Category: America

Turkey eager for admittance to European Union

By Jennifer Campbell, Ottawa Citizen January 22, 2013

Turkey eager for admittance to European Union

Gov. Gen. David Johnston received credentials from three new ambassadors Jan. 18 at Rideau Hall. Pictured here are Nancy Ndiaye Ngom of Senegal, Johnston, Riadh Essid of Tunisia and Jean-Louis Wolzfeld of Luxembourg.

Photograph by: Cpl Roxanne Shewchuk , Rideau Hall

The new Turkish ambassador to Canada says his country’s interest in gaining admittance to the European Union has waned among members of the public but it shouldn’t.

He said Turkey is Western in view and the EU is the “personification of that.” He said it could be argued that Turkey’s transition toward democracy started in the late Ottoman period. “There were lots of reforms and Ataturk stated (his interest) in bringing the Turkish nation and state to the contemporary civilization level. That goal is also personified in the EU accession process.

“But it takes two to tango and, as you know, in 1996 Turkey became the only country that has the customs union without being a member. In 2005, we started our accession negotiations, at the same time as Croatia, and Croatia is already given a date for admittance to the European Union.”

He congratulated Croatia and said their success has nothing to do with Turkey’s stagnation, but the Turkish people, he said, don’t understand why Croatia is acceding and Turkey isn’t.

“If it’s about principles, Turkey deserves to be a EU member,” he said. “We are hopeful in the Irish presidency to open up new negotiating chapters. Only science and research has been completed. At this pace, it will take a long time to complete.”

He said the EU stands to gain by Turkey’s membership, both in terms of the EU becoming a multicultural, multi-religious global actor and also because Turkey’s economic performance, in light of the global economic crisis, has shown the EU that it will not be a burden but rather, “a catalyst for the EU’s growth.

“We’re doing relatively well in terms of the global economic meltdown. The EU is still our major trading partner but we’ve diversified into trade relations with our neighbours as well.”

He noted that the German finance minister recently noted that there may be a time in the future when the EU regrets not having Turkey as a member.

Asked about Turkey’s relations with its Kurdish minority, he said there have been some promising developments. “There are high hopes with talks going on between the BDP (party associated with Kurdish rights) and the PKK (whose leader is jailed in Turkey) so I hope that this is one of the important chances to settle the issue and have armistice. Everyone is very much in favour of the process.”

When it comes to press freedom, he acknowledged the system isn’t perfect but said “most” of the journalists in jail in Turkey aren’t there because of something they reported but rather because of “terrorist activities” such as “wounding and killing security officers” or being involved in such activities.

“Portraying this as a simplistic freedom of speech issue isn’t the correct way to portray it,” he said. “Everyone writes everything in Turkey. There is no taboo that can’t be discussed anymore and this is a good thing.”

He said there can always be improvements to the judicial system — the fifth reform package is before parliament and it will give more protection to journalists. Some, he said, who are not in jail for terrorist activities, may then be released.

via Turkey eager for admittance to European Union.

January 23, 2013
Get transported to musical world of Istanbul at Weston concert

WESTON —

Six expert performers from Dünya, an adventurous early music ensemble, will transport us to the kaleidoscopic musical world of Istanbul in the 16th to 18th centuries, where currents from the East and West met and mingled.

The concert will take place Friday, Jan. 25 at 7:30 p.m. at Congregational Church of Weston, 130 Newton St.

Unexpected encounters will be portrayed, drawn from a wide array of materials – European travelers’ accounts; the unique manuscript of a 17th century Polish convert to Islam (a sultan’s music director); popular, courtly and religious music from East and West; and Ottoman music transcribed by Europeans.

The performers sing and play an astonishing number of instruments, some lovingly recreated on the basis of miniature paintings from a lost world. They include the exotic Ottoman harp and the Turkish forerunner of the lute, as well as winds, brass, voices, viola da gamba and percussion.

“Dünya” means “world” in several languages. Joint us for a glimpse of the colorful world of old Istanbul! Reception will follow.

Performers are Robert Labaree and Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol (co-directors), Emily Lau, Zoe Weiss, Cem Mutlu and Tom Zajac.

Tickets are available at the door by cash or check for $30, $25 for seniors, and free for children under 18 and students with ID. Tickets by credit card will have an added fee of $3.

For more information call 617-489-2062 or go online (www.csem.org).

via Get transported to musical world of Istanbul at Weston concert – Wayland, MA – Wicked Local Wayland.

January 23, 2013
Joe the Biden Eats the Bison: an Inauguration Day Poem

Interminable the accolades
for an America at the barricades.
Such specialness, such hope, such opportunity.
We, we, we the people interminably,
the real document inoperative.

