Category: Non-EU Countries

London warms to Turkish grills

The cook sits by the charcoal pit at Mangal 1, a Turkish barbecue restaurant in London. (Joe Ray for The Boston Globe)

LONDON — The scent of grilled meat floods the bus when the doors open. The Hackney district’s Stoke Newington Road is filled with Turkish barbecue restaurants that in-the-know Londoners flock to almost as much as to their beloved curry restaurants.

Inside the door of the Mangal I, a man seated before a charcoal pit has somewhere near two dozen skewers of lamb, chicken, quail, and vegetables going at once, his calm face appearing and disappearing behind a wall of smoke. The man at the grill seems to prepare every bite guests at the large restaurant will consume (there must be a prep cook in a kitchen somewhere), even chopping salad vegetables to order in that same peculiar seated position.

The Boston Globe, 12.12.2010

December 14, 2010
Europe, Look Outward Again

By CARL BILDT, FRANCO FRATTINI, WILLIAM HAGUE, and ALEXANDER STUBB

European Union enlargement, the transformation of a mainly Western European Club into a truly pan-European Union, has been one of the E.U.’s greatest success stories. But the historic mission to bring further stability, democracy and prosperity to the whole Continent is not yet finished.

On Monday, we will meet our colleagues from around the European Union at the General Affairs Council in Brussels to set out perspectives for the enlargement process and the countries moving down the path to E.U. membership. This will clearly be a significant occasion to turn around the inward-looking tendencies of recent years and revitalize the vision of an open Europe.

The economic crisis has underlined Europe’s need for much greater dynamism. Emerging from the crisis, we cannot afford to overlook the opportunity of expanding the free flow of capital, goods, services and labor.

Moreover, E.U. integration is about strengthening the rule of law and common European values and standards all over the Continent. This is apparent not least in Turkey, where E.U.-inspired liberal reforms have turned the country into one of Europe’s principal growth engines.

The crucial question is not whether Turkey is turning its back on Europe, but rather if Europe is turning its back on the fundamental values and principles that have guided European integration over the last 50 years.

In some quarters there is clearly some anxiety regarding the consequences of a Turkish E.U. membership. The doubts over admitting a large and self-confident nation are as explicit now as they were when Britain once applied — facing strong opposition from older members of the club. Voices of opposition were also heard when Sweden and Finland knocked on the door to the E.U.

Concerns are legitimate — but the counter-argument is clear: New members can help Europe return to economic dynamism and take on its proper weight in world affairs. By pushing prospective candidates toward liberal reforms and full respect for human rights, the European space of stability and growth can expand further.

In the back of our minds we should also remember that Turkey, like no other country, has the ability to advance European interests in security, trade and energy networks from the Far East to the Mediterranean.

The newly released Commission Enlargement Strategy clearly shows that
the membership perspective is still a forceful agent of change.

Fifteen years after the conflict in the Western Balkans, all the countries of the region now have a clear European perspective. Turkey is in the midst of a far-reaching reform process. The application of Iceland, which is now at the start of its membership negotiations, proves that the E.U. remains attractive all over Europe.

Turkey is in a class of its own. It is an influential actor on the world stage with considerable soft power. Its economy is expected to expand by more than 5 percent this year, compared with a eurozone average of 1 percent. The O.E.C.D. predicts that Turkey will be the second-largest economy in Europe by 2050.

Turkish entrepreneurs in Europe already run EURO 40 billion worth of businesses and employ 500,000 people. A Turkish economy in the E.U. would create new opportunities for exporters and investors, and link us to markets and energy sources in central Asia and the near east. So the security and economic case for Turkish membership is strong.

That said, if we are all to reap those benefits, Turkey needs to play its full part. We want to see movement on important areas of fundamental human rights. Economic reform must continue and E.U. single-market rules must be implemented. We encourage Turkey to continue with the steps it has taken along this path.

Yet it is undeniable that the ongoing enlargement process is following a slower pace than the earlier waves of accession. This is partly a reflection of the economic situation in the Union, and weak administrations, shyness on reforms and prospective candidates falling short of fulfilling the Copenhagen criteria.

Let us be clear: The Union’s exacting standards of democracy and rule of law require a welcome but time-consuming reform process. However, the magnetism and the transformational capacity of enlargement works only if commitments are kept on both sides.

We, the member states, must stick to our established principles and benchmarks in order to safeguard the integrity and credibility of the process.

At its coming General Affairs Council, the E.U. should restate its strong commitment to further enlargement.

Carl Bildt, Franco Frattini, William Hague and Alexander Stubb are the foreign ministers, respectively, of Sweden, Italy, Britain and Finland.

I.H.T. OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR, December 10, 2010

December 12, 2010
Angry UK students protest ahead of controversial vote
By Paul Armstrong, CNN

December 9, 2010 12:11 p.m. EST

Police injured in UK student protests
STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Thousands of students in London for protests against plan to raise tuition fees

NEW: Minor scuffles break out as police prevent protesters getting near parliament

UK lawmakers set to vote on controversial plans as government tries to cut deficit

Earlier this month police arrested a total of 153 people following another protest
London, England (CNN) — Thousands of angry students took to the streets of London Thursday for another protest, as British lawmakers prepared to vote on controversial plans to raise tuition fees.

