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Turkish Consulate in Zurich attacked with fireworks

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The Turkish Consulate in Switzerland’s Zurich was attack by a group using fireworks on Jan. 18, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported.

The attack was carried out at 0:30 a.m. on Jan. 8, according to officials from the consulate.

The walls and windows of the consulate building were damaged, as Swiss police started an investigation following the incident.

Police are investigating footage of the surveillance cameras, requesting that locals who witnessed the incident testify to the authorities.

Previously, the Turkish consulate in the city of Prizren in Kosovo was attacked by unidentified assailants hurling Molotov cocktails early on Nov. 28, according to the Kosovan authorities.

Prizren Chief Prosecutor Syle Hoxha said five suspects were taken into custody over the attack, which caused minor damage to the consulate building but no injuries.

January/19/2017

Consulate General of Armenia to be established in Dubai, UAE

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Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan has signed a decree on establishing a Consulate General of Armenia in the city of Dubai, the United Arab Emirates. The Consulate will cover the northern emirates of the UAE, Panorama.am reports.

To note, in November 2016 Serzh Sargsyan left for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on official visit. During the meeting with Emir of Dubai Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum the sides highly appreciated the relations between the two countries and expressed readiness to further promote and strengthen them. They agreed on the fact that there is a great potential for deepening the cooperation between the two countries.

(Video) Millions of Armenians Around the world march on Turkish Consulate & Embassies, Demanded Recognizing Armenian Genocide

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Thousands of people around the globe took to the streets on Sunday to commemorate the 1915 massacre of up to 1.5 million Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire, demanding that Turkey recognize the atrocity as genocide.

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and First Lady Rita Sargsyan laid flowers at the Armenian Genocide Memorial in the country’s capital, Yerevan.

The event in memory of the victims was attended by Hollywood star George Clooney and renowned French singer Charles Aznavour, who is of Armenian descent.

https://youtu.be/KiqiPwJB5Ks

Sargsyan used the 101st anniversary to draw international attention to a recent flare up in hostilities in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. The multi-ethnic enclave populated by Armenians and Azerbaijanis has been in political limbo since a conflict between the groups involving tens of thousands of casualties ended in 1994 with the region self-declaring independence. Turkish ally Azerbaijan, however, still claims it as its own, and has not backed off its intention to take back control of the territory.

“I declare for the entire world to hear: there will be no purging or deportation of the Armenians of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). We will not allow another Armenian Genocide. We – means the Armenian nation, all its segments, we – means our Armenian consolidation,” the president said in a statement.

Several thousand people gathered in Moscow carrying Armenian and Russian flags to mark the somber anniversary.

https://youtu.be/6-cZkpEPxvA

 

“The memory of the victims of the genocide will live on forever,” read a huge black banner displayed in Russia’s capital.

A group of teens participating in a flash mob removed red bands from their mouths as an Armenian girl passed by in a symbolic gesture meaning that it is impossible to hush up the genocide any longer.

In Greece, hundreds of ethnic Armenians and sympathizers marched through Athens to denounce Turkey and slam Azerbaijan for allegedly escalating the conflict over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

https://youtu.be/JA4BmYHnowE

The protesters marched to the Turkish and Azeri embassies in center of the Greek capital waving Armenian flags and carrying signs reading: “Truth will Triumph,”“Azerbaijan Land of Crimes,” and “Hands off Armenia.”

Meanwhile, thousands of demonstrators in Iran participated in an event at Tehran’s St. Sarkis Cathedral, in which they also urged Ankara to recognize the genocide of Armenians and condemned the recent uptick in hostilities in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

“Our demand is that Turkey recognizes the historical truth and accepts legal responsibility for it,” Karen Khanlari, an Iranian-Armenian lawmaker, told RT’s Ruptly video agency.

https://youtu.be/Hg0CnY9QGzY

In 1914, at the beginning of World War I, around 2 million Armenians were living in the Ottoman Empire, but that number decreased to less than half a million over the next eight years.

The mass killings began on April 24, 1915, when 250 Armenian intellectuals were detained by Ottoman authorities and later executed in their capital, Constantinople, which is now present-day Istanbul.

Most of the Ottoman Empire’s Armenians were subsequently displaced, deported, or placed in concentration camps, ostensibly for rebelling against the Ottomans and siding with the Russians during World War I.

Turkey – the successor of the Ottoman Empire – admits that many Armenians were mistreated at the time, but claims that the number of victims has been grossly exaggerated and that there was no “genocide” or official systematic effort to eliminate the Armenian minority.

Acknowledging crimes against humanity would not only damage Ankara’s international reputation, but also leave it liable for reparations, which some Armenian human rights groups estimate should be worth trillions of dollars.

On April 25 of last year, Turkey held a celebration to mark 100 years since the Gallipoli Landings, the Ottoman Empire’s greatest success in World War I, in order to distract attention from the 100th anniversary of the genocide, angering many in Armenia

https://youtu.be/KC75b7rXuF0

Turkey consulate attaché in Bulgaria is declared persona non grata

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turkish attacheThe Religious Affairs Attaché of the Turkish Consulate General in the Bulgarian town of Burgas, Uğur Emiroğlu, has been declared persona non grata.

The Bulgarian authorities have accused Emiroğlu of interfering in the internal affairs of Bulgaria, and given him 72 hours to leave the country, according to Sözcü daily newspaper of Turkey.

And the Turkish authorities have acted in response to their Bulgarian counterparts by declaring the Consul General of Bulgaria in Istanbul, Angel Angelov, persona non grata, and giving him 72 hours to leave Turkey.

