Freedom & Justice Party media statement on the sentencing to death of President Morsi

Saturday, 16 May 2015

Today, May 16th, President Mohammed Morsi, the first ever democratically elected President of Egypt, along with tens of others, were sentenced to death by an Egyptian court following a political show trial on charges of espionage and jailbreak.

This is the second of four separate trials of President Morsi, all of which started last November. The death sentence was handed down as a result of charges supposedly related to allegedly conspiring with various foreign powers in the region.

Speaking in response to the sentence, Amr Darrag, a former Morsi Minister and a co-founder of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), said:

"Today will be remembered as one of the darkest days in Egypt's history. Today, the aspirations of millions of Egyptians have been broken and sentenced to death along with their first ever democratically elected President. Since July 2013, the Egyptian society's dreams have turned into living nightmares, worse than ever.

"Today, we are not only grieving the tragic fate of a martyr who had only started to implement the hopes of his fellow citizens, we are mourning the January 25th 2011 Revolution's martyrs who gave their lives so that their dreams of a free society may come true. Did those hundreds of Egyptian civilians die for nothing?

"These latest charges are another deeply disturbing attempt to permanently erase democracy and the democratic process in Egypt.

"In today's judgment, the court relied on lies, hearsay and paranoid conspiracy theories, not evidence. Any impartial legal expert will see that this entire process is profoundly flawed. It is simply a kangaroo court.

"It is becoming very clear that a government sanctioned campaign is underway not only to silence Dr Morsi and his supporters, but to suffocate freedom and democracy in Egypt. These trials symbolize the dark shadow of authoritarianism, that is now cast back over Egypt.

"I firmly believe that this illegitimate government will not achieve its goals and that the Egyptian free conscience will never die. Today, democracy in Egypt bleeds over this scandal but we shall overcome. The strong and dignified behavior of President Morsi throughout this difficult time is an example for all supporters of freedom in Egypt.

"We solemnly call the international community to be coherent and thus to condemn, react and stop this unlawful regime which purges the opposition, silences the media, brutally crushes any dissent and despises its own people's will. Dr Morsi's sentence is a tragedy. But there is something far larger at stake – the rights of millions of Egyptians to live freely and without fear, and to choose their leaders through the ballot box."

Yehia Hamed, a former Morsi Minister, said: "Dr Morsi is an example of resistance against tyranny in Egypt. This corrupt regime is condemning him to death for no other reason than his refusal to let go of the aspirations and dreams of our young people that were demonstrated so vividly during the 25th January revolution."

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/africa/18661-freedom-a-justice-party-media-statement-on-the-sentencing-to-death-of-president-morsi.

16 dead, scores injured in apartment fire in Azerbaijan

May 19, 2015

BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — Azerbaijani officials say 16 people have died and more than 50 have been injured in a fire at an apartment building in Baku, the capital.

The massive fire quickly engulfed 16-story apartment building Tuesday and took hours to contain. Azerbaijan's chief prosecutor, Zakir Garalov, said the bad quality of plastic paneling covering the building contributed to the fire and a criminal probe has been launched to determine the fire's cause.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev has taken personal control of the investigation. A similar fire erupted in Baku earlier this month, but there were no injuries.

Turks in US begin voting in Turkey's elections

17 May 2015 Sunday

Turkish citizens in the U.S. began voting at polling stations set up inside the Turkish embassy and consulates Saturday to participate in their country’s general election that officially begins on June 7.

Some 14,000 Turkish citizens are eligible to vote in Washington D.C., while the overall number in the U.S. is about 90,000.

Along with the U.S. capital, Turkish citizens will vote in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Boston, Miami until May 31, 7 p.m., local time.

Hasan Kocahan, who was the first to vote in Washington D.C., had traveled all the way from Florida, where he was registered as a voter.

"I am happy to be the first in the line," Kocahan said, adding that: "I thought there will be a long queue, but I ended up being first."

Serdar Kilic, Turkey's ambassador to the U.S., called on Turkish citizens to participate in the elections by casting their vote at the nearest polling station.

"We are expecting a high number of participants for the election," Kilic said.

According to Turkey's Supreme Election Board, 112 polling stations would be set up for almost three million Turkish nationals living abroad.

"No one should doubt the security of the votes," Ibrahim Uyar, Washington representative of ruling Justice and Development or AK Party, said.

According to Uyar, the votes at the consulates and embassy would be secured in a room with three different locks; only one key to a unique lock would be given to each of the three party representatives, including AK Party, Republican People's Party (CHP), and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). The room's door would open only when all three keys are used together, he added.

Yurter Ozcan, CHP’s U.S. representative, also said that no one should be worried about the security of the votes and called on Turks living in the U.S. to participate in the process.

