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Romanian president rejects Muslim Turk candidate for prime minister

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Romanian President Klaus Iohannis

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has rejected the leftist Social Democrat Party’s (PSD) proposal to name Sevil Shhaideh as prime minister-designate. She would have been the country’s first female and Muslim premier.

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis told reporters on Tuesday that having “carefully weighed up the pro and cons,” he had decided to not appoint Sevil Shhaideh (pictured above) as prime minister.

“As a result, I am asking the Social Democrat Party (PSD) and [its coalition partner] ALDE to make a new proposal,” Iohannis said. The president did not disclose any more details regarding his decision.

Were Shhaideh to have been appointed prime minister, she would have been Romania’s first Muslim and female premier. Her nomination last week came as a shock to the nation, however, as she is still relatively unknown.

Having only briefly served as regional development minister in 2015, Shhaideh has been criticized for a lack of political experience.

Insufficient experience

PSD chairman Liviu Dragnea is barred from becoming prime minister, however, due to a conviction of election fraud. He is currently serving a two-year suspended prison sentence.

Dragnea’s personal closeness to Shhaideh has also been scrutinized by opponents. They claim that proposing Shhaideh for the premiership was simply Dragnea’s way for her to become his puppet. In 2011, he was a witness at Shhaideh’s wedding.

Having won 45 percent of the vote in Romania’s parliamentary election earlier this month, the Social Democrats now share a majority coalition its long-time ally, the ALDE. With 250 members in the 465-seat two-house assembly, the PSD can easily give their government a vote of confidence and pass legislation.

ksb/sms (AFP, AP, Reuters)

German court rejects Turkish suits against Armenian ‘genocide’ vote

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BERLIN –  Germany’s highest court has rejected a string of complaints against a decision by the country’s parliament to label the killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks a century ago as genocide.

The Federal Constitutional Court threw out eight complaints against the resolution approved by lawmakers in June.

It published one of the decisions Monday, in which judges said the plaintiff had failed to provide sufficient evidence that his fundamental rights had been violated and that no such violation was obvious.

The parliamentary vote infuriated the Turkish government and prompted it to withdraw its ambassador from Berlin for a few months.

Ankara also refused to let German lawmakers visit German military personnel stationed at Turkey’s Incirlik air base, but relented after the German government stressed the resolution isn’t legally binding.

Iraqi parliament rejects ‘occupying’ Turkish military mandate in N.Iraq

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occupation-of-n-iraqA Turkish military base in Bashiqa near the Iraqi city of Mosul. Photo: Rudaw

Baghdad, Iraq—The Iraqi parliament, in a majority vote, has rejected an extension of the mandate of Turkish troops in Iraq and called for a review of relations with Turkey.

The lawmakers also asked for the government of Iraq to file a complaint against Turkey at the United Nations and the UN Security Council. They want the government to formally describe Turkish troops as an “occupying” force.

In addition, the parliament demanded the Turkish ambassador be summoned to receive a letter critical of Turkey’s presence in Iraq.

In Iraq’s northern Nineveh Province, Turkey deployed military advisors to train Kurdish Peshmerga forces and the Sunni Hashd al-Watani militia to fight ISIS in that province last year. Baghdad has been demanding Turkish forces withdraw since last December when Turkey sent additional military forces to protect its base in Bashiqa, near Mosul, from ISIS attacks, without the explicit authorization of the Iraqi government.

On Saturday, the Turkish parliament voted to extend the army’s military mandates in both Iraq and Syria, where Turkish forces are trying to establish a 5,000 square kilometre safe zone along its border.

Germany FM rejects Turkey demand to denounce Armenian Genocide resolution

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German fm 1Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier rejected Ankara’s demand that official Berlin distance itself from the Bundestag’s Armenian Genocide recognition as a precondition for German lawmakers to gain access to the Incirlik airbase to visit German soldiers stationed there.

