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allieggg

Davutoglu: Failure to support democracy led to ISIL Anadolu Agency - 0 views

  • The rise of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant is caused by the world's failure to support democracy in the Middle East,
  • " ISIL now exists because we did not properly support the democratic transition processes in 2012, not becauseISIL is so strong or the Syrian and Iraqi people are aligned to ISIL-like radical acts."
  • "We welcomed the Arab Spring when it first began to flourish as we thought the EU and the U.S. would support and finance the Middle East just as they did for the wind of democracy in the Balkans,"
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  • Davutoglu said countries like Poland and Romania now enjoy democracy due to finance from the EU but, he added, "no state came up to finance democracy in the Middle East."
  • Syria faces a terrorist threat instead of  democracy is because the world abandonedSyria.
  • "Islamic communities that have a deep-rooted culture of politics have the capacity, like any other nation and religion, to both keep democracy alive and improve it,” he added. “Neither Islam nor the world of Islam can be correlated with entities like ISIL."
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    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.
jordanbrown16

Khamenei calls Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons a myth - 0 views

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    Ali Khamenei is Iran's Supreme Leader. On Sunday, April 19, 2015, he pronounced that Iran's nuclear program and that nuclear weapons are a myth made up by the U.S. and European nations. As a result, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has launched investigations regarding the possible military dimensions of the nuclear program.
jordanbrown16

'When a Nation Is Threatened, Democracy Is an Impossible Dream' - 0 views

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    This article discuss human rights and how the United States misconstrues its main objective from a Iranian journalist and activist, Akbar Ganji's, point of view. He discusses Iran's hunger for democracy and proof that the country is worthy and that the United States is not.
mjumaia

A more competitive Saudi middle class - 0 views

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    While it seems that the country is doing great on a national level, many local and international economic observers have showed their fear over the impact of changes that are affecting Saudi society. The stereotype about Saudi Arabia thats everybody is rich but not really. Saudi Arabia has middle class that struggle sometimes.
aavenda2

Saudi oil output up, along with region’s refinery demand | The National - 0 views

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    Saudi continues to raise production output regardless of current prices.Oil production in March averaged 10.3 million barrels per day, an increase from the 9.6 million bpd from the first two months of this year.
alarsso

Syria's beleaguered Christians - BBC News - 0 views

  • Christian men have been fighting in the multi-layered conflict - either alongside Kurdish militias or alongside relatively secular rebel factions, or government forces.
  • 10% of Syria's 22 million people.
  • Greek Orthodox Church,
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  • Christians have long been among Syria's elite
  • The founder of the Baath Party
  • was a Christian, and Christians rose to senior positions in the party, government and security forces
  • not seen to have any real power compared with their Alawite and Sunni colleagues.
  • large proportion
  • Sunnis also tolerated or supported the Assads,
  • guarantors of stability
  • When pro-democracy protests erupted
  • many Christians were cautious and tried to avoid taking sides.
  • Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch Gregorios III Laham said last year that more than 1,000 Christians had been killed, entire villages cleared, and dozens of churches and Christian centres damaged or destroyed.
  • This has led some Christians to express support for President Assad,
  • if President Assad is overthrown, Christians will be targeted and communities destroyed as many were in Iraq after the US-led invasion in 2003.
  • concerned by the coming to power of Islamist parties in post-revolutionary Egypt and Tunisia.
  • Other Christians are believed to be assisting the opposition.
  • Syrian National Council, whose leader
  • is from a Christian family.
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    Thsi article explores the state of Christians in Syria. Patriarch Gregorios and Bishop Ibrahim add to this discussion.
diamond03

Efua Dorkenoo fought against female genital cutting - The Globe and Mail - 0 views

