Syria: Armenian town Kessab Hit by Rocket Fire from Turkey

January 21, 2016 By administrator

Smoke rises from building in Kessab during another attack by Turkish-backed militants in 2014

ALEPPO—At 3:15 p.m. local time on Wednesday Kessab was hit by two GRAD missiles rattling the residents of the mainly Armenian-populated city in Syria, reported the executive editor of Gandzasar newspaper Zarmig Boghigian.

The rocket fire came from the direction of the Turkish border, according to Boghigian. One of the rockets landed a 55 yards from the Kessab mosque, while the other landed on the street behind the Holy Trinity Armenian Evangelical Church in the city.

The rocket fire caused heavy damage with one reported injury reported. No fatalities were reported.

Kessab residents, especially children who were playing in their yard were severely shaken by the attack.

In March, 2014 Islamic militants affiliated with al Qaeda attacked Kessab, bringing the city under siege for three months and forcing its population to flee to nearby Lattakia and elsewhere. In June, 2014, forces affiliated with the Syrian government liberated Kessab, paving the way for families to return to their home, which were looted and destroyed by the Turkish-backed Muslim militants.

Sharmazanov: Turkey and Azerbaijan do not help establish regional peace and stability

January 21, 2016 By administrator

turko-azeri YEREVAN. – National Assembly (NA) of Armenia Vice President Eduard Sharmazanov, who also heads the NA Armenia-Greece Parliamentary Friendship Group and has traveled to Athens on a working visit, on Wednesday met with First Deputy Speaker Anastasios “Tasos” Kourakis, and former Speaker Evangelos-Vasileios “Vangelis” Meimarakis of the Hellenic Parliament.

The Armenian NA deputy chairman lauded the current level of Armenian-Greek ties, and he expressed the hope that bilateral parliamentary relations will continue to develop.

The interlocutors underscored the need for the friendship groups that carry out activities in the parliaments of the two countries, and for collaboration within a variety of parliamentary platforms.

Reflecting on the current phase in the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations, Sharmazanov considered it unacceptable that Turkey posits preconditions in this regard. He noted that both Turkey and Azerbaijan do not contribute to the establishment of regional peace and stability. In the Armenian NA vice president’s words, Azerbaijan’s military rhetoric and any attempt toward a military solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict are inadmissible.

At the end of the talk, Eduard Sharmazanov invited his Greek counterpart to Armenia for an official visit.

Erdogan Atrocity NEWS Around Turkey

January 20, 2016 By administrator

Turkish president vows ‘treasonous’ academics will pay the price

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has stepped up his harsh rhetoric against academics who called for an end to military operations in Turkey’s southeast, warning that they would pay the price for “falling into a pit of treachery.”

Speaking at his regular meeting with neighborhood and village heads (muhtars) at his presidential palace on Jan. 20, Erdoğan said the signatories had given their “consent” to the killing of public servants by the PKK.

“I’m saying frankly: This mindset which gives a self-styled fatwa to the terror organization’s attacks on public servants, which simply says ‘it would be better if it didn’t do so’ in response to the killing of civilians, disgusts me,” Erdoğan said.

Woman sentenced to 11 months in jail for ‘insulting Erdoğan’

İZMİR – Doğan News Agency

A Turkish woman was sentenced to 11 months in prison on Jan. 20 for “insulting” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan by shouting and directing a hand gesture toward him in the Aegean province of İzmir in 2014.

An Izmir court sentenced economist Filiz Akıncı to 11 months and 20 days in jail for the offence, made while Erdoğan was departing from a rally in Gündoğdu Square on March 16, 2014, when he was still prime minister and leader of the Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Erdogan,

Erdogan vows No more talks with PKK,

Ankara will no longer engage in contact with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and will instead “liquidate” all PKK militants through ongoing security operations, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has vowed.

“We know that the only goal of the separatist terror organization is to fulfil the duty it has been tasked with by its master and completing the contract it has been given,” Erdoğan said on Jan. 20.