Voting has also started in the Turkish consulate in New York where more than 34,000 eligible voters are registered in the states of New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania.

Turkey's New York Consul General Ertan Yalcin supervised the process during the early hours of the voting.

Source: World Bulletin.
Link: http://www.worldbulletin.net/todays-news/159266/turks-in-us-begin-voting-in-turkeys-elections.

Turkey's Erdogan, at German rally, urges compatriots to vote

May 10, 2015

BERLIN (AP) — Speaking in Germany, Turkey's president has urged his countrymen to preserve their homeland's values and language and to vote in the upcoming Turkish election.

News agency dpa said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan received a warm welcome Sunday from over 14,000 people in the southwestern German city of Karlsruhe. Germany has a large ethnic Turkish minority, including many Turkish citizens who can vote in the June 7 parliamentary election.

Dpa said Erdogan didn't call directly for votes for his ruling AKP party but said: "No one can ignore you in the world if you vote. Not even those in the EU who held a minute of silence for Armenians can ignore you."

Germany's president has irked Turkey by describing the killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks a century ago as genocide.

APNewsBreak: Turkey, Saudi in pact to help anti-Assad rebels

May 08, 2015

ISTANBUL (AP) — Casting aside U.S. concerns about aiding extremist groups, Turkey and Saudi Arabia have converged on an aggressive new strategy to bring down Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The two countries — one a democracy, the other a conservative kingdom — have for years been at odds over how to deal with Assad, their common enemy. But mutual frustration with what they consider American indecision has brought the two together in a strategic alliance that is driving recent rebel gains in northern Syria, and has helped strengthen a new coalition of anti-Assad insurgents, Turkish officials say.

That is provoking concern in the United States, which does not want rebel groups, including the al-Qaida linked Nusra Front, uniting to topple Assad. The Obama administration worries that the revived rebel alliance could potentially put a more dangerous radical Islamist regime in Assad's place, just as the U.S. is focused on bringing down the Islamic State group. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issues, said the administration is concerned that the new alliance is helping Nusra gain territory in Syria.

The coordination between Turkey and Saudi Arabia reflects renewed urgency and impatience with the Obama administration's policy in the region. Saudi Arabia previously kept its distance and funding from some anti-Assad Islamist groups at Washington's urging, according to Turkish officials. Saudi Arabia and Turkey also differed about the role of the international Islamist group, the Muslim Brotherhood, in the Syrian opposition. Turkey supports the group, while the Saudi monarchy considers it a threat to its rule at home; that has translated into differences on the ground — until recently.

"The key is that the Saudis are no longer working against the opposition," a Turkish official said. He and other officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.

Turkish officials say the Obama administration has disengaged from Syria as it focuses on rapprochement with Iran. While the U.S. administration is focused on degrading the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq, they say it has no coherent strategy for ending the rule of Assad, Iran's key ally in the region.

The new Turkish and Saudi push suggests that they view Assad as a bigger threat to the region than groups like Nusra. Turkish officials discount the possibility that Nusra will ever be in a position to hold sway over much of Syria.

Under Turkish and Saudi patronage, the rebel advance has undermined a sense that the Assad government is winning the civil war — and demonstrated how the new alliance can yield immediate results. The pact was sealed in early March when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan flew to Riyadh to meet Saudi's recently crowned King Salman. Relations had been tense between Erdogan and the late King Abdullah, in great part over Erdogan's support of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Saudi shift appears to be part of broader proxy war against Iran that includes Saudi-led airstrikes in Yemen against Iran-backed Houthi rebels. The new partnership adds Saudi money to Turkey's logistical support.

"It's a different world now in Syria, because the Saudi pocketbook has opened and the Americans can't tell them not to do it," said Joshua Landis, the director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma. "It's quite clear that Salman has prioritized efforts against Iran over those against the Muslim Brotherhood."

The Turkish-Saudi agreement has led to a new joint command center in the northeastern Syrian province of Idlib. There, a coalition of groups — including Nusra and other Islamist brigades such as Ahrar al-Sham that Washington views as extremist — are progressively eroding Assad's front. The rebel coalition also includes more moderate elements of the Free Syrian Army that have received U.S. support in the past.

At the end of March, the alliance — calling itself "Conquest Army" — took the city of Idlib, followed by the strategic town of Jisr al-Shughour and then a government military base. "They have really learned to fight together," the Turkish official said.

Turkish officials say that Turkey provides logistical and intelligence support to some members of the coalition, but has no interaction with Nusra — which it considers a terrorist group. But the difference with IS, the officials say, is that Turkey does not view Nusra as a security threat and therefore does not impede it.

