Arrests of top officials and royal family members are rare in Jordan.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH,

Former Jordanian Crown Prince Hamzah bin Hussein has been placed under house arrest amid reports that the kingdom’s security forces have foiled a coup against King Abdullah II.At least 20 Jordanians have been arrested in connection with the alleged coup. According to The Washington Post, Hamzah was placed under restriction at his Amman palace amid an alleged plot to unseat King Abdullah II.“The move followed the discovery of what palace officials described as a complex and far-reaching plot that included at least one other Jordanian royal, as well as tribal leaders and members of the country’s security establishment,” the report said.The official Jordanian media initially reported that Hamzah has been placed under house arrest.Later, however, a Jordanian official was quoted as saying that “His Royal Highness, Prince Hamzah bin Hussein was not under house arrest or detention, contrary to reports in the media.”

Hamzah is the elder son of the late King Hussein and his American-born wife, Queen Noor. He was named Crown Prince of Jordan in 1999, a position he held until his half-brother, King Abdullah II, rescinded it in 2004.Hamzah, an outspoken critic of corruption in Jordan, had called for holding those responsible to account.Sources in Jordan said that a large security force raided Hamzah’s palace in Amman in the afternoon and handed him a house arrest order.A number of Hamzah’s associates, including the director of his office, Yasser Suleiman al-Majali, were arrested by officers belonging to the Jordanian General Intelligence Directorate, the sources said. The director of Hamzah’s palace, Adnan Abu Hammad, was also taken into custody, they added.Other sources said that the Jordanian security forces withdrew the security detail of Hamzah.Rasheed al-Majali, a relative of the detained director of Hamzah’s office, said that several heavily-armed security officers took part in the arrest.

“They drew their weapons in the face of women and children and took Yasser [al-Majali] to an undisclosed location,” he said. “Yasser has a heart issue and needs various round-the-clock medication.”Majali is a prominent Jordanian political family based in the town of Al-Karak. Members of the family emigrated to Jordan from the West Bank city of Hebron. Some members of the family previously served in senior positions in Jordan. Two of them, Hazza’ Majali and Abdelsalam al-Majali, are former prime ministers.A statement published by Jordan’s official news agency Petra said that “Jordanian citizens Hassan bin Zaid, Bassem Ibrahim Awadallah and others were arrested for security reasons.”The statement did not make any reference to the alleged plot to overthrow the Jordanian monarch or to Hamzah. “The arrest was made after close security follow-up and was executed for security reasons,” the agency said.Bin Zaid is a member of the royal family in Jordan.

Awadallah, a Jordanian citizen born in Jerusalem, previously served as Director of the Office of King Abdullah II and Chief of the Royal Hashemite Court. Awadallah also served as an unofficial Jordanian envoy to Saudi Arabia and is said to maintain close ties with the royal family in Riyadh.The US State Department said on Saturday that King Abdullah is a “key partner” of the United States and “has our full support.”In an email, State Department spokesman Ned Price said, “We are closely following the reports and in touch with Jordanian officials. King Abdullah is a key partner of the United States, and he has our full support.”The Gulf Cooperation Council’s secretary-general said in a statement on Saturday that the GCC stands with Jordan and all its measures to maintain its security and stability.Separately, Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa also voiced his support for Jordan’s King Abdullah and “his measures to maintain security and stability in brotherly Jordan, and defuse every attempt to influence them,” state news agency (BNA) reported.

By Samson Martirosyan

Work is underway to preserve what remains at Dvin, the capital of early medieval Armenia, 35 kilometers south of Yerevan.

The Armenian government says it plans to make the site one of the country’s main tourist attractions. Some say the plan is ill-advised and risks devaluing the site’s cultural importance.

Hovhannes Sanamyan, Chief Architect of the Dvin Restoration Project, argues that the work is necessary to save what remains at the site, especially the St. Gregory Cathedral, originally built as a pagan temple in the 3rd century A.D. and rebuilt in the 4th century as a Christian church.  

What remains today are the church’s stone foundations uncovered during archaeological excavations in the 20th century.

Work at Dvin began in December 2020, part of a World Bank co-financed US$ 68.7 million Local Economy and Infrastructure Development Project, to promote tourism and heritage hub regeneration in Armenia.