  • Efua Dorkenoo fought against female genital cutting
  • successful 30-year campaign against the tradition of genital cutting of girls and women,
  • Efua Dorkeno
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  • ied Oct. 18 in London. She was 65.
  • Equality Now, a London-based women’s rights organizatio
  • Dorkenoo started organizations to battle genital cutting and co-ordinated the effort more broadly as acting director of women’s health at the World Health Organization in the late 1990s.
  • She wrote articles and an influential book – Cutting the Rose: Female Genital Mutilation (1996) –
  • “warrior in chief
  • “She inspired a generation of feminists across the world to take up the cause of banning the procedure,
  • Last year, the UN General Assembly voted unanimously to recognize female genital cutting as a human-rights violation.
  • British government prosecuted it as a crime for the first time,
  • African-led organization she helped found, The Girl Generation: Together to End FGM, began work this month.
  • practice is declining in many countries
  • teenage girls were less likely to have been cut than older women in half of the 29 countries in Africa and the Middle East where the practice is concentrated.
  • In Egypt, where more women have been cut than in any other country, surveys showed that 81 per cent of 15- to 19-year-olds had undergone the practice, compared with 96 per cent of women in their late 40s.
  • Female genital cutting involves pricking, piercing or amputating some or all of the external genitalia
  • vulva is closed, leaving a small hole for the passage of urine and menstrual blood.
  • The practice is believed to have originated about 4,000 years ago in Egypt or the Horn of Africa.
  • 27 countries in Africa
  • Adherents come from a spectrum of faiths, including Christianity, Islam and African religion
  • often ages 4 to 8
  • pathway to womanhood
  • The World Health Organization says female genital cutting has no health benefits and can cause severe bleeding, problems urinating and, later in life, cysts, infections and infertility.
  • intended to reduce women’s sexual pleasure
  • preserve a woman’s virginity until marriage.
  • 125 million women living today in the countries where it is concentrated have experienced such cutting.
  • The mother was so badly scarred, she said, that she could not deliver her baby through natural childbirth.
  • Ms. Dorkenoo began campaigning against the practice in the early 1980s
  • Foundation for Women’s Health and Development to promote the health of African women and girls, with a focus on abolishing female genital cutting
  • co-ordinated national action plans against female genital cutting in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Cameroon, Kenya, Somalia and Sudan.
  • In 1994, Queen Elizabeth II named Ms. Dorkenoo an honorary officer in the Order of the British Empire.
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    Efua Dorkenoo recently passed away. She was a women who fought for women's rights and the ban of FGM. She was an inspiration to feminists to take action. 
micklethwait

Arab Human Development Reports - United Nations Development Programme - 0 views

shared by micklethwait on 08 Sep 14 - Cached
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    Hugely important collection of data presented in a variety of media.
fcastro2

Are China and Russia Moving toward a Formal Alliance? | The Diplomat - 0 views

    • fcastro2
       
      Why is this relationship forming now? Ukraine Crisis, they want a multipolar world, China/Japan dispute, & Russia and the NATO expansions. 
    • fcastro2
       
      Advocates for China-Russian alliance. Shared strategic interests and possible length of this alliance, U.S. and its Allies threat to Russia leaves in no choice but to side with China, but may lead to another cold war.
    • fcastro2
       
