Category: Regions

Credit crisis ‘is God punishing us’

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

An Anglican bishop says the credit crunch is God’s way of punishing Britain for being too materialistic.

The Rt Rev Wallace Benn, Bishop of Lewes, thinks the country is obsessed with cash, which has a ‘stranglehold’ over our lives.

The credit crisis has been caused by greed and ‘God has allowed it for good’, he writes in a newsletter.

The Adam Smith Institute think-tank criticised the comments, saying: ‘Many people who have not worshipped materialism have seen their lives made poorer.’

Source: METRO, 28 October 2008

October 30, 2008
French envoy says EU supports Turkey’s fight against PKK violence

Emie, the French ambassador in Ankara, said that the EU would stand with Turkey on the fight against PKK since nothing could justify violence.

Wednesday, 29 October 2008 07:53

The ambassador of France, holding the rotating presidency of the European Union (EU), reaffirmed on Tuesday the union’s support for Turkey’s fight against PKK violence.

Bernard Emie, the French ambassador in Ankara, said that the EU would stand with Turkey on the fight against PKK since nothing could justify violence.

“The PKK is for all of us a terrorist organization and is treated accordingly in all our countries,” Emie said during a luncheon he hosted in honor of Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, who is also the chief negotiator for the EU.

Emie said that the EU was very much confident that the Turkish government would deal with that issue (terrorism) with the arms of democracy.

On the crisis in Caucasus, Emie said that the French presidency of the EU supported Turkey’s initiatives (the Turkish idea of a platform for cooperation and stability in the Caucasus and President Abdullah Gul’s trip to Yerevan on September 6).

Emie said that there was yet much that remained to be done to restore the full stability of the region and the EU presidency had decided to work hand in hand.

Referring to Turkey’s EU membership bid, the ambassador said that the French presidency was holding its course and keeping its promises.

“I am glad that Turkish authorities acknowledged the fact that France’s pledge of a neutral, objective and impartial presidency towards Turkey was kept,” Emie said.

Emie expressed belief that the draft for the national program on integration of the acquis had the potential to become an important roadmap for the reforms that still needed to be done.

“We also very much hope that some further progress will be registered in terms of freedom of expression,” the ambassador said.

Emie also said that the French presidency was doing its utmost to carry on, with all the European partners, the preparatory work for the opening of new chapters.

“We very much hope that the full involvement of the Turkish side that we have witnessed in the past weeks, under your leadership, will continue to prevail so that we should be in a position to open two chapters,” the French ambassador said.

Emie expressed hope that the talks held in Cyprus would yield results some time soon, and said that the EU stood ready to assist and to continue to bring its direct assistance to the Turkish Cypriots that were also members of the European family.

The French ambassador also congratulated Turkey on its election as a non-permanent member of the United Nations (UN) Security Council for the term 2009-2010.

AA

Source: www.worldbulletin.net, 29 October 2008

October 30, 2008
Oil for Soil: A Grand Bargain on Iraq and the Kurds

Kirkuk/Brussels, 28 October 2008: Rising acrimony over disputed territories will undermine still fragile progress in Iraq unless a package deal is reached over oil, revenue sharing, federalism and the constitution.

Oil for Soil: Toward a Grand Bargain on Iraq and the Kurds,* the latest report from the International Crisis Group, offers a bold proposal for resolving the long-festering conflict over Kirkuk and other disputed territories that threatens to disrupt Iraq’s relative peace.

“In its ethnically-driven intensity and its ability to drag in regional players such as Turkey and Iran, the Kirkuk issue can have a devastating impact on efforts to rebuild a fragmented state”, says Joost Hiltermann, Crisis Group’s Middle East Deputy Program Director. “This conflict potentially matches or even exceeds the Sunni-Shiite divide that spawned the 2005-2007 sectarian war”.

Despite some progress, Iraq’s legislative agenda is bogged down primarily by a dispute over territories claimed by the Kurds as historically belonging to them – territories that contain as much as 13 per cent of Iraq’s proven oil reserves. Stymied in their quest to incorporate these territories into the Kurdistan region by constitutional means, due mainly to the suspicions of Iraq’s Arab majority that their real goal is independence, Kurdish leaders have signalled their intent to hold politics in Baghdad hostage. At the same time, the Iraqi government’s growing military assertiveness is challenging the Kurds’ de facto control over the territories.

The current piecemeal approach should be discarded in favour of a grand bargain involving all core issues: Kirkuk and other disputed territories, revenue-sharing and the hydrocarbons law, as well as federalism and constitutional revisions. A sober assessment of all sides’ core requirements suggests a possible package deal around an “oil-for-soil” trade-off: in exchange for at least deferring their exclusive claim on Kirkuk for a decade, the Kurds would obtain demarcation and security guarantees for their internal boundary with the rest of Iraq, as well as the right to manage and profit from their own mineral wealth.

This package demands painful concessions from all sides, which they are unlikely to make without strong international involvement. The UN mission (UNAMI) will need stronger backing from the U.S. and its allies. Washington should make it a priority to steer politicians toward the grand bargain, while securing it through political, financial and diplomatic support.

“There is little time to waste. As U.S. forces are set to draw down, Washington’s leverage will diminish, as will chances for a workable deal”, warns Robert Malley, Crisis Group’s Middle East & North Africa Program Director. “The likeliest alternative is a new outbreak of violent strife over unsettled claims in a fragmented polity governed by chaos and fear”.

