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Category: Europe

  • German Court Delays High-Profile Neo-Nazi Trial

    German Court Delays High-Profile Neo-Nazi Trial

    By FRANK JORDANS Associated Press

    BERLIN April 15, 2013 (AP)

    The trial of the sole surviving member of a neo-Nazi group alleged to have carried out a deadly terror campaign against Turks in Germany has been postponed following complaints over courtroom access for foreign reporters.

    Margarete Noetzel, a spokeswoman for the Munich regional court, said Monday that the start of the trial against Beate Zschaepe, 38, and four men alleged to have helped the group, would be delayed from Wednesday until May 6.

    This was to allow for a new allocation of seats after Germany’s highest court ruled last week that there must be sufficient places for foreign reporters in the courtroom, she said.

    Noetzel was unable to say by what criteria the seats would now be distributed and whether there would be places reserved specifically for Turkish reporters.

    A lawyer for relatives of the group’s alleged first victim expressed frustration at the postponement.

    Jens Rabe, who represents the son and daughter of Enver Simsek, a businessman killed in 2000, said the Munich court had ignored constructive proposals on the allocation of media seats until it was forced to change course.

    For many of Germany’s 3 million residents of Turkish descent, the trial has become a test of their adopted home’s willingness to treat them as more than second-class citizens.

    Eight of the group’s 10 alleged victims were of Turkish origin. The self-styled National Socialist Underground is also accused of killing a Greek man and a policewoman, as well as carrying out two bombings and 15 bank robberies.

    Turkish media had missed out on any of the 50 press seats during the first allocation — which was conducted on a first-come, first-serve basis — prompting harsh criticism from officials in Turkey.

    The public in Turkey has closely followed the neo-Nazi case and Turkish media have praised the German Federal Constitutional Court’s decision, which has now paved the way for some Turkish journalists’ access to the courtroom.

    Several Turkish newspapers carried front-page stories on the issue in recent days, with some noting that even Turkey’s ambassador to Berlin wasn’t guaranteed a seat at the trial.

    German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle warned last week that the trial risked shaping perceptions of Germany abroad and urged the court to consider giving foreign media better access.

    The existence of the neo-Nazi group only came to light by chance in November 2011, when two of its three core members died in an apparent murder-suicide after a botched bank robbery.

    For years, German authorities had dismissed a possible far-right motive in the killings and focused instead on the victims’ alleged links to foreign criminals.

    Several high-ranking security officials have resigned over the past two years after acknowledging serious failures in their handling of the case.

    ———

    Ezgi Akin in Ankara, Turkey, contributed to this report.

    via German Court Delays High-Profile Neo-Nazi Trial – ABC News.

  • Belgium asks Turkey to watch for Belgians crossing into Syria

    Belgium asks Turkey to watch for Belgians crossing into Syria

    “We are in close cooperation with Turkey on this issue and we have asked them for additional monitoring [of border crossings],” Joelle Milquet, Belgium’s deputy prime minister and interior minister, said during a radio interview on Saturday.

    Belgium has asked Turkey to help in its efforts to prevent Belgian nationals from illegally crossing into Syria to fight alongside opposition forces trying to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

    “We are in close cooperation with Turkey on this issue and we have asked them for additional monitoring [of border crossings],” Joelle Milquet, Belgium’s deputy prime minister and interior minister, said during a radio interview on Saturday. She said she was planning to travel to Turkey for further talks on the matter.

    Milquet’s remarks come amid growing media attention on Belgian youth secretly traveling to Syria to join anti-regime fighters there, upsetting their families in most cases. The Belgian government has taken some measures to prevent such travels, introducing restrictions on traveling to Turkey for teenagers younger than 16. Particularly those youth living in neighborhoods populated by Moroccan immigrants are reported to be under increased police scrutiny.

