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Turkey: No cooperation with ‘terrorists’ in Syria

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6Prime Minister Binali Yildirim says Turkey will not allow cooperation with terrorist organizations in Syria, referring to Kurdish groups which the US supports. 

Ankara and Washington have long been at loggerheads over the role of a US-backed Syrian Kurdish militia.

Turkey says the fighters are a terrorist organization affiliated with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) but the US sees them as a partner in Syria operations.

In a speech to his ruling AK Party in parliament on Tuesday, Yildirim said Turkey won’t allow formation of new states in Syria, echoing suspicion that the Kurdish campaign was aimed at establishing a separate state.

Turkey has been shelling the positions of Kurdish fighters in northern Syria.

Last month, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan angrily denounced US troops for wearing insignia of Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Unit (YPG) during an operation in Syria.

In his Tuesday speech, Yildrim also said Turkey will never change its anti-terrorism laws, even if it would mean a collapse in a deal with the EU to secure visa-free travel for Turks to Europe.

Turkey and the EU have been discussing visa liberalization since 2013 and agreed in March to go ahead with it as part of a broader deal to halt refugees from Turkey to the EU.

But progress stalled when Brussels insisted that Ankara must also reform its tough anti-terror laws.

Ankara is under fire for its heavy-handed crackdown on the country’s Kurdish minority in the southeast.

Last month, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu ruled out any potential alteration of the law.

source: presstv

ADL: We would support U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide

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The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) CEO has called on the U.S. government to recognize the Armenian Genocide.

“What happened to the Armenian people was unequivocally genocide,” Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement. “The genocide began with the ruling government arresting and executing several hundred Armenian intellectuals. After that, Armenian families were removed from their homes and sent on death marches. The Armenian people were subjected to deportation, expropriation, abduction, torture, massacre and starvation.”

Mr. Greenblatt said it is important to educate each generation about the tragedies of the past.

“That is why I am speaking out today and why we would support U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide. Silence is not an option,” he emphasized.

“Collectively, this background makes it imperative for groups who, sadly, share a history of oppression to stand together. When individuals or groups deny the Armenian genocide, as recently took place with a billboard in Boston, ADL will speak out and denounce that denial. In that spirit, I am optimistic about greater cooperation going forward to end all forms of hate and bigotry,” he resumed.

US gov’t suspends 14 aid programs in Turkey upon corrupt practices in aid to Syria

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n_98977_1The U.S. government has suspended millions of dollars in funding to more than a dozen organizations providing aid for Syria from Turkey, after discovering they were systematically overpaying Turkish companies for basic goods with the collusion of some staff members, a U.S. official said on May 10.

Upon a complex investigation into cross-border aid programs providing humanitarian relief in Syria and running from both Turkey and Jordan by multiple nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) with funds from USAID and other international donors, the Washington-based U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Office of Inspector General (OIG) has identified corrupt practices involving a number of these programs operating from Turkey, the OIG announced on May 6.

A U.S. government official, speaking with the Hürriyet Daily News on May 10, confirmed that the investigation had led to the suspension of 14 entities and individuals involved in aid programs from Turkey.

“It is an independent investigation being conducted by an independent inspector general,” said the U.S. official, who requested anonymity.

“As it is an ongoing investigation, we cannot provide any information on the name of any specific organization or individual involved,” the U.S. official added.

The investigation to date has identified a network of commercial vendors, NGO employees, and others who have colluded to engage in bid-rigging and multiple bribery and kickback schemes related to contracts to deliver humanitarian aid in Syria, USAID OIG said in a May 6 statement.

“Some early concerns about these practices surfaced through one USAID implementer, which identified and self-reported procurement irregularities affecting its programs,” it said.

“To date, OIG’s investigation has established grounds resulting in the suspension of 14 entities and individuals involved with aid programs from Turkey. As a result of the suspensions, these parties are no longer able to receive U.S. government awards. A portion of USAID-funded cross-border programs in Syria were suspended as a result of this investigation, and several NGOs delivering aid to Syria have terminated staff members’ employment based on demonstrated misconduct,” the statement added.

Citing humanitarian sources, Agence France-Presse reported from Washington on May 10 that among those affected are the International Medical Corps (IMC), the Irish charity Goal, and the International Rescue Committee (IRC), headed by former British Foreign Secretary David Miliband.

ARF Western US to Raise Funds to Rebuild Artsakh Villages and Support Soldiers

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with-artsakh-logoGLENDALE—In a statement issued Friday, the ARF Dashnaktutyun Western US Central Committee appealed to the community to raise much-needed funds to help rebuild areas of Artsakh most hard-hit by recent Azerbaijani attacks, as well as to provide support to families of fallen soldiers.

