Turkey's head of Religious Affairs vows to rebuild all destroyed mosques in Gaza

Tuesday, 19 May 2015

Israel has violated human rights of Palestinians and used internationally banned weapons against civilians in Gaza, Turkey's head of religious affairs said Sunday.

Mehmet Gormez, president of Turkey's Presidency of Religious Affairs, made the remarks during his first trip to the Gaza Strip Sunday. Gormez is in the coastal enclave on the invitation of Palestinian Minister of Religious Affairs Yusuf Ismail al-Sheikh.

Referring to Israeli government's eight-year blockade of the Gaza Strip, Gormez said that the people of Gaza had free minds and free hearts despite the daily horrors they faced.

He said that the Israeli army had used internationally banned weapons in its anti-Palestinian deadly operations in the Gaza Strip. "Israel used internationally banned weapons and violated religious and human rights [of Palestinians]. Israel must be prosecuted," he added.

During his visit, Gormez vowed to support the rebuilding of all the mosques destroyed during Operation 'Protective Edge'.

Gormez also met with Ismail Haniyeh, deputy chairman of the Hamas political bureau, in Gaza. Haniyeh praised Turkey's assistance to Palestinians, which he said was an indication of the "reliable and sacred" bond between the two sides.

"Gaza in particular and Palestine in general praises Turkey's support in all domains...We will never forget the Turkish That blood was spilled on the Mavi Marmara aid flotilla in a bid to break the siege on the Gaza Strip" the senior Hamas leader said.

On July 8, 2014, Israel launched its "Operation Protective Edge" offensive in the Gaza Strip that left more than 2,000 people, most of them civilians, dead. The Israeli bombardment had also left around 11,855 housing units destroyed or severely damaged, and at least 425,000 people were displaced, according to an August 2014 UN report.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/europe/18723-turkeys-head-of-religious-affairs-vows-to-rebuild-all-destroyed-mosques-in-gaza.

Tajikistan closes eastern region to tourists

16 May 2015 Saturday

Tajikistan has closed its eastern border to tourists as a result of fighting in the Badakhshan province.

In a statement to Asia Reports, Rezo Nazarzoda, the deputy head of the Committee for Youth, Sports and Tourism Affairs under the Government of Tajikistan, said that entry of foreign citizens to Gorno Badakhshan has been temporarily suspended because of uneasy situation in Afghanistan’s districts bordering the region.

The Gorno Badakshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) makes up roughly 45 percent of Tajikistan’s territory, but is home to only 3 percent of the population. Nazarzoda said that 80 percent of Tajikistan’s tourists come to visit the province specifically to see the breathtaking Pamir Mountains. The Pamir Highway that traverses the mountains is one of the highest roads in the world, an ancient piece of the Silk Road, and modern GBAO’s only real supply line.

Source: World Bulletin.
Link: http://www.worldbulletin.net/todays-news/159235/tajikistan-closes-eastern-region-to-tourists.

Local elections in Spain test upstart parties' voter appeal

May 24, 2015

MADRID (AP) — Local elections in much of Spain could see two upstart parties end nearly four decades of dominance by the conservative Popular Party and the center-left Socialists.

At stake in Sunday's vote are 8,100 town halls as well as parliament seats in 13 of Spain's 17 regions. Opinion polls indicate voters are fed up with Spain's economic downturn and the corruption scandals that have rocked the ruling Popular Party and the opposition Socialists, which have alternated in power.

That dissatisfaction has opened the door to the centrist, pro-business Citizens party and the left-wing We Can party — both relative newcomers that began operating on a national scale only last year. Polling booths open at 9 a.m. and close 11 hours later, with final results expected by midnight.

Ukrainian lawmakers suspend military cooperation with Russia

May 21, 2015

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine's parliament on Thursday voted to suspend military cooperation with Russia in a long-anticipated move signaling a further break in relations between the once-close partners.

Kiev also produced what it claimed was fresh confirmation of involvement by Russian intelligence in sowing unrest in breakaway eastern regions, saying it is evidence of continued Russian plans to destabilize Ukraine.

The five cooperation agreements scrapped by the Verkhovna Rada include one giving the Russian military transit rights to reach Moldova, whose territory is partly controlled by a Moscow-supported separatist government.