The World Bank issued a $55 million loan to the Armenian government to implement the project now carried out by the Territorial Development Fund of Armenia. More than 120 million drams ($250,000) has already been spent on the Dvin restoration project.https://www.facebook.com/v3.2/plugins/quote.php?app_id=468673766529308&channel=https%3A%2F%2Fstaticxx.facebook.com%2Fx%2Fconnect%2Fxd_arbiter%2F%3Fversion%3D46%23cb%3Df1b85257ac8a3b2%26domain%3Dhetq.am%26origin%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fhetq.am%252Ff232af19d3783aa%26relation%3Dparent.parent&container_width=930&href=https%3A%2F%2Fhetq.am%2Fen%2Farticle%2F129298&locale=en_US&sdk=joey

Work at Dvin is expected to be completed by 2023. Infrastructure at and around Stone Symphony near the Garni Temple, Zorats Karer archaeological site, the Mozrov cave and other sites will also be improved in the framework of the project. 

Burg-999 Ltd., a company in Armenia, has been awarded the Dvin construction contract. 

Public toilets, an information center, a souvenir shop and possibly a museum will be built at Dvin in the second stage of the project.

The World Bank will not provide technical assistance to Armenia and will merely monitor the finances. 

Hovhannes Sanamyan told Hetq that the Dvin site has been sorely neglected and that a total restoration of the site is impossible. He says the focus at Dvin will be to shore up what remains and to partially restore what is possible.

He shrugged off concerns that the project will do more harm than good.https://www.facebook.com/v3.2/plugins/quote.php?app_id=468673766529308&channel=https%3A%2F%2Fstaticxx.facebook.com%2Fx%2Fconnect%2Fxd_arbiter%2F%3Fversion%3D46%23cb%3Df1b85257ac8a3b2%26domain%3Dhetq.am%26origin%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fhetq.am%252Ff232af19d3783aa%26relation%3Dparent.parent&container_width=930&href=https%3A%2F%2Fhetq.am%2Fen%2Farticle%2F129298&locale=en_US&sdk=joey

“If we leave the site the way it is, uncared for, it will surely vanish in a few decades. The work underway will preserve the site for the future. Sadly, everyone today believes they are experts,” Sanamyan told Hetq, adding that a Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports council of specialists is overseeing the project.

Sanamyan said this council and internationally renowned experts in the field had approved the Dvin project.

He said that materials originally used at Dvin are now being employed at the site so that nothing appears out of place. Sanamyan ensures they use traditional lime mortar, not cement, and internationally approved methods of restoration.

The architect noted that, in the same fashion, the citadel of Erebuni has also been partially restored and strengthened.

Sanamyan said that Dvin, just like the 7th century Zvartnots Cathedral, cannot be fully restored due to a lack of data regarding the original appearance of the St. Gregory the Catholicos Cathedral. 

“Restoration ends where the assumptions begin”,-said Sanamyan.

Screenshots from Armenian government press service video

Source: https://hetq.am/en/article/129298

The Kremlin has played down a military build-up on its border with Ukraine and has warned of “additional measures” if NATO sends troops to buttress its ally.

Russia on Friday warned NATO against sending troops to eastern Ukraine after Kyiv accused Moscow of building up a military presence on its border.

The Interfax news agency cited Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying that any deployment of NATO troops would “undoubtedly lead to further tensions” and that the Russian side would then “have to take additional measures to ensure their security,” without giving specifics.

Peskov played down Russian troop movements near the joint border, saying that “Russia is not threatening anyone.”

War games near border

His comments came as the Russian military announced Friday it would hold military exercises close to the border, involving more than 15,000 troops, as well as electronic warfare and air defense units.

Peskov was responding to a warning to Moscow from Washington against “intimidating” Ukraine after US forces in Europe raised their alert status following the “recent escalations of Russian aggression.”    

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Thursday spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart and pledged to stand by Kyiv in the event of further Russian hostility.

Austin’s remarks were backed up by US President Joe Biden in a phone call with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday. 

“President Biden affirmed the United States’ unwavering support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russia’s ongoing aggression in the Donbas and Crimea,” a White House statement said following the call.

Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba agreed Friday that “de-escalation is now crucial in order not to put at risk the ceasefire,” according to a German Foreign Ministry statement on Twitter following their conversation.

Many Bulgarians express optimism that anti-corruption candidates will win seats in Sunday’s parliamentary elections. They also know that the country’s political situation will take a long time to change.

