Turkish Forum

Category: World

  • Turkmenistan Willing To Make Use Of Turkey’S Tourism Experiences

    Turkmenistan Willing To Make Use Of Turkey’S Tourism Experiences

    bANTALYA (A.A) – 03.07.2009 – The Turkmen tourism minister expressed his country’s willingness to make use of Turkey’s tourism experiences.Gurbanmammet Ilyasov, the head of the Turkmen State Committee for Sports and Tourism, visited the Turkish Mediterranean city of Antalya, and said Turkmenistan wanted to benefit from Turkey’s tourism experiences.

    Ilyasov met executives of the Mediterranean Tourist Hoteliers Association in Antalya, where he is actually visiting to see the tourism investments.

    “We want to make use of your experiences to improve tourism in our country,” Ilyasov said during the meeting.

    There are actually 1,080 hotels in Antalya. There are tourism-documented 5,000 bed capacity, 13 golf courses, 55 football fields, three national parks, three national preservation sites, three marinas, 140,000-seat congress and meeting halls, 30 fair and sports centers in Antalya.

    Around 8.5 million tourists visited Antalya in 2008, but only 339 of them were from Turkmenistan. (BRC-CE)

    Haber Turk

  • Europe nears gas pipeline accord

    Europe nears gas pipeline accord

    aEuropean governments are due to sign an agreement on the Nabucco gas pipeline on 13 July, the European Commission has announced.

    The Nabucco pipeline will bring Central Asian gas to western Europe via Turkey and the Balkans, bypassing Russia.

    Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria – the pipeline’s five transit countries – will sign the accord.

    The pipeline – which will compete with new rival Russian pipelines – should be operational by 2014.

    Germany is also a member of the consortium but the pipeline will not cross Germany.

    “I can confirm that the Commission has received an invitation to the signing ceremony of the intergovernmental agreement on the Nabucco pipeline on July 13 in Ankara,” a European Commission spokesman told a news briefing.

    Russian concerns

    Plans for the Nabucco pipeline come as European Union states are keen to reduce their reliance upon Russian gas because of Russia’s numerous price disputes in recent years with Ukraine.

    These rows have seen Gazprom temporarily cut supplies to Ukraine, which in turn has reduced Russian gas deliveries to western Europe that are piped through Russia’s neighbour.

    Work on Russian pipelines, which will bypass Ukraine, are underway.

    The major sources of gas for Nabucco are expected to be Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.

    Azerbaijan has already promised Gazprom, the Russian state gas company, priority when it comes to buying gas.

    BBC

  • Damir Ivankovic Sentenced to 14 Years

    Damir Ivankovic Sentenced to 14 Years


    birnlogo

     

    Damir Ivanković

    02 July 2009  

    The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina sentences Damir Ivankovic to 14 years for the murder of around 200 civilians at Koricanske stijene.

    Damir Ivankovic, a former member of the special response team of the police from Prijedor, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for participation in the murder of around 200 civilians at Koricanske stijene on August 21, 1992.

    The Court decided to release Ivankovic from custody, with a series of restrictive measures.

    “This verdict does not contribute only to establishing the truth, but also to reconciliation in the region, which the Trial Chamber believes in. Some may find this punishment mild or harsh, but the Chamber believes it is appropriate and that it will serve the purpose of punishment,” explained Presiding Judge Minka Kreho.

    On June 22, 2009, Ivankovic made a plea bargain with the Prosecution over his role in the murder of around 200 civilians at Koricanske stijene.

    The Chamber found him guilty of participating in a joint criminal venture of civilian and military authorities of Prijedor Municipality and structures of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, aimed at expelling the Bosniak and Croat population from the area. Ivankovic was sentenced for a crime against humanity according to individual criminal responsibility.

    While reading the verdict, Judge Kreho read the names of some of the victims murdered at Koricanske stijene, emphasising that mortal remains of only four persons have been found, along with body parts of several murdered men.

    “The Chamber decided that the Prosecution presented sufficient evidence of Ivankovic’s guilt. In the territory of Prijedor, a broad and systematic attack was carried out, and the target of the attack was the civilian population. All the persons killed at Koricanske stijene were civilians, a fact that was confirmed by many witnesses and by the defendant himself in his testimony,” said Kreho.

