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Pedro Gonçalves

Turkey sanctions France over genocide bill - Europe - Al Jazeera English - 0 views

www.aljazeera.com/...20111222222932233659.html

France Turkey Armenia

shared by Pedro Gonçalves on 23 Dec 11 - No Cached
  • France is home to around 500,000 citizens of Armenian descent and they are seen as a key source of support for Sarkozy and the UMP ahead of presidential and legislative elections in April and June next year.
  • The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) issued a statement of concern about the French vote setting a precedent and warned that the "criminalisation of debates on history's true course, even of obviously false and offensive statements about a nation's tragic moment, is not conducive to better understanding" among people and states.
  • Franco-Turkish relations are often tense - Sarkozy is a firm opponent of allowing Turkey to join the European Union - but 1,000 French firms work there and trade between the two is worth 12 billion euros per year. Much of Europe, including France, is facing recession amid a sovereign debt crisis, but Turkey enjoys growth rates in excess of eight percent and, with 78 million people, it is a huge potential market.
Pedro Gonçalves

Obama inks 'secret order' to aid Syria rebels - Middle East - Al Jazeera English - 0 views

www.aljazeera.com/...20128264510724249.html

Syria US

shared by Pedro Gonçalves on 02 Aug 12 - No Cached
  • US President Barack Obama has signed a secret order authorising US support for rebels seeking to depose Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his government, Reuters news agency said quoting sources familiar with the matter.
  • The White House has apparently stopped short of giving the rebels lethal weapons, even as some US allies have been doing just that.
  • A US government source acknowledged that under provisions of the presidential finding, the US was collaborating with a secret command centre operated by Turkey and its allies.
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  • Last week, Reuters reported that, along with Saudi Arabia and Qatar, Turkey had established a secret base near the Syrian border to help direct vital military and communications support to Assad's opponents.
  • This "nerve centre" is in Adana, a city in southern Turkey about 100km from the Syrian border, which is also home to Incirlik, a US airbase where US military and intelligence agencies maintain a substantial presence.
  • European government sources said wealthy families in Saudi Arabia and Qatar were providing significant financing to the rebels. Senior officials of the Saudi and Qatari governments have publicly called for Assad's departure.
  • On Tuesday, reports emerged that the Free Syrian Army had obtained nearly two dozen surface-to-air missiles, weapons that could be used against Assad's helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.
  • NBC network said the shoulder-fired missiles, also known as MANPADs, had been delivered to the rebels via Turkey. On Wednesday, however, Bassam al-Dada, a political adviser to the Free Syrian Army, denied the NBC report, telling the Arabic-language TV network Al-Arabiya that the group had "not obtained any such weapons at all".
Pedro Gonçalves

BBC News - US Congress panel accuses Turkey of Armenian 'genocide' - 0 views

news.bbc.co.uk/...8550765.stm

Turkey US Armenia

shared by Pedro Gonçalves on 04 Mar 10 - Cached
  • A US congressional panel has described the killing of Armenians by Turkish forces during World War I as genocide, despite White House objections.The resolution was narrowly approved by the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
  • Turkey, a key US ally, responded by recalling its ambassador in Washington for consultations. It has fiercely opposed the non-binding resolution.
  • In October last year, Turkey and Armenia signed a historic accord normalising relations between them after a century of hostility.
Argos Media

How Barack Obama refrained from using the 'g' word in Turkey | World news | The Guardian - 0 views

www.guardian.co.uk/...menia-genocide-us-turkey-obama

Obama US Turkey Armenian Genocide Armenia

shared by Argos Media on 07 Apr 09 - Cached
  • During last year's presidential election campaign, Obama had no doubt. "The Armenian genocide is not an allegation, a personal opinion or a point of view, but rather a widely documented fact supported by an overwhelming body of historical evidence."
  • Obama, with Turkey's president Abdullah Gul and before parliament yesterday, refrained from using what the Turkish media call "the g word". It was not because his views had changed, he said, but because of ongoing talks between Turkey and Armenia, they no longer matter. "What I want to do now is not focus on my views but on the views of the Turkish and Armenian people," he said.
Argos Media

BBC NEWS | Europe | Hardliners win N Cyprus election - 0 views

news.bbc.co.uk/...8004534.stm

Cyprus EU Turkey National Unity Party Mehmet Ali Talat Republican Turkish Party Dervis Eroglu

shared by Argos Media on 20 Apr 09 - Cached
  • Turkish Cypriot nationalists have swept to victory in a parliamentary election in northern Cyprus that could hamper peace talks with Greek Cypriots. The right-wing National Unity Party (UBP), which favours closer links with Turkey rather than EU membership, has won 44% of the vote. That leaves the ruling Republican Turkish Party (CTP) of leader Mehmet Ali Talat with only 29%. Mr Talat retains his position, but his hands will now be tied at peace talks.
  • Frustration at the slow progress of talks aimed at reuniting the island appears to have been a key element in this latest poll, the BBC's Tabitha Morgan reports from Cyprus. When Turkish Cypriot leader Mr Talat began talks with the Greek Cypriot leader, President Dimitris Christofias, over a year ago, he predicted a deal within months.
  • As part of the package, the breakaway Turkish Cypriot republic - which is only recognised by Turkey - would have gained automatic membership of the EU. None of this has happened.
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  • The leader of the nationalist UBP party, Dervis Eroglu, has said he will be pressing for international recognition for the breakaway state.
  • The UBP wants the island to remain divided and has its sights on a two-state model. Mr Eroglu has said that he would be appointing his own representative to accompany Mr Talat to future negotiations - a complication which is likely to make the search for a solution to the Cyprus problem considerably more difficult, our correspondent says.
  • The last attempt at a negotiated solution to the Cypriot problem - in 2004 - collapsed when Turkish Cypriots voted in favour of a UN settlement plan which was rejected by Greek Cypriot voters. As a result, Cyprus - or the southern part ruled by Greek Cypriots - joined the European Union that year, while the north remained effectively excluded.
Argos Media

