that Algeria has strong economic links with Germany especially in mechanical engineering, the auto industry, renewable energy, the chemical sector and pharmaceuticals.

Qatar opens courts in Gaza

September 17, 2018

The Qatari envoy yesterday inaugurated the Justice Palace complex in the central Gaza Strip.

Qatari Ambassador Mohamed Al-Emadi, head of the National Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza, launched the 11 dunam (2.7 acre) site which cost $11 million to build and comprises the Supreme Judicial Council, the Supreme Court, as well as Appeal, First Instance and Reconciliation courts.Abdul Raouf Al-Halabi, president of the Supreme Council of the Judiciary in the Gaza Strip, praised Qatar’s efforts to complete the project and its continued support to the Palestinian people.

“I am pleased on behalf of myself and my colleagues in the Supreme Council of the Judiciary. We welcome your presence here,” he said.

Al-Halabi explained that this project is a major Palestinian landmark, “to begin through this moment the first stage of the march of judicial development in the Gaza Strip.”

He thanked the Qatari Ambassador and his team for their efforts and support to complete the project.

The National Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza is carrying out a number of projects in the Gaza Strip as a part of $407 million grant from His Highness the Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180917-qatar-opens-courts-in-gaza/.

Saudi Arabia buys Iron Dome defense system from Israel

September 13, 2018

Saudi Arabia is reported to have purchased the Iron Dome missile defense system from Israel signaling a rapprochement between the two countries, according to several diplomatic sources quoted in Al-Khaleej Online.

Saudi Arabia not only wants political convergence with Israel, said the sources, but also seeks to reach a level where it publicly purchases heavy and developed weapons from Tel Aviv like the UAE does.

Israeli-Saudi relations are the best they have ever been. Chief of staff of the Israeli army, General Gadi Eisenkot, recently said in an interview with the British-based Saudi Elaph newspaper that Israel was prepared to share intelligence with the Saudi side in order to counter Iran’s influence.

Moreover, a former senior official in the Israeli army revealed that he had recently had two meetings with two prominent Saudi emirs, who confirmed that Israel was no longer an enemy of Saudi Arabia.

The sources confirmed that Saudi Arabia has recently convinced Israel through very strong mediation by the United States during secret tripartite meetings in Washington to sell it its advanced Iron Dome system.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180913-saudi-arabia-buys-iron-dome-defence-system-from-israel/.

Greece to move 2,000 out of overcrowded Lesbos migrant camp

September 18, 2018

MORIA, Greece (AP) — Some 2,000 asylum-seekers will be moved out of a severely overcrowded migrant camp on the Greek island of Lesbos this month, a Greek official said Tuesday as charities slammed conditions at the camp, which has raw sewage running out of its main entrance.

Government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos said those being moved out of the Moria camp, which houses 9,000 people in a facility built for 3,100, will be sent to the mainland so their asylum claims can be examined.

"The situation in Moria is indeed difficult, it is indeed at the limit," Tzanakopoulos said. Regional governor Christina Kalogirou had threatened to shut down the facility unless the Greek government improves conditions at Moria.

Camp resident Ali Sajjad Faizy, a 19-year-old from Afghanistan, said conditions at Moria have steadily worsened and anyone who wants food has to stand in line for many hours. "It's completely full," he said.

Doctors Without Borders has called for the emergency evacuation of vulnerable people at the camp to the mainland and other European Union countries, citing an increase in suicide attempts and self-harm among children in Moria and cases of sexual attack.

"This is the third year that (we) have been calling on the Greek authorities and the EU to take responsibility for their collective failures and to put in place sustainable solutions to avoid this catastrophic situation," said Louise Roland-Gosselin of Doctors without Borders. "It is time to immediately evacuate the most vulnerable to safe accommodation in other European countries and to stop this never-ending cycle of emergency decongestions and the horrendous conditions we continue to witness in Moria."

Thousands of people fleeing violence and poverty at home are still arriving at Greek islands from the nearby Turkish coast. Between Friday and Sunday, more than 600 reached Lesbos alone. Under a 2016 deal between the EU and Turkey designed to halt the flow of refugees and migrants into Europe, those arriving on Greek islands are held in detention camps there and face deportation back to Turkey unless their asylum applications are approved.

