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Iraqi Kurdistan Vote Update: Turkey halts Rudaw broadcast, Iraqi MP: Like Israel, Kurdistan years of war

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Turkey halts Rudaw broadcast on Turksat satellites

ANKARA, Turkey – Turkey’s Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTUK) has halted Rudaw’s broadcast on Turksat satellites.

According to information obtained by Rudaw Media Network, RTUK met Monday afternoon. Representatives of the opposition parties CHP and the pro-Kurdish HDP were outside Ankara and unable to attend the meeting. The meeting proceeded with ruling AKP and nationalist MHP representatives in attendance.

A decision was made to stop Rudaw’s broadcast.

HDP’s Arsin Ungal was unable to attend Monday’s meeting. “RTUK cannot make such a decision because Rudaw has not got its broadcast license from RTUK. That is why I will raise this subject after I return to Ankara,” he told Rudaw.

Rudaw contacted Turksat. A Turksat spokesperson said: “We haven’t yet received the decision. We will stop Rudaw’s broadcast when we receive the decision.”

Turkey opposes Kurdistan’s independence referendum being held on Monday.

Two other Kurdistan media, Kurdistan 24 and Waar TV, have also reportedly had their broadcasts halted on Turksat.

Iraqi MP: Like Israel, Kurdistan will cause years of war

BAGHDAD, Iraq – An Iraqi official has accused “racist” Kurds of trying to establish a second Israel that will throw the region into years of conflict.

“The step that was taken by some racists in Kurdistan will bring instability to the entire region for years to come. The representatives of such efforts had established the state of Israel in 1948,” Mowaffak al-Rubaie, an MP from the ruling Shiite National Alliance told reporters in the Iraqi parliament.

There have been three wars since the creation of Israel, he added. Rubaie is a former National Security Adviser.

“The one who loses the most is our beloved Kurdish nation,” he continued.

On Monday, the Iraqi parliament requested Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to deploy troops to the areas that have come under Peshmerga control since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, the latest in a series of measures announced by Abadi. On Sunday, he called on foreign nations to close their air and land borders with the Kurdistan Region.

Rubaie warned that all the achievements made by Kurds in Iraq since 2003 are now under threat.

 

Breaking News: Turkey Erdogan threatens to shut off oil pipeline, to close border on Kurdistan

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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that Ankara would close its border with northern Iraq over an independence referendum and threatened the Iraqi Kurds with blocking their key oil exports.
Erdogan commented on the Kurdistan referendum from the Islamic Cooperation Ombudsmen conference.

“Entrance-exit will be closed” at the Habur border crossing to the Kurdistan Region, Erdogan said in a speech as he angrily denounced Monday’s referendum as “illegitimate,” according to AFP.

He added: “After this let’s see… who they sell (their oil) to. The valve is with us. It’s finished the moment we close it.”

The president didn’t rule any possibilities out.

“If there is a threat against us in Iraq and Syria, all options are on the table,” he said.

“We are not and will not threaten Turkey’s national security, and neither will we intervene in the Turkish affairs, not today, and neither in the future. We want to be a good neighbor,” Barzani said.

He added that that Turkey, and others should see the vote for what it is — an expression of the will of the people exclusive for the Iraqi Kurdistan.

“It has been two months that I have been trying and requesting to visit Turkey so that I will explain that this process of ours is not a threat to Turkey. It is unfortunate that they did not agree to this opportunity to me — or us — to explain it to them up close,” Barzani said adding that other relations with Turkey are continuing such as continued phone calls.

Source: http://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/turkey/25092017

Armenia should deny Erdogan economice umbrella TUSIAD business delegation to Armenia

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Armenian news News.am reported An Armenian entrepreneur from Istanbul Tigran Altun is going to bring a delegation of large businessmen to Armenia, he said in a conversation with the correspondent of Armenian News – NEWS.am

The delegation will consist of members of the association of industrialists and entrepreneurs of Turkey (TUSIAD).

Earlier, Turkish entrepreneurs came to Armenia (under the USAID 2010-12 program), but they were represeting small and medium-sized business.

Turkish entrepreneurs might be interested in duty-free exports to Russia and other countries of the Eurasian Union, as well as preferential customs tariffs to the US through the GSP system, which applies to Armenia.  Of course, as to the Eurasian Union, the Turkish business has connections with Russia. But,on the other hand large business is more willingly received in small countries where investments are more important, Altun added.

Garo Paylan: We must open the path to dialogue on 1915 in Turkey

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Garo Paylan, the Turkish-Armenian lawmaker (People’s Democratic Party) who is in Yerevan this week as part of the Sixth Armenia-Diaspora Conference, on Friday reiterated his firm belief that Turkey will never bring itself to confronting its past unless it chooses the path towards building democracy.

“The Turkish parliament bans the use of ‘genocide’. But the word doesn’t matter at all given that we suffered the Great Massacres. What matters is to find the way towards building a dialogue with Turkey to speak openly of what happened in 1915. A crime of genocide which goes unpunished will regrettably continue also in future,” he told reporters.

Paylan said that despite the continuing policy of denial, the Armenians in Turkey keep insisting on their demand for laying the foundations of democracy in the country.

“My grandmother with whom I lived in the same house until I was ten, died without seeing justice. My father, who was looking for justice, also died. So two generations left us, and now we see the third and fourth generations struggle for justice. My belief is that only a democratic country can recognize the Genocide,” he said when asked to comment on the concerns that those are an attempt to delay the Genocide recognition for more centuries to come.

“We have many democratic friends in Turkey, also among members of [President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan’s [Justice and Democracy] Party, but they are voiceless now against the nationalists’ rising demands,” he added.

American Muslim Brotherhood Turn to Ankara

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U.S. Islamist organizations have turned to the Turkish regime for collaboration and support. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

by Samantha Mandeles and Samuel Westrop

  • In general, lawful Islamist movements such as the Muslim Brotherhood work to insert themselves into Western society, exploiting liberal, democratic bodies to promote their own illiberal and anti-democratic ideology.
  • Whether co-opting Western democracies to silence its critics, or funding American Islamist organizations with long histories of extremism and ties to terror, the Turkish regime is now a crucial component of the global Islamist threat.

For the past few years, the international Muslim Brotherhood has found a welcoming home in Ankara in the face of opposition from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. Consequently, U.S. Islamist organizations have also turned to the Turkish regime for collaboration and support.

On September 18th, a Washington, D.C.- based organization, the Turkish American National Steering Committee (TASC), hosted an event in New York City with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “US-based Muslim Brotherhood supporters have a busy week coming up,” the Middle East analyst Eric Trager noted. “They’re hanging with Erdogan on Monday, protesting Sisi on Wednesday.”

Organizers of the TASC event included Ahmed Shehata, a lobbyist for the Muslim Brotherhood who has also worked for Islamic Relief and the Muslim American Society — two prominent Islamist groups designated as terrorist organizations by the United Arab Emirates in 2014.

Last year, following Turkish claims of an attempted coup against the regime, a TASC rally in support of Erdogan outside the White House included Shehata and a number of prominent American Islamist leaders, such as Nihad Awad, the Executive Director of the terror-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). As the Investigative Project on Terrorism notes, Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party subsequently sent a delegation to the United States to hold meetings with senior CAIR officials. Since then, Awad has continued to meet with representatives of the Turkish regime.

 

Such partnerships are not new. Since a coalition of U.S. Islamist organizations travelled to Turkey in 2014, prominent American Islamic groups linked to the Muslim Brotherhood have become some of Erdogan’s staunchest advocates in America.

In 2014, the annual convention of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) featured three regime-linked speakers, including Erdogan’s senior advisor, Ibrahim Kalin. ISNA, a Muslim Brotherhood front , was named by federal prosecutors as an unindicted co-conspirator during the 2008 Holy Land Foundation terrorism financing trial.

Also in 2014, Turkish regime official Mehmet Görmez recorded a video message for America’s largest Islamic conference, organized jointly by two prominent Islamist organizations: the Muslim American Society and the Islamic Circle of North America (MAS-ICNA). In his message, Görmez announced the completion of a Turkish-funded mosque in Maryland, the Diyanet Center of America.

The MAS-ICNA conference that year was funded by the “Turkish-backed” American Zakat Foundation. In return, MAS-ICNA announced that the “Turkish presidency, agencies, several NGOs, state-media TRT World and Daily Sabah will organize events during the summit in Chicago, while President Erdoğan’s daughter … will attend the summit as guest of honor.”

The Turkish regime and U.S. Islamist organizations have looked out for one another. Erdogan has denounced American attempts to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization. And in 2015, U.S. Islamist groups, including CAIR, released a statement opposing recognizing the slaughter of Armenians organized by Turkey in 1915 as a genocide.

Turkey’s intolerance for its critics is whitewashed by American Islamist groups. At the 2016 MAS-ICNA conference, Erdoğan’s daughter defended the regime’s purges – managing both to justify and deny mass-arrests of journalists. Prominent American Islamist operatives and clerics praised her speech.

In general, lawful Islamist movements such as the Muslim Brotherhood work to insert themselves into Western society, exploiting liberal, democratic bodies to promote their own illiberal and anti-democratic ideology.