“I don’t think this has anything to do with the matter and I have told this to my Turkish counterpart,” Steinmeier was quoted by the German Deutsche Welle (DW) TV and radio company.

Steinmeier added that if Turkey continues denying German lawmakers access to the airbase, German troops dispatched there to fight ISIS will be withdrawn.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu had said that Turkish permission for German lawmakers to visit the Incirlik airbase will depend on the German government distancing itself from a resolution recognizing the 1915 massacre of Armenians as genocide.

Europe ‘rejects’ (PKK) extradition of Turkey suspects

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File photo of PKK fighters standing in formation

File photo of PKK fighters standing in formation

European countries have rejected handing over nearly 650 outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and far-left Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) members to Turkey despite the red notice.

According to Turkish security sources, Germany has refused to send nearly 300 fighters of groups like the PKK, DHKP-C and Hezbollah while Denmark has supported Roj TV, PKK’s Kurdish-language channel broadcasts from Denmark.

Denmark has also not sent some back “under the guise of that they did not attend in active terrorist deeds in Turkey” and carried out activities against Turkey, the sources claim.

Similarly, Greece is also accused of not extraditing a DHKP-C suspect accused of attacking Turkey’s Justice and Development (AK) Party HQ and Justice Ministry.

Over the last two weeks, the PKK has carried out attacks against Turkish security forces, killing police officers and soldiers in the eastern region, as Ankara continues a security campaign that has so far resulted in the detention of over 1,300 people.

According to the data, at least 11 civilians, including an Iranian national were also killed in such attacks, while 101 people, including three Iranians were injured during the same period between July 7 and August 7.

The recent developments appeared to end a delicate ceasefire that brought relative calm to Turkey over the last two years after Ankara launched the ‘solution process’ in 2013 to end a conflict spanning three decades that has resulted in the deaths of 40,000 people.

Meanwhile, Turkish police have launched nationwide operations against other outlawed organisations, including as well as the Patriotic Revolutionist Youth Movement (YDG-H), linked to the PKK.

Armenian activists do not accept president’s offer #ElectricYerevan

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electric-yerevan-5YEREVAN. – Activists protesting against electricity price hike have not accepted the offer by President Serzh Sargsyan.

Member of “No to Plunder” initiative Vaghinak Shushanyan said they do not consider this a victory and will continue the struggle. He added that Baghramyan Avenue will be closed, since the Armenian authorities did not meet any of their demands.

Serzh Sargsyan neither canceled the decision to rise electricity price, nor promised to hold accountable the law enforcers for their illegal actions on June 23.

In a statement made earlier on Saturday, the Armenian leader said the government will absorb the electricity price hike before the end of evaluation conducted by an international company.

President Sargsyan on Saturday held a meeting with those responsible for economic policy during which the ways to ensure Armenia’s energy safety were discussed.

If the evaluation reveals that the price is justified, people will pay more. If it is revealed that the price hike is not justified, the government will take measures to get money from the Electric Networks.

ECHR rejects Turkish appeal to ruling on compulsory religion classes

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Güven Özalp BRUSSELS

n_78508_1The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has rejected Turkey’s appeal to a ruling that said high school students must be allowed to opt out of religious education classes, which are currently compulsory.

ECHR ruled on Sept. 16, 2014, that the Turkish education system was “still inadequately equipped to ensure respect for parents’ convictions” and violated the “right to education,” in a case stemming from Alevi complaints about mandatory religious classes.

In December 2014, Turkey appealed to the ECHR’s Grand Chamber, the court’s office of appeal, on the last day available to do so, requesting that the case be reviewed. The Grand Chamber, however, rejected Turkey’s appeal on Feb. 17, 2015, with no elaboration, rendering the decision as ultimate. report hurriyet

In 2011, applicants Mansur Yalçın, Yüksel Polat and Hasan Kılıç, who are adherents of the Alevi faith and whose children were at secondary school at the time in question, complained that the content of the compulsory classes in religion and ethics in schools was based exclusively on the Sunni understanding of Islam, claiming that Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights Protocol No. 1 (right to education) had been violated.