    In addition to Ivankovic, the same Prosecution indictment charges Zoran Babic, Gordan Djuric, Milorad Radakovic, Milorad Skrbic, Ljubisa Cetic, Dusan Jankovic and Zeljko Stojnic, former members of the Prijedor police station and special response team of the then police.

    After making a plea bargain with the Prosecution, Ivankovic testified against the rest of the defendants and spoke in great detail about the participation of the members of the response team and police station in the crime at Koricanske stijene, and his own involvement in the murders.

    After Ivankovic’s testimony, the third defendant, Djuric, also admitted his involvement in the murder of civilians at Koricanske stijene. With the plea bargain, Djuric undertook to testify on July 7 against the rest of the defendants, after which the Chamber will pass a verdict in his case.

    The Chamber assessed that the “honest admission of guilt and considerable cooperation” of Ivankovic with the Prosecution and the International Criminal Court for the Former Yugoslavia represents, among other things, extenuating circumstances for the defendant. While passing sentence, the Chamber did not find any aggravating circumstances.

    Under the Chamber’s decision, on a proposal from Ivankovic and with the Prosecution’s consent, the defendant was released, but with a series of restrictive measures and duties.

    Ivankovic is forbidden to leave his place of residence and change his address without the approval of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He is obliged to report every day to the police station in Prijedor, and he is banned from contacting possible accomplices and co-conspirators in the crime, as well as witnesses and victims.

    He is also forbidden from contacting anyone other than his defence attorney, or attending public and private gatherings. By the decision of the Court, Ivankovic is temporarily relieved of his passport and other documents and is forbidden from using other documents in order to cross the border.

    Ivankovic has been held in custody since January 14, 2009.

    Balkan Investigative Reporting Network 

  • Hydrogen land speed record broken – 199 mph

    Hydrogen land speed record broken – 199 mph

    jesse jamesHydrogen land speed record broken – 199 mph
    Transportation, June  22  2009 (The Hydrogen Journal)

    – The hydrogen land speed record has been broken by Jesse James, driving a modified 1960s era streamliner vehicle to drive on hydrogen, reaching a speed of 199 mph, according to an article in Wired magazine.

    Liquid hydrogen fuel “is way easier to make a motor run on but it will never be practical for everyday cars,” Mr James told Wired magazine.

     

    “The engine produces 780 horsepower and 900 foot-pounds of torque.”

     

    The record was broken on June 8th, for Mr James’ TV show “Jesse James is a dead man.”

    [ He fell just short of his goal of 200 mph, but it was enough to top the 186.52 mph record BMW held] 1

    1) Wired magazine article

    The Hydrogen Journal

  • Father’s doubts over Jackson death

    Father’s doubts over Jackson death

    a1Michael Jackson’s father said he had a “lot of concerns” over the events that led up to his son’s death, as details began to emerge of the post-mortem examination.

    Jackson’s body weighed just 8st 1oz – and his stomach only contained partially-dissolved pills when he died, it was reported.

    The findings, reported in The Sun, state the singer had four injection marks near his heart, apparently from attempts to pump adrenaline into the organ in a bid to restart it.

    Speaking on the Black Entertainment Television Awards’ red carpet in Los Angeles, Joe Jackson said he couldn’t go into detail about what his concerns were.

    But he added the singer’s children were the family’s “first priority” and that he and Michael’s mother, Katherine, have “authority for our son and his children”.

    Asked about funeral arrangements, Mr Jackson said: “We haven’t got to that yet, we are working on that.”

    In an unexpected move, Janet Jackson chose the Black Entertainment Television Awards ceremony to make her first public appearance since the death of her brother.

    Taking to the stage, the tearful singer said: “On behalf of my family and myself, thank you for all your love.

    “To you Michael is an icon. To us, Michael is family and he will forever live in all of our hearts.”

    Earlier, Joe Jackson had said he did not believe stress over the intense series of London concerts the King of Pop planned for his comeback had led to his death. He also said he believed his son would be larger in death than he was in life.

    Press Association

  • Medical Martial Law

    Medical Martial Law

    This excerpt from The Corbett Report podcast discusses the possible implementation of martial law in the event of a pandemic flu scenario. Martial law will likely be used to implement forced vaccinations and quarantines and put the finishing touches on decades-long planning for the undermining of our democratic processes. For more information on this subject (including dozens of links to news stories and documents) and to listen to the rest of this podcast episode, please follow the link: