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G20: Police blacklisted journalists who ‘worked in Turkish Kurdish regions’

July 12, 2017 By administrator

 At least 32 journalists at the G20 summit in Hamburg had their accreditations taken off them by German police without explanation, sparking press freedom concerns. Some had worked in the Kurdish regions of Turkey.

At least four of the journalists who had their press accreditations confiscated by police at the G20 summitlast Friday had worked in the Kurdish regions of southeastern Turkey, raising suspicions in the German media that the Turkish government may have pressured German authorities into shutting them out.

According to reports by German public broadcaster ARD and the Süddeutsche Zeitung, the journalists’ press passes were taken off them without explanation, even after they had been in and out of the secured area around the conference center in Hamburg where the summit was held.

Chris Grodotzki, a photographer for Germany’s Der Spiegel, told DW that he had picked up his accreditation normally on Wednesday, but on trying to re-enter the conference center on Friday had been faced with police officers carrying a two-page list of names that they said they had been given by Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA).

He said the officers had been systematically checking all journalists going into the center. “Then they told me they can’t let me go in, and put me in a closed tent to one side, where I sat for a while, and then the superiors came and told me that the accreditation had been cancelled,” said Grodotzki. He added that he was not asked any questions by the officers, and that they themselves did not seem to know why the accreditations were being confiscated.

The German government has refused to release the list for “data protection” reasons, though Grodotzki said it was no problem for him to see it at the time, and believes that suggestion that 32 names were on it – reported in the press – sounded accurate.

No reason given

Nine of the journalists, who were mostly German, were later told in writing by the BKA that they were being shut out of the event “in consultation between the participating authorities.”

According to the Süddeutsche Zeitung, four of these nine had previously worked in the Kurdish areas of Turkey, though German government spokesman Steffen Seibert insisted on Tuesday that the authorities mentioned in the letter were all German – and did not belong to any foreign government.

One of the journalists, Björn Kietzmann, a photojournalist at the Action Press agency who had worked for the taz newspaper among others, had previously photographed fighting at the Syrian border city of Kobane, on the Turkish-Syrian border. The same was true of Chris Grodotzki, a photographer for Germany’s Der Spiegel.

Kietzmann tweeted that his accreditation had been confiscated by the BKA on Friday:

Similarly, Willi Effenberger, a photographer for the Junge Welt newspaper who also had his accreditation confiscated, told the taz newspaper that he had once been arrested in Turkey, and had taken photos in Diyarbakir, one of the largest Kurdish-dominated cities of southeastern Turkey.

Adil Yigit, a Turkish journalist for the Avrupa Postasi outlet, who also had his accreditation confiscated, told the taz newspaper, “I think the Turkish side is behind this. The head of the Turkish secret service Hakan Fidan was with [Turkish President] Erdogan in Hamburg on Thursday. I took photos of both of them and reported on it. I think the Turkish intelligence agency passed that on to their German colleagues.”

At Monday’s regular government press conference, German Interior Ministry spokesman Johannes Dimroth refused to say what security risks the journalists represented at the G20, or even what kinds of security risks journalists might represent, on the grounds that this would infringe the privacy rights of the journalists involved.

Dimroth insisted, however, that the confiscation was “in no form meant as a criticism of their reporting.” The confiscations were “exclusively for security reasons.”

 

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: blacklisted, g20, Journalist

Melania Trump sits next to Vladimir Putin at G20 banquet

July 8, 2017 By administrator

Melania Trump Vladimir Putin at G20Russian President Vladimir Putin was seated next to the US first lady, Melania Trump, at a banquet for G20 leaders and their spouses after a concert at the summit in Hamburg, the Guardian reports.

The pair smiled as they talked through the help of a translator.

US President Donald Trump was seated away from his wife and next to Juliana Awada, the wife of Argentina’s president. Across the table was China’s President Xi Jinping and Brigitte Macron, wife of the French president.

The source notes that the G20 Summit has been dominated by a lengthy meeting between Trump and Putin, during which the Russian president denied interfering in the US election.

The dinner followed a concert in the Elbphilharmonie concert hall, which was staged for G20 leaders and their partners. Trump and the US first lady were seated with President Emmanuel Macron of France and his wife during the performance.

Beforehand leaders of the G20 nations and their partners posed for their traditional ‘family photo’.

