Turkey ends 'Euphrates Shield' military operation in Syria, PM says

30th of March 2017, Thursday

Turkey has ended the "Euphrates Shield" military operation it launched in Syria, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has said.

However, Mr Yildirim suggested there might be more cross-border campaigns to come.

Last August, Turkey sent troops, tanks and warplanes to support Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebels, push Isis fighters away from its border and stop the advance of Kurdish militia fighters.

"Operation Euphrates Shield has been successful and is finished," Mr Yildirim said in an interview with broadcaster NTV. "Any operation following this one will have a different name."

Under Euphrates Shield, Turkey took the border town of Jarablus on the Euphrates river, cleared Isis fighters from a roughly 100km (60 mile) stretch of the border, then moved south to al-Bab, an Isis stronghold where the Prime Minister said "everything is under control".

Turkish troops are still stationed in the secured regions and along the border.

The number of Turkish troops involved in Euphrates Shield has not been disclosed.

One aim was to stop the Kurdish YPG militia from crossing the Euphrates westwards and linking up three mainly Kurdish cantons it holds in northern Syria.

Turkey fears the Syrian Kurds carving out a self-governing territory analogous to Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, a move that might embolden Turkey's own large Kurdish minority to try to forge a similar territory inside its borders.

It views the YPG as the Syrian extension of the Kurdish PKK militant group, which has fought an insurgency in Turkey's southeast since 1984 and is considered a terrorist group by both the United States and the European Union.

With the second largest army in NATO, Turkey is seeking a role for its military in a planned offensive on Raqqa, one of the so-called Islamic State's two de facto capitals along with Mosul in Iraq — but the US is veering towards enlisting the YPG.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said Turkey is saddened by the US and Russian readiness to work with the YPG in Syria.

Source: The Independent.
Link: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/turkey-syria-ends-euphrates-shield-military-operation-binali-yildirim-jarablus-isis-islamic-state-a7657156.html.

For Turkish president, referendum on power is a big gamble

March 28, 2017

ISTANBUL (AP) — In a slick online video, 22-year-old Turkish student Ali Gul sits in front a drum kit and framed artwork while making tart remarks about Turkey's political leadership. He wraps up by musing that he'll probably get arrested if the video goes viral.

The video clocked tens of thousands of hits. This month, Gul was detained. Times have been hard for Turkey, buffeted by bombings, violence between government forces and Kurdish rebels, refugee flows from the war in neighboring Syria and a failed coup attempt that unleashed a huge government crackdown under an ongoing state of emergency. Now the nation is on the cusp of what could be drastic change in its political system that would, backers say, impose badly needed stability or, according to Gul and other critics, nudge it toward autocracy.

Next month, Turks will decide whether to make the post of president more powerful in a constitutional referendum that is a big gamble for Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the tough-talking president who is arguably Turkey's most transformational figure since Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the Ottoman-era army officer and national founder who died in 1938.

Whichever way the April 16 vote goes, Turkish society will remain deeply divided. In power since 2003, Erdogan represents a swathe of pious Muslims whose political and economic ascendancy came at the expense of a hard-line secular class that once dominated the NATO member country with the military's support.

A former prime minister, Erdogan was elected president in 2014 for a five-year term and took a far more active role in politics than his predecessors. Even if the referendum proposals fail and his aura of invincibility is punctured, he could still run for another term as president.

"He is truly a man of servitude. And he knows how to affect a person down to the capillary vessels. He gets down to one's heart, touches it," said Ahmet Kaya, a machinery workshop owner in Istanbul who views the president not as an authoritarian ruler, but as a scrappy defender against Turkey's perceived enemies.

Those enemies, at least for the purposes of a political campaign, include some European nations that blocked efforts by Turkish ministers to woo diaspora votes before the referendum. Erdogan, who once courted the European Union on behalf of Turkey's fading candidacy to be an EU member, has galvanized supporters by comparing current Dutch and German authorities to the Nazis.