But despite pleas from organizers for protests to remain peaceful, many students attempted to push through the long lines of police in fluorescent jackets trying to prevent them from accessing Parliament Square.

In one incident a flare was thrown at police officers, while a number of scuffles erupted.

Hundreds of police officers were deployed, many with riot gear, as the authorities looked to avoid a repeat of the disturbances last month when hundreds of protesters stormed the Conservative Party headquarters in the city. The Conservatives are the senior partner in a ruling coalition with the Liberal Democrats.

UK students protest tuition hike

UK students plan ‘Day X’ protests

Police injured in UK student protests

Map: Students head for Parliament
RELATED TOPICS

United Kingdom

Protests and Demonstrations
One final-year student, standing in front of police lines outside Parliament told CNN he was there out of solidarity for students who may be priced out of a place at university. “We’re all here because we’re passionate about this. We feel betrayed,” he said.

The National Union of Students (NUS) said ahead of the march it expected tens of thousands of students from across the UK.

IReport: Are you there? Send your pics, video

Earlier this month police arrested a total of 153 people following another protest at Trafalgar Square. As many attempted to head towards parliament police stopped them a block away and hemmed them in, sparking scattered incidents of violence. Students then damaged a police van, spray painted and smashed windows at nearby government buildings, and set small fires.

Three of the arrests happened after students filled Whitehall, the street that runs from Trafalgar Square past the prime minister’s residence toward Parliament. Police penned the protesters in at either end to try to limit criminal damage, and a line of police in fluorescent yellow vests kept the students from reaching Parliament Square.

“We’re kettled, we’re freezing, everyone needs the toilet, but we’re having fun,” protester Clare Solomon told CNN, using a local term for being penned in.

The protesters are angry at government plans to remove the current annual cap of £3,000 (about $4,700) on university tuition and allow schools to charge as much as £9,000 (about $14,200).

The change is part of the government’s plan to cut its massive budget deficit.

Defenders of the plan say universities will not necessarily charge the maximum they’re allowed to, and the government has said students will not need to pay back the fees until they earn at least £21,000 (about $32,600) a year. That threshold is currently £15,000 (about $23,300) a year.

Aaron Porter, president of the National Union of Students, urged lawmakers on the NUS website to “do the honorable thing and vote down these damaging proposals.

“Students are now descending on Westminster to ensure that promises to voters are kept and they are not sold down the river.”
December 11, 2010
GORDON BROWN: “TURKEY IS SET TO JOIN THE RANKS OF THE WORLD’S EMERGING ECONOMIC POWERHOUSES”

Due to its fast growth, Turkey will soon join the BRIC countries – Brazil, Russia, India and China – as an emerging power of the global economy, former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown says in his book “Beyond the Crash,” published last week. The growth of Turkey, Indonesia, South Korea, and Mexico will bring these countries to the same level as the BRIC countries, Brown says in his 315-page book, which gives his views on various domestic and global economic issues. /Hurriyet Daily News/

TPR, 10.12.2010

December 11, 2010
Alleged Russian spy uncovered in British parliament

A young Russian woman working for a British lawmaker is facing deportation after security services detained her on suspicion of espionage, the Sunday Times reported on Sunday.

The paper reported that Katia Zatuliveter, 25, secretly worked for the Russian intelligence as a “sleeper” agent.

She had been working for Liberal Democrat MP Mike Hancock who sits on parliament’s defence select committee which examines defence policy but has no access to secret material.

Hancock, who is also an MP for Porstmouth in southern England where there is a large naval base, denied his research assistant had done anything wrong.

“She is not a Russian spy. I know nothing about espionage, but she has been subjected to a deportation order,” Hancock said in a statement. He said she would appeal moves to deport her.

The lawmaker said that the domestic security service, MI5, had never raised any concerns about her with him.

“No one has ever said to me under any circumstances whatsoever that she has been involved in anything like that,” he said. “It is now in the hands of her lawyers. I am sure that in the end she will be proved to be right.”

Hancock told the BBC in an interview she was arrested on Thursday morning and taken to an immigration detention centre in London, before being moved to another centre where she is being held and putting her appeal together.

“Nobody has shown me any evidence to support the view that she is any way a threat to the United Kingdom,” Hancock said.

He said his assistant, who had worked for him for close to three years, had passed strict security vetting procedures to work in parliament.

The paper said her removal was approved by Home Secretary (interior minister) Theresa May after being briefed about her activities.

The Home Office said it could not comment on individual cases or confirm deportation orders were in place. London’s Metropolitan police referred all queries to the UK Border Agency, who was not answering calls.

The Russian embassy in London could not be reached for comment.

A security source told the Sunday Times Zatuliveter’s presence was not “conducive to national security”, and the intention was to “show her the door”.

The paper said it was the first time since the end of the Cold War that someone working in parliament had been accused of spying for the Russians.