But the massive backlog of applications has led to severe overcrowding on the Greek island camps, even as authorities move hundreds of vulnerable people to the mainland. "What the Greek government is trying to do is to reduce the time required for a decision to be issued granting — or rejecting — asylum ... but there is always reality," Tzanakopoulos said.

Tzanakopoulos said anti-immigration policies being pursued by Hungary, Poland and several other EU members had limited Greece's options to deal with the overcrowding problem. "We must all understand that the only way for an overall solution to the immigration crisis is (to achieve) an equal and proportional sharing of refugees throughout Europe," he said.

Further to the east, Cyprus has been seeing an increase in the number of people arriving there to claim asylum. The EU's migration commissioner, Dimitris Avramopoulos, said Tuesday that the EU's new, upgraded border police could be dispatched to Cyprus.

An EU team will arrive in Cyprus shortly to determine what kind of help the country needs. "Cyprus is not alone. Europe is at its side," Avramopoulos said after meeting with Cyprus' interior, foreign and justice ministers. "Cyprus is on Europe's borders and on the front line of the migrant and refugee crisis."

Avramopoulos said the EU's new border police will be "more advanced and upgraded" from the current body, Frontex, and will have an estimated 10,000 staff within a few years. Interior Minister Constantinos Petrides said it's "impossible" for Cyprus, a divided island nation with just over 1 million people, to absorb large numbers of migrants.

Menelaos Hadjicostis in Nicosia, Cyprus, and Nicholas Paphitis in Athens contributed to this report.

Macron announces changes to France's health care system

September 18, 2018

PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday unveiled plans to make France's health care system, considered one of the best in the world, more efficient and sustainable for the next 50 years.

Macron announced organizational changes at hospitals, in the recruitment of doctors, and a better use of digital technologies to provide health care to patients across the country, regardless of where they live.

Macron said "a lot of our neighbors envy the excellence of our health care system. We are attached to our model which associates hospital medicine — public and private — and private medical practice."

France came out number 1 in a World Health Organization report comparing 191 countries in 2000. But the country's health care system is struggling with increasing costs and lack of doctors in some rural region and poor neighborhoods.

One short-term measure consists in hiring 400 family doctors — paid by the state— in so-called "medical deserts." The current rule that sets quotas on the number of students in medicine, dentistry and pharmacy will be abolished in 2020.

Hospitals will be classified into in three categories: local health care, specialized care and ultra-specialized care — each focusing on its priorities, to optimize patient care. Private doctors and other health care professionals will be required in the coming years to organize themselves into "communities" to be able to respond to daily emergency calls from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day in their geographic area — leaving hospitals for only the most serious cases.

The set of measures is estimated to cost 3.4 billion euros ($4 billion) by 2022. "My ambition is clear: I want what we call the health care system to be one of the pillars of the welfare state of the 21st century," Macron said. "A health care system that prevents and protects against today's and tomorrow's health risks."

France's health care system involves a state-funded health insurance that reimburses patients for most medical interventions and medicines prescribed by a doctor. France's health insurance budget in 2018 is 195.2 billion euros ($229 billion) — financed by taxes.

In addition, the French can also apply to private insurance to increase their health coverage.

US, EU and China vie for influence in Eastern Europe

September 17, 2018

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — President Donald Trump on Monday reaffirmed Washington's support for a business summit that aims to boost connectivity in Eastern Europe and improve ties between the region and the U.S. and European Union.

But the West is not the only major player in the region. Shortly before European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry arrived in Bucharest for the two-day Three Seas Initiative Business Forum, Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dancila met a top Chinese official, saying Romania wanted to export more to China and attract more investment from there.

The timing of the visit by Shen Yueyue, a senior official in the National People's Congress, may raise eyebrows in the light of one of the biggest summits Romania has hosted in recent years. Yet it shows how Romania and its neighbors are using regional leverage to attract the best deal for the less developed part of the bloc. It's something the EU is watching closely.

Regional analyst Radu Magdin said Central and East European countries are "bold enough to know what they want and self-aware enough to use great power competition to their advantage." He said Hungary was adept at playing "a multiple game involving the EU, some conservative circles in the U.S. as well as China and Russia."

Romania has traditionally good relations with China, dating back to the communist era, but has failed to capitalize on Chinese pledges such as building a rail network, Magdin said. As a result, China has done more business with Hungary, Serbia and Ukraine.

Setting the tone for the summit which is headlined "Enhancing European and Trans-Atlantic cooperation," Trump sent a letter Monday to President Klaus Iohannis saying the 12-member Three Seas Initiative could expand infrastructure, business connections, strengthen energy security and reduce trade barriers.

"The United States remains a proud partner in these efforts .... in this strategically important region," Trump wrote. The Bucharest summit comes two months after Chinese Premier Li Keqiang met central and eastern European leaders in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, for the seventh "16+1" summit, with countries hoping for state-backed Chinese investment.

Magdin said that "everyone is paying attention to competing (regional) initiatives, but Brussels is the most attentive ... as the biggest risk is an EU divide" between Eastern and Western Europe. He added that the EU may introduce legislation that would prohibit major non-EU investments in the future.

Meanwhile in Bucharest, Juncker, Perry, Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic and other heads of state arrived to discuss about 40 government-approved projects that aim to boost regional connectivity in transportation, energy and the digital fields.

Joining them were officials and bankers from the European Investment Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the World Bank. The Thee Seas initiative is a cooperation of European Union members located between the Adriatic, Baltic and Black Seas. Austria is the only member that wasn't formerly communist. The first summit was held in 2016. Trump attended the second summit in 2017 in Warsaw, Poland.

Earlier Monday, Yueyue and Dancila embraced and held hands tightly, and Dancila said Romania wanted to "intensify economic and commercial relations."

ICC sentences ex-Congo VP to 1 year for witness tampering

September 17, 2018

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Judges at the International Criminal Court on Monday re-imposed a one-year prison sentence and 300,000-euro ($350,000) fine on a former Congolese vice president for interfering with witnesses at his war crimes trial.

However, Jean-Pierre Bemba will not have to go to prison due to time he has already spent in the court's custody. Bemba and members of his legal team were convicted in 2016 of corruptly influencing witnesses in his trial on charges of commanding troops who committed atrocities in the Central African Republic. Appeals judges acquitted him of all charges in that case earlier this year and ordered him freed.

Appeals judges in his witness tampering trial upheld most of Bemba's convictions earlier this year but ordered trial judges to reconsider his sentence and those of two of his lawyers. At a brief hearing Monday, the trial judges re-affirmed Bemba's original sentence and sentenced his lawyers, Aime Kilolo and Jean-Jacques Mangenda, to 11 months — equivalent to the time they have already served. Kilolo was also fined 30,000 euros ($35,000).

Bemba's conviction on witness interference charges has ruled him out of standing as a candidate in Congo's Dec. 23 election. The African nation's electoral commission said that the guilty verdict amounted to corruption. Congolese law bars people convicted of corruption from running for the presidency.

Bemba has accused both the commission and the Constitutional Court, which this month upheld the commission's decision, of being under "full control" of the government of President Joseph Kabila, who after two years of deadly unrest amid the long-delayed election has said he will step aside.

Bemba, whose father was close to former longtime leader Mobutu Sese Seko, finished second to Kabila in the 2006 election.

Ethiopians protest in capital against weekend violence

September 17, 2018

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Several thousand Ethiopians demonstrated in the streets of the capital on Monday morning to protest ethnic-based attacks in the outskirts of the city in which more than 20 people died over the weekend.

Commissioner of the federal police Zeynu Jemal said that five people were killed in the Monday protests and between 20 and 25 people were killed in the weekend attack. He said that 700 suspects are in custody.

Victims of the attack and their families alleged the perpetrators are some groups of youths from the surrounding Oromia region. Police fired tear gas to try to disperse the demonstrators, but people continued to flock to central Meskel Square. The demonstrators are calling on the government to take firm measures against the perpetrators.

"We demand justice," some of the rally goers chanted when they passed by the offices of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, on the way to Meskel Square. "The government's task is to protect its citizens, not to send condolences after they are butchered," shouted a protester.