Proving itself to be a natural ally of the Muslim Brotherhood, Turkey makes use of this same deception: on September 18, Erdogan’s office demanded that NATO prevent a critic of the Turkish regime from speaking at a NATO Parliamentary Assembly conference organized by the Middle East Forum. When the dissident appeared anyway, the Turkish delegation interrupted proceedings and then stormed out.

Whether co-opting Western democracies to silence its critics, or funding American Islamist organizations with long histories of extremism and ties to terror, the Turkish regime is now a crucial component of the global Islamist threat. The West must recognize this, and work to counteract both.

Sam Westrop and Samantha Mandeles are based at Islamist Watch, a project of the Middle East Forum.

Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/11041/american-islamists-turn-to-ankara

White House Withdraws Proposed Arms Sale to Erdogan’s Security Detail

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The White House withdrew its proposal to sell arms to Erdogan’s security team

Administration Action Comes in the Wake of Strong Bipartisan Congressional Opposition
WASHINGTON—Responding to strong Congressional pressure, the Trump Administration has officially withdrawn its controversial proposal to allow the sale of U.S. semi-automatic handguns to Turkish President Recep Erdogan’s security detail, which, in May of this year, made international headlines by attacking peaceful American protesters in Washington, DC, reported the Armenian National Committee of America.

“We’re seeing the start of Turkey Arms Embargo 2.0,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “We welcome today’s decision by the White House as a reflection of a growing willingness among policy-makers, diplomats, legislators from both parties, and the broader foreign policy community to openly challenge Turkey’s increasingly anti-American conduct.”

News of New Hampshire gun maker Sig Sauer’s proposed plan to sell $1.2 million in semi-automatic handguns and ammunition to President Erdogan’s bodyguards was first reported by The New York Times reporter Nicholas Fandos. The request for Congressional review of the matter was submitted on the eve of the May 16th attack in front of the Turkish Ambassador’s residence in Washington, DC, videotaped live by the ANCA’s Hamparian, which sent peaceful protesters to the hospital. To date, nineteen have been indicted for the brutal beatings, including 15 members of President Erdogan’s security detail.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Democrat Ben Cardin (D-MD) and House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) were among the first to raise objections to the sale. Notably, Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) formally communicated to Secretary of State Tillerson his strong opposition to the deal, calling the conduct of the Turkish guards “unprofessional and brutal.” Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Dave Trott (R-MI) spearheaded a Congressional letter, cosigned by over 35 House colleagues, including Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman and Ranking Member Devin Nunes (R-CA) and Adam Schiff (D-CA) and House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Eliot Engel (D-NY), opposing the sale.

The U.S. House, in July of this year, passed the Trott Amendment, a measure strongly backed by the ANCA, against the arms sale. Following this vote, Rep. Trott, said: “We need to block this arms sale and once and for all point a finger in Erdogan’s chest and tell him that a strategic location does not place Turkey above the law.” Earlier this month, an amendment authored by Appropriations Committee members Senators Van Hollen (D-MD) and Leahy (D-VY) successfully amended a must-pass appropriations bill, at the committee level, with legislative language opposing this weapons transaction. Sen. Van Hollen told the Washington Post that the appropriations panel’s vote in support of the measure sent “a strong, bipartisan message: We are not going to let President Erdogan’s personal bodyguards attack peaceful American protesters on American soil—and we’re certainly not going to sell them weapons while they do it.” The Washington Post editorial board called for a block of the gun sale as a “more meaningful way to suggest there is a price to be paid for such brutality.”

According to the Associated Press, “a spokesman for Sig Sauer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.” The AP also reported that: “Lawmakers of both parties have asked the State Department to take extra precautions to ensure there’s not another violent incident this week by Turkish personnel during the U.N. gathering.”

Turkey summons German ambassador again Armenian Genocide,

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Turkey summoned Germany’s ambassador Martin Erdmann in Ankara on Monday. Official representative of the German foreign minister Martin Schaefer confirmed the reports. Der Spiegel magazine said Ankara wanted to raise a German parliamentary motion that recognized the Armenian Genocide, Reuters reported. Following adoption of the motion by Bundestag last year, Ankara recalled its ambassador from Berlin. Germany’s foreign ministry said it was the 17th time its envoy Martin Erdmann had been summoned. Last time the envoy was summoned on Saturday over rally in support of PKK that was staged in Cologne.

Turkey summons German ambassador to Ankara over Kurdish rally in Cologne

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Turkey has summoned Germany’s ambassador after more than 10,000 Kurds rallied in Cologne. The rally was in support of Kurdish independence as well as the jailed leader of the banned PKK.

Turkey summoned the German ambassador to Ankara in response to a large rally held by Kurds in Cologne on Saturday.