The taunts aimed at Europe, Turkey's No. 1 trading partner, tap into historical grievances in Turkey, where the story of how colonial powers carved up the disintegrating Ottoman Empire still fuels a powerful nationalism. To some, they smack of desperation in a referendum campaign whose outcome is unclear.

Hopes for consensus politics in Turkey would diminish if referendum proposals to abolish the post of prime minister and concentrate power in an executive presidency are approved, said Ahmet Kasim Han, an associate professor of international relations at Kadir Has University in Istanbul.

"The gates of populism, which will be fed also by the current zeitgeist around the world, could be wide open in Turkey," Han said, referring to the populist platforms of U.S. President Donald Trump and anti-immigrant politicians in Europe.

A "yes' vote in the referendum would grant the president the power to appoint government ministers and senior officials, appoint half of the members in the country's highest judicial body, declare states of emergency and issue decrees.

"The president would be given the power to dissolve parliament on any grounds whatsoever, which is fundamentally alien to democratic presidential systems," said the Venice Commission, an advisory body to the Council of Europe.

Erdogan has dismissed assertions that the referendum proposals set the stage for one-man rule, saying they will instead end the kind of political chaos that rocked past coalition governments. In 2001, the Turkish currency plummeted during an economic crisis in which public disgust with national leaders opened a path for Erdogan's rise to power.

"I want to rule my country with almost the same understanding as a company manager. Why? To be able to lead with speed, to speedily take decisions," Erdogan told the A Haber news channel. Gul, the student, could face jail time if convicted of insulting the president and the Turkish state in his online video criticizing the referendum. Drawing a questionable parallel with democratic Turkey, he said dead dictators Moammar Gadhafi of Libya and Saddam Hussein of Iraq, as well as current Syrian President Bashar Assad, imposed stability and took rapid decisions in their countries.

"But these weren't all that beneficial," Gul said. "Speed in government leadership isn't a good thing."

Associated Press journalists Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey and Bulut Emiroglu and Mehmet Guzel in Istanbul contributed to this report.

Algeria's Belhadj slams boycott of Qatar

June 15, 2017

Co-founder of Algeria’s Islamic Salvation Front, Sheikh Ali Belhadj, has criticized the siege imposed by a number of Gulf and Arab countries on Qatar.

In an interview with Quds Press, Belhadj strongly criticized the involvement of Islamic institutions and using them to achieve political purposes against the State of Qatar.

“The involvement of the Muslim World League, with the aim of gaining legitimacy for the siege against Qatar, is an insult to this institution and to the teachings of Islam which refuse such behavior in the holy month of Ramadan,” he said.

The Muslim World League should have remained neutral towards this dispute and sought to heal the rift instead of involving itself in such a way.

Belhadj pointed out that Qatar is not the target of the blockade, but the aim is to strike every Arab or Islamic country that wants to support the oppressed or the Palestinian cause.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20170615-algerias-belhadj-slams-boycott-of-qatar/.

Saudi king gives Pakistan's prime minister an ultimatum over Qatar

June 15, 2017

King Salman of Saudi Arabia has given Pakistan’s prime minister an ultimatum over Qatar. In an attempt to force Nawaz Sharif to take sides, the monarch jibed, “Are you with us or with Qatar?” the Express Tribune has reported.

The king posed the question during a meeting between the two leaders in Jeddah on Monday as part of the effort to find a diplomatic solution to the Qatar crisis. “Pakistan has told Saudi Arabia it will not take sides in the brewing diplomatic crisis in the Middle East after Riyadh asked Islamabad ‘are you with us or with Qatar’,” the newspaper pointed out.

Pakistan has been treading a careful path since Saudi and other Gulf countries cut diplomatic ties with Qatar. However, the Saudi government wants Pakistan to side with the kingdom.

