The Grand Turk | |
Erdogan Says Turkey Will Increase Troop Numbers in Cyprus | |
2018-09-18 | |
![]() has vowed that Ankara will increase rather than reduce its troops numbers in Cyprus, a move that could further set back attempts to reunify the divided Mediterranean island. In comments published in ...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund.... had no need for a naval base on Cyprus as mooted in some reports but could establish such a facility if it was necessary from a "psychological" point of view. "No, we are not going to reduce the numbers of our troops. We will increase them, we are not going to decrease them," he told He expressed impatience over the Cyprus issue, saying "this business would have been solved" if the Greek Cypriots had backed unification in an April 2004 referendum on a plan put forward by the late former U.N. secretary general Kofi Annan ![]() While "Henceforth we will implement the formula that we have declared for ourselves," said Erdogan, without elaborating. Cyprus has been divided since the 1974 Turkey is believed to maintain around 35,000 troops in northern Cyprus, although the military does not give official figures. The withdrawal -- or drastic reduction -- of Turkey's military presence is seen as key to any reunification plan being acceptable to the Greek Cypriot side. Some conservative But Erdogan said "we have no need to build a base there," noting that unlike Greece, Turkey was just "minutes away" from the coast of Cyprus. But he appeared to leave the door open to such a move as a way of making a political statement. "This issue just has a psychological dimension. In this respect, if we felt the need, we could establish a base. Our presence there is important," Erdogan said. There were high hopes at the beginning of 2017 that U.N.-backed talks could clinch a breakthrough in the long-running stalemate on reuniting the island. But the deadlock has not been broken and analysts say rapid progress is unlikely for the moment as Erdogan reaches out to the nationalist electorate in Turkey. | |
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Southeast Asia |
Myanmar will take back displaced Rohingyas |
2017-10-25 |
[Dhaka Tribune] Myanmar has agreed to the repatriation of the Rohingyas to their homeland and implementation of the recommendations made by the final report of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State. Dhaka and Naypyidaw ...generally translated as royal capital, seat of the kingor abode of kingsbecause the general in charge had a massive ego. It was founded in 2002 because Rangoon was worn out. Traditionally, Naypyidaw was used as a suffix to the names of royal capitals, such as Mandalay, which was called Yadanabon Naypyidaw in Burmese... will form a joint working group in this regard by November 30, reports BSS. It said the decisions were taken at a home minister-level bilateral meeting between Bangladesh and Myanmar officials on security and law enforcement matters in Naypyidaw on Tuesday. Apart from discussing cooperation and security and law enforcement issues, both sides also signed two Memorandums of Understandings during the meeting, BSS reported quoting a message from Home Ministry spokesperson Sharif Mahmood Apu sent from Naypyidaw. One of them was on setting up a Border Liaison Office and the other on Security Cooperation and Dialogue, he said. Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, who flew to Myanmar on Monday, is leading a delegation to hold talks with the neighbouring country on a number of unresolved issues including the ongoing Rohingya crisis. Sharif also said that the minister was scheduled to make a courtesy call on Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi at 10am (local time) on Wednesday. The Bangladesh delegation is expected to return home on Wednesday ending their three-day visit. Former UN secretary general Kofi Annan ![]() heads the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State that released the report on August 24, only one day before the Myanmar security forces’ crackdown was launched in response to attacks on several police outpost and an army base in Rakhine. |
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Bangladesh |
PM: Myanmar must take the Rohingya back |
2017-09-12 |