Relations between Russia and Ukraine plummeted after the overthrow in February 2014 of Moscow-friendly Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. Russia subsequently annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula. Kiev also accuses Moscow of arming and staffing separatist insurgencies in eastern Ukraine.

Russia staunchly denies it is involved with the armed separatist insurgency in Ukraine. In turning away from Russia, Ukraine has increasingly reached out for assistance to NATO, an organization the current government hopes the country will eventually join.

Russia has about 1,500 troops stationed in Trans-Dniester, a landlocked separatist strip of Moldova that borders Ukraine. Rescinding the transit rights for those troops creates a logistical problem for Russia and no solution was immediately apparent.

"As it now stands, we have to think about it, find a way. We shouldn't toss away Trans-Dniester and Moldova," said Vladimir Komoedov, chairman of the defense committee of the lower house of the Russian parliament, according to the Interfax news agency.

But he said Russia wouldn't consider retaliatory measures for the time being. U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said the decision by Ukraine's parliament isn't expected to affect the implementation of the Minsk cease-fire agreement for eastern Ukraine.

Also Thursday, Ukraine unveiled what it said was new evidence showing that Russian foreign intelligence services have played a decisive role in provoking unrest in eastern Ukraine since April 2014. Two Russian citizens captured there over the past week were active officers with Russia's Main Intelligence Directorate, Ukrainian Security Service counterintelligence chief Vitaliy Naida said at a press conference.

The service published the names and pictures of 12 other people it said served in the same unit as the captured men. Naida said the unit ran sabotage operations, planned ambushes for Ukrainian troops, set mines and laid bombs targeting the civilian population.

Russia has confirmed the two paraded on television by Ukrainian authorities are Russian citizens and that they were formerly in the military, but says they are no longer in active service and went to Ukraine as volunteers.

In video statements posted by the Ukrainian Security Service, the men say they were taking part in a reconnaissance operation in the Luhansk region Saturday when they were fired on, wounded and captured. Both say they were members of an army brigade based in the Russian city of Togliatti and had been deployed in Ukraine for more than a month.

Ukraine open to hosting missile-defense system

May 20, 2015

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine is open to considering proposals to place a ballistic missile-defense system on its territory to ward off the risk of attacks from Russia, a senior Ukrainian defense official said Wednesday. So far no one has offered.

Oleksandr Turchynov, the head of Ukraine's National Security Council, told Ukrinform news agency in an interview that Russia has become an increased threat since annexing the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea and increasing its military presence there.

Russian news agencies cited Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying Wednesday that the deployment of a missile-defense system in Ukraine would force Russia to adopt countermeasures. Ukraine has repeatedly raised alarms about what it sees as Russia's aggressive military posture. It says Moscow has actively supplied separatists in east Ukraine with arms and manpower and that it routinely bolsters offensive capabilities in western Russia.

President Petro Poroshenko's government is concerned that Russia is making concerted efforts to move its nuclear capabilities to Crimea, which was absorbed by Moscow in 2014 following a referendum almost universally rejected by the international community.

"That the annexation of Crimea has significantly increased Russia's military capabilities and changed its balance of military power in the Black Sea and Mediterranean is understood by all our partners," Turchynov said. "But nobody goes beyond issuing statements and expressing deep concern."

"Ten Iskander-M tactical missile systems have already been delivered to the peninsula near the village of Shcholkine and Krasnoperekopsk," Turchynov told Ukrinform. Russian Defense Ministry officials have also said they will deploy long-range, nuclear-capable Tu-22M3 bombers to Crimea.

Turchynov suggested that the West should consider improving its own security by barring Russian warships from passing through the Bosporus Strait — the narrow stretch that divides Turkey between its European and Asian parts and links the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.

NATO's U.S.-led missile-defense plans envisage deploying elements of the missile shield around Europe for what it says would be defense against Iran. Moscow sees this as a threat to its nuclear deterrent.

Unrest in eastern Ukraine has diminished markedly since a cease-fire was agreed between government and Russian-backed separatist forces in February, but skirmishes continue daily. Military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said Wednesday that three government troops had been killed in action over the previous day.