Citing a senior government official, who was briefed on the talks at the monarch’s palace in Jeddah, the Express Tribune said that Pakistan would not take sides in any event that would create divisions within the Muslim world. “Nevertheless, in order to placate Saudi Arabia, Pakistan offered to use its influence over Qatar to defuse the situation. For this purpose, the prime minister will undertake visits to Kuwait, Qatar and Turkey,” the newspaper added.

Sharif traveled to Jeddah accompanied by army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and other senior officials to discuss the emerging situation in the Gulf. It is thought that Prime Minister Sharif’s mediation visit to Saudi did not achieve any immediate breakthrough.

According to an official statement, Sharif met King Salman in Jeddah and urged an early resolution of the impasse in Gulf in the best interest of all Muslims.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20170615-saudi-king-gives-pakistans-prime-minister-an-ultimatum-over-qatar/.

Conservative Serbia to get first openly gay prime minister

June 15, 2017

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia's president on Thursday nominated the highly conservative country's first openly gay prime minister, a move likely to infuriate both the Christian Orthodox church and ultranationalists.

President Aleksandar Vucic announced that Ana Brnabic, 41, was nominated as the prime minister-designate, which could also make her the first female head of government in the country's history. Her cabinet needs formal approval by parliament next week.

It was "a difficult decision reached in the interest of Serbia and its citizens," said Vucic, a former extremist-turned-reformist who has promised to boost gay rights as part of efforts to move closer to European Union membership.

"If elected in parliament, I will run the government with dedication and responsibility and I will do my job honestly and with love," Brnabic told state Tanjug news agency. Brnabic's nomination is considered part of Vucic's apparent turn toward the West despite strong pressure from Russia to maintain its influence in the region. The British-educated Brnabic, a marketing expert, had worked for U.S. companies before she assumed her Serbian government job.

"I believe she has professional skills and personal qualities," Vucic said. "I'm convinced she will work hard." Brnabic is currently Serbia's minister of public administration and local government. She is not a member of Vucic's ruling populist Serbian Progressive Party but is considered loyal to him.

Her appointment to the government last year — she was hand-picked by Vucic who was then prime minister — was hailed by rights groups as historic for the Balkan country whose gay community regularly faces discrimination, harassment and violence.

"Hopefully this will blow over in three or four days, and then I won't be known as the gay minister," she told the Associated Press at the time. Pro-Russian nationalists blasted the choice Thursday. The conservative opposition Dveri group, close to the Serbian Orthodox Church, said Brnabic was obviously appointed under Western pressure.

"Is it possible that the ruling majority has no other candidate for the prime minister-designate but the one imposed by the West, which dictates all the moves by this government?" the party asked. Vucic's coalition partners were also infuriated.

"Ana Brnabic is not my prime minister," nationalist official Dragan Markovic-Palma told the private Beta news agency. Earlier he said he would not approve anyone for the post who does not have at least two children.

Vucic, who was prime minister before his election as president in April, was expected to appoint a loyalist to maintain control of the government as he moved into the largely ceremonial presidential position.

Associated Press writer Jovana Gec contributed.

A year after Brexit vote, more people view EU favorably

June 15, 2017

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — A wide-ranging survey shows that public approval of the European Union has rebounded strongly compared with a year ago but that many people nonetheless think their own national governments — and not the EU — should have the say over trade and immigration.

The poll results from the U.S.-based Pew Research Center show that majorities in nine of 10 EU member countries surveyed now hold a favorable view of the 28-country economic and political bloc. The research center says the upswing is the latest shift in an up-and-down cycle over the past decade. The more favorable view comes as Europe enjoys a broadening economic recovery and falling unemployment.

Results show 74 percent approval in Poland, 68 percent in Germany, 67 percent in Hungary, and 65 percent in Sweden. There were sharp swings from last year, with approval of the EU up 18 percentage points in Germany, 15 points in Spain, 13 points in the Netherlands, and 10 points in the U.K.

