Maria Sharapova upset world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka in straight sets on Saturday to book an encounter with Serena Williams in Sunday’s WTA Championships final.
Sharapova beat Azarenka 6-4, 6-2 after earning two early breaks in the first set and taking control in the second when Azarenka began to struggle with a problem affecting her right thigh.
“When you’re playing the World No.1, you have to be ready for every shot – you have to run because the point can keep going and going,” Sharapova said on the WTA website.
“I’d lost to Victoria the last few times, so I’m really happy I put myself in the semifinals to play against her and try to improve that – I was hoping to have a better result, and I’m really happy I did today.”
The Belarusian leads Sharapova 7-5 in head-to-head meetings.
Despite the defeat, the Belarusian will hold the world No. 1 spot at the end of the season after winning six titles including her first Grand Slam tournament at the Australian Open.
via Sharapova in Istanbul Final After Beating Azarenka | Sports | RIA Novosti.
Turkey’s protracted shopping for a long-range air defense system has been a sort of geopolitical bellwether for the country: in addition to considering systems from NATO allies U.S. and Italy, Ankara has been looking at Russian and Chinese options. If it goes for the latter, NATO has reportedly promised to cut Turkey out of its air defense monitoring system. But now it looks like Turkey may be abandoning the purchase altogether, reports Defense News:
Turkey’s highest defense body might decide to indefinitely postpone the country’s $4 billion air defense program, effectively killing it, sources and observers said.
In addition to analysts’ criticism that the long-range air and missile defense system is too expensive, other recent developments have raised questions about the project.
This month, for example, MBDA of Italy, one arm of bidder Eurosam, arranged a tour for several Turkish journalists to observe firing tests at two Italian land and naval installations. Turkish defense authorities at the last minute declined to permit reporters to visit the Italian sites, and MBDA had to cancel the tour.
This led to speculation that the program was going to be canceled or indefinitely postponed.
(Not really germane to the main point, but it’s remarkable that the Turkish government could forbid reporters from visiting Italy to see an Italian company exhibition.)
The problem is that Turkey may not need such a system:
Most analysts say that the system’s $4 billion cost is almost prohibitive; that it would be useless against the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party, which fights only with light weapons; and that it would take too long to complete to be of use against Syria.
It’s not clear why those factors may have come to light only now, after years of considering this, and it could be just a feint in what seems to be an elaborate bargaining process. The next meeting of the Defense Industry Executive Committee next meets in December or January, Defense News reports, and could either pick a winner then or defer the program.
via Turkey May Abandon Controversial Air Defense Program | EurasiaNet.org.
Mr. Jeffrey Mankoff points out extremely important developments in Caucasus and Central Asia under different perspectives for followers of Strategic Outlook. (more…)
With a little bit of help from Russia, the Americans and the Syrians have established contact with each other, sending shockwaves in Turkey, which has blamed Moscow and Beijing for the continuation of strife in Syria.
AP In this September 28, 2012 photo, Sergey Lavrov, Foreign Minister of Russia, addresses U.N. General Assembly. He has said that Moscow had helped American experts to establish contact with Syria on the subject of chemical weapons.
Addressing the American media on Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov dropped a bombshell. He said that Moscow had helped the American experts to establish contact with the Syrians on the subject of chemical weapons. “I hope I won’t disclose any big secret, but we have helped American experts establish contact with the Syrians on this issue, and we have received explanations and assurances that the Syrian government is guarding these facilities in the best possible way,” said Mr. Lavrov, as reported by Russia Today.
He also added that Russia was not considering granting asylum to Syrian President Bashar Al Assad, in case he decided to quit office.
“No, we won’t grant him asylum,” Mr. Lavrov said, pointing out that the Syrian President “was a friend of other countries northwest of Syria.”
Lebanon’s Al Manar television website quoted its Arab sources in France as confirming that the U.S. delegation at the U.N. General Assembly annual session wanted to discuss with Syria, the issue of chemical weapons. The Syrian side pledged “with a Russian guarantee” that it would not use these weapons “inside Syria during the conflict between the government and the militant opposition”. However, the Syrian delegation was emphatic in stating that in case Syria was subjected to a foreign attack, in that case countries involved in inciting and participating in that attack would be legitimate targets “for the Syrian rockets… loaded with chemical warheads, including countries neighbouring Syria”.
Coinciding with the Mr. Lavrov’s announcement of opening a U.S.-Syria dialogue track on chemical weapons, Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan went uncharacteristically ballistic—blaming both Russia and China of siding with Syria. His outburst against Moscow and Beijing was aired live on NTV, a leading Turkish television station.
“The main source of disappointment is Russia. Let alone raising its voice against Syria, it stands by the massacre,” said Mr. Erdogan as reported by Reuters.