Filed Under: Articles, Events Tagged With: g20, Melania Trump, Vladimir Putin

G20 Wherever Erdogan goes Hell break lose, Hamburg Burning, 76 police officers injured

July 7, 2017 By administrator

G20 humberg Erdogan hell76 police officers injured including two helicopter pilots blinded by laser during anti-G20 riots in Hamburg.

Thousands of demonstrators from across Europe descended on the port city ahead of the summit, attended by Donald Trump and Theresa May.

Several hundred hard-left activists called “Black Block” have been making headlines in Hamburg for clashes with police at the G20 summit. But the name represents less of an organized group and more of a protest tactic.

As the July 7-8 summit kicked off on Friday, demonstrators clad in black clothing, hats and face masks, joined in protests blocking streets and bridges. The night prior, the masked activists hurled beer bottles at security forces and set several cars on fire.

Hamburg police identified them as members of the so-called “Black Block” – the name given to a segment of protesters within a larger demonstration who conceal their identities with dark clothing – making it harder for authorities to identify individuals and to prosecute.

The “Black Block” generally comprises hard-left activists – autonomous anarchists who want to put an end to capitalism and seemingly replace it with a libertarian system where money and the state have no power.

The “Black Block” tactics of the movement rose to prominence in the 1980s during violent protests in West Germany against nuclear power plants and squatter evacuations.
Read more: Who’s who in Hamburg’s G20 protests

The term is also a catch-all title for protesters from different groups that have a range of aims and tactics and who come together to carry out a shared aim at the protest.

Although those who are involved in a “Black Block” section are united under the color of their clothing and a singular aim, the individual beliefs within the bloc can vary widely

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Erdogan, g20, Germany, hell, welcome

G20: Fun things to know about capitalism’s big bash in Hamburg, Trump and Putin’s first date

July 3, 2017 By administrator

capitalism's big bash in Hamburg

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan won’t be allowed to bring the same bodyguards who physically assaulted protesters in the US.

For some, it’s the planet’s leaders trying to solve its biggest problems. For others, it’s capitalist exploiters plotting to expand their world domination. But wherever you stand on it, the G20 summit is plenty weird.

Trump and Putin’s first date

It’s hard to believe but the G20 summit on July 7 and 8 in the northern German city of Hamburg will be the first time that US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin have ever come face to face. If you could be a fly on the wall anywhere across the city, you’d have to choose their maiden meeting. Will their on-again, off-again bromance from afar stand the test of actual physical proximity? Or will these two alpha males butt heads like rutting stags? That would make for a good tweet.

Whoever’s got the most guns wins

Trump and Putin notwithstanding, the G20 will as always be a game of one-upmanship, and one of the main categories for demonstrating one’s…er…upmanship is the number of armed bodyguards one brings along. If you think this is a shoo-in for Trump, think again. America applied and received permission for 11 armed guardians, but Brazil put in for no fewer than 13, although that country’s embattled president has called off his trip. Even South Africa, which is one-eighth the size of the US, will bring 10.

As of Sunday July 2, decisions were still outstanding on Russia and Turkey, although Germany says that Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan won’t be allowed to bring the same bodyguards who physically assaulted protesters in the US. And China has already won one contest. At last year’s G20 summit in that country, Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper crowned Shu Xin, a People’s Liberation Army soldier, as the prettiest official state bodyguard.

Saudi understatement

The title for the most demure delegation will go, as always, to Saudi Arabia. The Saudis have rented out the entirety of Hamburg’s swanky Four Seasons hotel  – Trump tried to book himself in and got refused – and that’s only 160 rooms of the 400 in total the delegation will occupy. A hotel ballroom has been repurposed as a suitably spacious living room, and Saudi King Salman ibn Abd al-Aziz will be bringing his own throne and a golden escalator with which to disembark his airplane.

There are also reports that camels will be flown in to supply the delegation with fresh camel’s milk, but Hamburg police say they know nothing about this and the Saudi Arabian embassy denied it. But even without the dromedaries, the Saudis are guaranteed to make a oil-rig-sized splash.

King Salman will, of course, be bringing with him a battery of personal chefs, and the other heads of state might want to consider doing the same. The German Foreign Ministry says that the catering for the summit will particularly emphasize “regional specialties.” Northern Germany, however, isn’t known for its cuisine, with good reason. Local favorites include smoked eel, “pears, beans and bacon,” and “Labskaus,” corned-beef hash with pickled herring and red beets and topped with a fried egg. What isn’t better with a fried egg on top?