Poroshenko said at a press conference in Kiev with Slovakian counterpart Andrej Kiska that Russia has between 4,000 and 14,000 soldiers stationed in Ukraine at any given time. "This is not just Ukrainian information. This is intelligence from NATO countries and other sources," Poroshenko said.

Ukrainian authorities this week showed off two men they say are Russian soldiers who were captured while on active duty in the rebellious east. In video statements posted by the Ukrainian Security Service, the men say they were taking part in a reconnaissance operation in the Luhansk region Saturday when they were fired on, wounded and captured. Both say they were members of an army brigade based in the Russian city of Togliatti and had been deployed in Ukraine for more than a month.

Ukraine erases communist reminders as it tries to ditch past

May 12, 2015

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — A hulking steel statue of a victorious female warrior bearing aloft sword and shield looms in dour majesty over the Ukrainian capital. The Motherland Monument's shield bears the Communist hammer-and-sickle, but maybe not for much longer.

Ukraine's leaders are eager to be seen as reinventing the nation. And erasing all visible reminders of the communist past, they say, is an important step toward that goal. "Elimination of communism has to happen in people's heads and consciousness," said Kiev deputy mayor Oleksiy Reznikov. "Symbolism irritates some people and creates a certain aura that we need to get rid of."

Parliament opened the way last month by backing a package of laws that included a loosely formulated ban on communist, as well as Nazi, imagery and ideology. The provisions, which still require approval from President Petro Poroshenko, will make it illegal to show symbols from the Soviet era, such as the logo of Communist Party, or play Soviet-era anthems. It will also become an offense to deny the criminal nature of the Soviet regime.

Taking down all the communist symbols will take time, money and a fair dose of acrobatics, especially in the case of objects like the 100-meter (330-foot) tall Motherland Monument. "We will find alpinist patriots, like the famous ones who painted a star at the top of a Moscow hotel the blue-and-yellow (of the Ukrainian flag)," Reznikov said. "We will ask for help from brave guys like that to get this work done."

Eager Ukrainian nationalists have for the past year been racing ahead of the authorities by pulling down dozens of statues of Vladimir Lenin, the Bolshevik revolutionary and founder of the Soviet Union. The sight has typically been greeted with a mixture of glee, indifference or, among mostly older people, dismay.

The thrust of what has been dubbed de-communization has sharply divided views. Supporters argue it has been long in the waiting and will set the stage for Ukraine to leave its history behind. "I would have got rid of it all years ago. It simply doesn't reflect the mood of the Ukrainian people," said Kiev resident Vasiliy Babkov. "We have to build up that which is truly in the blood of Ukrainians."

But others, like Halyna Coynash, a journalist and member of the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, said some measures risk reverting to the censorship of the communist era. She sees particular danger in a measure that forbids any positive assessment of the Soviet era.

"They have ended up with a law that seriously endangers freedom of speech," Coynash said. Dismantling Soviet emblems and renaming streets named in honor of figures known to have been part of the Soviet Union's machine of repression has garnered a wide approval. But misgivings abound.

"Saying that people cannot themselves wear a red star or even have a hammer-and-sickle on their clothing," Coynash said, "is really quite absurd." Repeated violations could result in prison sentences lasting several years, also a source of anxiety.

"Imprisonment for up to five years for any display of Nazi or communist symbols is manifestly and undeniably in breach of international human rights standards," Volodymyr Yavorsky, an expert with Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, wrote in an article analyzing the laws.

The campaign against the anti-communist laws has been joined by the several dozen signatories to a letter to Poroshenko pleading with him to reject the bill, which sailed through parliament with little debate.

"However noble the intent, the wholesale condemnation of the entire Soviet period as one of occupation of Ukraine will have unjust and incongruous consequences," said the letter, which was signed by dozens of international and Ukrainian historians.

The letter argues that the legislation is so loose as to possibly punish anybody writing approvingly of any policies implemented over 74 years of Communist rule. "Anyone calling attention to the development of Ukrainian culture and language in the 1920s could find himself or herself condemned," the letter said.