There were also protests in Arba Mich, the capital city of Ethiopia's Southern region and the home area of many victims of Saturday's attacks, in which demonstrators kneeled to urge justice. For the first time since taking office in April, Ethiopia's reformist leader Abiy has come under sharp criticism for what some see as his soft stance and people are calling on him on social media to toughen up and restore law and order. Some Ethiopians are also openly calling for a state of emergency to be put in place to avoid further killings.

For his part Abiy denounced the killings. "Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed strongly condemns the killings and acts of violence against innocent citizens ... These cowardly attacks represent a grave concern to the unity and solidarity of our people & will be met with appropriate response," said Fitsum Arega, the prime minister's chief of staff, in a tweet on Sunday.

Ethnic-based attacks over land and resources are not new in this East African nation of more than 80 ethnic groups. But the severity of such attacks has grown in recent months. The U.N. Children's Fund UNICEF said in August that as many as 2.8 million Ethiopians were internally displaced, mainly due to ethnic-based attacks in various parts of the country.

Japan eager to be on board vertical-takeoff 'flying cars'

September 18, 2018

TOKYO (AP) — Electric drones booked through smartphones pick people up from office rooftops, shortening travel time by hours, reducing the need for parking and clearing smog from the air. This vision of the future is driving the Japanese government's "flying car" project. Major carrier All Nippon Airways, electronics company NEC Corp. and more than a dozen other companies and academic experts hope to have a road map for the plan ready by the year's end.

"This is such a totally new sector Japan has a good chance for not falling behind," said Fumiaki Ebihara, the government official in charge of the project. For now, nobody believes people are going to be zipping around in flying cars any time soon. Many hurdles remain, such as battery life, the need for regulations and of course safety concerns. But dozens such projects are popping up around the world.

A flying car is defined as aircraft that's electric, or hybrid electric, with driverless capabilities, that can land and takeoff vertically, according to Ebihara. They are often called EVtol, which stands for "electric vertical takeoff and landing" aircraft. All the flying car concepts, which are like drones big enough to hold humans, promise to be better than helicopters, which are expensive to maintain, noisy to fly and require trained pilots, Ebihara and other proponents say.

"You may think of 'Back to the Future,' 'Gundam,' or 'Doraemon,'" Ebihara said, referring to vehicles of flight in a Hollywood film and in Japanese cartoons featuring robots. "Up to now, it was just a dream, but with innovations in motors and batteries, it's time for it to become real," he said.

Google, drone company Ehang and car manufacturer Geely in China, and Volkswagen AG of Germany have invested in flying car technology. Nissan Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co. said they had nothing to say about flying cars, but Toyota Motor Corp. recently invested $500 million in working with Uber on self-driving technology for the ride-hailing service. Toyota group companies have also invested 42.5 million yen ($375,000) in a Japanese startup, Cartivator, that is working on a flying car.

The hope is to fly up and light the torch at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but it's unclear it will meet that goal: at a demonstration last year the device crashed after it rose to slightly higher than eye level. A video of a more recent demonstration suggests it's now flying more stably, though it's being tested indoors, unmanned and chained so it won't fly away.

There are plenty of skeptics. Elon Musk, chief executive of electric car maker Tesla Inc., says even toy drones are noisy and blow a lot of air, which means anything that would be "1,000 times heavier" isn't practical.

"If you want a flying car, just put wheels on a helicopter," he said in a recent interview with podcast host and comedian Joe Rogan on YouTube. "Your neighbors are not going to be happy if you land a flying car in your backyard or on your rooftop."

Though the Japanese government has resisted Uber's efforts to offer ride-hailing services in Japan, limiting it to partnerships with taxi companies, it has eagerly embraced the U.S. company's work on EVtol machines.

Uber says it is considering Tokyo as its first launch city for affordable flights via its UberAir service. It says Los Angeles and Dallas, Texas, and locations in Australia, Brazil, France and India are other possible locations for its services.

Unlike regular airplanes, with their aerodynamic design and two wings, Uber's "Elevate" structures look like small jets with several propellers on top. The company says it plans flight demonstrations as soon as 2020 and a commercial service by 2023.