[Dhaka Tribune] Prime Minister ![]() the Battling Begums.. has again urged Myanmar to take back the Rohingya people currently residing in Bangladesh, stressing that measures taken by the Bangladesh government to provide refuge to the Rohingya are temporary. Speaking at parliament on Monday, the prime minister said: "Several times, I have requested Myanmar to repatriate the Rohingya as they are their nationals." She further added that she would raise the issue with the UN General Assembly. "There are about 145 ethnic communities in Myanmar. The Myanmar government had given the Rohingya the same rights as other ethnic communities, but later the Myanmar junta hijacked their rights. I do not understand why the Myanmar government is doing this to the Rohingya," the prime minister said. "I would like to ask the Myanmar government: What result do they expect after forcing the Rohingya people out of their homeland?" Hasina also asked why Myanmar was not following the recommendations set by the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State led by Kofi Annan ![]() , saying since Myanmar had created the problem, they also needed to resolve it. She also urged the authorities concerned to swiftly locate and bring to justice those responsible for the attacks on border outposts on August 25 that led to the renewed violence against the minority Rohingya people in the Buddhist-majority Rakhine state. The prime minister further assured that the Rohingya would not be obstructed from entering Bangladesh. "We are providing food to 160 million people, we can manage food for an additional 700,000," she said at parliament. However, some people cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go... she was also quick to clarify that she wished for them to return to their homeland. "Myanmar has to consider the Rohingya Myanmar nationals. A Myanmar general called them Bangalis. Of course, they are Bangalis. But there are Bangalis in India, too. The measures we have taken to shelter the Rohingya are temporary. Myanmar must take back their nationals." |
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India-Pakistan |
Myanmar Says Taliban-Trained Militants behind Border Raids |
2016-10-15 |
[AnNahar] A Pak Taliban-trained turban leader was behind deadly attacks in the north of Myanmar's Rakhine state that have sparked a military crackdown and sent thousands of terrified residents fleeing the area, Myanmar's president said Friday. A little-known group called the Aqa Mul Mujahidin carried out the border post raids on Sunday that left nine coppers dead, the presidency said in a statement, linking it to a Rohingya turban outfit called the RSO experts have long considered defunct. Its leader spent six months training with the Taliban in Pakistain and received funding from unspecified organizations in the Middle East, the statement added. "The leader of the group is Hafiz Tohar, 45, from Kyauk Pyin Seik village, in Maungdaw township," said the statement, according to an English translation of the name from Burmese. "He studied with the Taliban for six months in Pakistain." Troops have poured into restive northern Rakhine since Sunday's raids, locking down an area where most residents are from Myanmar's persecuted Moslem Rohingya minority. At least 26 civilians have died in the ensuing skirmishes -- rights groups say the army has been gunning down unarmed Rohingya on the streets, but the army says troops have been defending themselves against attackers. Details of the killings and the ensuing lockdown by the military have proved difficult to confirm on the remote and tightly controlled area. A front man purporting to represent the RSO has vigorously denied any links to the border raids in a statement sent to AFP. - Hundreds of gunnies - The violence has raised the specter of sectarian unrest in 2012 that ripped the impoverished state apart, leaving more than 100 dead and driving tens of thousands of Rohingya into squalid displacement camps. Families have been streaming out of Maungdaw on foot, their worldly possessions stuffed into carrier bags and plastic buckets or strapped to the front of bicycle rickshaws. Around 180 teachers, workers and residents were also airlifted out of the region on Thursday, while hundreds of government staff have poured into the state capital Sittwe. AFP spoke to witnesses on Friday in Warpaik, a village close to where the first border post was raided and where the military said they discovered flags and scarves bearing the RSO logo the previous day. One elderly resident, who asked not to be named for her safety, described being set upon by hundreds of gunnies: "About 500 or 600 people attacked in three places," she said. "About 40 of us ran up a nearby hill with the children. We got hurt because we slipped and fell down as we ran," she said, showing injuries on her foot. "They were shooting with guns. They only bravely ran away when soldiers arrived. If soldiers hadn't come, we would have all been killed." - 'Jihad videos' - She identified the attackers from videos that have been circulating on social media that appear to show a group of armed Rohingya men calling for Moslems around the world to rise up in jihad in support of their cause. The three unverified videos, all shot in what appear to be rice fields and bamboo jungles similar to the landscapes along the Myanmar and Bangladesh border, have sparked concern that some from the hitherto largely peaceful group may be becoming radicalized. The Rohingya's plight has long been a rallying call for international jihadist organizations including the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... group and Pakistain's Taliban, but there has been little evidence that jihadist ideology has taken root among them. "The videos appear