The good news for those world leaders who decide they’d rather go out to eat after all, is that G20 participants will be given free passes to use Hamburg’s subway and bus system. So look out for lots of heads of state on public transport.

Zombies walk among us

The summit has, of course, made anti-capitalist activists get creative, and one of the more intriguing projects is called 1000 Gestalten (1000 Figures). It features people who cover themselves head to toe in clay and stagger around Hamburg like grey zombies. On July 5, the project website promises, the zombies will be “transformed and regain their humanity.” That should be interesting.

A pair of northern German comedians have composed a G20 song, a polka that brings together Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. It features the couplet: “Every despot/gets a bit of huggy-kissy/and Donald grabs Angie/from behind by the…shoulders.”

But perhaps the most baffling commentary on the event is a series of billboards erected by a company that produces a highly caffeinated cola featuring Trump, Putin and Erdogan asleep and the caption “Man, wake up!” It doesn’t get more meta than a capitalist soft-drink maker co-opting the anti-capitalist protest at a G20 summit.

Time for an insurance upgrade

Despite exhortations from most protest organizers, this is a G20 summit, so pavement stones and few Molotov cocktails (lovingly known to locals as “Mollies”) will fly. But hand it to the Germans. They’ve already clarified what sorts of G20-violence-related damage you can claim from your insurance company – and what not.

If you’ve only got partial comprehensive insurance, a contradiction if there ever was one, you’ll be compensated for damage caused by fireworks or if anarchists set your car on fire or smash its windows. But if you want coverage for damage specifically caused by thrown stones, you’ll need an upgrade. Similar rules apply to homes and other property. How’s that for irony. Insurance providers may actually profit from armed resistance to the capitalist system.

School’s out for summit!

And another group that stands to benefit from the state of emergency surrounding the G20 are Hamburg’s schoolchildren. Rather than force parents and their little darlings to run for their lives in quest of an education, some schools are cancelling classes and taking field trips, going on hikes and organizing athletics days outside the city center. Parents have also been given discretion to keep their children home from school entirely if they see fit – something in Germany that would normally get parents’ knuckles rapped with a ruler.

Conversely, those who’ve decided last minute that they just can’t miss out on all the fun also have some good news. As of Sunday, there were still a few downtown hotel rooms left to be had, provided you’re one of the more successful breed of capitalists. The four-star Hotel Lindner am Michel is offering accommodation from the 7th to 8th of July for the bargain price of 649 euros ($471) a night.

Source: DW.com

 

 

Filed Under: News Tagged With: big bash, capitalism's, g20

Germany denies permission for Erdogan rally during G-20 visit

June 29, 2017 By administrator

Germany denies permission for Erdogan rallyGermany will deny permission for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to address Turks at a rally when he visits for the upcoming Group of 20 meeting in Hamburg, Germany’s foreign minister said Thursday, June 29, according to The Associated Press.

Turkey officially requested permission Wednesday for Erdogan to make the appearance while in Germany for the July 7-8 summit, Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said during a trip to Russia. Gabriel said he had told his Turkish counterpart weeks ago that “we don’t think this is a good idea.”

“We are telling Turkey that we are convinced such an appearance in Germany is not possible,” Gabriel said, according to news agency dpa.

Earlier Thursday, Gabriel said that “Mr. Erdogan is an important guest at the G-20 and will be received with all honors by us there. But we believe everything that goes beyond that is inappropriate at this point in time.”

He pointed to stretched police resources around the G-20 summit as well as Germany’s current tensions with Turkey.

Erdogan last addressed supporters in Germany in May 2015. Germany has a large ethnic Turkish minority.

Earlier this year, Erdogan accused Germany, and Chancellor Angela Merkel, of “committing Nazi practices” after some local authorities blocked appearances by Turkish ministers hoping to campaign in Germany ahead of Turkey’s referendum on expanding presidential powers.

Relations between the two countries have been frayed by a widening range of other issues, including Turkey’s jailing of two German journalists.

Related links:

AP. Germany denies permission for Erdogan rally on G-20 visit

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Erdogan, g20, Germany

Germany tells Erdogan’s bodyguards to stay away from Hamburg G20

June 26, 2017 By administrator

Erdogan's bodyguards Terrorized Washington DC.

Photo of Erdogan’s bodyguards Terrorized Washington DC.

German officials are preparing for violence at the G20 but not all of it may come from protesters. The Turkish president’s bodyguards are renowned for clashing with activists.