The overall median breakdown across the countries was 63 percent favorable, 34 percent unfavorable. Last year the median figures were 51 percent favorable, 47 percent unfavorable. The only dissenter was Greece, which has been subjected to severe budget austerity measures imposed by fellow EU states, at 33 percent favorable. Yet even there, when asked if they wanted to leave the European Union, 54 percent said they would rather stay, to 35 percent who favored leaving.

Italy was the other country surveyed where leaving the EU was supported by a substantial minority of 35 percent. Italy has shown weak economic growth since joining the euro currency in 1999 and remains burdened with high government debt, excessive bureaucracy and red tape, and poor prospects of permanent jobs for young people leaving school.

In the U.K., where a year ago voters chose narrowly to leave the EU, 54 percent had a positive view of the EU compared with 40 percent who had a negative view. Asked if leaving was a good or a bad thing for the U.K., people in Britain were broadly divided. Slightly more — 48 percent — said leaving was a bad thing, while 44 percent said leaving was a good thing.

In the June 2016 referendum, 52 percent of voters supported leaving the EU to 48 percent for remaining. On Monday, the country will officially start talks to leave the bloc. The EU is an economic and political union that is now the world's largest single market, where products can move freely across borders without tariffs. People can travel from one country to another without border controls and it has become easier for people to live, work, study or retire in another member country.

The Pew Research Center compiled responses from 9,935 people in France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom from March 2 to April 17, 2017. Margins of error ranged from 3.7 percent plus or minus to 5.2 percent plus or minus. The questions were asked face to face in several countries and by calling mobile and landline numbers in others.

The results pre-date last week's parliamentary election in Britain, which resulted in a setback for pro-Brexit Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservatives. They lost their majority and must form a coalition with the small Democratic Unionist Party based in Northern Ireland.

The numbers indicated many people wanted national governments, not the EU, to determine immigration and trade policy. Yet 66 percent wanted their own governments to decide who could come in from other EU countries, while 27 favored the EU making decisions. In 2015, 1.4 million people migrated from one EU state to another.

Suspect identified in China kindergarten explosion; 8 killed

June 16, 2017

BEIJING (AP) — Police have identified a suspect in an explosion at the front gate of a kindergarten in eastern China that killed eight and struck as relatives gathered to pick up their children at the end of the day, local authorities said Friday.

Police were investigating the explosion as a criminal act and said they had "targeted" a suspect, according to a statement issued by authorities in the city of Xuzhou and the official Xinhua News Agency. It was unclear if the suspect was apprehended and no potential motive was provided. A witness cited by state media said a gas cylinder at a roadside food stall had caused the blast.

Two people died at the scene and six died after being taken to a hospital following the explosion at 4:50 p.m. Thursday at the Chuangxin Kindergarten in Fengxian. Initial reports said 59 were injured, but Xinhua and other media reported Friday that 65 were injured including eight who remained in critical condition.

The blast occurred before school had let out for the day and no students or teachers from the kindergarten were injured, according to a statement from local authorities. However, videos purportedly from the scene showed children — possibly relatives of the kindergartners or passers-by — among the casualties.

The videos posted by the state-run People's Daily showed a chaotic scene outside the entrance to the school, with children and adults lying on the ground, some of them motionless and others struggling to get up off the ground. Clothing, shoes and other items were strewn on the ground beside pools of blood.

The videos showed ambulances arriving, medics wheeling people into an emergency room and medical personnel treating what appeared to be a child. Kindergartens in China have been attacked before by suspects authorities have said were mentally ill or bore grudges against their neighbors and society.

A witness identified only by the surname Shi told the state-run Global Times in the hours after the explosion that a gas cylinder at a roadside food stall had caused the blast. The force of the blast sent people flying several meters (yards) into the air, Shi was quoted as saying.

In 2010, nearly 20 children were killed in attacks on schools, prompting a response from top government officials and leading many schools to beef up security by posting guards and installing gates and other barriers. Last year, a knife-wielding assailant injured seven students outside a primary school in a northern city.

China maintains tight control over firearms and most attacks are carried out using knives, axes or homemade explosives.