    Turkey has received hundreds of thousands of Syrians who have fled the civil war in their country and is a major supporter of the opposition forces trying to topple the Assad regime. Assad accuses Turkey of allowing foreign fighters and arms to cross into Syria, a charge Turkey denies.

    via Belgium asks Turkey to watch for Belgians crossing into Syria | Europe | World Bulletin.

  • Greek Attaché in Istanbul Wants Free Time

    Greek Attaché in Istanbul Wants Free Time

    The Greek Education and Culture Attaché in Istanbul, Stauros Gioltzoglou,  in a shot at Germans who want Greeks to work harder – although statistics show they work more than their German counterparts already – said there’s more to life than just work.

    “Are we here in this world just to work?” he asked and continued saying “We live for 60-70 years, at most 80 years, let’s say”, to complain about the lack of leisure time in today’s society. According to a press statement from the University, while criticizing Germans he said: “Germans say Greeks are lazy. They work 330 days and come to our country on vacation for 30 days. Will I work for bankers? Where else could I find a pleasure like drinking a coffee with a Turkish friend on the Bosphorus?”

    As hurriyetdailynews reports, Mr. Gioltzoglou wasn’t ready to comment regarding that the German Chancellor Angela Merkel has become a “hate figure” in Greece because of the tough austerity measures imposed on Greece in return for promised loans and debt relief.

    “Some 120,000 people demonstrated in Greece when Gen. Kenan Evren staged a coup in 1980. Democracy in the grass roots of Greece”, the Greek Attaché said regarding the strikes and the demonstrations organized by the Greek people.

    Stauros Gioltzoglou referred to his surname origins, saying that it comes from his grandfather in the northern city of Samsun, who had migrated during a population exchange.

  • Many Turkish companies have decided to invest in FYR Macedonia

    Many Turkish companies have decided to invest in FYR Macedonia

    Many Turkish companies have decided to invest in FYR Macedonia

    Many Turkish companies have decided to invest in FYR Macedonia, Minister for Foreign Investment in FYR Macedonia Bill Pavleski said during the Economy Forum within the scope of the 16th Eurasia Economy Summit in Istanbul on April 10.
    The foreign investments in the country have increased significantly, said the minister, adding that his country overcame the global economic crisis thanks to its sound banking system.
    “Our financial indicators managed to remain balanced during the global economic crisis,” he said. “Our inflation rate has been under 3 percent for the past seven years.”
    Speaking at the same event, Montenegro’s Deputy Prime Minister Vujica Lazovic said that his country was an EU candidate, and prioritized the integration process.
    “There are important opportunities for investors in Montenegro, said Lazovic, adding that although his country was a young one, it had gained a significant economic experience in recent years. “We grew 2.5 percent during the 2009 economic crisis, and 3.2 percent in 2011,” he said.
    Jordan’s Senate President Taher Masri, for his part, said that the country was watching the Turkish economy with pride. “There are winners and losers in economic aspects, and Turkey is among the winners,” said Masri. Source; Hurriyet

  • Wife of Swiss consul in İstanbul may face three years in prison

    Wife of Swiss consul in İstanbul may face three years in prison

    The wife of the Swiss consul in İstanbul, who hit a motorbike and fled the scene of the accident despite injuring the driver and the passenger, now faces charges that could result in up to three years in prison.

    Wife of Swiss consulate and head of Chancery Andrea Köppel (L) allegedly fled the scene after hitting a married couple in Istanbul’s Bebek district. DHA photo
    Wife of Swiss consulate and head of Chancery Andrea Köppel (L) allegedly fled the scene after hitting a married couple in Istanbul’s Bebek district. DHA photo

    Driving a jeep, Andrea KOppel, wife of Consul and Head of Chancery Florian KOppel at the Consulate General of Switzerland in İstanbul, hit a motorbike driven by Dogan Durmus İnal in Bebek in February. The accident injured both driver and passenger. İnal’s wife, Filiz, sustained serious injuries and was hospitalized. KOppel fled the scene of the accident. She later went to a police station and told police she had panicked after the accident and had driven away.