“So in the coming period, neither the separatist terror organization, nor the party under its control, nor other structures will ever be accepted as counterpart. That affair is over,” he added, addressing a large group of neighborhood and village heads (muhtars) at a regular meeting at his presidential palace in Ankara.

3 prominent journalists targeted in Erdoğan insult cases

Three prominent journalists — Oktay Ekşi, Ahmet Altan and Koray Çalışkan – are facing long prison sentences for insulting then-Prime Prime Minister and current President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Former Hürriyet daily columnist Ekşi testified to the court on Tuesday in a trial launched against him for allegedly insulting then-Prime Minister Erdoğan and state ministers in a column published in 2010.

Ekşi testified to the Bakırköy 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance in İstanbul, saying he never intended to insult with his words, “This mindset can even sell their mothers,” in his column about hydroelectric power plants. Ekşi said he used those words in order to increase the impact of his column, but not to insult anyone.

Turkey: Minister admits delay in Hrant Dink murder probe

January 20, 2016 By administrator

Turkish Science, Industry and Technology Minister Fikri Işık admitted that the investigation into the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink had been delayed, and blamed the “parallel state” for the delay, the Hurriyet Daily News reports.

“We accept that there has been a delay [in prosecuting the murder of Dink] because of the attempts of the Parallel State Structure to shadow the probe,” Işık responding to questions in the parliament on Jan. 19, the ninth anniversary of the prominent journalist’s assasination.

Dink, an outspoken activist for minority rights and former editor-in-chief of weekly Agos, was shot dead outside his office in Istanbul’s Şişli district on Jan. 19, 2007 by 17-year-old Ogün Samast, who had traveled to Istanbul from the Black Sea province of Trabzon before the murder.

“I underline that no cause can legitimize any attempt on someone’s life. This incident is being worked on with all details,” said Işık.

“But nothing remains secret. If we had thought different, we would not make that much effort to investigate all details of this incident and we would not give complete support to the judiciary. At the moment, we want and hope that all related institutions will work effectively in enlightening this incident as well as other unsolved murder incidents,” he added.

Işık also added that he wanted to see the instigators of Dink’s murder found and brought to face justice.

Relatives and followers of the case have long claimed that government officials, police, military personnel and members of the National Intelligence Agency (MİT) played a role in Dink’s murder by neglecting their duty to protect the journalist.

On Dec. 9, 2015, the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office approved the indictment prepared against 26 police chiefs into “negligence on public duty” in the killing of Dink.

A total of 26 police officers, including both current and former police chiefs, will be tried as the indictment in the nine-year-long investigation.

The indictment referred to U.S.-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gülen, a former ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), who the AKP government now accuses of heading a terrorist organization. The officials currently being investigated were suspected of having links to the Gülen movement.

The 26 police officers were charged with one count each of “forming or heading an armed terrorist group,” “membership of an armed terrorist group,” “power abuse on duty,” “manipulating, destroying and/or concealing official documents,” “deliberate murder,” “fabricating official documents by public employees” and “deliberate murder on negligence” in the case filed into public officials at the time of the assassination. All of the 26 were on duty at the time of Dink’s murder.

Hakan Bakırcıoğlu, a Dink family lawyer, said on Nov. 4 that not opening a case against former police chiefs Ahmet İlhan Güler, Celalettin Cerrah, Reşat Altay, Engin Dinç and other suspects, would exclude their integral responsibility in Dink’s murder.

Armenian church in Turkey under treasure hunters’ target

January 20, 2016 By administrator

An Armenian church in Turkey’s northeast has been reduced to ruins because of a hole dug by treasure hunters.
Left to the mercy of fate, the St Astvatsatsin church of Erzincan (historical Armenian Yerznka) is now under treasure hunters’ target, the Turkish-Armenian publication Agos reports.
Efforts have now been undertaken towards protecting the historical site.
A resident of the village, Tolga Gurun, has called attention to the problem, saying that the church has been under spotlight since the robbery of its icons five years ago.
The local authorities had earlier issued an instruction for rebuilding the church, but no steps were taken after the regional governor’s replacement.
Recent studies revealed signs of collapse on the building’s second floor. Earlier reports suggested that the church would resume its original image after the renovation.