Below is the complete text of the announcement.

The heroic people of Artsakh have once again spilled blood defending our homeland. As a clarion call, a mother, while burying her son, expressed the sentiment of the courageous people of Artsakh, “We lost precious lives defending our land. We will not give up one inch of that land to the aggressors.”

The savage attacks by Azerbaijani forces beginning on April 2, along the Nagorno-Karabakh-Azerbaijan border has not only destabilized the region, but also rekindled the possibility of full-scale war threatening the existence of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and its people. Although the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army withstood the attacks and delivered a strong response, several villages have been left in ruins, especially the regions of Talish, Mardakert, and Madaghis. The unprovoked aggression has resulted in the loss of civilian and military lives and has taken its toll on the injured soldiers.

We reiterate our solidarity with the government and people of Artsakh, as well as the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army, as they confront yet another breech of the cease fire by Azerbaijan.

The ARF Dashnaktutyun Western US Central Committee, heeding the call from our brethren in Artsakh, has pledged to play a central role in the effort to rebuild the devastated areas as quickly as possible so that the residents may return to their normal lives, and to send a decisive message to Azerbaijan that its military threats will not deter the spirit of the Armenian people and the development of Artsakh.

We call upon all Armenians to join the ACF “With Artsakh” and AYF “With Our Soldiers” efforts in order to actively bring their financial and moral support to free and independent Artsakh.

The National Liberation Struggle for Artsakh began in 1988 and war threatened its existence in the 1990’s. The ARF Western US, with its members, supporters and the vast and diverse affiliate organizations has continually stood with Artsakh and spared nothing to ensure its survival. The time has come to recommit to assisting our brave brothers and sisters in the homeland.

Assad Meets US Senator in Damascus to Discuss Fight Against Terrorism

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1038786130Syrian President Bashar Assad discussed in Damascus on Thursday the situation in the Arab country and the fight against terrorism with US Sen. Richard Black, local media reported.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Assad said that terrorist actions all across the globe highlighted the need for real international cooperation not only in the fight against terrorism but also against the Wahhabi ideology behind it, according to the SANA news agency.

Black in turn said that it was necessary to show the US people the real situation in Syria despite disinformation that some parties at the US administration practiced.

The US senator also called for lifting economic sanctions imposed on Syria that violated international law.

Syria has been mired in civil war since 2011, with government forces fighting against several opposition factions and extremist groups. The United States and some of its allies have been supporting the so-called moderate Syrian opposition since the beginning of the conflict, calling on Assad to resign.

Turkey İncirlik Air Base US soldier attacked by Turkish nationalist youth group,

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n_97909_1ADANA – Doğan News Agency,

Two members of the nationalist Turkish Youth Union (TGB) were detained after trying to put a sack over a U.S. soldier’s head at the İncirlik Air Base in the southern province of Adana on April 16.

Footage of the incident shows TGB Adana Provincial Head Yalçın Semir Akarsu chasing the U.S. soldier and attempting to put a sack over his head.

“You put a sack over our soldiers head in 2003. You are responsible for that and for the terrorism in our country,” Akarsu can be heard saying in the footage, referring to a notorious 2003 incident when a group of U.S. soldiers staged an operation against Turkish soldiers based in Sulaymaniyah in northern Iraq, taking 11 Turkish soldiers hostage and putting sacks on their heads.

“Bombs are exploding every day. Every day we receive news of martyred soldiers. You are responsible for that. You cannot leave your base, but we can come to your prison and we are putting this sack over your head,” Akarsu added.

Akarsu and Cenk Kızılırmak, who recorded the incident on camera, have been detained after Turkish soldiers intervened at the scene.

Akarsu and Kızılırmak were taken to the police headquarters after medical checks.

They were at the İncirlik Air Base in order to participate in an event marking Turkey’s April 23 National Sovereignty and Children’s Day.

TGB General Secretary Sinan Sungur said they had been waiting to stage such an act for two years and the April 23 event gave them the “opportunity” to do so.

A similar incident took place on Nov. 12, 2014, when a group of TGB members attacked NATO soldiers stationed in Istanbul’s touristic Eminönü district, putting sacks over their heads and throwing dye over them.

US warns of global attack on freedom, slams some allies like Turkey

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© AFP/File | A demonstrator holds a placard reading "Free Press Free Society", outside the Istanbul courthouse on April 1, 2016

© AFP/File | A demonstrator holds a placard reading “Free Press Free Society”, outside the Istanbul courthouse on April 1, 2016

WASHINGTON (AFP) Governments around the world are cracking down on basic freedoms, the United States warned Wednesday, in a report that did not spare key US allies like Turkey and Egypt.