Toronto Sun

A young Russian woman working for a British lawmaker is facing deportation after security services detained her on suspicion of espionage, the Sunday Times reported on Sunday.
The paper reported that Katia Zatuliveter, 25, secretly worked for the Russian intelligence as a “sleeper” agent.
She had been working for Liberal Democrat MP Mike Hancock who sits on parliament’s defence select committee which examines defence policy but has no access to secret material.
Hancock, who is also an MP for Porstmouth in southern England where there is a large naval base, denied his research assistant had done anything wrong.
“She is not a Russian spy. I know nothing about espionage, but she has been subjected to a deportation order,” Hancock said in a statement. He said she would appeal moves to deport her.
The lawmaker said that the domestic security service, MI5, had never raised any concerns about her with him.
“No one has ever said to me under any circumstances whatsoever that she has been involved in anything like that,” he said. “It is now in the hands of her lawyers. I am sure that in the end she will be proved to be right.”
Hancock told the BBC in an interview she was arrested on Thursday morning and taken to an immigration detention centre in London, before being moved to another centre where she is being held and putting her appeal together.
“Nobody has shown me any evidence to support the view that she is any way a threat to the United Kingdom,” Hancock said.
He said his assistant, who had worked for him for close to three years, had passed strict security vetting procedures to work in parliament.
The paper said her removal was approved by Home Secretary (interior minister) Theresa May after being briefed about her activities.
The Home Office said it could not comment on individual cases or confirm deportation orders were in place. London’s Metropolitan police referred all queries to the UK Border Agency, who was not answering calls.
The Russian embassy in London could not be reached for comment.
A security source told the Sunday Times Zatuliveter’s presence was not “conducive to national security”, and the intention was to “show her the door”.
The paper said it was the first time since the end of the Cold War that someone working in parliament had been accused of spying for the Russians.

Toronto Sun

December 5, 2010
Wikileaks – Deception and Disinformation?

Contributor: Michael D. Scott

SUMMARY: WIKILEAKS – DECEPTION AND DISINFORMATION?

Perhaps more attention than is deserved is being given by government and the media to the release, by Wikileaks, of alleged “secret” diplomatic communications.

In this “letter to the editor” on the Wikileaks matter to Stratfor.com (Strategic Forecasting, Inc., a company comprised of intelligence professionals that uses human intelligence and other sources to provide unique, independent, non-ideological analysis of political, economic, and military developments), I suggest that the Wikileaks disclosures may be classic “deception and disinformation” tradecraft.

As discussed in the article, this argument is bolstered by comments in a Wall Street Journal op-ed on December 1, 2010 by a former Reagan administration official saying that release of these documents hurts the authoritarian regimes – friend and foe – that the U.S. seeks to influence far more than it adversely affects U.S. interests.

Interestingly, the Wikileaks principal is (according to numerous commercial news sources) hiding in London of all places. The U.K. has an Official Secrets Act that permits prosecution of those who disclose classified information, even such information obtained legally. Indeed, the U.K. and other nations have criticized the U.S. for not adopting such a law. (It probably would be impossible for the U.S. to adopt such a law in light of First Amendment jurisprudence.)

These comments apply to the most current Wikileaks document release as well as previous releases. I publish this here because access to Stratfor requires a subscription.

WIKILEAKS – DECEPTION AND DISINFORMATION?

December 2, 2010

It seems, perhaps, that, as in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, “the (government and
media) doth protest too much” regarding disclosures by Wikileaks of alleged
sensitive information. There has been insufficient consideration of the possibility that these disclosures are, at least in part, deliberate, and represent classic “deception and disinformation” tradecraft.

The U.S. intelligence community was crippled by the scandals and abuses of the 1960s and early 1970s, culminating in the community’s tangential involvement in Watergate during the Nixon administration. Subsequent administrations were forced to operate with their intelligence hands tied. The U.S. (and, by extension, other Western nations) were unable to engage in activities – however necessary or desirable, albeit unsavory – that offended the sensibilities of domestically free societies effectively governed by the rule of law. These politically correct constraints proved unrealistic in a world largely governed by Hobbes’ “state of nature.”

In 1982, Margaret Thatcher, recalling Churchill’s wisdom that, “the truth is so valuable it is often protected by a bodyguard of lies,” resurrected a vigorous deception and disinformation capability in the U.K. intelligence community. (This initiative, not surprisingly in the U.K., quickly became known as “dee dee.”) She successfully convinced Ronald Reagan and the U.S. intelligence community to develop comparable expertise. After all, it is often possible to achieve indirectly that which cannot legitimately be achieved directly.

As Paul Nitze observed in an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal yesterday (December 1, 2010), the documents disclosed by Wikileaks damage weak, authoritarian regimes much more than they damage the U.S. (to the extent that they damage the U.S. at all). Most of the Wikileaks documents simply confirm what any reasonably knowledgeable international affairs analyst already knew. In his concluding paragraph, Nitze – for the record – condemned the Wikileaks disclosures, but his condemnation rings hollow.

The possibility that the diplomatic cables disclosed by Wikileaks are simply part of a sophisticated disinformation campaign – particularly in the U.S., where “leaks” of sensitive information on domestic matters by politicians has become a legitimate public policy debate technique – should not be summarily dismissed.

© Michael D. Scott 2010.

, 2.12.2010

December 5, 2010