In its ruling, the court observed in particular that in the field of religious instruction, Turkey’s education system was still inadequately equipped to ensure respect for parents’ convictions.

“Turkey has to remedy the situation without delay, in particular by introducing a system whereby pupils could be exempted from religion and ethics classes without their parents having to disclose their own religious or philosophical convictions,” said the court.

According to the directive sent by the Education Ministry’s Religious Education Directorate to provincial officials on Feb. 3, the “religion” field of a child’s identity card will be checked to decide whether they are allowed to opt out of religious education classes. If the field is left empty, or if any religion other than Christianity and Judaism is written, then the student will be obliged to take the class.

Previously, Turkish authorities had considered it adequate for a student to opt out of the controversial classes if their father or mother is either Christian or Jewish. Other faiths, like Alevism, or a lack of faith, have never been recognized by Turkish authorities as a reason for exemption from the mandatory classes.

Syrian Kurdish official rejects Erdogan report of deal with FSA

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183996A senior Syrian Kurdish official on Friday, Oct 24, rejected a report from Turkey’s president that Syrian Kurds had agreed to let Free Syrian Army fighters enter the border town of Kobani to help them push back besieging Islamic State insurgents, Reuters reported.

The Free Syrian Army is a term used to describe dozens of armed groups fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad but with little or no central command. They have been widely outgunned by Islamist insurgents such as Islamic State.

Erdogan said on Friday said 1,300 FSA fighters would enter Kobani after the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) agreed on their passage, but his comments were swiftly denied by Saleh Moslem, co-chair of the PYD.

“We have already established a connection with FSA but no such agreement has been reached yet as Mr. Erdogan has mentioned,” Moslem told Reuters by telephone from Brussels.

Turkey’s unwillingness to send its powerful army across the Syrian border to break the siege of Kobani has angered Kurds, and seems rooted in a concern not to strengthen Kurds who seek autonomy in adjoining regions of Turkey, Iraq and Syria.

Ankara’s stance has also upset Western allies, as Islamic State’s capture of wide swathes of Syria and Iraq has caused international shock and U.S.-led air strikes began in August to try to halt and eventually reverse the jihadist advance.

Erdogan told a news conference on a visit to Estonia that Ankara was working on details of the route of passage for the FSA fighters, indicating they would access Kobani via Turkey.

But Moslem said talks between FSA commander Abdul Jabbar al-Oqaidi and the armed wing of the Kurdish PYD were continuing about the possible role of FSA rebels. “There are already groups with links to the FSA in Kobani helping us,” he said.

FSA commander Al-Oqaidi, speaking to Reuters in Suruc, a Turkish border town across from Kobani, said there had been an agreement to begin establishing a united defense force and initially 1,350 FSA fighters were to go to Kobani for help.

“These fighters will come in two or three days,” he said. “The fighters will come from the northern Syrian countryside. These fighters are not coming from the fighting fronts against the Assad regime. These are reserve fighters.”

U.S. officials said on Thursday that Kobani, nestled in a valley overlooked by Turkish territory, seemed in less danger of falling to Islamic State after coalition air strikes and limited arms drops, but the threat remained.

Moslem said he was disappointed with Turkey’s response so far. “When I conducted my meetings in Turkey, I was hoping the help would come in 24 hours. It’s been more than a month and we’re still waiting,” he said.

In a separate interview published in a pan-Arab newspaper, Moslem said that the battle for Kobani would turn into a war of attrition unless Kurds obtained arms that can repel tanks and armored vehicles.

He told Asharq al-Awsat that Kurds had recently received information that Islamic State wanted to fire chemical weapons into Kobani using mortars, after having surrounded it with around 40 tanks.