      Opponents of China-Russian Alliance. China could be dragged to war by Russia, Russian's unwillingness to be a junior to China, Russia wants good relations with ALL Asian countries. They believe this alliance is unrealistic and a strategic partnership is more reasonable. 
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  • China and Russia signed a huge natural gas deal that is worth about $400 billion.
  • China secures a long-term (30 years) provision of natural gas from Russia and Russia can reduce its dependence on the European markets as well as strengthen Russia’s position against Western sanctions
  • Russia is now moving closer to China’s side with regard to the territorial disputes between China and Japan
  • China and Russia last week vetoed a draft UN resolution to send Syria to the International Criminal Court for war crimes. China and Russia had vetoed three previous UNSC resolutions condemning Syria
  • In the joint statement issued by China and Russia, the main message is that China-Russia relations have reached a new stage of comprehensive strategic partnership and this will help increase both countries’ international status and influence, thus contributing to a more just international order
  • China and Russia will deepen cooperation under the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building in Asia (CICA), a new security framework in Asia-Pacific that conveniently excludes the U.S. and Japan.
  • , the main trigger is the recent Ukraine crisis that has seriously damaged Russia-West relations
  • mutual strategic needs as both China and Russia want to create a multipolar world that is not dominated by the U.S., particularly as China faces threats from the US-led alliance in Asia
  • China’s chance of winning maritime disputes with Japan partly depends on maintaining a good relationship with Russia
  • the NATO expansion is a serious threat to Russia’s national security and as such Russia has to fight back
  • new China-Russia alliance is now emerging and this will eventually lead to a multi-polar world order.
  • problems in China-Russia relations such as historical mistrust, the lack of a common threat, and conflicting interests in Central Asia
  • he most important factor determining whether China and Russia should form an alliance is whether the two countries have shared strategic interests and how long such shared strategic interests can last
  • China nor Russia could become a member of the Western bloc led by the U.S. because other allies of the U.S. would feel threatened by China and Russia
  • thus Russia has no better alternative to siding with China
  • , China’s number two position in the world means that China will not be supported by the U.S. with regard to most international affairs issues
  • Yan also refutes the argument that a China-Russia alliance against the U.S. would lead to another cold war.
  • ould be potentially high costs of such an alliance due to common problems such as fears of abandonment and entrapment
  • China could be dragged into an unnecessary war by Russia
  • Russia is unwilling to be China’s junior partner in the relationship
  • Russia wants to maintain good relations with all Asian states and thus will not side with China when it comes to territorial disputes between China and Japan
  • China-Russia alliance is unrealistic and a strategic partnership is more flexible and better for China.
  • seems that in the near future a formal alliance between China and Russia will not happen due to a variety of reasons.
  • U.S. militarily threatens both China and Russia at the same time
  • , a formal alliance will not occur
cramos8

The Mysterious Case of David Drugeon - 0 views

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    Three weeks ago, McClatchy made worldwide headlines with a remarkable scoop: recent U.S. missile strikes on Al-Qa'ida forces in Syria, the so-called Khorasan Group, explicitly targeted a French national who was a defector from his country's intelligence services. Citing unnamed European intelligence officials, the article provided considerable detail, though it did not name this mystery...
kbrisba

Report: Tunisia Arrests 100 People With Suspected Links To ISIS - Breitbart - 0 views

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    Tunisian security forces have arrested about 100 jihadist and foiled terrorist operations. They uncovered a militant cell in the city of Hammam Ghzaz that was preparing explosives to use in attacks on security buildings. There has been talk that the jihadist group is seeking to expand its terrorist activities into North Africa. The number of Tunisians fighting in Syria has been estimated at about 3,000.
fcastro2

Turkey says training of Syrian rebels to begin on March 1 - 0 views

  • A program to train and equip moderate syrian rebels will get under way on March 1, the Turkish Foreign Ministry
  • Tanju Bilgiç, came after Turkey and the us recently announced the signing of a long-anticipated deal to train and equip the rebels.
  • some 2,000 Syrian rebels will be trained and equipped in Turkey within a year as part of the program
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  • The agreement comes at a time when fighting has escalated between rebels and the Syrian regime in and around Aleppo and talks of a cease-fire in the northern province are taking place.
  • Turkey was one of the three countries that publicly said it was ready to open its territory for the training of the Syrian rebels.
  • US had earlier said it was considering initially dispatching at least 400 troops to train the rebels outside of Syria
  • We have been saying for a long time that the international community has the responsibility to support the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, which is recognized by 114 countries and the groups related to the coalition,” said Çavuşoğlu, adding that the training agreement is an important step taken within this framework.
  • “England is also carrying out similar training [programs] in Libya. Saudi Arabia and Qatar have also announced that they will be hosting a train-and-equip program,”
  • The deal between Ankara and Washington is a positive development between the two long-standing allies, despite strains over Middle Eastern policy. Turkey wants President Bashar al-Assad's departure to be the focus in Syria, while Washington's priority remains battling ISIL insurgents.
  • The NATO ally has also has been facing backlash for its reluctance to join the US-led coalition efforts to eliminate ISIL, feeding speculation that this reluctance stems from some Turkish officials being ideologically close to the terrorist group.
  • Turkish authorities have strongly condemned the terrorist acts of ISIL militants and say these actions have nothing to do with Islam.
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    Turkey has announced that, along with the US, they will be training some 2,000 Syrian rebels. Tensions have been rising between Syria and Turkey ever since Turkey went into Syria to retrieve a historical figure and relocate him but they are hoping this move will calm the tensions between the two states. 
sgriffi2