What is this about, this presidential rant?
About gays, blacks, latinos, unity and all the immigrants.
Just what is this about!
This too familiar verbal romp.
This sanctimonious blindness.
This faux bonhomie.

America, don’t you know anything?
He kills the world with language
And not at all softly.
Wake up America!
He’s killing your world too.
It’s his tired Nobel trick,
his linguistic Guantanamo.
Wise up America!
His “We the people” kills.

With his murderous dronings
he kills the world’s children.
With his We the people
he sends death squads deep into the dark bad night.
With his We the people
he sells you to big money mobsters.
With his We the people
he swears his oath
With his We the people
he lunches with the grey-headed VIPs.
President Barry and Joey the veep
munching and lunching on bison,
the exterminated food of an exterminated race.
Fifteen million of them murdered and
nary a mention, nary a trace
at the VIP Luncheon
not one word of grace
from we the people.

James Ryan

21 January 2013
Inauguration Day for the 44th president of the United States of America

* Oh, and it’s “Hickory-Grilled Bison with Red Potato Horseradish Cake and Wild Huckleberry Reduction” according to the official menu. With my particular historical emphasis on the word “reduction.”

January 21, 2013
NATO sets up missile defense shield in Turkey

The Patriot missile defense system is meant to protect Turkey, in case neighboring Syria launches an attack. But the area is too big for the existing missile defense shield – not all cities are covered.

At the beginning of February 2013, German, Dutch and US patriot missiles are expected to be set up in southeastern Turkey, facing skywards. The sophisticated weapon systems are to deter possible missile attacks by Syria towards NATO ally, Turkey. The Germans are stationed in Kahramanmaras, the Dutch in the Mediterranean city of Adana and US troops in Gaziantep. Major cities like Diyarbakir or Batman lie outside the protection zone. The six patriot missiles will not suffice to effectively protect the 900 kilometer (560 miles) border with Syria.

German Air Force spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Markus Werther stressed in an interview with DW that the decision regarding the German forces’ location had been made within NATO’s framework. There was close cooperation between all countries involved, he said.

“Together with our partners, the Netherlands, the USA and Turkey, Germany decided to go to Kahramanmaras,” Werther added. On January 8th, 2013, the German armed forces, the Bundeswehr, began shipping the missiles.

Turkish soldiers patrol in the Turkish town of Ceylanpinar near the strategic Syrian border town of Ras al-Ain on November 14, 2012. (Photo. BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images) The situation on the Turkish-Syrian border has been tense for months

Patriot stationing a symbolic act

The missiles, with a range of 68 kilometers, are only able to protect a few cities in the south of the country. Michael Brtoska, Scientific Director of the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg, sees the missile defense as a largely symbolic act.

“The protection the missiles can theoretically offer against attacks from Syria is limited to small areas,” he explained.

Large population centers do come within the protective zone. But more extensive protection is not possible with existing resources, Brzoska added.

NATO patriot missiles have been stationed in Turkey before – during the Iraq wars in 1991 and 2003. When five people of Turkish nationality were killed in grenade attacks from the Syrian border in October 2012, Ankara called on NATO for support again. In early December 2012, the alliance gave its green light for the mission. Turkish media reported that Ankara had initially hoped for 18 to 20 systems along its southern border. But that would have meant that a considerable part of all existing patriot entities would have been deployed. Germany, the US and the Netherlands eventually offered to set up two systems each.

Impossible to monitor no-fly-area

Apart from threat analyses and logistical factors, the defensive character of the mission was a decisive factor when it came to choosing the location.

“Most NATO member states were extremely concerned that the patriot missiles could also be used to target planes in the Syrian airspace,” said Brzoska.

In early December, the German government stressed that the goal of the mission was not to set up or monitor a no-fly area above Syrian territory. NATO, which has the command for the mission, also confirmed the mission’s defensive character. Kahramanmaras and Adana are both 100 kilometers away from the border – too far to reach Syria. Similarly, if a US rocket was to be launched from Gaziantep, it would hardly reach Turkey’s neighbor in the south.

Under motorcycle escort at the break of dawn Dutch Patriot defence missiles are transported from their base to the Eems harbor in Groningen. (Photo: EPA/Evert-Jan Daniels pixel) Patriot missiles on their way to Turkey in early January

But the defense missiles can strengthen Turkish air raid defense systems.

“In the unlikely case of Syria attempting to enter Turkish airspace with planes or even intermediate-range missiles, Turkish air raids alone would hardly be in a position to prevent that from happening,” Brzoska explained.