Iraq, Deadly car bomb targets U.S. consulate in Iraq’s Erbil

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ERBIL | By Isabel Coles
Smoke rises from the site of a bomb attack in Erbil, the capital of Iraq's Kurdistan region, April 17, 2015. Reuters/Stringer


Smoke rises from the site of a bomb attack in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan region, April 17, 2015.
Reuters/Stringer

(Reuters) – A car bombing at the entrance to the U.S. consulate in the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan region killed at least one person and wounded five others on Friday the local mayor said.

The State Department said no U.S. personnel were killed in the blast that it said was caused by a “vehicle-borne improvised explosive device” that went off right outside the entrance to the heavily guarded compound.

Semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan is an important partner in a U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State militants who have seized swathes of Iraq.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

A Reuters witness heard the blast which was followed by brief gunfire. Such attacks are rare in Erbil, a haven of relative safety in a country torn apart by insurgency and sectarian strife where, in many areas, bombings are a daily occurrence.

“A car bomb exploded outside the entrance to the U.S. consulate,” Nihad Qoja, the mayor of Erbil’s city center, told Reuters. “It seems the consulate was the target.”

He said the bomber had killed one person and wounded five others. It was not immediately clear who had been killed.

The blast produced a plume of black smoke that rose high above the Ankawa district, a predominantly Christian neighborhood packed with cafes that is popular with foreigners.

Canadian Consulate in Istanbul evacuated after suspicious powder found

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suspicious-powderA consulate employee speaking to a Turkish television interviewer said workers received an email telling them to leave the building immediately.

“We couldn’t grab our bags or jackets,” she said in Turkish. “They took us outside. We gathered outside the consulate, We were told an envelope came to the consulate, there was a powder inside, that it was dangerous, and that we were being sent home.”

The Belgian Consulate, asked by CNN about the security incident, said police were investigating a substance found in an envelope sent there.

The air conditioning system in the consulate has been turned off, Semple reported. “And … anyone who was exposed to the package has been kept in that room, cordoned off from everyone else as a precaution.”

The Canadian Embassy in Ankara, Turkey’s capital, is also closed, but that has been attributed to shortened Friday hours, and not any threat.

On Thursday, Canadian Forces officials said they were assessing whether heightened security was necessary at bases after a shooting on Parliament Hill on Wednesday left an Ontario reservist dead. Also mentioned were installations abroad.

“We will carry on all our missions at home and abroad in a steadfast, resolute and vigilant manner, and serve our nation and her people,” said Gen. Tom Lawson, chief of Canada’s defence staff, in a statement.

PressTV: ISIL opens 1st consulate in Turkish capital

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isil-consulateThe ISIL Takfiri terrorists have purportedly opened a consulate in Turkey and use it to issue visas for those who want to join the fight against the Syrian and Iraqi governments.

The Turkish daily Aydinlik said in a recent report that the consulate was founded in the Cankaya district of the capital Ankara.

The militants are said to be operating freely inside the country without much problem.

Other reports said the members of the Takfiri group have rented luxurious houses in the upscale neighborhood of the capital and Istanbul and use them for residence or as offices.

The terrorists are said to be using minibuses with black windows to get around the city.

The ISIL Takfiri terrorists currently control parts of Syria and Iraq. They have threatened all communities, including Shias, Sunnis, Kurds, Christians, Izadi Kurds and others, as they continue their atrocities in Iraq.

Senior Iraqi officials have blamed Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and some Persian Gulf Arab states for the growing terrorism in their country.

The terrorist group has links with Saudi intelligence and is believed to be indirectly supported by the Israeli regime.

The United States started conducting airstrikes on the ISIL only after US interests were threatened by the militants.

Presstv

 

The Turkish Man Barzani in Ankara to Collect oil Money

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Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani arrived in Ankara on Monday for talks with Turkish leaders, including President Abdullah Gül and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Barazani and GulBarzani, accompanied by three ministers of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) had talks with Gül and is due to meet with Erdoğan later this afternoon. The kidnapping of 49 Turks, including the Turkish consul in Mosul last month, by militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), is reportedly one of the main issues on the leaders’ agenda.

Reports allege that Barzani and the accompanying ministers are in Turkey to collect the Kurdish share of revenues from the sale of Iraqi oil, deposited in Turkey’s state-owned Halkbank, but Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yıldız denied such news, saying instead that the Kurdish delegation wants to turn temporary bank accounts opened for that purpose into permanent accounts. “They are coming, together with [Turkish] officials, for the opening of [permanent] accounts. We are making efforts to ensure that this becomes a sustainable business,” Yıldız told reporters.

Iraqi Kurdish website Rudaw reported late on Sunday that the Kurdish delegation in Turkey is there to make sure that the KRG can ultimately be paid for its oil sales through Turkey. “The purpose behind the visit regards a bank account for Kurdish oil revenue, which has been sold through Turkey, and transferring the account to the Kurdistan region,” Rebar Muhammad, the KRG minister of finance, was quoted as saying by Rudaw. Muhammad himself is part of the delegation, which also includes Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani and Minister of Natural Resources Ashti Hawrami.

The Rudaw report said the KRG has at least $93 million in its account at Halkbank, but it has been unable to withdraw its earnings from the sale of oil exported via a new pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. This is because the Turkish government is still waiting for the resolution of a dispute between the KRG and the Iraqi central government on how to share revenue from the sale of northern Iraqi oil.

Yıldız said Turkey was not yet studying formulas that would open the way for the Kurds to take their share from the entire Iraqi oil sale. “We are talking about not only the northern Iraqi oil but also about Baghdad’s oil. The issue of splitting the northern Iraqi oil is not yet on our agenda; this is an issue to be taken up in the future. But, I have to say, we are working on [arrangements] concerning the rights of both Arbil [the KRG capital] and Baghdad,” Yıldız said.