More than 10,000 people rallied in the west German city in support of an independence referendum in Iraq.

Ankara summoned ambassador Martin Erdmann to voice concern over what it called a militant rally, the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement.

“We condemn the organization of a rally in the German city of Cologne by the extensions of the PKK terrorist organizations, and the allowing of terror propaganda. We have voiced our reaction in a strong manner to Germany’s ambassador to Ankara, who was called to the ministry,” it said.

On Saturday, Kurdish demonstrators called for freedom for Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), independence for Kurdistan, and democracy for the Middle East, local paper Kölner Stadt Anzeiger reported.

They had gathered at what was ostensibly a cultural festival organized by the Democratic Social Center for Kurds in Germany.

“We are protesting and celebrating at the same time – that is our culture,” attendee Rifat Arslan told the paper, after traveling there from Frankfurt with his family. “We demand a recognized and free Kurdistan and want the release of our leader Ocalan,” he was quoted as saying.

The PKK is classified as a terrorist organization by Turkey, Germany and the European Union.

Turkey accused Germany of not doing enough to stop PKK activities.

“The double standard approach Germany has been following with regards to the global fight against terrorism is worrying. We call on Germany to show a principled stance against all kinds of terror,” the ministry said in the statement.

On September 3, about 25,000 Kurdish supporters demonstrated in Cologne against Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, where they also carried posters of Ocalan.

aw/jm (dpa, Reuters)

Russia Fueling Armenian enemy: Turkey Signs Deal To Buy S-400 Anti aircraft Missiles From Russia

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The S-400 antiaircraft missile system will be Ankara’s most significant weapons purchase to date from a non-NATO supplier. (file photo)

Turkey has signed a deal with Russia to buy S-400 anti aircraft missile systems in its first major weapons purchase from Moscow.

Turkish newspapers on September 12 quoted Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as saying that Ankara already paid the deposit on the deal, estimated to be worth up to $2.5 billion.

Speaking to journalists aboard his presidential plane returning from a trip to Kazakhstan, Erdogan also said that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin were “determined on this issue.”

Moscow confirmed the accord, with Vladimir Kozhin, a military adviser to Putin, saying that “the contract has been signed and is being prepared for implementation.”

Kozhin also said that “all the decisions made for the contract strictly comply” with Russia’s strategic interests.

The accord, Ankara’s most significant weapons purchase from a non-NATO supplier, has raised concerns in the West over technical compatibility with NATO equipment.

An unidentified NATO official was quoted as saying that the alliance did receive information on the purchase of the Russian-made missile system by Turkey.

The official also said that it was “up to allies to decide what military equipment they buy,” adding, “What matters for NATO is that the equipment allies acquire is able to operate together.”

“No NATO ally currently operates the S-400,” the official added.

Joseph Dunford, the U.S. chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in July that the purchase of the S-400 air-defense system from Russia “would be a concern” for Washington.

The Pentagon has also sounded the alarm, saying that “generally it’s a good idea” for NATO allies to buy interoperable equipment.

But Erdogan insisted on September 12 that Turkey was free to make military acquisitions based on its defense needs.

“We make the decisions about our own independence ourselves,” he said. “We are obliged to take safety and security measures in order to defend our country.”

Russia says the S-400 surface-to-air missile system has a range of 400 kilometers and can shoot down up to 80 targets simultaneously.

It deployed the system at its air base near Latakia in western Syria in December 2015 after a Turkish fighter jet shot down a Russian warplane on the Turkish-Syrian border in late 2015, causing a diplomatic rift between Moscow and Ankara.

But Turkey has been establishing closer links with Russia after its recent souring of ties with the United States over a number of issues, including U.S. support of Syrian Kurdish fighters that Ankara considers terrorists.

Meanwhile, Russia’s relations with the United States and NATO have been in crisis over its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region in March 2014, its backing of separatists in eastern Ukraine, and other issues.

With reporting by AFP, dpa, and TASS

Photos reveal desecration of Armenian church in Turkey

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A set of secretly taken photographs show Diyarbakir’s Surp Giragos Armenian Apostolic Church in descretion, the Armenian Weekly reports.

The church has been off limits to the public since the most recent clashes between the Turkish military and Kurdish fighters in Diyarbakir.

The photographs were taken in July 2017.

Armenians from around the world flocked to Surp Giragos on Oct. 22, 2011, to attend both the consecration of the largest Armenian Church in the Middle East and the Badarak held the following day. The church had been recently renovated by the Surp Giragos Armenian Foundation, with the support of the local Kurdish-controlled municipality of the time.

During the past two tumultuous years, the church has been desecrated and largely damaged, as the photographs show.des