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Turkey places bounty on 2 former US government officials

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A wealthy ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has placed a bounty on the heads of two former U.S. military and intelligence officials as part of what U.S. officials told the Washington Free Beacon is an effort by the Turkish government to threaten and intimidate Americans who they believe are working to undermine Erdogan.

A bounty of three million Turkish lira, or nearly $800,000, was placed on the heads of former Pentagon official Michael Rubin and former top CIA official Graham Fuller for what Erdogan’s allies claim is their role in a 2016 failed coup that nearly toppled Erdogan’s ruling government.

Both Rubin and Fuller have been vocal critics of Erdogan’s, often publicly highlighting his widespread corruption. Rubin, in particular, has been in constant conflict with Erdogan, who once filed a lawsuit against the former Pentagon official in a bid to silence him.

The Turkish prosecutors’ office has issued arrest warrants for both Rubin and Fuller.

Current and former U.S. officials who spoke to the Free Beacon about the situation called allegations that Rubin and Fuller played any role in the coup attempt “absurd,” and said the bounty is part of a larger effort by Erdogan to silence dissent against his government across the globe.

Some also criticized the State Department for doing very little to combat Turkey’s threats on former American officials.

Erdogan’s government has threatened and intimidated several prominent Americans in recent years and is currently holding hostage U.S. citizens who his government claims played a role in the failed 2016 coup.

A lawyer representing the anonymous businessman who put up the cash for the bounty called Rubin and Fuller  “traitors wanting to interfere” with Erdogan’s government, according to regional reports, which only described the businessman as “a person in love with his country, flag, and nation.”

When asked about the bounty, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department said officials have “seen the reports.”

“The notion that current or former employees of the United States Government were involved in the failed coup is absurd,” the official said.

Asked to comment on possible security concerns over Rubin and Fuller, the State Department would not provide further information.

The public silence has angered Rubin, who told the Free Beacon the U.S. government is allowing Turkey’s threats to go unchecked and countered.

“The State Department’s silence in the wake of Turkey putting a bounty on two Americans—both of whom were government officials—sends a horrible signal that encourages Turkey,” Rubin said. “All it takes is one crazy who equates silence with a green light and things can get bad fast.”

“This, after all, is a regime that saw nothing wrong with beating up protestors in the center of Washington, D.C.,” Rubin said, referring to a June incident in which Turkish security personnel attacked and beat anti-Erdogan protestors who were demonstrating in downtown D.C.
Eric Edelman, a former U.S. ambassador to Turkey, told the Free Beacon the latest bounty on Rubin and Fuller represents a “continuation of Erdogan’s effort to export authoritarian lawlessness and lack of respect for due process.”

Time to reach Karabakh breakthrough – Turkish ambassador to Azerbaijan

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Turkey’s ambassador to Azerbaijan raised an urgent demand for reaching a final peace over Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as he addressed a regional affairs conference in capital Baku.

“That problem has to be resolved,” Erkan Ozoral said in a speech at the symposium “Future of Region: Geopolitical Challenges and Prospects”.

He also reiterated Turkey’s support to Azerbaijan in the negotiations.

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said at a recent news conference in Baku that his meeting with Armenia’s foreign minister will take place in mid-January.

Ministers Mammadyarov and Edward Nalbandian held their most recent talks in Vienna on December 6 in an extended format bringing together also the French, US and Russian co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group.

Covered Tracks by Turkey, “Moushegh Galshoyan, Armenian poet (1933-1980)”

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By Lucine kasbarian
“Loss of land and one’s country is a heavy loss, but the land is eternal.
The land does not accept anyone but its master.
The land is bonded to its own people and will patiently wait for their return.
And one day they will meet again.
The loss of land is not a final loss.
Land is faithful and eternal.”
 Moushegh Galshoyan, Armenian poet (1933-1980)

(UAE) FM Abdullah bin Zayed, accusing Turkish Fahreddin Pasha WW1, “Ransacking” Medina in 1916″

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Finally some of the Arab leader having the Backbone to stand up and Expose Turkish Crime against Humanity WW1, United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan for sharing a Twitter post accusing Fahreddin Pasha of thievery, kidnapping other crimes against the local population. “These are Erdogan’s ancestors and their history with Arabs and Muslims,” the post said.