“China stands by Russia, and although [Chinese President] Hu Jintao had told me they wouldn’t veto the plan [for a safe zone] for a third time, they did at the U.N. vote.” Mr. Erdogan described the position of Iran, a staunch Syria ally, as “impossible to understand”.
Turkey has emerged as a frontline state against the Assad government, with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United States as allies.
The bitter acrimony that this has caused between one time allies — Turkey and Syria — is climbing to new heights. Syria is now seriously considering arming Kurdish fighters for combat against
Turkey, Al Manar said. Citing its “Kurdish sources,” close to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Kurdish Democratic Union Party in Syria, the website said that the Assad government “had sent a letter to Turkey saying that the Turkish interference in Syria would prompt Damascus to arm every Kurdish man in both Turkey and Syria”.
The Syrian government is apparently considering supplying the Kurds advanced weaponry including the anti-tank Kornet rockets, as it considers playing its “Kurdish card”.
Adding psychological warfare to its arsenal, the Syrian army has been sending cellphone text messages nationwide to the armed opposition stating: “Game Over”. These messages have also said that the countdown to evict the foreign fighters from Syria had begun, Associated Press reported.
Keywords: Syria uprising, Bashar Assad regime, U.S.-Syria contact, chemical weapons, Turkey-Syria ties
via The Hindu : News / International : Russia helps U.S., Syria establish contact, Turkey in shock.
Condoleeza Rice: EU Should be More Open Toward Ukraine and Turkey
By Worldwide News Ukraine
Published: Monday, Sep. 17, 2012 – 2:25 am
KYIV, Ukraine, September 17, 2012 — /PRNewswire/ —
The EU should not separate itself from the neighboring countries such as Ukraine and Turkey, said the 66th U.S. Secretary of State (2005-2009), Condoleezza Rice at the ninth annual Yalta European Strategy (YES) meeting (September 13-16, 2012). She stressed that if Europe focused on itself as a result of a crisis then one of the largest magnets of democratic development in Europe and the whole world would be lost.
Both Turkey and Ukraine have been trying to become members of the EU for some time now. Presently, the EU is finalizing the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Ukraine and cooperating with the country within its neighborhood policy. FTA is a part of Ukraine’s Association Agreement (AA) with the EU. In 2011, Ukrainian parliament reconfirmed signing AA a priority of the country’s foreign policy. AA has reached the final stage of initialing in July 2012, when the sides finished editing and coordinating approvals of the second – economic – part of the AA.
Turkey’s negotiation on membership in the EU started back in 2005 but came to a halt because of domestic and external problems including the Cyprus issue. The EU froze talks in 8 of the 35 key areas under negotiation. Although Ankara is aiming to comply with the EU laws by 2013, Brussels refused to back this date as a deadline. Reportedly, Turkey’s accession process may postpone until 2021.
This year’s summit “Ukraine and the World: Addressing Tomorrow’s Challenges Together”, opened by the President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych and the Prime Minister of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan, focuses on Ukraine’s relations with other nations.
Over 200 leaders from politics, business and society representing more than 20 countries came to discuss major global challenges and their impact on Europe, Ukraine and the world. Among the participants of the Summit are Aleksander Kwasniewski, Stefan Füle, Robert Zoellick, Carl Bildt, Gordon Brown, Javier Solana, Condoleeza Rice, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Shashi Tharoor, Richard Branson, Elmar Brok and others.
The annual Yalta meeting which was organized by the Yalta European Strategy (YES) in partnership with the Victor Pinchuk Foundation traditionally takes place in southern Ukrainian town of Livadia at the former summer retreat of Russian tsar Nicholas II – Livadia Palace.
SOURCE Worldwide News Ukraine
via Condoleeza Rice: EU Should be More Open Toward Ukraine and Turkey – PR Newswire – The Sacramento Bee.
PanARMENIAN.Net – The grandson of Cemal Pasha, one of the masterminds of the Armenian Genocide issued a book titled “1915: The Armenian Genocide.”
The news was first reported by Istanbul-based Agos weekly and confirmed by journalist Yavuz Baidar on Twitter.
“Armenians in Turkey were Russia-oriented and Turks had to kill them. That’s why the Genocide happened,” Hasan Cemal quotes his grandfather as saying in Munich in 1919.
Cemal is columnist at Milliyet newspaper. In 2008, he visited the Armenian Genocide memorial in Yerevan. His note in the memory book says: “To deny the Genocide would mean to be an accomplice in this crime against humanity.”
Ahmed Cemal Pasha was killed in Tbilisi in July 1922 by Stepan Dzaghigian, Artashes Gevorgyan and Petros Ter Poghosyan as part of Operation Nemesis for his role in the Armenian Genocide. His remains were brought to Erzerum and buried there.
via Cemal Pasha’s grandson issues book on Armenian Genocide – PanARMENIAN.Net.
