Group items tagged

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu spoke at the World Economic Forum about the world's lack of assistance in the transition to democracy in the Middle East and how that ultimately facilitated the birth of ISIL. He explains how a number of EU states were able to maneuver into the democratic realm with the assistance and guidance of the EU, illuminating the idea that the Middle East should be no different. Davutoglu condemns the west for abandoning Middle Eastern states in their dire time of need. While countries around the world supported the Arab Spring, they did nothing to support or finance it to success. He says it would be wrong to correlate the birth of ISIL with Islam, explaining how Islamic communities are perfectly capable of embracing democratic systems. However, assistance in its implementation is vital.

UN says the deal between the EU and Turkey regarding Syria's refugees would not be "consistent with European law" and is not consistent with International law. Turkey offered to take back all refugees and migrants who cross into Europe from its soil in return for more money, quicker visa travel for Turkish peoples, and faster EU membership talks.

The European Union is having some issues with Syrian refugees not staying in the country to where they first applied for asylum. This, and the ever growing number of Syrian refugees in Europe, has lead to a call to reform the Dublin Law. 

Turkey's role in this war is interesting. Accused of loosening border restrictions to let foreign fighters enter Syria, Turkey is now accusing EU countries of doing the same. There is a huge number of foreign fighters in Syria and it is hard to believe that EU countries had no idea these people were leaving.

Another issue Turkey is constantly dealing with, is the problem with the thousands of Syrian refugees at their border, in addition to the mini-civil war w/the Kurds, and its questionable oil business with ISIS. This article points out Erdogan's requests for the EU to deliver more funds to control the border situation. Different point of view from the other two articles I bookmarked this week.

U.S Congress members urge EU to do as Gulf states and outlaw both military and political branches of Hezbollah, to actually harm the terrorists.

A more recent article posted by BBC News on Feb. 19th of Turkey's recent renewment of bombardment against the Kurds (People's Protection Units) inside Syria. The US and UN have both pressed Turkey to cease shelling the YPG and EU urged Turkey to stop shelling Syria.

This is an opinion piece written by Cegniz Aktar, Senior Scholar at the Istanbul Policy Center, a director at the UN, and one of the leading advocates of Turkey's integration into the EU. In this piece, Aktar argues that Turkish politician "fearing the birth of a Kurdish nation-state more than anything but eager on the other hand to assert their regional supremacy, are ending up by alienating all three Kurdish communities" in Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. He is referring specifically to President Ankara making a speech comparing the PKK to ISIL, a few days after stating that the PKK should be fighting ISIL rather than Turkey. Even though the Turkish government has been an economic partner of the Iraqi Kurds, they have offered them no military support, and have also preventing Turkish Kurds from joining the fight against ISIL. The Turkish government's fear of a sovereign Kurdish state is leading to extremely poor diplomatic outcomes.

This article highlights the struggle for governmental unity that is occurring in Libya. The government, as the article says, "has been split into 2 rival governments since 2014." With militia forces and the increasing threat of ISIS, a stable government must be formed to secure a prosperous future for Libya.

temporary ceasefire agreement issue remain to be the interest to the great powers. While suspend or forget about the central issue which is the removal of Bashar al-Assad.

The European Union has imposed sanctions on three prominent Libyan politicians opposed to the installation of a UN-backed government. The sanctions target the leaders of two rival administrations that have been vying for power amid the chaos after the 2011 overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi. All three face travel bans and asset freezes.

Denial, elimination, mass murder, and ethnocide have constituted the main policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran in dealing with the national groups in this country. Totalitarian tendencies coupled with the lack of toleration of national and cultural pluralities inherent in the Iranian geographic order, with the Kurdish nation presenting itself at the top, was made manifest in the ominous duality of prison and execution, of which the Kurdish nation received a lion share.

The effects of FGM is presented. Some effects include intense bleeding, menstrual problems as well as problems with giving birth.

Different types of Female Genital Mutilations are provided.

The distribution of political mindedness is heavily mixed in the Gaza Strip. Other organizations in the area are also influencing the movements of people in the area.

Approximately 80 percent of Syrian refugees in Jordan live in urban areas in the north of Jordan, while the remaining 20 percent live in the Za'atari, Marjeeb al-Fahood, Cyber City and Al-Azraq camps. Northern Jordan has been dramatically altered by the Syrian civil war.

This paper discusses the opening that the 2011 Egyptian Revolution had on the discussion of women's right. Various platforms such as social media, art performance and graffiti have opened up a small dialog regarding this social issue.