BBC NEWS | Europe | Turkey hits Kurdish bases in Iraq - 0 views

news.bbc.co.uk/...8026364.stm

Turkey Kurdistan Kurds Iraq PKK

shared by Argos Media on 30 Apr 09 - Cached
  • Turkish warplanes bombed Kurdish rebel positions in northern Iraq on Wednesday and Thursday, Turkish officials say. The raids came hours after the deaths of 10 Turkish soldiers in two separate attacks that were blamed on the rebels, the deadliest in months.
  • Air force planes bombed targets in the Iraqi border regions of Zap and Avasin-Basyan in the overnight raids.
  • On Wednesday, a powerful bomb blast killed nine soldiers in Diyarbakir in south-eastern Turkey. Suspected rebels also shot dead a soldier near the town of Semdinli, close to the border with Iraq.
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  • Turkish warplanes have often targeted rebel hideouts in the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region, where Ankara says some 2,000 PKK guerrillas regularly stage hit-and-run attacks on Turkish territory.
Argos Media

Europe to contribute 5,000 extra troops to Afghanistan | World news | guardian.co.uk - 0 views

www.guardian.co.uk/...-troops-afghanistan-nato-obama

NATO US Europe Turkey Anders Fogh Rasmussen

shared by Argos Media on 04 Apr 09 - Cached
  • Barack Obama today won agreement for substantial Nato troop reinforcements in Afghanistan, when nine European nations, including Britain, said they would send up to 5,000 troops and logistical help ahead of the presidential elections there in August. Britain is to send 900 extra troops almost immediately, who will remain until October.
  • News of the reinforcements came as Nato named the Danish prime minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, as its next leader after overcoming Turkish opposition.
  • David Miliband the foreign secretary said the surprisingly large number of troops offered was proof of a palpable "Obama effect."
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  • America and Britain had become increasingly frustrated at the 28 Nato countries's unwillingness to commit troops to serious fighting against the Taliban in southern and eastern Afghanistan. While yesterday's temporary additions do not mean that Nato countries have committed themselves to a long-term increase in forces, the US claimed there was a definite change of mood.
  • The countries agreeing to contribute further help, according to European diplomats, include Poland – which is to send as many as 600 troops – Spain, Croatia, Greece and the Netherlands. Germany is expected to confirm that it will be sending extra troops to the largely peaceful north of Afghanistan for the election on 22 August.
  • France is sending a further 150 military police to help train Afghan civilian police, arguing that last year it announced a large extra deployment.
  • Britain currently has 8,100 troops in Afghanistan, and is separately considering a larger permanent deployment, which may be facilitated by the imminent drawdown in Iraq. The British contribution to the reinforcements includes 275 troops who were due to return to the UK in July but will now stay until October
  • Before the troops announcement was made, the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, hastily agreed to review a draft law that allegedly legitimises rape inside marriage for Afghanistan's Shia minority. The review follows phone calls yesterday from Brown and the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, as well as warnings from Canada that it will withdraw its troops if the law is passed.
  • Karzai has agreed to refer the law back to the Ministry of Justice and has committed himself to veto the law if it infringes the human rights of women. He protested yesterday that the law had been misinterpreted by western media and that it did not ban women from leaving their home without the permission of their husband.
  • Obama is committing an extra 21,000 troops, and possibly another 10,000 later in the year.
  • in a sign of the persisting tensions inside the 28-nation alliance, the summit at one stage appeared deadlocked over the appointment of Rasmussen, after objections from the Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
  • Turkey had rejected the nomination because of Rasmussen's defence of Danish newspaper cartoons depicting Muhammad in 2005.
  • Later, however, Turkey dropped its objections and it was announced that Nato leaders agreed unanimously to appoint Rasmussen as the next head of the alliance.
Pedro Gonçalves

Social media and opposition to blame for protests, says Turkish PM | World news | The G... - 0 views

www.guardian.co.uk/...esters-control-istanbul-square

Turkey AKP

shared by Pedro Gonçalves on 03 Jun 13 - No Cached
  • The dramatic events also exposed the complicity and almost complete government control of mainstream Turkish media, which has largely failed to report the protests."The Turkish media have embarrassed themselves," Caliskan said. "While the whole world was broadcasting from Taksim Square, Turkish television stations were showing cooking shows. It is now very clear that we do not have press freedom in Turkey."
  • Hasip Kaplan, an MP from the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy party, said: "After 1 June, the policy of 'for the people despite the people' is bankrupt. [The government] will have to listen to the people's opinions on mega-projects. Now is the time of participatory decision-making."
Pedro Gonçalves

Top military chief arrested in alleged plot against Turkish government - CNN.com - 0 views

edition.cnn.com/...index.html

Turkey Military

shared by Pedro Gonçalves on 06 Jan 12 - No Cached
  • Gen. Ilker Basbug spent the night behind bars at Silivri prison after testifying for seven hours Thursday in an Istanbul court. He was accused of creating dozens of websites aimed at bringing down the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
  • arrested based on charges related to eliminating the government of Turkish Republic and establishing and leading a terrorist organization
  • Last July, Turkey's top four military officers resigned after a squabble with the government over the fate of officers jailed in the alleged plot against the Justice and Development Party.
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