The German Foreign Ministry warned Turkish bodyguards involved in violent scuffles in Washington last month not to attend the G20 summit in July, German media reported on Sunday.

Those warnings were then repeated to Bundestag members in closed-door meetings, respected national daily Die Welt reported.

The Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) said earlier that foreign powers did not hold sovereign powers, saying “foreign colleagues only have the right to self-defense,” the paper reported.

Hamburg Senator Andy Grote told Die Welt: “On our streets, only the Hamburg police have a say – and no one else. This includes foreign security forces.”

The Turkish Embassy sent the Foreign Ministry a list of 50 people who were to accompany Erdogan to Hamburg, local daily Hamburger Abendblatt reported on Sunday. The list reportedly included several agents who were involved in an incident in Washington last month.

Erdogan’s guards beat protestors 

In May, Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s bodyguards allegedly pushed past US police to attack supporters of a Kurdish group following a meeting with US President Donald Trump in Washington.

Videos posted to social media showed a group of men in suits punching and kicking protesters, including a woman lying down, while police struggled to stop the violence.

US authorities announced arrest warrants had been issued for 12 members of Erdogan’s security detail, including nine security guards and three police officers.

Turkey’s Foreign Ministry lodged a formal protest with the US ambassador for the “aggressive” actions of US security personnel. It released a statement criticizing “the inability of US authorities to take sufficient precautions at every stage of the official program” and demanded a full investigation of the incident.

Last year Erdogan’s bodyguards also attacked a group outside the Brookings Institution, ejecting a Turkish reporter from the speech venue, kicking another and throwing a third to the ground outside the prominent think tank.

Protests planned for Hamburg

More than 10,000 left-wing extremists are expected to descend on Hamburg for the G20 Summit being held on July 7 and July 8. Hamburg is already a hotbed of left-wing activism and cars have been regularly torched in the lead up to the summit.

Adding to the possibility of potential violence is the large Kurdish presence in the Hanseatic city, many of whom support the banned Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK). Several thousand well-organized Turkish right-wing extremists such as the Ulkucu (Gray Wolves) movement reportedly operate in Germany as well.

“The Kurdish scene is highly hierarchical, and does not need a long lead time to mobilize,” a senior security official told Hamburger Abendblatt.

Germany’s domestic intelligence agency (BfV) warned Die Welt that street battles between Kurds and nationalist Turks could easily erupt.

 

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Erdogan, g20, Germany, keep you bodyguard, tells

A growing backlash against globalization, shaking G20 leaders Brexit the rise of Donald Trump

July 23, 2016 By administrator

backlashOfficials are wary of voter dissatisfaction, as illustrated by the recent Brexit vote and rise of Donald Trump. US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew urged his colleagues to use all available policy tools to boost efficiency.

A growing backlash against globalization has finance leaders from the world’s leading economies vowing to spread the benefits of global economic growth more broadly.

At a meeting in Chengdu, China, finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 countries are discussing the challenges of boosting global growth and having more people see its benefits.

The specter of protectionism and nationalism, as illustrated by the rise of Donald Trump and his ‘America First’ rhetoric in the US presidential election, as well as Britain’s recent vote to leave the European Union, has cast a pall over the meeting.

“The [global] recovery continues but remains weaker than desirable. Meanwhile, the benefits of growth need to be shared more broadly within countries to promote inclusiveness,” according to a draft communiqué from the G20 ministers.

US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said on Saturday that in order to boost efficiency it was important for G20 countries to use all policy tools, including monetary and fiscal policies as well as structural reforms.

“This is a time when it is important for all of us to redouble our efforts to use all of the policy tools that we have to boost shared growth,” Lew told reporters.

China’s Finance Minister Lou Jiwei called for more coordination to promote sustainable growth, arguing that fiscal and monetary tools are becoming less effective at spurring economic activity.

“G20 countries should increase policy communication and coordination, form policy consensus and guide market expectations, making monetary policy more forward-looking and transparent and increase the effectiveness of fiscal policy,” Lou said.

First post Brexit meeting

The gathering of G20 ministers is the first since the Brexit vote in June. This week the International Monetary Fund cut its forecast for global growth as a result of the British referendum, citing uncertainty over Britain’s future trade relationship with Europe. That uncertainty is already having a chilling effect on investment and consumer confidence.

European officials are pressing Britain’s new finance minister, Phillip Hammond, for more information.