United Arab Emirates (UAE) Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan for accusing Fahreddin Pasha, a Medina governor and commander of the Ottoman Empire during the First World War, of “ransacking” Medina in 1916.
Erdoğan’s ancestors have stolen the sacred relic from Medina and brought it to Istanbul!

His comments came after al-Zayed retweeted a Twitter post on Dec. 16 that criticized the historical ties between the Ottoman Empire and Arab nations, accusing Fahreddin Pasha of committing crimes against the people during the Siege of Medina in 1916.

Turkey’s top religious body okays divorce via text message

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By Riada Asimovic Akyol

Turkey’s top religious body, the Directorate of Religious Affairs, or Diyanet, has recently attracted a lot of attention for the numerous fatwas it has been publishing online.

For example, on Nov. 29, Turkey’s top religious body declared the digital currency Bitcoin “inappropriate at this moment in time.” On Dec. 1, it issued a fatwa on hair dye for men, and on Dec. 13, purchasing national lottery tickets was forbidden. On Dec. 14, it issued a fatwa about “immoral music.”

Yet no recent fatwa was as controversial as the one on divorce that the Diyanet issued on Dec. 7, stating that couples may get divorced via telephone call, fax, letter, text message or email.

According to the classic — and widely practiced — interpretation of Islamic jurisprudence, a man divorces a woman by pronouncing “talaq,” the Arabic word for divorce. It is much harder for a woman to obtain a divorce. The newest religious opinion by Turkey’s Diyanet states, “Divorcing your spouse by saying ‘talaq’ via phone call, letter, SMS, internet and fax are as valid as saying it to their face,” and “If a woman is divorced through written methods such as a text message or letter, she should ensure that the message was sent by her husband.”

Those who might approve this ruling have been quiet about it. The fatwa incited a flood of sarcastic comments on social media, and comments ranged from calling the ruling scandalous to a misuse of communication devices. The backlash included feminist groups, Republican People’s Party deputies like Bulent Oz and Kazim Arslan, and journalists for secular newspapers. Arslan said, “The High Council is losing its reputation and has become fodder for humor.” Columnist Melih Asik from Milliyet wrote that the fatwas defy Turkey’s secular laws and women’s rights. Feminist Agenda (“Feminist Gundem”) tweeted, “Down with your fatwa.”

All of this commotion is taking place in an atmosphere in which muftis have already started conducting legal marriages after a controversial bill was passed to authorize them. On Dec. 13, the Constitutional Court unanimously rejected a local court’s challenge to a regulation in the Civil Servants Law that bans Diyanet personnel from involvement in politics.

Trying to defuse the situation, Deputy Prime Minister Fikri Isik stated that these religious rulings by the Diyanet should be evaluated not in accordance with the constitution but on compliance with religious principles. He added that people will decide for themselves whether to follow or reject the Diyanet’s religious opinions. “This has nothing to do with the constitution,” he concluded. “There is civil law in Turkey and it is valid.”

But the religious aspects of the Diyanet’s ruling on divorce are also problematic for some. Caner Taslaman, a popular progressive Islamic theologian in Turkey, explained to Al-Monitor, “Everything that is not forbidden in the Quran is lawful or permitted in Islam.” For example, there is no need for a verse stating “Eggplant is for eating.” If there is no prohibition, eggplant can in fact be eaten. To Taslaman, the same logic follows for divorce: “As there is no rule in the Quran that a woman cannot divorce a man, the same right of divorce that is valid for a man is equally valid for a woman.”

Taslaman believes that throughout history, men were the ones who interpreted religious texts. Men also held economic power, as it is still the case to a large extent around the world. This situation led to a patriarchal interpretation of the Quran, which reformists like Taslaman are challenging. “For me, the problem is not easy divorce but rather the lack of recognition of the equal right for a woman to marry and divorce like a man,” Taslaman explained. He also pointed to the Quran’s intent to prevent a woman from economic vulnerability in the case of divorce by establishing that women have the right to keep their “mahr,” or wedding gift given by the man.