There is not much going on Vitosha Boulevard, Sofia’s main commercial drag. There isn’t even much sign in the nation’s capital that parliamentary elections, the first since 2017, are scheduled for Sunday. However, a few members and supporters of the opposition Rise Up! Thugs Out! coalition have gathered, and they are livestreaming on Facebook. This movement emerged from months of protest against the government that began in summer 2020. Members seek to prevent Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, the leader of the center-right Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB), from winning a fourth term. 

Bulgaria is now in another pandemic shutdown, which was imposed shortly after the government had allowed restaurants to open and promised to ease restrictions despite a rising number of cases of COVID-19 and the protests of health experts. In mid-March, Assen Baltov, the director of Pirogov emergency hospital, the biggest in the country, said that the hospital was “working at its limit” and was almost at capacity. 

Although the government has failed to manage the pandemic successfully, the prime minister and his party are leading in the polls. “The opposition was not able to establish itself,” a middle-aged man in central Sofia said. “I prefer what I already know — even if it’s not the best.”

Worn-out, illegitimate’ GERB

Younger Bulgarians do not necessarily share the man’s resignation. Dimitar Dimitrov is 29 and has a master of arts from the London School of Economics. He likely could have gotten a job abroad, but he chose to return six years ago and now he is running with the laissez-faire three-party alliance Democratic Bulgaria (DB), co-led by Hristo Ivanov, a former justice minister who was forced to resign after his proposed changes to the legal system failed. 

Dimitrov, who represents a well-educated generation of Bulgarians who think globally but want to act locally, said Borisov and his government were “worn-out, illegitimate and harmful for political and public life in Bulgaria.” 

The movement has attracted younger Bulgarians such as Iva Tsenkova and Atanas Terziev, who are both 27 and work in digital management. In 2020, they took part in the demonstrations in Sofia, chanting “Mafia!” with their fellow protesters. 

“I can’t see anybody in politics who actually knows what they’re doing,” Terziev told DW. “Bureaucracy and incompetence are omnipresent.” 

Tsenkova, who studied in Austria and returned to Bulgaria three years ago, told DW that “nepotism and corruption are also omnipresent, and this is very disillusioning for people.” She said this was her reason to vote for an alternative.

Violating EU norms

Bulgaria is tied with Hungary and Romania on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index — making the three countries the worst-ranking EU members. It also ranks 111th out of 180 countries on the World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which describes Bulgaria as “the black sheep of the European Union,” with a small number of companies controlling most media outlets within the country. “Corruption and collusion between media, politicians and oligarchs is widespread, according to Reporters Without Borders.

According to the latest polls, DB could win 6-8% of the vote on Sunday, but this would not guarantee that it could enter a coalition. “I can’t see any possible partner,” Atanas said. “It would be very demotivating for voters if DB entered a coalition with a status quo party.” 

He was referring to the parties that form Bulgaria’s political establishment: The prime minister’s GERB, the Bulgarian Socialist Party, which succeeded the Communist Party after 1990, and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, which has broad support from the Turkish and Roma minorities. One of the latter’s most prominent MPs, the media magnate and oligarch Delyan Peevski, is described by RSF as “the most notorious embodiment” of the corruption and “aberrant state of affairs” in Bulgaria. Peevski himself is not running in this election. There has been no official explanation why. 

Dimitrov knows that the postelection period will “not be easy” but said DB “should not make any unprincipled compromises.” This is a noble goal, but it will be difficult achieve, with the future parliament likely to be fragmented, with five to eight parties. 

“I still hope that things will change,” Tsenkova said. 

If they don’t, Terziev said, there will be more protests. And, he said, “if nothing changes, emigration.”

This article has been translated from German.

The career of Arkady Ter-Tadevosyan (Komandos) should remind all Armenians that it’s an honor to serve the homeland. This is what former Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Armenia Movses Hakobyan told reporters during the Requiem Service held for Arkady Ter-Tadevosyan today.

“Arkady Ter-Tadevosyan and I were friends-in-combat and met during the war, that is, after the liberation of Shushi. I accepted him as a leader. The Komandos pursued his military career with glory,” Hakobyan stated.

According to Movses Hakobyan, the unblocking of links in the region is an intricate process, and Armenia’s interest must be taken into consideration. He added that unblocking of links for Turkey’s and Azerbaijan’s interests is unacceptable. He also doesn’t agree with the government’s view that the country needs to make corrections in its approach to Turkey and not view the latter as an inimical country.

YEREVAN. – 168 Hour daily of Armenia writes: In recent days, the RF [Russian Federation] has intensified contacts—at various levels—with Armenia and Azerbaijan’s authorities.

