Category: France

Sarkozy calls Netanyahu ‘liar’

Lost in Translation?

Microphones accidently left on after G20 meeting pick up private conversation between US, French presidents. Sarkozy admits he ‘can’t stand’ Israeli premier. Obama: You’re fed up with him? I have to deal with him every day!

French President Nicolas Sarkozy reportedly told US President 
Barack Obama that he could not "stand" Prime Minister Benjamin 
Netanyahu and that he thinks the Israeli premier "is a liar."

According to a Monday report in the French website "Arret sur 
Images," after facing reporters for a G20 press conference on 
Thursday, the two presidents retired to a private room, to 
further discuss the matters of the day.

The conversation apparently began with President Obama criticizing 
Sarkozy for not having warned him that France would be voting 
in favor of the Palestinian membership bid in UNESCO despite 
Washington's strong objection to the move.

The conversation then drifted to Netanyahu, at which time 
Sarkozy declared: "I cannot stand him. He is a liar." According 
to the report, Obama replied: "You're fed up with him, but I 
have to deal with him every day!"

The remark was naturally meant to be said in confidence, but 
the two leaders' microphones were accidently left on, making 
the would-be private comment embarrassingly public.

The communication faux pas went unnoticed for several minutes, 
during which the conversation between the two heads of state – 
which quickly reverted to other matters – was all but open 
to members the press, who were still in possession of headsets 
provided by the Elysée for the sake of simultaneous translation 
during the G20 press conference.

"By the time the (media) services at the Elysée realize it, 
it was on for at least three minutes," one journalist told 
the website. Still, he said that reporters "did not have a 
chance to take advantage of this fluke."

The surprising lack of coverage may be explained by a report 
alleging that journalists present at the event were requested 
to sign an agreement to keep mum on the embarrassing comments. 
A Reuters reporter was among the journalists present and can 
confirm the veracity of the comments.

A member of the media confirmed Monday that "there were discussions 
between journalists and they agreed not to publish the comments 
due to the sensitivity of the issue."

He added that while it was annoying to have to refrain from 
publishing the information, the journalists are subject to 
precise rules of conduct.

www.ynetnews.com, 07.11.2011

November 8, 2011

Charlie Hebdo hacker says he ‘did nothing wrong’

A 20-year-old Turkish IT student who says he hacked into the Charlie Hebdo website hours after its offices were fire-bombed Wednesday, sat down to coffee with a French journalist in Istanbul later to explain why he “didn’t do anything wrong”.

By Sophie PILGRIM (text)

Hours after its offices were fire-bombed on Wednesday, the website of French weekly, Charlie Hebdo, came under attack from the Turkish hackers’ group Akincilar. “You keep abusing Islam’s almighty Prophet with disgusting and disgraceful cartoons using excuses of freedom of speech,” read the message left on the site. “We will be your curse on cyber world!”

On Sunday, French newspaper Journal du Dimanche printed an interview with one of the Akincilar members who claims to have carried out the attack. Calling himself only Ekber, the 20-year-old IT student said the group targeted the website after finding out about the “Charia Hebdo” edition of the magazine, which featured an illustration of the Prophet Mohammed on its front page.

“We didn’t do anything wrong,” he said. “It’s not like we siphoned off bank accounts. This was a protest against an insult to our values and beliefs.” Ekber stressed that while the website had been made temporarily unavailable to its readers, none of its data would be lost or altered.

He also denounced the arson attack on the magazine’s Paris offices, which were completely destroyed after a Molotov cocktail was thrown through the window in the early hours of Wednesday morning. “Of course we do not support violence,” he told the paper. “Islam is a religion of peace.”

According to the journalist who carried out the interview, the mystery hacker turned up to the secret meeting in jeans and a black shirt. “Not quite the profile of the Taliban drawn by Cabu [the cartoonist who drew Mohammed for the ‘Charia Hebdo’ edition], he joked.

Ekber told him he was a fan of the Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan and a critic of the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party, whose sympathisers have also found their websites hacked in the past.

Akincilar, which is named after an Ottoman Empire warrior, is thought to have hacked some 6,000 websites in the past few years, including that of Turkey’s own Charlie Hebdo, ‘The Penguin’, after it published a cartoon of a man on a mobile phone in a mosque.

It has also targeted sites it labels “pornographic or satanic”, along with a myriad of American, Israeli, and Armenian addresses whose politics it deems offensive. “We defend our country and our institutions,” says Ekber.

Left-wing daily ‘Libération’ up next

While the Akincilar hackers succeeded in getting their message across regarding Charlie Hebdo’s editorial policies, the magazine’s website has yet to be re-instated, after the Belgian company that hosts it received death threats.

Charlie Hebdo was also suspended from Facebook (albeit temporarily), after a deluge of complaints led to a warning from the powers that be over the “inappropriate” picture of the Prophet Mohammed.

Charlie Hebdo attack: Extremist firebombers, 0 – Satirical weekly, 1

The magazine has meanwhile set up a blog, updating readers with the latest developments on its “homeless” activities. Away from the cyber world, Charlie Hebdo has become more popular than ever, with this week’s edition selling out in under 24 hours, forcing it to print an extra 175,000 copies on top of the usual 100,000.

A demonstration in Paris on Sunday attracted hundreds of supporters, including some famous French faces, “in defence of the right to blaspheme”. Organised by the anti-xenophobia organisation SOS Racisme, the impromptu movement aims to fight “religious fundamentalism” and preserve democracy and secularism.

While the police continue their investigation into the fire, which they have classified as a terrorist attack, the magazine itself has been housed by newspaper Libération, which is one of a number of publications that reprinted the Mohammed cartoon in support of Charlie Hebdo.