In a similar light, Berrin Sonmez, a former academic and writer for leftist portal Gazete Duvar, offered a rare female voice from this angle. She cited verses from the Quran to argue for equality between men and women in marriage and divorce. Sonmez also referred to the divorce procedures in the Mejelle, which is regarded as the most important reform of Ottoman civil law in the process of modernization. Accordingly, divorces in the last decades of the Ottoman Empire were legal proceedings documented by courts, as opposed to informal declarations by men. Later on, after the founding of the republic, divorce became formalized in Turkey’s civil law, so the Diyanet’s religious opinions must not violate the rights recognized in the civil law, wrote Sonmez.

Another progressive voice in Turkey, theologian Mustafa Ozturk, argued that granting the right to divorce only to men was a product not of religion but of tradition. And the Diyanet was making the mistake of “taking procedures from a period when verbal cultural codes were dominant” and turning them into “supra-historical” principles valid for all times and societies.

All in all, it seems that the fatwa decreeing that men can divorce their wives with a mere email or text message is not going to affect Turkey’s more modern and egalitarian legal standards. But the controversy has underlined the fact that for Muslim jurists to be relevant and helpful in modern society, they should begin by understanding the gap between this society and the traditional cultures in which Islamic jurisprudence developed.

German politicians: “Ban Osmanen Germania armed gang of the Erdoğan regime

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With accounts of the Osmanen Germania being the armed gang of the Erdoğan regime in Germany being published in the media, German politicians demand a ban on the gang and AKP’s institution UETD.

The activities of the Osmanen Germania gang which has organized under the guise of a boxing club have become a topic of discussion in Germany. The gang was brought to public attention in the Stuttgarter Nachrichten newspaper and the ZDF television program Frontal 21, and the public now demands a serious investigation into this gang’s ties with the AKP regime.

AKP MP Metin Külünk, who is close with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, had been detected transferring money to the leaders of Osmanen Germania for the purchase of weapons various times. After information and documents surfaced in German media, security units had to launch an investigation against the gang.

Klaus Ziwey, Chief of Police in the Baden-Württemberg state where the gang is active, stated that the issue of whether the gang is controlled from abroad will be investigated. Ziwey addded that the anti-international terror unit of the state security forces (BKA) will be included in the investigation and pointed to the role of the UETD.

POLITICIANS DEMAND OBSERVATION AND BAN

Chief of Police Klaus Ziwey stated that the Union of European Turkish Democrats (UETD), which is the lobbying institution of the AKP in Germany, has ties to the gang while Baden-Württemberg State Interior Minister Thomas Strobl said, “The Turkish government meddling with domestic affairs of our state is unacceptable.”

The Greens Party Group in the State Parliament submitted a written inquiry about whether state administration was aware of the ties between Osmanen Germania and the UETD. Greens Group Chairperson Hans-Ulrich Sckerl demanded a far reaching investigation using all the capabilities of intelligence and security units.

The Greens official also pointed to the information about the AKP financing the Osmanen Germania and said: “Financially supporting attacks against Kurds in Germany and people who speak their minds openly is unacceptable.”

Free Democratic Party (Freie Demokratische Partei – FDP) Baden-Württemberg state parliament group chairperson Hans Ulrich Rülke demanded that the UETD be taken under observation throughout Germany and then be banned. Similar demands have been expressed by representatives from other parties in the state parliament.

Source: https://anfenglish.com/news/german-politicians-ban-osmanen-germania-and-uetd-23649

Baghdad could take oil in new direction — away from Turkey

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Mahmut Bozarslan,

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey — The Kurds in Iraq are suffering from their loss of the lucrative Kirkuk oil fields, which the central government retook by force recently. What some people might not realize is, Turkey also has a lot to lose because of the change.

Since the British first discovered oil in Iraq at Kirkuk in the late 1920s, the struggle for its ownership has never ceased, although the players involved have changed. This lucrative oil source — whose ownership is claimed outright by both Kurds and Arabs, and partially by Turkey — is back in the news.

During the Islamic State (IS) offensive, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq recaptured Kirkuk in 2014. For three years, the KRG sold oil from Kirkuk via a pipeline running from there to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. But tension recently mounted in the region when the KRG held an independence referendum in September. In response, the Iraqi army marched on Kirkuk and with the support of the mostly Shiite, Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Units, captured the oil fields.

