Tag: Westerwelle

  • Syria opposition must distance itself from “terrorists:” Germany

    Syria opposition must distance itself from “terrorists:” Germany

    Reuters
    Syria opposition must distance itself from “terrorists:” Germany
    Sat Apr 20 16:29:00 UTC 2013
    ISTANBUL (Reuters) – German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said on Saturday the Syrian opposition must distance itself from extremist forces and he said Germany was skeptical about supplying weapons to the rebels.”We expect from the opposition that they clearly distance themselves in Syria from terrorist and extremist forces,” Westerwelle told reporters in Istanbul at a meeting of Syrian opposition leaders and their international backers.

    “We are skeptical as the German government when it comes to delivering weapons because we are concerned that weapons could fall into the wrong, namely extremist, hands, but it is a matter that must now be discussed in the European Union.”

    A U.S. official said on Friday Washington planned to provide about $100 million in new non-lethal aid to the Syrian opposition that could include for the first time battlefield support equipment such as body armor and night-vision goggles.

    Secretary of State John Kerry was expected to announce the new aid package, which would mark a recalibration of U.S. policy toward Syrian rebel groups at Saturday’s meeting. Fresh U.S. humanitarian aid for Syrian refugees is also likely.

    The new assistance would stop short of supplying weapons to rebels fighting to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. It is also far less than what is sought by Syrian opposition leaders, U.S. allies Britain and France and some U.S. lawmakers.

    The 11-nation “core group” of the Friends of Syria, including the United States, European and Arab nations, has been deadlocked over how to remove Assad, whose security forces killed and arrested thousands of protesters who took to the streets to demand democratic reforms in March 2011.

    Syria’s opposition has said it hopes the Istanbul meeting will give teeth to a tacit agreement that arming rebel groups is the best way to end Assad’s rule.

    More than 70,000 have been killed in the revolt and subsequent civil war. But a military stalemate has set in and much of Syria is left in ruins because of a divided and ineffective opposition, a lack of action by foreign allies and Assad’s ability to rely on support from Russia and Iran.

    (Reporting by Nick Tattersall; Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Robin Pomeroy and Stephen Powell)

  • Turkey appeals for media seats at terror trial

    Turkey appeals for media seats at terror trial

    The Turkish foreign minister has appealed to his German counterpart to allow Turkish media into the trial of the last surviving member of a neo-Nazi terror cell accused of killing ten people, eight of whom were of Turkish origin.

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    The request was made during a telephone call and comes after the Munich Higher Regional court rejected a petition by the German government to reserve two seats in the courtroom for the Turkish ambassador, as well as the Human Rights ombudsman of the Turkish parliament.

    The court has awarded just fifty permanent courtroom seats to journalists. But Turkish media failed to secure a single one. The court claims it processed applications for accreditation as and when they came in, but politicians and the media have called the process bureaucratic and insensitive.

    German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle was keen to stress his commitment to transparency: “Given the unhappy back story to this case, assuring complete clarity and openness in the criminal process involving the awful crimes carried out by the NSU should be a matter of utmost concern.”

    Kemal Yurtnac, president of the Overseas Turks and Relative Societies (YTB) said he hoped those responsible would “soon acknowledge their mistakes.”

    The NSU terror cell is accused of ten murders. As well as the eight victims of Turkish origin, a Greek man and a German policewoman were also killed. The trial of the last surviving leader of the terrorist cell, Beate Zschäpe, begins on 17 April.

    DPA/The Local/kkf

    via Turkey appeals for media seats at terror trial – The Local.

  • Military action in Syria not an option for Turkey

    Military action in Syria not an option for Turkey

    By Lauren Williams

    The Daily Star

    37316 main

    German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, right, talks to his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu during a press conference after a meeting in Bonn, western Germany, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011. On Monday, Dec. 5, the Afghanistan Conference takes place in Bonn. (AP Photo/dapd, Roberto Pfeil)

    BEIRUT: Turkey will bank on sanctions and diplomatic pressure to force regime change in Syria and considers military intervention, including protection of safety or buffer zones, out of the question, a diplomatic official told The Daily Star.

    The official made the remarks in the wake of three security breaches apparently targeting Turkish nationals in the last month, prompting some opposition groups inside Turkey to question their hard-line policy toward their neighbor and fears that the conflict may spill over the border.

    An allegedly state-sanctioned attack on the Turkish Embassy in Syria on Nov. 13, in response to an Arab League decision to suspend Syria from meetings, was closely followed by a late-night gun attack on Turkish hajj pilgrims travelling through central Syria on Nov. 21, leaving three people injured, one seriously.

    Pilgrims told diplomatic officials they had come under fire by men believed to be security forces after learning they were Turks. Whether the attacks were committed by Syrian state security forces has not been confirmed, but the two incidents prompted Turkey to issue an advisory to Turkish citizens against all but essential travel to Syria and the withdrawal of Turkish Embassy staff families.

    Last week’s Istanbul Topkapi Palace gun attack, which left two Turks injured and the assailant dead, was widely believed to have been directly linked to the Syrian crisis, despite denials by security forces published in the Turkish daily Hurriyet last week.

    The Libyan gunman, who opened fire inside the popular tourist destination was initially reported to have entered the country through Syria in a Syrian registered car.

    The attack also coincided with the announcement from Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmad Davtoglu of a raft of sanctions against the country, including freezing all financial dealings and banning the transfer and sale of weapons. Syria cancelled the two countries’ bilateral Free Trade Agreement in response.