The Turkish official who touted the Conquest Army's ability to fight cohesively said, however, that Turkey and Saudi Arabia have moved to bolster Ahrar al-Sham at Nusra's expense. This strays from the U.S. line that al-Sham is an extremist group, but Turkish officials say they distinguish between international jihadist groups and others with more localized aims. They place al-Sham in the latter category.

Moreover, they hope to use al-Sham's rise to put pressure on Nusra to renounce its ties to al-Qaida and open itself to outside help. Turkish officials say that the U.S. has no strategy for stabilizing Syria. One Turkish official said that the CIA has even lately halted its support for anti-Assad groups in northern Iraq. U.S. trainers are now in Turkey on a train-and-equip program aimed at adding fighters to counter the Islamic State group and bolster moderate forces in Syria, but Turkish officials are skeptical that it will amount to much.

Usama Abu Zeid, a legal adviser to the Free Syrian Army, confirmed that the new coordination between Turkey and Saudi Arabia — as well as Qatar — had facilitated the rebel advance, but said that it not yet led to a new flow of arms. He said rather that the fighters had seized large caches of arms from Syrian government facilities.

So far, Abu Zeid said, the new understanding between the militia groups and their international partners has led to quick success. "We were able to cause a lot of damage and capture more territory from the regime," he said.

But Landis said that it is a dangerous game — especially for Turkey. "The cautionary tale is that every power in the Middle East has tried to harness the power of Islamists to their own ends," he said, noting that Assad's government also backed Islamists in Iraq who later turned their guns on him. "It always seems to blow back."

Albania says could block Macedonia's NATO bid

May 20, 2015

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama warned on Wednesday that his country could block Macedonia's bid to join NATO unless it improves its record on respecting the rights of the country's ethnic Albanian minority.

The tiny republic's accession has already been blocked by neighbor Greece because of a dispute over the republic's name. Rama gave the warning while speaking an anti-terrorism conference in the capital, Tirana.

Relations between to the two Balkan neighbors have further soured following a shootout in northern Macedonia this month between police and suspected ethnic Albanian militants that left eight officers and 10 others dead.

Rama accused Macedonia's government of using the attack to try to tarnish the entire Albanian minority. "Unfortunately the word 'terrorism' and the word 'Albanian' have been combined in a reckless attempt to give terrorism an ethnic label," he said.

Macedonia, in one of its deepest political crises since gaining independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, has a sizeable ethnic Albanian minority which has been decisive in forming governing coalitions. Albania became a NATO member in 2009.

Syrian insurgents seize last military base in Idlib province

May 19, 2015

BEIRUT (AP) — Insurgents in Syria captured the last military base and several small villages in the northwestern province of Idlib on Tuesday, marking the latest collapse of government troops in the region now almost entirely in opposition hands, activists said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said factions — including al-Qaida's branch in Syria, the Nusra Front, and the ultraconservative Ahrar al-Sham — captured Mastoumeh base after days of fighting. It said government forces left the base and withdrew to the nearby town of Ariha.

The Local Coordination Committees said the Islamic militants targeted the government forces as they were retreating, heading toward Ariha. In an implicit acknowledgement of defeat, state-run Syrian TV said army units in Mastoumeh base were moving to reinforce defenses in Ariha further south. Ariha is one of the last government holdouts to remain in Idlib.

Government troops withdrew from the provincial capital of Idlib after it fell to opposition fighters in March, followed by the strategic town of Jisr al-Shughour and Qarmeed military base days later. The Idlib offensive is being led by a unified command known as Jaysh al-Fateh, or Conquest Army, and aided by a new strategic alliance between Turkey and Saudi Arabia to strengthen insurgents fighting to topple President Bashar Assad.

Assad recently acknowledged what he said were recent military "setbacks," in the war against insurgents trying to topple him, promising a comeback by his troops in northern Syria. His forces are also engaged in heavy fighting with Islamic State group militants trying to advance toward government-held areas in the central town of Palmyra, an ancient heritage site.

Meanwhile, Assad received support on Tuesday from his top ally, Iran. State-run news agency SANA said Iran is extending a credit line to make up for market needs and reported that the two countries have signed several agreements in the fields of electricity, industry, oil and investment.

The new credit was announced during a visit to Damascus by Ali Akbar Velayati, a top aide to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iran is believed to have supplied his government with billions of dollars since the Syrian conflict began in March 2011. Tehran extended a $1 billion credit line to Syria to help support the local currency in June 2013.

The new credit — it was not clear how much — comes as the Syrian pound's depreciation has accelerated. Velayati, who met with Assad on Tuesday, promised continued Iranian support for Syria with everything necessary to boost the Syrian people's "resistance in defending their homeland and confronting terrorism" and its sponsors. Assad's government refers to those trying to topple him as "terrorists."