Turkey: Peace Process in Name Only’: True Reason Behind Turkey’s Kurdish Crackdown

January 19, 2016 By administrator

While the Turkish government has claimed that its campaign against Kurdish militants is nearing an end, an activist speaking to Sputnik explains how President Recep Erdogan’s race war against the Kurds was never anything more than political opportunism.

“Solving the Kurdish problem has nothing to do with peace,” political activist Taylor Goel tells Sputnik. “It is a peace process in name only, and a scapegoat for the ruling party.”

As Goel explains, the roots of the most recent military campaign against Kurdish militants in southeastern Turkey can be traced to last June, when the leading Justice and Development Party (AKP) lost parliamentary elections.

The following month, Erdogan’s government began vilifying the Kurds, launching attacks on Kurdish forces in northern Iraq and conducting raids against opposition figures within Turkey.

“This was done to secure its [the AKP] place,” Goel says.

The strategy appears to have worked. In November, the AKP regained control of parliament following general elections. It is only after having achieved its goals that the Turkish government is willing to settle on an agreement to deescalate tensions.

“The current peace process only serves to legitimize the actions of AKP,” Goel says. “The government may stop its campaign, but it’s important to remember that this is a peace process in name only.”

While an end to a campaign that has killed hundreds, including civilians, is undeniably welcome, Goel points out that true peace can only come when Turkey’s workers come together to put an end to the “rule of the bourgeoisie.”

“The true hope of long-lasting peace in Turkey…can only come if Turkish and Kurdish workers come together to overcome this system that depends on the exploitation of the working class as a whole.”

On Tuesday, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced that the government’s military campaign in Turkey’s Kurdish region was nearing an end.

“The process is to a large extent completed,” he told reporters. “It won’t be like with old operations, withdrawing after streets are cleansed. There will be a more orderly security presence. The goal is to build a public order…in which no illegal structure can take control of any streets.”

Davutoglu stressed that the city of Silopi, which has seen some of the worst violence, will remain under a strict curfew. This will remain “in place for some time until we are sure the residents’ security is guaranteed.”

According to estimates by the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) of Turkey, roughly 100 civilians have been killed during the conflict.

On Monday, Turkish forces launched mortar attacks on the Cizre district of Sirnak. The incident destroyed a number of homes and killed a civilian.

Source: sputniknews.com

UN committee warns Turkey over discrimination and human rights violations against Kurd, Arab, Christians

January 19, 2016 By administrator

n_94022_1 A United Nations committee has voiced concern over widespread violations of human rights in Turkey, particularly focusing on racial profiling of Kurdish citizens during the campaign against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

The U.N Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, a body of independent experts working under the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and monitoring states’ implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, published its findings on Turkey last week.

The Committee said it is “concerned about reports that members belonging to the Kurdish community are discriminated against in the labor market and the unemployment rate of Kurdish women in particular remains high.”

“In the context of the fight against terrorism, the enforcement of anti-terrorism legislation and security-oriented policies have reportedly resulted in racial profiling of members of the Kurdish community,” it stated.

“Such legislation has been applied to curtail the exercise of the right to freedom of expression and association and led to the unwarranted arrest, detention and prosecution of Kurds. The Committee is further concerned at reports that a large number of Kurds live in the poorest and most remote provinces, often in poor economic and social conditions. Moreover, the Committee is concerned about reports of limited access to education for Kurdish children, including in their mother tongue,” the report added.

With regards to Syrian and Iraqi refugees, it noted efforts made by Turkey “to protect the human rights of the large number of Syrian and Iraqi refugees that it is hosting in its territory.”