Another noteworthy and telling episode, which shows the attitude of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, the Kremlin towards Armenia’s government, is Putin’s telephone conversations with [Armenian PM Nikol] Pashinyan and [Azerbaijani President Ilham] Aliyev.

The differences observed in the two [respective] messages posted on the Kremlin’s official website are striking in the case when the Kremlin has officially traditionally sought to maintain parity in contacts between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan.

First, in the messages of almost all Pashinyan-Putin telephone conversations, the Russian side notes that the telephone conversation was initiated by the Armenian side, thus emphasizing that the caller, the one expecting something from those relations, is Pashinyan. Also, the Kremlin does not give any qualifications and assessments to Armenian-Russian relations, which is a noteworthy fact.

YEREVAN. – Another 12 complete coronavirus genomes were transcribed in Armenia using the third generation sequencing, the Ministry of Health informed Armenian News-NEWS.am about this.

The samples were provided by the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention on March 18.

In contrast to the January research, COVID-19’s British strain (B.1.1.7, VOC-202012/01) was detected in 10 of these 12 samples.

The total number of coronavirus cases in Armenia is currently 194,852, and the number of deaths is 4,456.

Azerbaijan is following Turkey’s Syria playbook in seeking to erase the cultural and religious identity of areas recently captured in the disputed Nagorno- Karabakh region, Armenian news outlet Massis Post said on Thursday. 

In September, Azerbaijan launched a successful military offensive against pro-Armenia forces in Nagorno- Karabakh, regaining control of much of the territory, including the second largest settlement of Shusha. 

In a recent visit to the region, Azeri President İlham Aliyev ordered the destruction of “historical inscriptions on the Armenian churches, calling them fake”, the Massis Post said.

Turkey provided crucial military support to Azerbaijan during the conflict. And the Azeri presence in Nagorno-Karabakh has come to closely resemble the Turkish occupation of the predominantly Kurdish region of Afrin in Syria, the news outlet said.

Turkey took control of Afrin in March 2018 after a cross-border incursion against Kurdish-led forces known as the People’s Protection Units (YPG). 

The region is now dominated by Turkish-backed Syrian militia groups, which are accused by the United Nations of atrocities including looting, extortion, and desecration of cultural sites. 

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) monitoring group, more than 2,500 Syrian militants were also deployed by Turkey to fight alongside the Azeri armed forces in Nagorno- Karabakh. 

“One could have thought the only goal of sending the Syrian mercenaries to Nagorno-Karabakh was to instruct the Azerbaijanis in the ways of committing war crimes,” Massis Post said.

Azerbaijan now aims to “make it impossible for the uprooted people to return to their homeland,” the Armenian news outlet said. 

“Ankara has made every effort to achieve this in Syria. Baku must not be allowed to do the same in Armenia.”

Source: https://ahvalnews-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/ahvalnews.com/nagorno-karabakh/azerbaijan-follows-turkeys-syria-playbook-nagorno-karabakh-report?amp

The US intelligence community highlighted a cyber attack from Turkey as part of clandestine efforts to influence the US presidential election in a foreign threat report issued on March 15, 2021.

The declassified report, released by the National Intelligence Council (NIC), listed a hack by Turkish group RootAyyıldız (also referred as RootAyyildiz) on a website set up for the Biden-Harris presidential campaign as a foreign threat to the 2020 US elections.

“In November, hackers promoting Turkish nationalist themes breached and defaced a website previously established for a candidate in the US presidential campaign, according to US cybersecurity press,” the NIC stated in the report.

The defacement of the site lasted more than a day. It was a promotional website for Biden and his running mate, raising funds for the campaign and providing information. The site was later redirected to iwillvote.com in early November according to a screenshot from the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine.

This is the first time that the NIC has listed Turkey, a NATO ally, as a country where an attempt to interfere in the US elections originated. The NIC is best known for producing National Intelligence Estimates, which are intelligence community-wide forecasts of issues and challenges facing the security of the United States. In the report Turkey was mentioned with other countries such as Russia, Iran, China and Venezuela and Hezbollah, a pro-Iran entity in Lebanon.

In November 2020, when RootAyyıldız hacked the Vote Joe website, vote.joebiden.com, the hackers posted a nationalist and Islamist message that by and large repeated the narrative often promoted by ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) officials in Turkey, led by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The hackers identified themselves as “Turkish Muslim Defacer” and emphasized that they follow the Turkish president, described as “Reis” (Chief) in the posted message, and are on the path of a Turkish Islamist jihadist campaign to dominate the world. The opposition political parties were alleged to have been supported by the US, and the hackers warned of further consequences if the US did not leave Turkey alone.