Egyptian Women Protest - 0 views

http://wn.com/feminism_in_EgyptThis video was published December 22, 2012. The women were forced to drastic measures to gain attention during their protest, many were naked and some were repor...

#egypt #women #womensrights #feminism

started by sgriffi2 on 04 Mar 15 no follow-up yet
wmulnea

New Attacks on Libya's Oil Fields Shake Nation's Stability, Energy Markets - WSJ - 0 views

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    Another article addressing the recent destruction of Libyan oil fields, the Wall Street Journal points a more direct finger at the Islamic State. This article suggests that militant groups do not have the expertise to take advantage of the oil fields themselves,; therefore, they destroy the oil fields in an attempt to keep rival political factions from using the oil fields to their advantage.
fcastro2

Syria opposition praises France's anti-Assad stance | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR - 0 views

  • Syria's exiled opposition praised France Sunday for maintaining its "exemplary" opposition to President Bashar Assad after a group of French lawmakers made a controversial visit to Damascus this week.
  • The position of France has always been exemplary, and your country has consistently held to the side of the Syrian people against any attempt to rehabilitate the regime in Damascus under false protenses
  • The trip reignited debate in Europe over whether it was time to rebuild diplomatic ties with the Syrian regime in order to counter the greater threat from jihadi groups such as ISIS.
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  • Those who argue they should cooperate with the Syrian regime to fight terrorism will only find the phenomenon worsenin
  • The National Coalition for Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces warmly welcomes the firm position expressed by France regarding the cause of the Syrian people and its aspiration to form a civil democratic state
  • According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights activist group, the conflict in Syria, which started as a pro-democracy uprising seeking Assad's ouster in March 2011 and morphed into a full-blown war, has left more than 200,000 people dead
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    France is continuing to oppose Syrian President Bashar Assad stating that his government will not be the best group to combat terrorism. They continue to side with the Syrian people and their aspiration to forma civil democratic state. 
fcastro2

France, Britain dismiss calls to renew relations with Syria's Assad | Reuters - 0 views

  • France and Britain dismissed on Friday any suggestion of restoring relations with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, saying this would likely end all hope of a political transition and push moderates into the arms of radical Islamist groups.
  • With the rise of Islamic State insurgents, some European |Union member states are critical of the position in Paris and London and say it might be time to re-establish communication with Damascus given that a four-year-old revolt has failed to overthrow Assad
  • "In reality, Bashar represents injustice, chaos and terror. We, France and Britain, say no to all three
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  • the French and British foreign ministers hit back at those who sought a rapprochement with Assad by saying he was using the fear of Islamic State, which has seized wide areas of northern and eastern Syria, to win back international support
  • This week a four-man cross-party delegation of French parliamentarians traveled to Syria and some met with Assad, and triggering a national debate on the issue
  • countries would have to work with Assad to defeat Islamic State, while the U.N. envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said earlier this month that Assad must be part of the solution for defusing the conflict in Syria
  • An initially peaceful street uprising against Assad has spiraled into a civil war that has seen a level of suffering some diplomats see as justifying contacts with Damascus in pursuit of a political solution
  • Britain and France see Assad's departure as a precondition of peace negotiations but the collapse of his government has become less likely as the war grinds on inconclusively
  • For our own security, we must defeat Islamic State in Syria. We need a partner that can act against extremists. We need a negotiated political settlement
  • compromise would be needed between elements of the existing government and relatively moderate opponents of Assad.
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    Both Britain and France have shunned Syrian President Assad in their quest to fight terrorism. They oppose all that the Syrian government stands for and this is why they will continue to dismiss the Syrian government and any ties with them. 
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