Uber's vision calls for using heliports on rooftops, but new multi-floored construction similar to parking lots for cars will likely be needed to accommodate so many more EVtol aircraft, once the service takes off.

Unmanned drones are legal in Japan, the U.S. and other countries, but there are restrictions on where they can be flown and requirements for getting approval in advance. In Japan, drone flyers can be licensed if they take classes. There is no requirement like drivers licenses for cars.

Flying passengers over populated areas would take a quantum leap in technology, overhauling aviation regulations and air traffic safety controls and major efforts both to ensure safety and convince people it's safe.

Uber said at a recent presentation in Tokyo that it envisions a route between the city's two international airports, among others. Savings in time would add up, it said. "This is not a rich person's toy. This is a mass market solution," said Adam Warmoth, product manager at Uber Elevate.

Concepts for flying cars vary greatly. Some resemble vehicles with several propellers on top while others look more like a boat with a seat over the propellers. Ebihara, the flying-car chief at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, says Japan is on board for "Blade Runner" style travel — despite its plentiful, efficient and well developed public transportation.

Japan's auto and electronics industries have the technology and ability to produce super-light materials that could give the nation an edge in the flying car business, he said. Such vehicles could be tested first in uncongested, remote areas or between islands, where public transport is less accessible and safety issues would be less of a problem.

Just as the automobile vanquished horse-drawn carriages, moving short-distance transport into the air could in theory bring a sea change in how people live, Ebihara said, pointing to the sky outside the ministry building to stress how empty it was compared to the streets below.

Flying also has the allure of a bird's eye view, the stuff of drone videos increasingly used in filmmaking, tourism promotion and journalism. Atsushi Taguchi, a "drone grapher," as specialists in drone video are called, expects test flights can be carried out even if flying cars won't become a reality for years since the basic technology for stable flying already exists with recent advances in sensors, robotics and digital cameras.

A growing labor shortage in deliveries in Japan is adding to the pressures to realize such technology, though there are risks, said Taguchi, who teaches at the Tokyo film school Digital Hollywood. The propellers on commercially sold drones today are dangerous, and some of his students have lost fingers with improper flying. The bigger propellers needed for vertical flight would increase the hazards and might need to be covered.

The devices might need parachutes to soften crash landings, or might have to explode into small bits to ensure pieces hitting the ground would be smaller. "I think one of the biggest hurdles is safety," said Taguchi. "And anything that flies will by definition crash."

Abe says will talk more on peace treaty, islands with Putin

September 14, 2018

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Friday he will meet again this year for more talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Putin's proposal for the two countries to sign a peace treaty and discuss the status of disputed islands.

Japan, however, wants to resolve the territorial dispute before signing a peace treaty, Abe said during a policy debate in his party, repeating the country's longstanding position. Abe returned from Russia on Thursday after meeting with Putin and attending an economic conference. He said that the two leaders are likely to discuss a treaty when they meet again later this year.

Putin said Wednesday the countries should sign a peace treaty before the end of the year and later discuss the islands. "We need to read signals from President Putin's words," Abe said. "There is no doubt that (Putin) expressed his willingness about the need to sign a peace treaty."

Abe has been pushing for a way forward in the dispute, with the two leaders holding talks more often than ever before. The two sides are working on joint economic projects on the disputed islands for the first time, in hopes of further improving their ties.

The Soviet Union took the four southernmost Kuril Islands, which Japan calls the Northern Territories, in the closing days of World War II. The island dispute has prevented the two sides from concluding a postwar peace treaty formally ending the hostilities.

Critic of China's internments says Turkey may bar his family

September 18, 2018

BEIJING (AP) — An outspoken critic of China's internment camps who now lives in Istanbul says his wife and son face potential deportation to China because Turkish authorities might bar them from entering the country.

Omir Bekali, a Kazakh national, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that Turkish authorities are holding his wife and 2-year-old son at the airport in Istanbul and are accusing them of using fake passports.

"My family has been split in two," he said by phone from the airport. "They didn't let me see her. I've been waiting here. My heart is hurting." Bekali was among the first to speak publicly about the ordeal he endured in new indoctrination camps in China's far western region of Xinjiang — camps that China denies exist.