Turkey was pleased that Kirkuk was once again under Baghdad’s control, particularly because of the 600-mile-long Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline. This line, with a daily capacity of 150,000 barrels, was being used only sporadically, and the flow halted altogether after the September referendum. After Baghdad took over Kirkuk, Turkey hoped the flow would resume and serve Turkey’s economic interests — but it hasn’t.

Iraq feels it owes Iran a debt of gratitude for Tehran’s support against IS. On Dec. 9, Iraqi Oil Minister Jaber al-Luaibi announced that Baghdad had signed an agreement to move the Kirkuk oil through Iran — which came as a major blow to Turkey. The agreement calls for pumping 30,000-60,000 barrels of oil daily to Kermanshah, Iran.

The deal could change many equations in the region.

Arez Abdullah, a senior member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) party in the Iraqi parliament, and also chairman of the parliamentary Oil and Gas Committee, said Iraq is keen to develop its oil and trade relations with Iran. Abdullah noted that with this agreement, the existing Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline could become irrelevant and inoperative.

“This is going to affect Turkey badly. The Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline will remain for the time being. Iraq will assess its profits and may well abandon the Ceyhan line,” he told Al-Monitor.

Abdullah said the United States will not be pleased with the Iraq-Iran agreement. “But I don’t think it will openly come out against it, as the United States knows well the close economic, social and religious ties between the two countries,” he added.

Arzu Yilmaz, the chairman of the Department of International Relations at the American University of Kurdistan in Dahuk, said the agreement has diverse dimensions.

“Kirkuk is also the economic heart of Kurdistan. Iran, while dominating the Baghdad region economically, militarily and politically, could not extend its dominance to Kurdistan. With this agreement we can say that Iran has added Kurdistan to its sphere of influence, by controlling Kirkuk [through Iraq]. This deal will have repercussions also in the domestic politics of Kurdistan,” Yilmaz told Al-Monitor.

She said, “The Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline has played a key role in economically strengthening the Kurdistan Democratic Party [KDP] rule. This pipeline had a significant role in developing economic and political relations with Turkey. Transiting the pipeline through KDP-controlled terrain profited the Kurdish authority. Now the [route could instead] traverse the areas controlled by the Gorran and PUK parties and may provide similar benefits to Yekiti-Gorran factions.”

Yilmaz thinks that if a political settlement is reached in Syria’s conflict, an oil route from Kirkuk to the Syrian port of Banias can be discussed, which would further marginalize Turkey in the regional economic structure. “Recent developments suggest that this is a likely option” that would isolate Turkey economically from Iraq, and Ankara is already isolated from Baghdad politically, she said. “After the 2014 IS offensive, Turkey was sidelined from the Iraqi political scene. An Iraq-Iran oil accord will mean some economic hardships for Turkey, but if a Kirkuk-Banias line is activated, Turkey would be totally isolated,” she added.

How will the United States react to Iran’s growing influence in the region? Yilmaz noted that the United States and Iran have been quietly cooperating for a long time to combat IS. “Although the US president keeps making anti-Iran statements, US-Iran cooperation [against IS] in the Iraqi scene is obvious. The United States — which has serious issues with Turkey — is having problems abandoning Iran. While Turkey flirts with Russia, the United States discreetly continues to work with Iran,” she said.

In the tension that arose with the Kurdish referendum, Turkey chose to side with Baghdad instead of mediating. Turkey, which at one time had kept its distance from the Iraqi Kurdish market because of the Kurds’ nationalist sentiments, had been slowly coming to dominate this market, particularly its oil segment. Iran’s latest move has at least partially challenged Turkey’s market domination.

If this becomes reality, then Turkey will be totally sidelined. Turkey, along with the United States, is slowly abandoning Iraq’s political and economic scenes, leaving Baghdad to Iran. The biggest loser will again be the Kurds.

Airline giants continue to leave Turkey,Seven airline companies cancelled their routes to Istanbul in 2017.

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The world is tearing away from Turkey in all aspects due to the policies of the AKP government.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has admitted that business in Turkey is moving capital abroad, while official airlines of various countries continue to cancel their Istanbul routes.