Intermediate-range missiles in particular would overwhelm Turkish systems. The Syrian army has both intermediate-range missiles and chemical weapons. Neighboring countries are concerned that the government in Damascus could use these weapons as a last resort if threatened with defeat in the Syrian civil war.

Ready within seconds after missile attack

In the worst-case scenario, the patriot missiles could react instantly to approaching missiles, planes or drones. The airspace is monitored around the clock, said Lieutenant Colonel Werther. “In case of attack, which is still highly unlikely, the weapon system would stand ready for action within seconds,” he added.

Brzoska sees no reason for the government in Damascus to launch attacks on Turkey. Under the conditions of the current mandate, he said, the risk for German soldiers to be involved in combat action is low.

“Chances are very high that the soldiers are looking at a quiet time there,” Brzoska noted.

via NATO sets up missile defense shield in Turkey | World | DW.DE | 20.01.2013.

January 21, 2013
MP takes trip to Turkey, visits refugee camps

Mississauga-Erindale MP Bob Dechert recently travelled to Turkey to meet with religious leaders and visit two Syrian refugee camps.

Dechert in Turkey. Mississauga-Erindale MP Bob Dechert (left) and Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Jason Kenney visit a Syrian refugee camp in Turkey. Supplied photo

Dechert, who also serves as parliamentary secretary to the minister of foreign affairs, joined Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Jason Kenney in meetings with Turkey’s chief rabbi, Rav Isak Haleva. He leads the 25,000 members of the Jewish community across the country.

“It was an honour to be able to meet with such important and influential spiritual leaders in the region,” said Dechert in a release. “Our meetings in Turkey allowed us to demonstrate our government’s foreign policy emphasis on the protection and promotion of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law around the world.”

Dechert also visited two Syrian refugee camps on his trip.

“As the violence in Syria continues, the government of Turkey is doing a commendable job to help those who have been forced to flee their homes,” said Dechert. “I’m glad that I was able to see firsthand the work that is being done in Turkey and I’m also proud that our government has helped assist, through contributions to the Turkish Red Crescent, these meaningful and necessary projects.”

via Mississauga Article: MP takes trip to Turkey, visits refugee camps.

January 18, 2013
US being petitioned to push Turkey to open border with Armenia for ethnic Armenians trapped in Syria

© Collage: Voice of Russia

The American White House internet site, or rather its section “We are citizens”, which collects signatures under various kinds of petitions, once again has become an arena for discussion of an absolutely non-American problem. One Armenian political scientist has announced that signatures were being collected under an appeal urging Washington to force Turkey to open the border with Armenia for the sake of the fleeing refugees from Syria. The Voice of Russia’s correspondent in the United States, Roman Mamonov, has tried to find out if there is any connection with America.

Six hundred twenty-five signatures in nine days is a modest result (as of Monday morning) of the petition, posted on the White House site by Daniel Ioannisyan, member of the Heritage opposition party. In this short document (only 10 lines) he calls upon the US government to put pressure on Turkey so that it opens the border with Armenia for the free migration of refugees from Syria. According to Ioannisyan, more than 60 thousand people were killed since the beginning of the conflict in Syria, and half a million people were forced to flee the country. According to the politician, 200 thousand ethnic Armenians live in Syria, most of whom supposedly want to leave the war-stricken Republic and return to their homeland. But the Turkish-Armenian border, which has been closed since 1993, prevents them from doing so. And now Daniel Ioannisyan means to exert pressure on Ankara with the help of Washington. The petition ends with a dramatic phrase, “There should be no closed borders in the 21st century”.

Even in Armenia, many responded with skepticism to this initiative. Firstly, the very idea of appealing to Washington from Yerevan in order to put pressure on Ankara because of the situation in Syria looks strange.

Secondly, political analysts doubt that there are so many Armenians in Syria who are ready to abandon everything and fly away to their homeland. And the question remains whether Armenia is ready to welcome this number of migrants.

Users (from any country of the world) have until February 4 to obtain 25 thousand signatures in order to make the US Administration respond to this appeal. But judging by the current trend, approximately 70 signatures a day, the document will not be sent to the White House, unless a miracle happens.

It is noteworthy that foreign politicians have long used the “We are citizens” section of the White House website as a means of addressing Washington. At present, signatures are being collected under the appeal to stop trafficking of human organs in China, the appeal to stop the persecution of Shia Muslims in Pakistan, and the appeal to monitor the situation with political rights in Venezuela. There is also a petition with the request to recognize the genocide of the Sikhs in India in 1984.

via US being petitioned to push Turkey to open border with Armenia for ethnic Armenians trapped in Syria: Voice of Russia.

January 15, 2013