“However, the Committee is concerned at reports that Syrian and Iraqi refugees face challenges, despite measures adopted by the State party, such as: being at risk of racial discrimination; the inadequate living conditions of Syrian refugees; a lack of work permits; reported violence against and trafficking in Syrian refugee women in camps; and insufficient access to education for some Syrian refugee children, including in their mother tongue,” the report stated.

Recommendations

While touching on several other issues, including the situation of Roma-origin citizens in Turkey, the committee also made a series of recommendations.

Regarding the Kurds, the Committee recommended that Ankara focus on addressing economic and political inequalities.

“[Turkey should] pursue and strengthen its measures to address inequalities faced by members of the Kurdish community in gaining access to economic, social and cultural rights on an equal footing with the rest of the population; adopt special measures to promote access by members of the Kurdish community, including women, to the labor market; ensure that its anti-terrorism legislation does not result in racial profiling or violations of the rights of freedom of expression or association or other rights protected by the Convention … intensify its efforts to combat disparities that exist between the Kurdish provinces and the rest of its territory; and improve the access of Kurdish children in schools, including by promoting teaching in their mother tongue.”

On Syrians and Iraqis, the Committee recommended that Turkey “pursue efforts to strengthen measures with a view to improving the reception conditions of Syrian and Iraqi refugees.”

“In particular, the Committee recommends that the State party: effectively protect Syrian and Iraqi refugees from racial discrimination, including incitement to hatred; grant work permits, as appropriate, to refugees under the special temporary program set up by the State party; increase its efforts to ensure that all refugee children have access to education, including in their mother tongue; strengthen its fight against the trafficking in and violence against refugee women in camps; and ensure the effective application of the new Law on Foreigners and International Protection,” the report added.

January/19/2016

OSCE representative urges Turkey to bring masterminds behind Dink murder to justice

January 19, 2016 By administrator

dink justice Commemorating the ninth anniversary of the assassination of the Turkish Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović reiterated her call for a swift and transparent judicial procedure to identify the masterminds behind the murder, the OSCE stated.

“I remain hopeful that recent developments in the trial will help bring the masterminds behind the murder to justice,” Mijatović said, referring to the December 2015 decision of the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office to approve an indictment by prosecutor Gökalp Kökçü to investigate 25 public officials on charges of negligence and misconduct related to the murder.

“I trust that the trial will finally serve justice to Dink’s family, friends and colleagues,” Mijatović said. “Exposing the masterminds would also demonstrate to the entire society the importance of freedom of expression, and the continued need to fight violence against journalists.”

Dink, the editor-in-chief of the Armenian bi-weekly Agos, was gunned down on January 19, 2007 in front of his then-office in Istanbul.

In 2011, the perpetrator, Ogün Samast, was sentenced by a juvenile court to 22 years and ten months for the murder.

After long court proceedings and appeals, a new probe was ultimately launched in the Hrant Dink murder case, and regarding several former and serving senior Turkish officials.

Terrorist State of Turkey Military expansion from Qatar to Mosul to Somalia

January 18, 2016 By administrator

Ankara has started to build a military base in Somalia to train soldiers from African countries to fight against al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Shabab militants, a report says.

In a Monday report, Turkish newspaper Daily Sabah cited military sources as saying that based on an agreement between the Turkish and Somali governments, over 1,500 Somali troops will be trained by 200 Turkish military officers at the base, being established in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu.

Emil Tekin, an official from the Turkish Foreign Ministry said last week that the “military training center will also be an important base to provide military training to all of Africa.”

Tekin added that the Turkish army is also planning to build a military school in Somalia to train officers.

Since 2006, Somalia has witnessed deadly clashes between government forces and al-Shabab militants, who say they aim to overthrow the government in the African state.

The militants have been pushed out of Mogadishu and other major cities in Somalia by government forces and the soldiers of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), which is largely made up of troops from Uganda, Ethiopia, Burundi, Djibouti, Kenya and Sierra Leone.