The number of official airlines that have cancelled their Istanbul routes has risen to 7. Air France, Iberia, Swiss, Alitalia and Austrian from Europe and Air Canada and Delta from North America have stopped flying to Istanbul in the last year.

MILLIONS OF TOURISTS STOPPED COMING

The number of tourists from Europe, which is important for Turkey’s tourism, has decreased by 4.8 million this year from January to October compared to 2015. 5 million 144 thousand German citizens had visited Turkey between January and October in 2015.

Comparing January to October in 2015 and this year, arrivals from the UK have fallen by 1 million, from the Netherlands by 420.000, from France by 260.000 and from Italy by 280.000.

Source: https://anfenglish.com/kurdistan/airline-giants-continue-to-leave-turkey-23704

Erdogan: Syrian Kurds will be cleansed from Turkey’s border

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he will eliminate Kurdish “terrorists” from the Turkey-Syria border referring to the US-backed People’s Protection Units (YPG) in northern Syria

“We will clean Afrin of terrorists, we will clean Manbij of terrorists. We will clean Tel Abyad, Ras al-Ayn and Qamishli of terrorists,” Erdogan said at a meeting with the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) on Sunday in the central province of Karaman, state media Anadolu Agency reported.

The YPG claimed on Wednesday that they killed two Turkish soldiers and wounded others trying to cross the border near Kobane.

The Syrian Kurdish force said the Turkish forces tried to “transgress” the border near the village of Ashme, west of Kobane, in the early hours on Wednesday.

The YPG and the female YPJ responded in force that resulted in blowing up a military vehicle “full of ammunition that caused the death of two Turkish soldiers” and wounded an unspecified number of other soldiers, a YPG statement read.

Turkey did not immediately confirm the incident or the casualties.

Turkey has constructed a wall along its border with Rojava, Syrian Kurdistan mainly to prevent movements of the YPG forces across the border.

It considers the YPG and its umbrella organization, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as an extension to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a named terrorist organization by Turkey, the US and the EU.

The YPG and SDF deny any connection to the PKK.

Erdogan declared in late November after an exchange of fire between Turkish military and the YPG across the Afrin-Idlib border that they will “cleanse Afrin of the structure there called the YPG terrorist organization.”

The YPG have regularly reported exchanges of fire with Turkish forces in the Afrin area, accusing the Turks and their allied Syrian militias of daily attacks.

“They are not going to be able to seize a tiny part of our land,” the YPG stated last month, vowing to defend Afrin.

Turkey began military operations in Idlib province in October in order to monitor a ceasefire and establish a de-escalation zone under agreements reached in Astana by Turkey, Russia, and Iran.

Turkey is also using the mission to observe the Kurdish canton of Afrin, north of Idlib. Kurdish forces say the Turks have frequently fired at their positions and civilian locations in Afrin.

The YPG is the dominant force within the US-backed SDF battling ISIS in northern Syria and were successful in liberating Raqqa in June from the militant group.

Source: http://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/turkey/18122017

Opposition leader urges Israel to recognize the Armenian Genocide

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Israel should adopt a dramatically more aggressive policy toward Turkey, Yesh Atid party leader Yair Lapid said on Thursday in response to ongoing criticism from Ankara of the government’s recent actions on the Temple Mount, The Times of Israel reported.

While stopping short of calling for diplomatic ties to be cut, the opposition lawmaker said Jerusalem should recognize an independent Kurdistan and acknowledge the Armenian genocide, which Ottoman Turks committed a century ago.

“It’s time, generally speaking, to stop groveling before the Turks, who keep kicking us harder and harder,” Lapid told reporters during a briefing in Tel Aviv. “We will do the things we avoided doing as long as we had good relations with Turkey, because we don’t have any [now] and won’t have any [in the future],” he added.

The source reminds that many countries avoid acknowledging the events between 1915 and 1923, during which Ottoman forces massacred Armenian citizens in a systematically planned act of ethnic cleansing, as genocide out of concern for their ties to Turkey, which is a NATO member and an important Muslim ally of many Western countries.

To note, Lapid’s comments come amid increasing bilateral tensions over Turkey’s comments on Israel’s imposition of new security measures in the wake of a terror attack on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount.

 

Source Panorama.am