Contacts: Andrew Stroehlein (Brussels) +32 (0) 2 541 1635
Kimberly Abbott (Washington) +1 202 785 1601
To contact Crisis Group media please click here
*Read the full Crisis Group report on our website: http://www.crisisgroup.org

October 30, 2008
Aide to Turkish Prime Minister: We are waiting for Armenians with open arms

Ankara – APA. “We are not enemies with Armenians and do not regard them as threat. We want to establish all possible best relations with Armenia. We want to establish good relations with all Armenians in the world, no matter where they live in Los Angeles or in Paris. We expect them to support the process, not impede it. We are waiting for Armenians with open arms,” Ahmet Davutoglu, the chief foreign policy aide to Turkey’s Prime Minister said in his interview to Hurriyet newspaper. Taking a stance on Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian’s interview to BBC Turkish service Ahmet Davutoglu said they were ready to solve all the problems with Armenia. Asked about Azerbaijan’s concerns the aide said:
“Improvement of our bilateral relations will have influence on the Nagorno Karabakh issue,” he said.

Edward Nalbandian said in his interview to BBC Turkish service that there was no obstacle in normalization of Turkey-Armenia relations.
“First we expect diplomatic relations to be established and borders to be opened. We want intergovernmental commission to be set up to discuss all the problems between the two sides,” he said.

October 28, 2008
Turkey facing gas shortage

ANKARA, Turkey, Oct. 28 (UPI) — Turkey is faced with the possibility of a severe gas shortage if development of an Iranian natural gas pipeline falters, the state-owned pipeline firm said.

BOTAS, the oil and natural gas pipeline firm in Turkey, warned government officials that gas shortages would emerge as early as January if a pipeline from the Iranian South Pars gas field was not completed soon, the business daily newspaper Referans reported Tuesday.

Ankara and Tehran had agreed to develop additional arteries to meet Turkish demands as gas compression issues diminished the capacity along conventional routes.

Iran hopes to link its South Pars gas field to the planned Nabucco pipeline, a project favored by the European Union as a means to ease dependency on Russian natural resources.

Iran is keen on expanding its customer base amid Western-imposed economic sanctions as punishment for its controversial nuclear program. For its part, BOTAS has urged Iran to act expeditiously on developing its infrastructure to avoid shortages.

October 28, 2008
INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP – NEW REPORT Oil for Soil: A Grand Bargain on Iraq and the Kurds

Kirkuk/Brussels, 28 October 2008: Rising acrimony over disputed territories will undermine still fragile progress in Iraq unless a package deal is reached over oil, revenue sharing, federalism and the constitution.

Oil for Soil: Toward a Grand Bargain on Iraq and the Kurds,* the latest report from the International Crisis Group, offers a bold proposal for resolving the long-festering conflict over Kirkuk and other disputed territories that threatens to disrupt Iraq’s relative peace.

“In its ethnically-driven intensity and its ability to drag in regional players such as Turkey and Iran, the Kirkuk issue can have a devastating impact on efforts to rebuild a fragmented state”, says Joost Hiltermann, Crisis Group’s Middle East Deputy Program Director. “This conflict potentially matches or even exceeds the Sunni-Shiite divide that spawned the 2005-2007 sectarian war”.

Despite some progress, Iraq’s legislative agenda is bogged down primarily by a dispute over territories claimed by the Kurds as historically belonging to them – territories that contain as much as 13 per cent of Iraq’s proven oil reserves. Stymied in their quest to incorporate these territories into the Kurdistan region by constitutional means, due mainly to the suspicions of Iraq’s Arab majority that their real goal is independence, Kurdish leaders have signalled their intent to hold politics in Baghdad hostage. At the same time, the Iraqi government’s growing military assertiveness is challenging the Kurds’ de facto control over the territories.

The current piecemeal approach should be discarded in favour of a grand bargain involving all core issues: Kirkuk and other disputed territories, revenue-sharing and the hydrocarbons law, as well as federalism and constitutional revisions. A sober assessment of all sides’ core requirements suggests a possible package deal around an “oil-for-soil” trade-off: in exchange for at least deferring their exclusive claim on Kirkuk for a decade, the Kurds would obtain demarcation and security guarantees for their internal boundary with the rest of Iraq, as well as the right to manage and profit from their own mineral wealth.

This package demands painful concessions from all sides, which they are unlikely to make without strong international involvement. The UN mission (UNAMI) will need stronger backing from the U.S. and its allies. Washington should make it a priority to steer politicians toward the grand bargain, while securing it through political, financial and diplomatic support.

“There is little time to waste. As U.S. forces are set to draw down, Washington’s leverage will diminish, as will chances for a workable deal”, warns Robert Malley, Crisis Group’s Middle East & North Africa Program Director. “The likeliest alternative is a new outbreak of violent strife over unsettled claims in a fragmented polity governed by chaos and fear”.

Contacts: Andrew Stroehlein (Brussels) +32 (0) 2 541 1635
Kimberly Abbott (Washington) +1 202 785 1601
To contact Crisis Group media please click here
*Read the full Crisis Group report on our website: http://www.crisisgroup.org

The International Crisis Group (Crisis Group) is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental organisation covering some 60 crisis-affected countries and territories across four continents, working through field-based analysis and high-level advocacy to prevent and resolve deadly conflict.

October 28, 2008