Bekali told The AP in a report in May that he and dozens of other Muslim minority Kazakh as well as Uighur detainees were held in camps for months and forced to disavow their Islamic beliefs, criticize themselves and their loved ones and give thanks to the ruling Communist Party.

The camps are estimated to hold upward of 1 million people and reports about them have drawn growing criticism of China from the U.N. and the U.S. The U.S. is considering sanctioning Chinese officials responsible for the stifling security crackdown in the region.

Bekali returned to Kazakhstan after being released from detention but moved to Turkey earlier this year, fearing for his safety. His wife, Ruxianguli Taximaimaiti, 45, a Chinese ethnic minority Uighur, and their youngest son Mukhamad Bekali were to join him in Istanbul this week.

They arrived in Istanbul on a plane from Almaty on Sunday night. Bekali, who had been waiting for them at the airport, got a call from his wife telling him that border police weren't letting them into the country.

Turkish airport authorities accused his wife and son of holding fake passports, Bekali said, and had earlier booked them on a flight back to Kazakhstan, where she no longer has a valid visa that would allow her to stay.

"I'd rather die here in Turkey then go back," she had told Bekali at the time. It was not immediately clear if they boarded any flights. Attempts to reach Turkish airport police for comment on Monday were unsuccessful.

If they are sent back to Kazakhstan, Bekali said, authorities in that country would likely deport his wife back to China where she could be punished for his criticism of the indoctrination camps, leaving nobody to take care of his son.

Xinjiang, the tense region where most Uighurs live, has been enveloped in recent years in a vast dragnet of police surveillance which authorities insist is needed to root out separatism and Islamic extremism.

Critics of China's policies in the region and the harsh restrictions imposed on Uighurs and Kazakhs have been punished severely. Zhang Haitao, a Han Chinese electronics salesman who complained online about the treatment of Uighurs, was sentenced to 19 years in prison in 2016.

Prominent Uighur scholar Ilham Tohti, a moderate critic of the government's policies in the region, was handed a life sentence in 2014 on charges of fanning ethnic hatred. Bekali said the uncertainty over his wife and son's fate had reignited a persistent anxiety he had about China and the detention he had left behind.

"I feel like I'm a thief, hiding and sneaking around. The pressure is enormous," Bekali said. "I can't live like an ordinary person. We have no way to live safely in the 21st century."

Putin seeks to defuse downing of Russian plane off Syria

September 19, 2018

MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian reconnaissance aircraft was shot down by Syrian forces responding to an Israeli airstrike, killing all 15 people aboard, in what President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday was "a chain of tragic accidental circumstances."

The downing of the Il-20 highlighted the dangers posed by the conflicting interests of various powers in the crowded skies over Syria and threatened the close security ties between Russia and Israel. In an effort to maintain that relationship, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly called Putin to express sorrow over the death of the plane's crew, blamed the plane's loss squarely on Syria and offered to send Israel's air force chief to Moscow to share information about the incident.

The Russian military said the plane was hit 35 kilometers (22 miles) offshore late Monday night as it was returning to the Russian air base in Syria. The incident triggered testy exchanges of blame between Israel and Russia.

The Israeli military said its fighter jets were targeting a Syrian military facility involved in providing weapons for Iran's proxy Hezbollah militia, noting that it warned Russia of the coming raid in line with de-confliction agreements. It said the Syrian army launched the missiles that hit the plane when the Israeli jets were already inside Israeli airspace.

But the Russian Defense Ministry said the Israeli warning came less than a minute before the strike, leaving the Russian aircraft in the line of fire. It pointedly accused the Israeli military of deliberately using the Russian plane as a cover to dodge the Syrian defenses and threatened to retaliate.

"The Israeli pilots were using the Russian aircraft as a shield and pushed it into the line of fire of the Syrian air defense," said Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu called his Israeli counterpart, Avigdor Lieberman, to declare that "the Israeli side bears full responsibility" for the plane's downing and to warn that Russia "reserves the right to retaliate."

But Putin took a more cautious tone, describing the incident as "a chain of tragic accidental circumstances." At the same time, he said Russia will respond by "taking additional steps to protect our servicemen and assets in Syria."