to be entirely authentic," said Anthony Davis, a security analyst with IHS-Jane's, pointing out the front man was using the Rohingya's Chittagong dialect of Bengali and carrying weapons like those authorities say were used in the border guard raids. "The footage shows what appear to be a rabble of typical Rohingya youths -- poorly dressed, ill-equipped and apparently untrained." An aide of Myanmar's de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, did not confirm whether the videos were real, but said the government "doesn't feel worried" about it. The violence in Rakhine has posed a challenge to her newly elected government, which took power in March from a military junta that ruled the country for 50 years. Facing international criticism for not doing more to help the Rohingya, she recently appointed a commission led by former U.N. chief Kofi Annan ![]() to investigate Rakhine's troubles. |
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Africa North |
Ban Ki-moon expected in Western Sahara refugee camps, liberated territories |
2016-03-06 |
[APS.DZ] CHAHID Al-HAFEDH (Sahrawi refugee camps) - The United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... Secretary General ![]() The visit is part of his tour in the region. The UN Chief is expected Sunday in Algeria to complete his report about the situation in Western Sahara, he will submit to the Security Council in next April. After having been received on Friday in Nouakchott by Mauritanian President Mohammed Ould Abdelaziz, Ban Ki-moon said that his visit to the region aimed at re-launching negotiations for the settlement of Western Sahara conflict through a referendum on self-determination for the Saharawi people. According to the plan of this fourth visit paid by a UN Secretary General after Perez De Cuellar, Boutros Boutros-Ghali and Kofi Annan ![]() , Ban will be welcomed at Tindouf Airport before joining the Sahrawi refugee camp in Smara where he will visit the "17 June School" managed by the UN Organization. Besides, Ban will meet with Sahrawi young people and students from Smara camp. The UN Chief will also meet with Polisario Front officials in the Chahid al-Hafedh refugee camp, notably President Mohammed Abdelaziz. |
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-Obits- |
Boutros-Ghali, first UN chief from Africa, dies |
2016-02-17 |
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Boutros Boutros-Ghali, a veteran Egyptian diplomat who helped negotiate his country's landmark peace deal with Israel but then clashed with the United States when he served a single term as U.N. secretary-general, has died. He was 93. Boutros-Ghali, the scion of a prominent Egyptian Christian political family, was the first U.N. chief from the African continent. He stepped into the post in 1992 at a time of dramatic world changes, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the end of the Cold War and the beginning of a unipolar era dominated by the United States. But after four years of frictions with the Clinton administration, the United States blocked his renewal in the post in 1996, making him the only U.N. secretary-general to serve a single term. He was replaced by Ghanaian Kofi Annan ![]() The current president of the U.N. Security Council, Venezuelan Ambassador Rafael Ramirez, announced Boutros-Ghali's death at the start of a session Tuesday on Yemen's humanitarian crisis. The 15 council members stood in a silent tribute. Boutros-Ghhali died Tuesday at a Cairo hospital, Egypt's state news agency said. ... and if you can't believe the state news agency who can you believe? He had been admitted to the hospital after suffering a broken pelvis, the Al-Ahram newspaper reported on Thursday. |
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
Assad used superior language in Annan's meeting: Saudi Leaks |
2015-07-09 |
[EN.ZAMANALWSL.NET] A new Saudi diplomatic document was published among thousands in WikiLeaks, showed minutes of the meeting between basher al-Assad and Kofi Annan![]() , the First United Nation's Envoy to Syria to resolve the Syrian crisis. The letter was coded and showed that Basher al-Assad insisted on calling the rebels as "terrorist" and his war was against terrorism on behalf of the whole world, not against the opposition. The letter explained that al-Assad used hidden threats and warning in his talk with Annan, like threatening of possible "huge bloodshed" if the regime withdrew its forces from the Syrian cities, although the meeting took place at time when the revolution was in its peaceful stage. Despite the good and personal relationship between al-Assad and Annan, as the Saudi diplomatic letter mentioned, al-Assad used rebuking and blaming tone in his talk to Annan when he said "you have not done anything , you have not pressurised countries or other sides supporting the terrorist action in Syria" and a stronger language when he said: "before asking us to take any step forward, demand others to do so". Moreover, al-Assad Blamed Annan for being unfair in his reports to the United nation in regard to the Syrian crisis." From his side, according to the coded Saudi diplomatic letter, Annan tried to reduce the tension and superiority in al-Assad's language, and put his solution in soft language, like requesting releasing detainees and handing them to the International observers, when al-Assad replied that prisoners' case would be dealt with according the Syrian way, and tribal prominent figures were looking after the matter. In the same meeting, Bashar claimed that they had released many prisoners by amnesty decrees and demonstrating in Syria had become allowed like other countries. Annan was he first Envoy to Syria to resolve the Syrian crisis, he started his mission in 23 February 2012, but he was not able to carry on for more than six months and resigned in 30-August in the same year and Lakhdar Brahimi followed him, who resigned later and followed by Staffan de Mistura. |
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-Short Attention Span Theater- | |
Egyptian activist loses bid for EU honor over call to kill Israelis | |
2014-10-04 | |
[IsraelTimes] An Egyptian activist’s nomination for a prestigious European honor was withdrawn because he called for the mass killing of Israelis.
“It emerges that one of the bloggers we proposed, Alaa Abdel Fatah who was a victim of repression in Egypt and locked away ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... several times, called for the murder ‘of a critical number of Israelis’ in a tweet in 2012. We did not avail of this information when we put forward his candidacy,” Gabi Zimmer, president of the GUE/NGL Group in the European Parliament, wrote. Named after Soviet scientist and dissident Andrei Sakharov, the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought was established in 1988 by the European Parliament as a means to honor individuals or groups striving to defend human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... and freedom of thought and expression. The €50,000 ($63,000) prize is awarded to “exceptional individuals who combat intolerance, fanaticism and oppression.” Laureates included South African president Nelson Mandela, UN secretary general Kofi Annan ![]() , and teenage Pak campaigner Malala Yousafzai. Abdel Fattah was nominated for the Sakharov Prize on September 23 along with rappers Mouad Belghouate (Morocco) and Ala Yaacoubi (Tunisia). “We cannot and will not tolerate such behavior,” Zimmer wrote in her statement about Abdel Fattah’s 2012 remark about Israelis. “This call goes against all our principles as well as the criteria for nomination for the Sakharov Prize. Our group has always favored debate and political confrontation between peoples, including the Israeli people.” In Egypt, Abdel Fattah is about to be tried under laws banning certain kinds of protest. In addition, he appealed a separate verdict of a month in prison for “insulting the interior ministry,” legal sources told Ahram Online. | |
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India-Pakistan |
Zardari moves court for acquittal in all corruption cases |
2014-01-20 |
![]() On the application of Mr Zardari, special judge Mohammad Bashir of the accountability court Islamabad issued notices to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and sought its reply on February 3, the next date of proceedings. The judge also exempted Mr Zardari from day-to-day appearance before the court after Farooq H. Naek and Amjad Iqbal Qureshi, the counsel for the former president, cited security concerns. The five corruption references were filed against Mr Zardari 17 years back. They included Cotecna, Société Générale de Surveillance (SGS), ARY Gold, Ursus tractors and polo ground cases. The accountability court in October last year had reopened the proceedings against Mr Zardari in compliance with the Supreme Court judgment passed in the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) case in December 2009. In the judgment, the apex court had ordered the revival of the cases which had been closed after the promulgation of the NRO in 2007. The Cotecna corruption reference was initially prepared by Saifur Rehman, the then chairman of Ehtesab Bureau, during the second government of ![]() ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... . Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto ... 11th Prime Minister of Pakistain in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996. She was the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founder of the Pakistain People's Party, who was murdered at the instigation of General Ayub Khan. She was murdered in her turn by person or persons unknown while campaigning in late 2007. Suspects include, to note just a few, Baitullah Mehsud, General Pervez Musharraf, the ISI, al-Qaeda in Pakistain, and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, who shows remarkably little curiosity about who done her in... and her spouse Mr Zardari were the main accused in the reference while Nusrat Bhutto, former CBR chairman A.R. Siddiqui and six directors of the Swiss company, Cotecna, were the co-accused. They were charged with taking as kickbacks six per cent of the total value of a $131 million pre-shipment contract awarded to the Swiss company. |
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
'No Military Solution' in Syria, Says Jimmy Carter-Kofi Anan Group |
2013-09-05 |
[An Nahar] An international political grouping headed by former U.N. secretary general Kofi Annan![]() came out against military action in Syria Wednesday, as the U.S. sought allies for strikes following alleged chemical attacks. "There is no military solution to this conflict," said The Elders, a group founded by former South African president Nelson Mandela. "Therefore every effort must be made to stop further bloodshed and to re-energize the political process to put an end to the conflict that has devastated and brutalized Syria," the group said in a statement. U.S. President Barack Obama Why can't I just eat my waffle?... is seeking global backing for punitive strikes against Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor. If he'd stuck with it he'd have had a good practice by now... 's regime for its alleged use of chemical weapons. Obama has deferred military action pending Congressional approval at a vote scheduled for September 9. Meanwhile French President Francois Hollande ...the Socialist president of La Belle France, an economic bad joke for la Belle France but seemingly a foreign policy realist... has vowed to "punish" Assad, while Syrian ally Russia has attacked the idea of military strikes. The Elders, which includes former U.S. president ![]() ... the worst president ever. Maybe the second worst. The votes aren't all in yet... , archbishop emeritus Desmond Tutu and ex-president of Ireland Mary Robinson, condemned the August 21 gas attack in a Damascus suburb as "inhumane and criminal". |
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
Brahimi to quit as Syria peace envoy: Diplomats |
2013-05-02 |
[Al Ahram] Syria peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi is on the verge of quitting amid growing frustration at deadlocked international efforts to end the worsening conflict, diplomats said Wednesday. Brahimi is "itching to resign but being persuaded to hang on for a few more days," said one UN Security Council diplomat. "He has told everyone that he wants to leave, there is little hope that he will stay," an Arab diplomat at the United Nations ...an organization whose definition of human rightsis interesting, to say the least... told AFP. The 79-year-old former Algerian foreign minister was named in place of former UN leader Kofi Annan ...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo... as the UN-Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... envoy on August 17 last year. He recognized at the time that he faced an uphill battle. Brahimi has been criticized by the Syrian opposition and Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad Despoiler of Deraa... 's government said last week it would no longer cooperate with him. Like Annan, before him Brahimi has been increasingly frustrated at the failure of the major powers to agree to a plan on ways to end the two-year-old conflict which has left more than 70,000 dead. |
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
Damascus Insists Brahimi Sever Ties with Arab League |
2013-04-25 |
[An Nahar] Damascus ...Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world... said on Wednesday it will stop cooperating with international peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi unless he severs his ties with the Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... , which it accused of involvement in a conspiracy against Syria. "Syria has cooperated and will cooperate with Brahimi only as U.N. envoy, because the vaporous Arab League is complicit in the conspiracy against Syria," the foreign ministry said in a statement carried by state media. It lashed out at the U.N.-Arab League envoy and said there was "a lack of neutrality" in his work. Brahimi was named to the joint post in August to replace former U.N. chief Kofi Annan ![]() , who stepped down after failing to get the two sides to implement a peace plan he had proposed. Last month, the Arab League granted the Syrian seat to the main opposition National Coalition, in a move that sparked rage from Damascus. "Brahimi's report (on April 19) to the U.N. Security Council was marked by (a tone of) interference in Syria's internal affairs and a lack of the neutrality required by his mission as international mediator," the statement said. Brahimi told the council that Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad Light of the Alawites... is "not in the mood for dialogue." The veteran Algerian diplomat also urged the council last Friday to impose an arms embargo on all sides of the Syrian conflict, a senior U.N. official said on Wednesday. |
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