Last month, Turkey announced plans to construct its first overseas military base in Qatar following an agreement signed between the two countries. The base is expected to accommodate 3,000 soldiers.

Going Rogue? NATO Puzzled by Turkey’s Move to Develop Offensive Weapons

January 18, 2016 By administrator

Turkey has recently reiterated its intention to build offensive missile systems, claiming that it is “difficult for a country to be deterrent with defensive missiles only”; the move has puzzled NATO, as it’s doubtful that the member state’s demand for such arms has any “strategic sense” and calls into question whether Turkey intends to go rogue.

“It is puzzling from a NATO perspective that this ally wants to develop offensive missile capabilities,” one NATO ambassador in Ankara told the website Defense News. “Turkey is part of the security umbrella. We are not sure if any Turkish effort for offensive missiles makes strategic sense … despite [Turkey’s] legitimate perceptions of increased military threat in its region.”

His words are echoed by an EU ambassador in Ankara, who also said that the Turkish move to put an offensive system in place was “confusing”.

“Such ambitions can fuel sectarian tensions in the region. A missile rivalry between a NATO member and Iran does not sound pleasant in any way,” he is quoted as saying by the website.

Turkey’s ambitions have caused concerns from other experts, who are wondering if Turkey may eventually go rogue.

“Ballistic missiles have certain disadvantages … like lack of precision. They can also be easily intercepted. Their limited payload is another problem. In comparison a modern fighter jet can carry up to four or five times more payload and is an agile aerial asset,” said one London-based Turkey specialist.

He explained that missiles are often preferred by “rogue states” as they can carry biological, chemical and nuclear warheads.

“Turkey is not a rogue state and it is curious that it has ambitions to develop offensive missile systems,” he added.

On January 7, Turkey’s top procurement official, Ismail Demir, reiterated Turkey’s ambitions to develop offensive missiles.

“It is difficult for a country to be deterrent with defensive missiles only … This is why offensive [missile] systems too should be developed,” Demir claimed at a briefing to the Turkish parliament’s defense committee.

“The political authority is determined that Turkey should possess such missile capabilities. How, at what cost and how soon are questions that remain to be examined,” he added.

In November, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on the Turkish national TV channel ATV that Turkey may adopt a strategy of local acquisition of long-range surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) with offensive capabilities with a range of about 3,000 kilometers.

Earlier in November Turkey scrapped a $3.44 billion tender for the SAM system, code-named T-Loramids, for which in 2013 it selected as a contractor China Precision Machinery Import-Export Corp. (CPMIEC), offering the HQ-9 system.

The selection of CPMIEC drew considerable criticism from the US as well as from other NATO allies over inter-operability and the security issues of operating a Chinese system.

“What is important is whether we will engage in defense or offense in the long term. We want [these missiles] to be developed locally but to also have an offensive nature. With the cancellation of the missile tender we took this step. We are currently developing missiles, but we are not at the level we want them to be concerning their range,” Erdogan told ATV on November 18, highlighting that the canceled T-Loramids project was a missile defense project.

The politicians admit that at any such program’s initial stages, Turkey would need foreign know-how.

Without naming any particular country that may be willing to assist any Turkish program, Ismail Demir, however, did not reject the “Chinese option.”

Turkish media also suggests that it is highly possible Ankara may “knock on China’s door” to develop its own long-range missiles with ballistic missile capability.

“This is because Turkey’s allies will refrain from forging any cooperation with Ankara to help it develop long-range missiles that will have ballistic missile capabilities as well,” suggests Turkish English-language daily Today’s Zaman.

The move, it says, will mark a dramatic change in Turkey’s defense policy of acquiring non-offensive weapons.

“Hence it now seems Turkey will no longer rely solely on NATO’s security umbrella in the case of any threats posed to it and will go solo when necessary.”

Source:sputniknews.com