"It will be the steps that everyone will notice," he said without elaboration. Netanyahu, who has maintained warm personal ties with Putin and frequently traveled to Russia for Syria-focused talks, noted the need for Russia and Israel to continue coordinating their action in Syria. At the same time, he emphasized Israel would not tolerate the Iranian military presence in Syria.

Putin told Netanyahu that the Israeli raid violated Syria's sovereignty and breached the Russian-Israeli de-confliction agreement. He urged the Israeli side "not to allow such situations to happen again," according to the Kremlin.

Israel has refrained from taking sides in the Syrian civil war, but it has carried out scores of airstrikes against archenemy Iran and its Shiite proxy Hezbollah. Israel has acknowledged attacking Iranian targets some 200 times, and Israel and Russia have maintained a hotline to prevent clashes between their forces in Syria. Israeli military officials have previously praised its effectiveness.

"Until now, Russia's armed forces have granted Israeli jets the freedom to strike targets in Syria at will, on the condition that a sufficiently early warning is provided to Russia," said Charles Lister, a Syria expert with the Washington-based Middle East Institute. "The glue binding this gentleman's agreement — the Putin-Netanyahu personal relationship — will likely tide this issue over for the time being."

Moscow has played a delicate diplomatic game of maintaining friendly relations with both Israel and Iran. In July, Moscow said that it struck a deal with Tehran to keep its fighters 85 kilometers (53 miles) from the Golan Heights to accommodate Israeli security concerns.

In response to Israeli worries, Russia also has shelved plans to arm Syria with sophisticated air defense assets, such as the long-range S-300 systems that could pose a significant threat to Israeli aircraft.

The downing of the plane could change that. Sima Shine, a former senior Mossad official and ex-deputy director-general at Israel's Strategic Affairs Ministry, told Israel Army Radio that the incident could have "strategic implications" for Israel's freedom of action in Syria.

"I think it will impose very serious restriction on Israel's freedom of activity," she said. Some Russian lawmakers and retired military officers called for a forceful response, saying Russia should provide Syria with the S-300 air defense systems and other sophisticated weapons to prevent any further strikes.

Shoigu, the defense minister, warned his Israeli counterpart that "we won't leave such action without response." Russia's dramatic entry into the Syrian civil war in September 2015 to support Syrian President Bashar Assad after a year of airstrikes by the U.S. and its allies against the Islamic State group increased the possibility of dangerous confrontations over Syria.

The downing of a Russian warplane by a Turkish jet in November 2015 put Moscow and Ankara on the verge of military confrontation, but they later negotiated a series of de-escalation agreements for Syria together with Iran.

"The implementation of de-escalation across Syria a year ago introduced a new reality to Syria, in which foreign states are now actively competing to assert their own influence over overlapping territorial space," Lister said. "Though appropriate measures have been put in place to manage this, the risk of state-on-state conflagrations like we saw overnight has never been higher. With a meaningful political settlement in Syria an increasingly far-fetched objective, this could well be the new reality we live with for years to come."

The U.S. also expressed sorrow over the Russian deaths, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo saying it was a reminder of the need to find "permanent, peaceful, and political resolutions to the many overlapping conflicts in the region and the danger of tragic miscalculation in Syria's crowded theater of operations."

President Donald Trump, appearing at a White House news conference with Poland's president, called it a "very sad thing" and said it was "not a good situation." But Trump also said that the United States has done a "tremendous job" battling the Islamic State group in Syria. He went on to suggest that the nation's mission there was "very close to being finished."

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said the shootdown complicates relations between Assad and the Russian government but has "no effect whatever" on the U.S. campaign to defeat Islamic State fighters in Syria.

Before the latest incident, Russia had lost at least seven warplanes and seven combat helicopters in Syria and also had seen dozens of troops killed in ground combat. And there have been other Syria-related deaths of Russians.

A Russian passenger plane carrying tourists from Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh resort crashed over the Sinai in October 2015, killing all 224 people aboard. The Sinai affiliate of the Islamic State group said it blew up the plane with a bomb smuggled on board.