Why the UN Rejected Turkey’s Bid for a Security Council Seat

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BY HARUT SASSOUNIAN

Harut-on-FMThe Turkish government got a big slap in the face last week when the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly voted to turn down its application for a Security Council seat. In effect, the international community was rejecting Turkey’s hostile policies both at home and abroad.

Turkey’s new Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu had arrogantly predicted securing the prestigious seat for their country. The night before the vote, Cavusoglu had hosted a posh party for UN Ambassadors at the world famous Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City.

After spending several days in New York to lobby personally the UN delegates, Foreign Minister Cavusoglu optimistically told the media: “We think all our nice efforts will, with the grace of God, be reflected onto the ballot tomorrow. Of course, this is a vote and all kinds of results may come out. But, we believe, God permitting, that we will get the result of the work we put in.”

Prime Minister Davutoglu was equally optimistic that Turkey would score a “historic victory.” Just two days before the UN vote, he proudly announced: “If we are elected, and we believe it’s a great possibility, we will be the first country in the world to be elected for a second time, after a five-year break. This shows Turkey’s importance.”

Unfortunately for the Turkish leaders, their expectations did not come true. Despite Cavusoglu’s intensive lobbying efforts and earnest wish for divine intervention, only 60 out of 193 UN General Assembly member states voted for Turkey, while its rival, Spain, received 132 votes, winning a two-year term as a non-permanent member of the Security Council.

Why did Turkey lose in 2014 more than half the 151 votes it received in its successful bid for a Security Council seat in 2008? Here are the key reasons for Turkey’s failure to get elected this time around:

– The vigorous campaign by a large number of countries against Turkey’s membership: Armenia, Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Israel, Syria, and Saudi Arabia, among others.

– President Erdogan’s ongoing acrimonious feud with powerful Turkish Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, resulting in loss of General Assembly votes for Turkey from several African countries, where Gulen’s followers have an extensive presence. This is a major shift from 2008, when Gulen supporters had secured a large number of votes for Turkey.

– Turkish leaders’ poor judgment of deciding to reapply so soon after getting elected to the Security Council in 2009-2010. Turkey’s reelection would have deprived other countries from serving in that august UN body.

– Davutoglu’s self-aggrandizing neo-Ottoman yearnings had antagonized most Middle Eastern countries, turning his policy of “zero problems with neighbors” into zero neighbors without problems! Pew Research Center’s survey confirms that Turkey’s dismal standing throughout the Middle East has sunk to an all-time low.

– Erdogan’s autocratic rule at home, including the bloody quelling of protests at the Gezi Park, jailing journalists, and blocking Twitter and facebook. His dismissive words, “I don’t care what the international community will say,” had alienated countless people around the world. The vote against Turkey was UN members’ rebuke of Erdogan. Most delegates walked out of the hall during Pres. Erdogan’s pompous speech at the UN General Assembly in September.

– Tense relations with the United States and Western Europe over Turkey’s refusal to support the war against ISIS, and not defending Kurdish civilians who are being massacred by foreign Jihadists at a stone’s throw from the Turkish border. As a result, influential commentators called for Turkey’s expulsion from NATO and rejection of its application for membership in the European Union.

– Displeased with Turkey’s antagonistic stand, Pres. Obama sent a lowly charge d’affaires of the US Embassy in Ankara to attend Erdogan’s presidential inauguration on August 28.

By ignoring all these legitimate reasons for Turkey’s failure to win the Security Council seat, Foreign Minister Cavusoglu falsely attributed his country’s defeat to its reluctance to abandon “its values for the sake of getting more votes.” This ridiculous statement is made by the Foreign Minister of a country that has been pouring millions of dollars into the coffers of tiny island states around the world and poor African countries to buy their UN General Assembly votes.

Finally, the failure to gain a Security Council seat limits Turkey’s ability to exploit the powerful UN body to undermine the worldwide commemorative events next year on the Armenian Genocide Centennial.