“Brexit has already had an impact,” said Italian Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan. “All international organizations and governments are revising downwards their growth projections due to Brexit-related uncertainty and impact on demand. So this is already a problem.”

He added: “I hope that there is going to be clarification about the timing and process of the divorce. The sooner the better so this generates a new equilibrium.”

Filed Under: News Tagged With: backlash, g20, globalization

Putin: ISIS financed from 40 countries, including G20 members

November 16, 2015 By administrator

5649fb9ac46188831c8b45a6

President Vladimir Putin

President Vladimir Putin says he’s shared Russian intelligence data on Islamic State financing with his G20 colleagues: the terrorists appear to be financed from 40 countries, including some G20 member states.

During the summit, “I provided examples based on our data on the financing of different Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) units by private individuals. This money, as we have established, comes from 40 countries and, there are some of the G20 members among them,” Putin told the journalists.

Putin also spoke of the urgent need to curb the illegal oil trade by IS.

“I’ve shown our colleagues photos taken from space and from aircraft which clearly demonstrate the scale of the illegal trade in oil and petroleum products,” he said.

“The motorcade of refueling vehicles stretched for dozens of kilometers, so that from a height of 4,000 to 5,000 meters they stretch beyond the horizon,” Putin added, comparing the convoy to gas and oil pipeline systems.

It’s not the right time to try and figure out which country is more and which is less effective in the battle with Islamic State, as now a united international effort is needed against the terrorist group, Putin said.

Putin reiterated Russia’s readiness to support armed opposition in Syria in its efforts to fight Islamic State.

“Some armed opposition groups consider it possible to begin active operations against IS with Russia’s support. And we are ready to provide such support from the air. If it happens it could become a good basis for the subsequent work on a political settlement,” he said.

“We really need support from the US, European nations, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran,” the president added.

Putin pointed out the change in Washington’s stance on cooperation with Moscow in the fight against the terrorists.

“We need to organize work specifically concentrated on the prevention of terrorist attacks and tackling terrorism on a global scale. We offered to cooperate [with the US] in anti-IS efforts. Unfortunately, our American partners refused. They just sent a written note and it says: ‘we reject your offer’,” Putin said.

“But life is always evolving and at a very fast pace, often teaching us lessons. And I think that now the realization that an effective fight [against terror] can only be staged together is coming to everybody,” the Russian leader said.

Still no conclusion on what caused Sinai plane crash

It’s too early to make conclusions about the reasons for the crash of the Russian A321 jet over Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula in late October, as all possible reasons are still being considered by the investigators, Putin said.

“We know about all the possible scenarios, all of the scenarios are being considered. The final conclusion can only be made after the implementation and completion of the inspection,” he stressed.

“If there was an explosion, the traces of explosives would have remained on the liner’s cover and on the belongings of the passengers. It’s inevitable. And we have enough equipment and skilled, world class experts, capable of finding those traces. Only then would it be possible to speak about the reasons for this tragedy,” the president added.

With 224 people dying in the crash, Putin said that “it’s a huge emotional pain for all of us; for all Russian people, no matter what the cause of the crash was.”

Source:rt

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Countries, financed, g20, ISIS, Putin

Terrorist State of Turkey Hosting G20 Summit

November 15, 2015 By administrator

G20-SummitTurkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has met with U.S. President Barack Obama to hold a bilateral discussion ahead of the G-20 Summit starting Nov. 15 at the Belek resort of Antalya, the Hurriyet Daly News reports.

The meeting started at Regnum Hotel at 10:40 a.m., just a few hours after Obama’s Air Force One landed at Antalya Airport at 7 a.m.

The leaders proceeded to the meeting, which is expected to last for an hour and twenty minutes, after a brief photo shoot.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will chair the summit with the participation of U.S., Chinese, Russian, Saudi, U.K. and EU leaders, among others, and will try to leave his own mark, especially on the resolution of regional issues, Syrian unrest and its by-products, global extremist terrorism and migration issues.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: g20, summit, Turkey

Hollande cancels trip to Turkey for G20 after deadly attack #Paris

November 14, 2015 By administrator

hollande.thumbFrench President Francois Hollande has cancelled his visit to the G20 summit in Turkey following a wave of attacks in Paris, France 24 reports, citing his office.
He will be represented by Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and Finance Minister Michel Sapin.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: cancele, g20, Hollande, Paris

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