Secretary of State John Kerry, writing the preface to his department’s annual human rights report, said attacks on democratic values point to a “global governance crisis.”

Istanbul the Hub of Terrorism: US warns of ‘credible threats’ to tourist areas in Istanbul, Antalya

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n_97562_1The United States embassy in Turkey on April 9 warned American citizens of “credible threats” to tourist areas in Istanbul and the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya, a day after Israel warned of “imminent risks” of attacks.

“The U.S. Mission in Turkey would like to inform U.S. citizens that there are credible threats to tourist areas, in particular to public squares and docks in Istanbul and Antalya,” read the emergency travel warning published on its official website.

On April 8, Israel reissued and accentuated a warning to its citizens to avoid Turkey over the “immediate risks” of attacks, weeks after three Israelis were killed in an Istanbul suicide bombing.

“Following a situational assessment, we are reiterating and sharpening the high level of threat in Turkey,” the counter terrorism bureau said.

Its warning came hours after the Turkish foreign ministry announced “progress towards finalizing the agreement” on restoring ties with Israel, a day after both sides held talks in London.

“There are immediate risks of attacks being carried out in the country, and we stress the threat applies to all tourism sites in Turkey,” Israel’s counter terrorism bureau said in a statement.

It called on all Israelis to avoid visiting Turkey and urged Israeli tourists there to leave “as soon as possible,” defining the threat as level 2 — “concrete and high” — the same as in its previous warning from March 28.

Three Israelis and an Iranian were killed and 39 people wounded when a man blew himself up on Istanbul’s Istiklal Avenue, a famous shopping street in the heart of Turkey’s largest city, on March 19.

Turkey said the bomber had links to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), and on April 5 Israel’s defense ministry said he had most likely targeted the Israelis deliberately.

75% of U.S. foreign military financing goes to two countries Israel

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151111110337-us-foreign-military-aid-2014-exlarge-169By Nick Thompson, CNN

CNN)American taxpayers doled out $5.9 billion in foreign military financing in 2014, according to the government’s Foreign Assistance report — that’s roughly the GDP of Somalia. But where did the money go?

To the usual suspects, mostly — Israel ($3.1B) and Egypt ($1.3B) received roughly 75% of all foreign military aid money handed out by the U.S. last year.
This map from the cost-information website howmuch.net shows the relative size of countries based on how much U.S. military aid they receive.
The top five recipients of foreign military financing in 2014, according to the report:
1. Israel: $3.1 billion
2. Egypt: $1.3 billion
3. Iraq: $300 million
3. Jordan: $300 million
5. Pakistan: $280 million
What also stands out from the report is the regional distribution — the Middle East (64%) and Africa (23%) account for 86% of all U.S. foreign military financing last year.

U.S. spent $35 billion on foreign economic aid last year

The $5.9 billion for military funding represents 17% of the roughly $35 billion the U.S. spent on foreign aid in 2014, according to the report.
This map from howmuch.net shows the relative size of countries based on how much total economic aid they received from the U.S. last year:
Again, the Middle East dominates the top five, thanks mostly to Israel. Here’s the total amount of aid the top countries received:
1. Israel: $3.1 billion
2. Egypt: $1.5 billion
3. Afghanistan: $1.1 billion
4. Jordan: $1 billion
5. Pakistan: $933 million

US Destroy Turkish consulate in Mosul To cover-up & destroy Evedance of Turkish Invasion of Mosul “ISIL-HQ”

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n_97265_1ISIL use Turkish consulate as headquarter to communicate directly with Ankara

Aircraft from a U.S.-led coalition have destroyed the Turkish consulate compound in Mosul, which has been occupied by fighters of the Islamist State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) since June 2014, the Turkish Foreign Ministry has said.

“The compound of our Mosul Consulate-General, which has been under DAESH [ISIL] occupation since 2014 and where, according to intelligence, high-level DAESH terrorists were occupying, was targeted and destroyed by war aircraft belonging to members of the International Coalition for the Fight against DAESH at 3 a.m. on April 4,” the Foreign Ministry said in a written statement issue early on April 4.

Around three months ago, U.S. officials contacted Ankara and informed that they had intelligence affirming that ISIL had turned the consulate general building virtually into “a headquarters,” and asked for permission to hit the building.

ISIL militants stormed Turkey’s consulate general in Mosul on June 11, 2014, taking hostage then-Consul General Öztürk Yılmaz, now a member of the parliament for the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), along with 48 other people. After being held for 101 days, the hostages were finally freed on Sept. 20, 2014, likely as a result of a swap deal that was not denied by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

April/04/2016