People in Sinjar struggling to survive winter conditions
At least ten thousand Yezidis, who did not want to abandon their homes, are struggling to survive as winter sets in on Mount Sinjar.
There are many young children who are in danger if urgent aid does not reach them soon. They are trying to resist the cold in summer clothes and wander barefoot. report by Firat
Families who are living together in thin tents say they have survived thanks to aid that has reached them from Rojava, but complain they have not received any airdrops of aid. With the aid corridor having closed they are concerned where aid will come from.
Families add that everyday their children are falling ill, saying they are worried they will not be able to survive the winter in the present conditions.
Turkey launches new arrests of top officers for eavesdropping
Turkish authorities have launched a new operation to arrest top police officers on suspicion of involvement in illegal eavesdropping on senior officials, including President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The new wave of arrests targeted 18 police figures, including the former head of national police intelligence, Omer Altiparmak, and the former deputy head of the Ankara police, Lokman Kircili.
The operation is the fifth swoop in a sequence of coordinated raids against police since July. So far, dozens of former senior officers have been arrested.
It was not immediately clear if all those targeted figures had been arrested, but Turkish media said that the operation was still underway.
The swoops were part of a crackdown on what the Turkish president has described as a “parallel state” within the security forces loyal to his former ally-turned-foe, Fethullah Gulen.
The probe is linked to corruption allegations against the president and cabinet ministers.
More than 100 serving and former police officers were arrested in July as part of a wiretapping investigation.
The officers have been accused of fabricating a probe as cover for spying on top figures since 2010, including Erdogan, cabinet members and the head of Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization, Hakan Fidan.
Many of the police officers arrested were involved in an anti-government corruption probe and were removed from their posts earlier this year.
Turkey plunged into political crisis after dozens of government officials and prominent businessmen close to the Turkish premier were arrested for inquiry on graft charges on December 17, 2013.
Erdogan denounced the corruption scandal as well as a string of damaging leaks in the media, saying they were engineered by Gulen’s supporters to undermine his government. Gulen has repeatedly denied any involvement.
Kobanê: genocide by proxy of Turkey
The sharp eye, the line provided, always at the forefront of the news, the famous cartoonist Canard Enchaîné * René Pétillon did not fail to put the record straight about the cynical position of Turkey to the genocide perpetrated by the Islamic State in populations Kobanê.
My film is not is not devoted to Genocide, says Turkish director (it is against Taboo)
Fatih Akin, the Turkish-German director whose movie “The Cut” stirred up anger over the Genocide issue in Turkey, has complained about facing threats.
In an interview with Evrensel, Akin said the film is neither political nor devoted to the Armenian Genocide per se. He said he was inspired by book written by Hassan Cemal, Cemal Pasha’s grandson.
“If the grandson of someone who was responsible for the era uses the word, why shouldn’t I use it? The book is on sale in book-stores and displayed on shop-windows,” he noted.
“I didn’t search the topic; it found me itself. As a child of a family from Turkey, it was always of interest to me, especially when it turned into a taboo. When something is banned, you become curious and studious. ”
Asked whether the topic still remains a taboo in Turkey, Akin said he sees that a lot has changed since the assassination of Hrant-Dink, the editor-in-chief of the Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos.
“If, seven years ago when Hrant Dink was killed, you tried to speak about the Genocide in any café, those sitting at the table would show resistance. You can now speak about it without whisper almost everywhere,” he answered.
Akin blamed the Turkish propaganda for diverting the Turkish society from the historical truth.
“If one nation was permanently cheated by historians and politicians [who said] ‘nothing of the kind happened; it’s a big lie’ etc., and heard nothing else from families, textbooks and newspaper, I cannot blame them.
“But the politicians calls for leaving history to historians is wrong. History belongs to us, the people …” he added.
Armenia may declare Dec 9 commemoration day for victims of genocides (Pontic Greeks, Assyrians, Yezidis and other ethnicities)
A member of Heritage opposition party Zaruhi Postanjyan submitted to parliamentary consideration a package of bills on condemnation of the genocides of Pontic Greeks, Assyrians, Yezidis and other ethnicities in the Ottoman Empire, with the draft laws latters included on the agenda of the Cabinet of Ministers’ next session.
The government, however, suggested instead declaring December 9 a commemoration day for the victims of genocides, to mark the United Nations Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide adopted December 9, 1948.