And in December 2016, a passenger jet carrying members of the Red Army Choir to a New Year's concert at a Russian military base in Syria crashed in the Black Sea minutes after takeoff from Sochi in southern Russia, killing all 92 people aboard. The investigation of that crash is continuing, but officials have indicated that pilot error was the likely cause.

Associated Press writers Nataliya Vasilyeva in Moscow, Josef Federman and Ian Deitch in Jerusalem, Sarah El Deeb and Bassem Mroue in Beirut, and Jonathan Lemire in Washington, contributed to this report.

Russia blames Israel for plane shot down by Syrian missile

September 18, 2018

MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian reconnaissance aircraft was shot down by a Syrian missile over the Mediterranean Sea, killing all 15 people on board, the Russian Defense Ministry said Tuesday. It blamed Israel for the crash, saying the plane was caught in the crossfire as four Israeli fighters attacked targets in northwestern Syria.

The Russian military said the Il-20 reconnaissance aircraft was hit 35 kilometers (22 miles) offshore late Monday as it was returning to its home base nearby. "The Israeli pilots were using the Russian aircraft as a shield and pushed it into the line of fire of the Syrian defense," Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said.

Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu called his Israeli counterpart, Avigdor Lieberman, later Tuesday to say that Israel is "fully to blame" for the deaths, the ministry said. The military said Israel did not warn it of its operation over Latakia province until one minute before the strike, which did not give the Russian plane enough time to escape.

The Israeli military said in a statement Tuesday that its jets were already within Israeli airspace when the incident occurred. Israel offered condolences over the death of the Russian troops but said it holds the Syrian government "fully responsible." It also blamed Iran and Hezbollah for what it described as an "unfortunate incident."

The Russian Defense Ministry said a recovery operation has already located the plane's wreckage at sea and has retrieved some bodies and some fragments of the plane. For several years, Israel and Russia have maintained a special hotline to prevent their air forces from clashing in the skies over Syria. Israeli military officials have previously praised its effectiveness.

Russia has been a key backer of Syrian President Bashar Assad and it has two military bases in the country, including one close to the Mediterranean coast. Russia's dramatic entry into the Syrian civil war in 2015 in support of the Syrian government, after a year of airstrikes by the U.S. and its coalition partners against the Islamic State group, increased the specter of dangerous confrontations in the skies over Syria.

Turkey's troops are also on the ground in northern Syria and are patrolling the skies over the region as Ankara seeks to ramp up its influence there and curb the expansion of Syrian Kurdish-controlled territory.

Israel has refrained from taking sides in the Syrian civil war. But it has acknowledged carrying out scores of airstrikes against archenemy Iran and its Shiite proxy Hezbollah. Israel has also acknowledged attacking Iranian targets some 200 times. Israel has warned that it will not allow Iran to establish a permanent military presence in postwar Syria.

Throughout the fighting, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has maintained continuous contact with Russia. Netanyahu frequently travels to Russia for talks with President Vladimir Putin to discuss the Syria issue.

The Israeli military said the Russian plane fell victim to the "extensive and inaccurate" firing of Syrian surface-to-air missile systems and that the Israeli jets — which were carrying out a raid against a Syrian government facility in another place — had already left Syrian airspace by that point.

The Israeli military said that hotline with Russia was in operation and that it would share with Russia all the data at its disposal. Sima Shine, a former senior Mossad official and ex-deputy director-general at Israel's Strategic Affairs Ministry, told Israel's Army Radio station that the shooting down of the plane is problematic for many reasons.

"I think it will impose very serious restriction on Israel's freedom of activity," she said. The plane crashed only hours after the leaders of Russia and Turkey reached an agreement to avert an all-out offensive by Syrian government forces to retake Syria's last remaining rebel stronghold in Idlib.

Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, on Tuesday called the deal "a landmark and crucial agreement for Syria's future" and said the shooting down of the plane will have no impact on it. In Damascus, Syria's foreign ministry welcomed the agreement, while vowing that it will continue the fight against "terrorism until liberating the last inch of the Syrian territory, whether through military operations or through local reconciliations."

Iran also welcomed the agreement, with Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeting: "Diplomacy works."

Josef Federman and Ian Deitch in Jerusalem and Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed to this report.