    İstanbul Public Prosecutor Resat Ugur Soysal has recently prepared an indictment, seeking a prison sentence of between eight months and three years for Andrea KOppel on charges of injury by conscious negligence.

    Soysal said in the indictment that KOppel had drank too much alcohol, which led her to lose control while driving and hit a motorbike, leaving Filiz İnal critically injured.

    Today’s Zaman

  • Ireland to give further €1m to help Syrian refugees

    Ireland to give further €1m to help Syrian refugees

    image

    Mr Gilmore visiting the Nazip camp near the city of Gaziantep, close to the Syrian border, yesterday

    Colm Keena

    Ireland has announced the donation of a further €1 million towards the work of the Turkish government in dealing with the refugee crisis caused by the war in Syria, bringing the total donated to date to €8.15 million.

    The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Eamon Gilmore, announced the move in Turkey where he has met with his counterpart, Ahmet Davutoglu, and yesterday visited a camp near the Syrian border.

    He said he wanted to demonstrate Ireland’s support for Turkey’s humane response to the suffering of the people who have been displaced by the widespread violence inside Syria. Without the responsible and charitable actions of the countries neighbouring Syria, the plight of its people would be even greater, he said.

    Awaiting registration

    He praised Turkey for keeping its border open. The money will go to the Red Cross and the UNHCR. Approximately 1.25 million people who fled Syria have been registered or are awaiting registration as refugees in neighbouring countries, with more than 230,000 of these being in Turkey.

    The Ankara government estimates that up to 400,000 people have left Syria for Turkey. The effort to help the refugees has cost the Turkish government approximately $750 million to date and, with the numbers coming into the country having risen by 28 per cent since January, the government and aid agencies are struggling to cope.

    Almost 3,000 children have been born to refugees in Turkey since the crisis began two years ago.

    Turkey has 17 camps for refugees with another, in Midyat, being established for Orthodox Christian Syrians who are fleeing the fighting. Some of the oldest Christian monasteries in the world are located in southeastern Turkey.

    Mr Gilmore visited the Nazip camp near the city of Gaziantep, close to the Syrian border, yesterday.

    Temporary home

    The camp, which is on stony ground on the banks of the Euphrates alongside the large Birecik Baraji dam, opened late last year and is serving as a temporary home to thousands of Syrians who are living in tents and Portacabin-type homes.

    When the Tánaiste walked out of the school compound into the general camp area, he was immediately surrounded by camp residents showing him their identity cards and wanting to tell him of their plight.

    Camp resident Ayob Doghouz (26) said that he left Damascus two weeks ago because he did not want to do military service.

    “If you join, then your destiny is to kill someone or to be killed. I came here to escape that destiny.” He said he was glad to be in the camp because he was now safe but was unhappy that he was not allowed to go in and out of the camp as he pleased.

    “I would rather be in my homeland but here you can say I am secure. But it is like living in a big prison.”

    Fadi Al Hadike (16), who walked with the aid of a crutch, said he was injured in his left leg some weeks ago in Aleppo, just across the border in Syria, when a rocket blew up near him. His home was destroyed.

    Received treatment

    He was taken to Turkey and received treatment, and was now living in the camp with his mother and other members of his family. His mother’s sister was outside the camp and wanted to be allowed in, he said on behalf of his mother.

    “She is injured. She is at the gate and wants to get in. She has one dead son and another injured.”

    Mazen (47), who did not want his last name used, said he had come to Turkey from Damascus because of the fighting there. A welder who had spent 17 years in the United States, he fled Syria six months ago with his family, staying first in one camp and then being moved to Nazip. “It is better here but it is too crowded.”

    A married man with two children, who also has relatives in the camp, he said he did not know when he would be able to return home. “We don’t know how long the problems in Syria are going to last. It is getting worse every day.”

    via Ireland to give further €1m to help Syrian refugees – European News | Latest News from Across Europe | The Irish Times – Tue, Apr 09, 2013.