“Based on the abovementioned, the government will consider the initiative acceptable in case its suggestion is approved, with Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan to be appointed as a co-rapporteur in consideration of the initiative,” the government’s statement said.
Iran, Armenia Form Commission to Boost Trade
TEHRAN—Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani spoke of “bright prospects” for deepening Armenian-Iranian relations and called on Armenia to join the Islamic Republic in fighting against “terrorism” in the broader region during talks with Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamian in Tehran on Monday, reports RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am).
In an apparent reference to Islamic State (ISIS) militants in Syria and Iraq, Rouhani was reported to denounce “terrorists targeting civilizations and humanity” and indiscriminately killing both Christians and Muslims.
He said, “Iran and Armenia and all regional states should join forces to fight terrorism because security in the region will become sustainable only through collective cooperation,” reported the official IRNA news agency. “Security is a non-dividable category and if a country suffers from terrorism, other countries will suffer too.”
According to IRNA, Rouhani “called for fully using the existing capacity to expand relations” between Armenia and Iran. He said there are “bright prospect” for doing that because both governments are committed to closer ties.
Senior officials from Iran and Armenia agreed on Monday to establish a high joint commission to elevate bilateral ties in a host of fields, Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported.
The decision to create the commission was made in a meeting between Iranian First Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri and visiting Armenian Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamian in Tehran on Monday prior to Abrahamian’s meeting with Rouhani.
Speaking at a joint press conference with the Armenian premier, Jahangiri said the meeting has covered a range of items from economic ties to environmental issues.
He announced that the volume of trade exchange between the two countries stands at $300 million per year and expressed hope that closer cooperation could bring even higher volumes of trade.
“Given the fact that Armenia has recently joined the Eurasian Economic Union, a good opportunity will be provided for the two countries’ private sectors to trade goods and also export them to neighboring countries,” Jahangiri added, noting that Armenia will be an important route for Iran to trade with EEU member states.
Abrahamian, for his part, said Tehran and Yerevan concluded several agreements in various fields, adding that officials from the two sides will devise plans for the enhancement of economic relations through the planned joint commission.
Jahangiri also announced that Iran plans to build a hydropower plant on the Armenian side of the Arax River in order to increase Armenia’s capacity for supplying electricity to Iran in exchange for natural gas, a barter trade deal the two countries struck in 2009.
New power transmission line to be constructed between Iran and Armenia
Similarly, on Saturday, the Iranian and Armenian energy ministers agreed on the construction of a new power transmission line from Armenia to Iran in line with the two country’s efforts to boost energy ties, Tansim News Agency reported.
In an hour-long, closed-door meeting in Tehran on Saturday evening, Hamid Chitchian and his Armenian counterpart Yervand Zakharian held talks on ways to boost electricity for gas trade, based on which Iran supplies gas to Armenia and receives electricity.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Chitchian said during the talks it was agreed that the third power transmission line between the two countries and two hydroelectric power plants be constructed in a bid to increase the potential for energy exchange.
He said that over the past two decades, the two countries have had good cooperation in the area of energy and the Saturday meeting was an emphasis on the continued cooperation between Iran and Armenia.
Earlier on Saturday, Iran’s Deputy Energy Minister Houshang Falahatian had said that the two sides have recently held meetings with Armenian officials and, based on agreements, are constructing new power transmission lines from Armenia to Iran.
In May 2009, Iran and Armenia started trading gas and electricity. According to a contract previously signed between the two countries, Iran was set to supply gas to Armenia until 2029 with or without exchanging electricity with the country.
Falahatian also said that the amount of gas that has been exported to Armenia and the amount of electricity imported from the country did not match the agreed amounts based on the contract between the two sides.
The financial resources for the new transmission line have been supplied by Export Development Bank of Iran, he added.
Update: Serena Family We do not believe she died in car accident: Video
Family members of Press TV’s American-Lebanese correspondent, Serena Shim, say they do not believe their daughter died in a normal accident in Turkey.
Serena’s family made the remarks during a visit by the news network’s Beirut Bureau team in Lebanon.
The family members refused to appear on camera but said they suspected the Turkish authorities were somehow responsible for her death.
Her parents said they would pursue the matter legally.