One especially thorny provision makes it illegal to justify historical instances of repression of Ukrainian independence movements in the 20th century. Those include the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists headed by WWII-era insurgent leader Stepan Bandera, who briefly allied himself with the Nazis. Efforts by Bandera-led forces to carve out an independent territory for Ukraine led them to perpetrate hideous atrocities against Soviets, Poles and Jews alike.

Bandera's name is tantamount to a curse word among many ethnic Russians and Russian-speakers in Ukraine's east, where government troops have since last year been battling Moscow-backed separatists in a war that has already claimed more than 6,000 lives.

And Russia has warned darkly of more trouble for Ukraine should the anti-communism measures go ahead. "Attempts by Kiev to distort the country's past and to disregard the achievements made in Russian and Soviet periods will only lead to a deep split in society," the foreign ministry in Moscow said in a statement in April. "Doing that by imposing nationalist ideologies will only further cast into doubt the prospects of Ukraine's statehood."

Vatican recognizes state of Palestine in new treaty

May 13, 2015

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican officially recognized the state of Palestine in a new treaty finalized Wednesday, immediately sparking Israeli ire and accusations that the move hurt peace prospects.

The treaty, which concerns the activities of the Catholic Church in Palestinian territory, is both deeply symbolic and makes explicit that the Holy See has switched its diplomatic recognition from the Palestine Liberation Organization to the state of Palestine.

The Vatican had welcomed the decision by the U.N. General Assembly in 2012 to recognize a Palestinian state and had referred to the Palestine state since. But the treaty is the first legal document negotiated between the Holy See and the Palestinian state, giving the Vatican's former signs of recognition an unambiguous confirmation in a formal, bilateral treaty.

"Yes, it's a recognition that the state exists," said the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi. The Israeli Foreign Ministry said it was "disappointed." "This move does not promote the peace process and distances the Palestinian leadership from returning to direct and bilateral negotiations," the ministry said in a text message.

The United States and Israel oppose recognition, arguing that it undermines U.S.-led efforts to negotiate an Israeli-Palestinian deal on the terms of Palestinian statehood. Most countries in Western Europe have held off on recognition, but some have hinted that their position could change if peace efforts remain deadlocked.

The treaty was finalized days before Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas visits Pope Francis at the Vatican. Abbas is heading to Rome to attend Francis' canonization Sunday of two new saints from the Holy Land.

"This is a very important recognition as the Vatican has a very important political status that stems from its spiritual status," said Abbas' senior aide, Nabil Shaath. "We expect more EU countries to follow."

The Vatican has been referring unofficially to the state of Palestine since 2012. During Pope Francis' 2014 visit to the Holy Land, the Vatican's official program referred to Abbas as the president of the "state of Palestine."

The Vatican's foreign minister, Monsignor Antoine Camilleri, acknowledged the change in status, but said the shift was simply in line with the Holy See's position. The Holy See clearly tried to underplay the development, suggesting that its 2012 press statement welcoming the U.N. vote constituted its first official recognition. Nowhere in that statement does the Vatican say it recognizes the state of Palestine, and the Holy See couldn't vote for the U.N. resolution because it doesn't have voting rights at the General Assembly.

The Vatican's efforts to downplay the move seemed justified given the swift condemnation of the development by Israeli groups: The American Jewish Committee said it was "counterproductive to all who seek true peace between Israel and the Palestinians." The Anti-Defamation League said it was "premature."

"We appreciate that the Vatican's basic intention is to promote Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation, but believe that this diplomatic recognition will be unhelpful to that end," the ADL's Abraham Foxman said.

The 2012 U.N. vote recognized Palestine as a non-member observer state, made up of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, lands Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians celebrated the vote as a milestone in their quest for international recognition. Most countries in Africa, Asia and South America have individually recognized Palestine. In Western Europe, Sweden took the step last year, while several parliaments have approved non-binding motions urging recognition.

This isn't the first time that the Vatican under Francis has taken diplomatic moves knowing that it would please some quarters and ruffle feathers elsewhere: Just last month, he referred to the slaughter of Armenians by Turkish Ottomans a century ago as a "genocide," prompting Turkey to recall its ambassador.

AP writers Ian Deitch in Jerusalem and Mohammed Daraghmeh in Ramallah, West Bank contributed.