Warning: Undefined array key "rbname" in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 14
Hello !

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Turkey threatens Syrian gov’t about attacking Afrin

2018-05-18

[ALMASDARNEWS] Any potential attack by the Syrian government forces on the country’s Idlib province may result in a "catastrophe," Ottoman Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Thursday. "Currently the most important issue is for the ceasefire not be violated in Syria. If this is achieved, political settlement will become closer. There are many fragmented terror groups. Our intelligence service and the General Staff are dealing with the matter. We have achieved certain results. If the Syrian regime launches an attack tomorrow under the pretext of fighting against terrorists, it will be a catastrophe. This is why we are monitoring the situation and have established our observation posts," Cavusoglu told the TRT TV channel. The foreign minister also accused Damascus of delaying the establishment of the Syrian Constitutional Committee, which had been agreed upon during the Syrian National Dialogue Congress that took place in January in the Russian city of Sochi. "We have submitted our list of candidates to the Committee members, but the [Syrian] regime has not yet provided one of its own. Our Astana [grinding of the peace processor] partners, [Russia and Iran], say that they cannot force, convince it. But it has to be forced! It turns out that the regime does not want any solution," the minister stated. Cavusoglu has urged Russia and Iran to convince Damascus to accelerate the negotiation process on Syria in Geneva. He also noted that the Astana talks were more fruitful. As part of the Astana talks last year, The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the decaying remnant of the Ottoman Empire.... , Russia and Iran, which are the Syrian ceasefire guarantor states, agreed to establish four de-escalation zones in the country.

Link

The Grand Turk

Turkey Gives Life Sentences to 2013 Car Bomb Suspect

2018-02-24

[AnNahar] An Ankara court on Friday handed down multiple life sentences to the convicted mastermind of a 2013 attack in Turkey near the Syrian border which killed 53 people, state media reported. Turkey blamed the twin car bombings on May 11, 2013, in the southern border town in Hatay province on pro-Damascus groups. ...that was this attack in the border town of Reyhanli, a very busy place for bad guys of various persuasions, including those on the Turkish government payroll... The Ankara court convicted Nasir Eskiocak over planning and executing the attack, and gave him 53 aggravated life sentences, which carry harsher conditions and replaced the death penalty in Turkey, state news agency Anadolu reported. Eskiocak was found guilty of killing 53 people including five children and "trying to destroy the country's unity and integrity," the agency added. Ankara blamed the attack on "Acilciler" (meaning the Urgent Ones), an outlawed Marxist Turkish group linked to Syrian intelligence services. But the Syrian regime denied any involvement. The group is a branch of a far-left underground movement founded in 1972, the Turkish People's Liberation Party/Front (THKP/C). Following the clampdown after the 1980 military coup in Turkey, "Acilciler" went underground and its leader Mihrac Ural sought refuge in neighboring Syria. The Turkish foreign ministry in late January sought explanations from Moscow over Ural's presence at the Syrian National Dialogue Congress hosted by Russia in the Black Sea resort of Sochi where representatives of Syrian civil society and politics met.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Sochi congress agrees to set up Syrian constitutional commission