The translated version of the message is as follows:

“We made the ablution [used here as a means to clean oneself to get ready to be martyr in jihad] before and set out on a journey, we said our own funeral prayer, we sharpened our blade for our brother. We made our pledge to the Great Sultan [late Ottoman Sultan Abdulhamid II, an authoritarian ruler revered by Islamist circles in Turkey]. We will kill for Reis [Chief – President Erdoğan] anybody who sets their eyes on our [Turkish-Islamic] cause.

“Damn those who live for money and fame, greetings to those who live for the Islamic cause. From here, I warn the US-backed, so-called [opposition] political parties like the CHP [main opposition Republican People’s Party], HDP [pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party] and the Iyi [conservative/nationalist Good] Party.

“We’ll be your nightmare if you don’t take your hands off my [Turkish] state, my nation. We will make you afraid of walking in the street [in shame] by revealing your most private conversations.

“RootAyyıldız is not a group or organization but a patriot who fights alone. We hail anybody who fights for Turk and Islam. May Allah be our help. We do not use social media. Don’t be fooled by fake accounts.”

The hackers also posted a picture of President Erdoğan and Ottoman Sultan Abdulhamid II on the defaced website.

A caption below the picture read: “We are the ones who stopped the tanks with our bare hands on the night of July 15 [2016 failed coup]. We are those who killed death that night. We have been waiting for Archers’ Hill for 15 centuries [a reference to a scene in the Battle of Uhud fought by the Muslim Prophet Muhammad]! We are the keepers of that red [Turkish] flag that will never abandon its shadow on us.”

Archers’ Hill has often been mentioned by the Turkish president in his campaign rallies, especially when he wanted to appeal to the younger generation in a bid to convince voters to stick with him. Muslim archers in the battle left their designated spot on the hill during the campaign, defying Muhammad’s orders. That led to a surprise attack by the enemy, who exploited the archers’ absence in a key area and caused disarray among Muslim ranks by the cavalry offensive.

RootAyyıldız is believed to have connections to elements of the Turkish government, specifically with intelligence agency MIT and the police department. Its attacks on foreign governments, entities and individuals have coincided with the growing noise among Turkish officials who leveled harsh criticism and threats against such foreign governments, entities and individuals.

President Erdoğan enjoyed a personal relationship with Donald Trump and was concerned that the Biden presidency would prove to be challenging in promoting his agenda. The pro-government media was cheering for Trump while bashing Biden during the campaign. It was not surprising to see that a hacker group linked to his government wanted to send a message by hacking Joe Biden’s campaign website.

RootAyyıldız also targeted the Greek government and institutions during heightened tension between the two countries in August 2020. The official website of the Bihar Education Department in India was hacked in August 2019 by RootAyyıldız, which posted messages in praise of Pakistan and Islam. In October 2020 the group hacked the Armenian Football Federation’s website during the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan and posted messages in support of Azerbaijan.

Source: https://nordicmonitor.com/2021/03/us-intelligence-community-marked-turkish-cyber-attack-on-bidens-campaign-site-as-a-bid-to-influence-us-elections/

Nordic Monitor

Turkish military intelligence asked a judge to block Nordic Monitor’s Twitter account, claiming that an article published by the Swedish-based news outlet could taint the reputation of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK).

Ankara 3rd Criminal Court of Peace Judge Mustafa Gürbüz granted the request that was filed on March 26, 2021 by the TSK’s General Staff Intelligence Directorate and ordered a block of Nordic Monitor’s Twitter account two days later. The judgment, numbered 2021/4105, was sent for enforcement to Twitter and Internet service providers in Turkey.

The complaint filed by the TSK came after Nordic Monitor had published a classified military document that exposed how the Turkish military listed 131 islands, islets and rock formations in the Aegean Sea whose status was disputed with neighboring Greece and prepared plans to take them over during a conflict.

The secret document, a PowerPoint presentation with 16 slides, included a map with the disputed locations marked. The presentation appears to have been prepared by the War Academies. The secret document was found buried in the annexes of a case file in Izmir.

The judge did not bother hearing arguments from either Twitter or Nordic Monitor and ruled as requested by the Turkish military. The decision to censor a news article is yet another indication of how the the Turkish judiciary has become a tool in the hands of the Islamist government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan after a massive purge of more than 4,000 judges and prosecutors on fabricated charges.