But the left-wing daily faces the same fate as its adopted magazine. “If Libération continues publishing those cartoons, then we’ll have to deal with them as well” said Ekber.

via Charlie Hebdo hacker says he ‘did nothing wrong’ – FRANCE – TURKEY – FRANCE 24.

November 8, 2011
France’s scramble to grab a role for itself in Armenia

An early October visit paid to the Armenian capital Yerevan by French President Nicolas Sarkozy has triggered not only a new predicament in terms of Turkey’s relations with Armenia, but also marked an important turning point regarding France’s regional influence. (more…)

November 2, 2011
Nicolas Sarkozy tells David Cameron: ‘We’re sick of you telling us what to do’

David Cameron clashed repeatedly with Nicolas Sarkozy today after the French President tried to exclude Britain and non-eurozone countries from a critical Brussels summit to rescue European banks.

By Bruno Waterfield, Brussels

During two hours of bitter exchanges during a meeting of all 27 EU leaders before a crisis summit of the eurozone’s 17 members on Wednesday, President Sarkozy fought hard to get the Prime Minister barred from talks that would finalise a 100billion euros cash injection into banks.

”We’re sick of you criticising us and telling us what to do. You say you hate the euro, you didn’t want to join and now you want to interfere in our meetings,” the French leader told Mr Cameron, according to diplomats.

Mr Cameron supports steps that the eurozone is taking to boost its banks and bailouts funds as part of wider moves towards closer fiscal union in order to avert a European debt crisis that has threatened to plunge the global economy into a slump.

But he fears that regular meetings of the euro’s 17 governments will lead to the creation of a Franco-Greman dominated “caucus” or a bloc that could hijack the EU’s single market for its own ends, damaging the British economy by imposing regulations that benefit Paris or Frankfurt over the City of London.

”There is danger that as the eurozone comes together that those countries outside might see the eurozone start to take decisions on some of the things that are vital to them in the single market, for instance financial services,” he said.

Following strong and vocal support from Sweden and Poland, Mr Cameron secured agreement that he and non-euro countries would be invited to the bank rescue summit next week, even at the price of having to reschedule his planned trip to Australian and Japan.

He also won a fight to include a “safeguard clause” that the eurozone would not be allowed to take any decisions on issues, such as regulation of financial services, that affected all the EU’s 27 members.

”I have secured a commitment today that we must safeguard the interests of countries that want to stay outside the euro, particularly with respect to the integrity of the single market for all 27 members.

The EU text, described as a “major victory” by British diplomats, calls on the European Commission “to safeguard a level playing field among all member states including those not participating in the euro”.

Amid growing Greek anger, strikes and conflict, Herman Van Rompuy, the EU president, said that “further steps will be needed” to impose austerity and praised European leaders for defying popular opposition to bailouts and Brussels-IMF imposed austerity measures.

”Some of those steps were and are unpopular; be it measures taken in your countries or our joint decisions taken here as a Union,” he said. “I thank you for your political courage, often underestimated.”

But Jerzy Buzek, the president of the European Parliament warned the summit that growing public anger over the EU’s handling of the crisis could endanger plans to change European treaties towards greater fiscal union.

”I am concerned, however, that our citizens might not be ready for another round of referendums and ratifications,” he said. “MEPs keep telling me that in their constituencies, many people now see Europe as part of the problem, and not as part of the solution.”

www.telegraph.co.uk, 23 Oct 2011

October 25, 2011
Peace, reconciliation not possible unless Turkey faces its own history – French Ambassador

YEREVAN.- Peace and reconciliation are not possible unless Turkey faces its own history, France’s Ambassador to Armenia Henri Reynaud told journalist on Monday.

Commenting on France’s stance on the EU accession, the Ambassador recalled Nicolas Sarkozy’s position. In particular, acknowledging the role and essence of Turkey, President Sarkozy is confident that Turkey should not join the Union. French leader considers that Turkey, a big and strong country, will further strengthen its positions by recognizing the Armenian Genocide.

via Peace, reconciliation not possible unless Turkey faces its own history – French Ambassador | Armenia News – NEWS.am.

October 18, 2011
‘Colonialism had effect on Rwanda’

İpek Yezdani – ipek.yezdani@hurriyet.com.tr

ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News

European colonial history was a major contributor to what eventually became genocide in Rwanda, according to the chief prosecutor of the International Rwanda Criminal Court.

“The Rwandan genocide that took place in 1994 clearly it has its roots in the colonial history,” Hassan Bubacar Jallow, who was in Istanbul to give a conference at Istanbul Bilgi University yesterday, said in an interview following the event.

“During the European colonization of the country, which [turned] this difference between Tutsis and Hutus into so-called positions of superiority and inferiority in the country, eventually led to the genocide,” Jallow said, adding both Belgium and France were “colonial powers of one type or another” in Rwanda.

When the genocide started in 1994, the world had the opportunity and the means to stop the killings but did not, Jallow said.

“Over a hundred days, thousands of people were killed every day until 1 million people were killed. It took the intervention of then-Rwandan rebels to bring the genocide to an end. The inability or reluctance of the world in intervening when the genocide was on was very unfortunate,” Jallow said.

Jallow said they were hoping to finish their work at the level of the International Criminal Court established by the United Nations by the end of 2014.

“By that time we won’t be prosecuting everybody because it is impossible to do that. Our focus has been prosecuting the leaders who were involved in the planning and the implementation of the genocide. By the end of 2014, we hope that we will be finishing the prosecution of the top 100 people,” Jallow said.

via ‘Colonialism had effect on Rwanda’ – Hurriyet Daily News.

October 16, 2011