2018-01-31

[ALMASDARNEWS] Participants of the Syrian National Dialogue Congress have agreed to establish a constitutional commission, which will include delegates elected at the forum, as well as representatives of those groups that did not attend the congress in Sochi. The final communique of the Syrian National Dialogue Congress in Sochi includes 12 principles for the Syrian crisis settlement that were worked out within the UN-backed Geneva process, UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said on Tuesday. "[In] the new final declaration today you embraced the 12 principles, developed in the Geneva political process, that describes a vision of Syria that all Syrians should be able to share," de Mistura said at the closing ceremony of the Congress. The issue of the new Syrian constitution has long been on the agenda of all major platforms for the Syrian crisis settlement. The UN-backed negotiations in Geneva focus on the four so-called baskets: constitution, elections, governance and counter-terrorism. "I have heard that you all agreed that the assignment comes to the United Nations ...an idea whose time has gone... to get the Constitutional Committee established. I have also noted that in accordance with the final statement, the Congress supported the list of representatives for the constitutional committee," de Mistura said at the closing of the congress. UN Envoy for Syria also said that the constitutional committee agreed on at the Syrian National Dialogue Congress will comprise both the representatives of the Syrian government and opposition activists and thanked the forum for its contribution to the Geneva peace talks. "I also take note that those of you, who are here, agreed that the constitutional committee will be formed comprising the government of the Syrian Arab Republic along with the wide representation of the opposition delegations for drafting a constitutional reform. It is intended as a contribution, and thank you again, to the political settlement under the UN auspices in accordance with the UNSC resolution 2254," de Mistura said at the closing ceremony of the Congress. Syria opposition rejects Sochi constitution plan [Al Jazeera] Participants of a Russia-hosted conference for peace in Syria have agreed to set up a commission to rewrite the war-torn country's constitution. Staffan de Mistura, United Nations ...where theory meets practice and practice loses... Special Envoy for Syria, said on Tuesday that delegates at the two-day conference at the Black Sea resort of Sochi, agreed to include both government and opposition officials in the 150-member committee. De Mistura said the final agreement on the committee would be reached in the UN-led diplomatic process in Geneva based on UN Security Council Resolution 2254 - which serves as a framework for political transition in Syria. But the fate of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad The Scourge of Hama... - a key sticking point that has repeatedly caused ongoing negotiations to fail - was not mentioned in the final statement. Syria's major opposition groups, who boycotted the event, rejected the proposal. The main opposition bloc - the Syrian Negotiation Commission (SNC) - accused Assad and Russia, Syria's principle ally, of continuing to use military might and showing no interest in entering into honest negotiations.

Link

Iraq

Iraqis divided over referendum results

2005-10-26

The votes have been counted and the draft constitution approved, but Iraqi opinion remains divided over the referendum results . Next thing you know, they'll be telling us some people voted in favor and some didn't... While the passage of the constitution has been welcomed by many, an equally vocal section is crying foul, alleging largescale fraud. "You musta cheated! We didn't win!" Hussain al-Shahristani, deputy chairman of the Iraqi National Congress welcomed the results as positive. Ali al-Lami, a politician from the al-Daawa Party which supported the draft constitution, also hailed the results. "The majority of Iraqis actually find it the best solution for avoiding future emergence of any possible dictators in the Iraqi state," he said. Supporters of the constitution claim federalism is the only way to restore rights to the provinces neglected earlier and ensure equitable distribution of the country's wealth. The outcome of the 15 October referendum finally hinged on the results of the mainly Sunni northern province of Nineveh which was among the last provinces to declare its results. Two other Sunni majority provinces had already voted against the charter by the necessary two-thirds majority but Nineveh voters only rejected the text by 55% to 45%, insufficient to block its adoption. That's less than 66%, isn't is? But those opposed to the constitution have been less than gracious in defeat. They say the new charter will result in a form of cantonisation, dividing Iraq into small weak states. "If the governor of Nasiriya province refused to provide electricity to Baghdad while he was getting a salary from the central government, do you think he will give anything when he is independent? We are not ready for this nonsense yet," said Safaa al-Ani, a senior member of the National Dialogue Congress. Mahmood al-Azzawi, also a prominent member of the National Dialogue Congress claimed the entire electoral process was rigged. "Fraud occured, especially in regard to the Mosul vote. It is too big to have any dispute about." He further added: "86% of Mosul's residents voted No and that was according to accurate statistics made by over 300 independent supervisors in the province." Salih al-Mutlag, the spokesman for the National Dialogue Congress, said a recount in Mosul will possibly be demanded. "There was fraud everywhere, but it is Mosul that matters because it was pivotal to defeating this unaccepted constitution," he said.

Link

Warning: Undefined property: stdClass::$T in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 132
-4 More