The judge’s rubber-stamp order asking Twitter to remove the news article and cut off access to Nordic Monitor’s Twitter account: 

The criminal justice system has often been abused by Erdoğan to persecute government critics, leading to the imprisonment of nearly 200 journalists, a world record. Some 180 media outlets critical of the government were seized and shut down in 2016, while many news websites were blocked in Turkey.

Twitter said it would not take any action on the judge’s order to block Nordic Monitor’s account for the time being. Most court orders asking the US-based Twitter to suspend, cancel or block users originate in Turkey.

According to Twitter’s Transparency Report covering the January to June 2020 period, Turkey issued 513 court orders for removal requests in addition to 3,812 other legal demands (orders by police, prosecutors’ offices or regulatory bodies). Twitter said Turkey, which had historically been the highest requester until the previous reporting period, ranked fourth this period with 10 percent of global legal demands. Turkey had 91 percent of all censorship requests in the form of court judgments in the July 1, 2018-Dec. 31, 2018 period.

A slide from secret PowerPoint presentation shows Turkish military plans for islands, islets and rock formations in the Aegean Sea: 

Nordic Monitor has previously been hit with similar Turkish court judgments. On January 31, 2019 a court in Ankara ordered a block on Nordic Monitor’s story that exposed how the Turkish judiciary in January 2019 authenticated a leaked voice recording that revealed top Turkish officials debating a plot to stage a false flag incident in order to intervene militarily in Syria.

The decision to block Nordic Monitor’s Twitter thread was made by Judge Ali Keles of the Ankara 2nd Penal Court of Peace a day after the government of President Erdoğan filed a petition to that effect. The judge’s order cited “national security” as justification for his decision, which ordered Twitter to remove or block access to the content.

The article that was referenced on Twitter was titled “Turkish court authenticates audio that revealed spy agency MIT’s false flag in Syria,” published on Nordic Monitor’s website in January 2019. The article reveals how a Turkish court confirmed the authenticity of a leaked audio clip in which top-ranking Turkish officials are heard discussing the possibility of an intervention in Syria in a false flag operation conducted by Turkish intelligence agency MİT .

In the leaked recording then-Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, then-Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioğlu, MİT Undersecretary Hakan Fidan and then-Deputy Chief of General Staff Gen. Yaşar Güler are heard discussing military operations in Syria in Davutoğlu’s foreign ministry office on March 13, 2013.

Fidan says in the recording: “If needed, I would dispatch four men to Syria. [Then] I would have them fire eight mortar shells at the Turkish side and create an excuse for war.”

Another incident in which a Turkish judge ordered a block against Nordic Monitor on Twitter took place when Nordic Monitor published an article on systematic failures and troubles with drones that were domestically manufactured by Turkish firm Baykar, whose owners include Selçuk Bayraktar, President Erdoğan’s son-in-law.

The revelations, documented in a classified Turkish military document, were published on May 11, 2019 and exposed how the government covered up problems with the Bayraktar drone system when ground data terminals frequently malfunctioned, with the problem resuming shortly after they returned to service following repair.

Erdoğan’s son-in-law never challenged the documents or the substance of the report, but instead he — through the Turkish president’s lawyer, Ahmet Özel — claimed in his legal complaint with the Istanbul 1st Criminal Court of Peace judge on May 17, 2019 that his rights had been violated.

Judge Mustafa Kolay issued his verdict on the same day under decision No. 2019/3966, agreeing with the plaintiff’s claim that the article contained statements insulting Bayraktar and as such his rights had been violated. The article identifies Erdoğan’s son-in-law only once as the chief technology officer for Baykar, which manufactures the drones.

The Turkish Internet Law was criticized for its shortcomings by the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission, which said in an opinion on June 15, 2016 that the law was not in line with European norms. “The only measure provided for in Law No. 5651 is the measure of access-blocking/removal of content which is the most severe measure possible on the Internet,” the commission emphasized. It added that “[the] Law does not provide for any other measure, less intrusive than blocking/removal, as for instance, requirement of ‘explanation’ from the interested party [content provider, website owner, etc.], ‘response’, ‘correction’, ‘apology’, ‘content renewal’, ‘access renewal’ etc.”

Source: https://nordicmonitor.com/2021/04/turkish-military-rushes-to-censor-news-article-on-leaked-invasion-plans-for-islands-in-aegean/