On Friday, Shim, an American citizen of Lebanese origin, told Press TV that the Turkish intelligence agency had accused her of spying probably due to some of the stories she had covered about Turkey’s stance on the ISIL terrorists in Kobani and its surroundings, adding that she feared being arrested.
Earlier, Press TV news director Hamid Reza Emadi called on the Turkish government “to find out exactly what happened” to Serena.
Shim, a mother of two, covered reports for Press TV in Lebanon, Iraq, and Ukraine.
She was on a mission on the Turkish side of the border across Syria’s strategic town of Kobani to cover the ongoing war there between the ISIL terrorists and Kurdish fighters.
Her car collided with a heavy vehicle upon return from a report scene in Suruç, a rural district of Şanlıurfa province of Turkey.
The identity and the whereabouts of the truck driver remain unknown.
Shim said she was among the few journalists who had obtained stories about Takfiri militants’ infiltration into Syria through the Turkish border, adding she had gained access to images showing militants crossing the border in trucks belonging to the World Food Organization and other NGOs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=AUNj5hXw0jk
FCC Chairman: Obama and I in Agreement on Net Neutrality
ISIS targets Mosul goldsmiths to fill its coffers
A gold souq in northern Iraq. Photo by Seivan Mohammed
By a Rudaw correspondent
MOSUL, Iraq – Islamic State is putting the squeeze on gold merchants in Iraq’s second city, demanding extortionate “taxes” to help fund its four-month-old occupation.
ISIS has already opened two centres for tax collection on the eastern and western sides of the city. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, self-styled caliph of the Islamic State now appears to be eyeing the wealth of the souq.
“We have to pay one third of what we have in money and gold in our shops,” said Haitham [not his real name], a goldsmith in Mosul, barely hiding his anger. “ISIS informed us to visit the tax center, which is based in the building that used to be the Iraq Museum, to declare the value and pay one third as alms.”
His son calmed him as his voice rose; ISIS militants might be within earshot.
“The religion of Islam says that the tax on gold is 2.5 percent, so where did they get this ruling from?” asked the goldsmith. “But I will give them one third of my gold and money to avoid their Sharia Courts, which usually ends in either a whipping or death. I will sell my shop after this, before I lose everything I have,” he lamented.
ISIS does not only target gold shops. Simple street vendors and gas stations have also been ordered to pay “alms”.
Yousef, a street vendor in his twenties, was arranging his goods and getting back to work after he paid what he was told he owed to ISIS. “The street vendors have to pay no less than $2,000 in rent, which all goes to the finance ministry of the Islamic Caliphate,” he said.
“I paid $2100 and got a receipt that just has the stamp of ISIS on it. The receipt does not mention the amount I paid or even carry a signature,” he says “I had to pay it, otherwise I would become unemployed like so many others who are left in Mosul without a job.”
ISIS recently announced gas stations in Mosul must renew their contracts according to new rules, which are aimed at increasing the income into the militants’ coffers.
The new rules tap private money as well as that held in government banks. Saba, a resident of Mosul, said that she had to wait for three months for the banks to reopen. “It was not easy to withdraw all my money from the bank as there are certain rules that ISIS has imposed. A person cannot withdraw an amount exceeding 20 million Iraqi Dinars [$17,200],” said Saba.
Saba showed a paper with the ISIS seal on it, “Before going to the bank, you have to first go to the ISIS court and request to withdraw money from the bank and state the reason why,” she said. “Those who have put their money in the bank to earn interest via saving accounts will lose all their right to claim their money back, because they consider savings accounts as usury,” said Saba.
“The whole process of money withdrawal will take more than one week, and after standing in lines at ISIS courts and banks for days, they will deduct 10 percent from the amount you withdrew as a tax for ISIS,” she said.
To avoid becoming a victim of ISIS by losing your capital in order to finance wars in Iraq and Syria, the merchants are now avoiding banks.
Finances from Mosul have been flowing to ISIS for several years. According to a senior officer in the Iraqi Ministry of Defense, ISIS records show it raised $5 million a month in recent years.
“ISIS collected money from street vendors, merchants, pharmacies, clinics, and employees in recent years. The Iraqi state could not prevent ISIS extortion from the people of Mosul because they were not cooperating with us due to the threats and terror they were exposed to,” said the senior officer.
“Without that large amount of finances, ISIS could not have occupied Mosul, Salahaddin, Anbar or opened another big front in Syria.”