    Turkish newspapers carried a flurry of reports calling for a review of the country’s laws on sales of weapons to foreigners, while industrialists complained the cancellation of free trade between the two former partners would hurt Turkish exports.

    Diplomatic sources told The Daily Star they believed the Topkapi incident may have been conducted with the knowledge, if not coordination, of the Syrian state and may have been intended as a message.

    The diplomatic source told The Daily Star there was no doubt the Syrian crisis had prompted a “growing security threat” toward Turkish nationals, especially given Turkey has opened its borders to the passage of some 10,000 Syrian refugees, but made clear neither the security incidents nor the humanitarian crisis would offer a pretext for any armed response.

    Referring to speculation Syria could try to stir up separatist Kurds in the Eastern Kurdish border region, or tap in to sympathetic Turkish Alawite sentiment domestically, the source said “in reality … those cards are not relevant.”

    “Syria really has no capacity to force Turkey on anything.”

    The source squashed reports Turkey may enforce a humanitarian buffer zone along the Syrian border – similar to the one Turkey installed in Iraq in 1991 to stem the flow of roughly 1.5 million Kurdish refugees toward Turkey, persecuted under Saddam Hussein – saying geographical and logistical implantation made the plan “unfeasible.”

    Such a plan, also floated by France’s Foreign Minister Alain Juppe in the form of “humanitarian corridors” was ill-matched to the circumstances on the ground and were impossible to effectively enforce, even with Syrian approval, the source said.

    Unlike Iraq, civilians requiring protection in Syria are dotted across the country, rather than centered in one location, making a contained buffer zone nearly impossible to enforce.

    Any civilian protection would need to be armed, the source said – something many privately say Turkey is unwilling to provide. Instead, he said Turkey would continue to assist refugees entering Turkey and that Turkish security and intelligence would accommodate the changing circumstances.

    But for now, Turkey is banking on sanctions and diplomatic pressure to erode the current regime, he said, adding that Turkey considers the Syrian regime still “ relatively strong,” and predicting a long road ahead to regime change.

    A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Daily Star on December 05, 2011, on page 9.

    via THE DAILY STAR :: News :: Middle East :: Military action in Syria not an option for Turkey.

  • Germany, Turkey vow united stand after racist killings

    Germany, Turkey vow united stand after racist killings

    AFP: Germany, Turkey vow united stand after racist killings

    03 December 2011 | 23:44 | FOCUS News Agency

    519a89901d7d49f3d459e94f7d5466e4Bonn. Germany Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle and his Turkish counterpart Ahmed Davutoglu on Saturday called for action against the far right after a series of racist murders in Germany, AFP reports.

    Turks are the largest ethnic group of non-German origin in the country and all the victims were of Turkish origin.

    “Right-wing extremism and racism have no place in Germany,” Westerwelle told reporters in Bonn with Davutoglu who has been visiting Germany since Thursday and has met the families of some victims.

    “Relations between Turkey and Germany are good. I hope that these horrible murders are not going to divide Turkey and Germany. It’s for this reason that it is of the greatest importance that this series of murders are cleared up,” said Westerwelle.

    Davutoglu said the two countries shared a commitment to bringing the perpetrators to justice and stamping out racism.

    “It is important that we fight the far right together, that we make a common front against the violence…. We must drain the swamp… these attacks are not going to damage the Germany-Turkey friendship,” added Davutoglu.

    Earlier this week, German authorities called for help from the public as they investigated a neo-Nazi cell believed to have murdered 10 people, mainly foreign shopkeepers, in a case that has shocked the country.

    Authorities arrested a man on November 24 who stands accused of making a chilling video in 2007 — discovered only last month — in which the militants claimed responsibility for the murders.

    © 2011 All rights reserved. Reproducing this website’s contents requires obligatory reference to FOCUS Information Agency!

    via AFP: Germany, Turkey vow united stand after racist killings – FOCUS Information Agency.

  • Tajikistan and Germany discuss bilaterial cooperation

    Tajikistan and Germany discuss bilaterial cooperation

    Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov. 2 / Trend /

    Tajikistan Germany flags 021111Status and prospects of bilateral and multilateral cooperation were discussed at a meeting of the Tajik and German Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Khamrokhon Zarifi, and Guido Westerwelle in Istanbul, CA-NEWS reported referring to theTajikistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

    “The parties agreed that the existing potential for cooperation between Tajikistan and Germany is not fully implemented, so efforts should be made for more profitable for both countries cooperation,” the Foreign Ministry stressed .

    Foreign Ministry notes that the parties reached an agreement on exchange of visits by delegations of two countries at a high level, which will give new impetus to bilateral relations.

    “The two sides highlighted the cooperation between the two countries within international organizations and conference on Afghanistan. The Foreign Minister of Tajikistan told his colleague about the preparations for the V Conference of Regional Economic Cooperation on Afghanistan (RECCA), which will be held in Dushanbe in March 2012,” a statement said.

    Zarifi confirmed Tajikistan’s participation in the conference on Afghanistan, scheduled for early December in Bonn. The sides also discussed the prospects of the project “New Silk Road” at the meeting.

    “Westerwelle noted the importance of the accession of Tajikistan to the WTO, and assured his interlocutor that Germany would do everything to facilitate the early entry of the Republic of Tajikistan into WTO,” added the Foreign Ministry.

    The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan is on a working visit in Istanbul to participate in the conference on Afghanistan to be held on Wednesday.

    Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at agency@trend.az

    via Tajikistan and Germany discuss bilaterial cooperation – Trend.

  • Westerwelle urges EU to be fair to Turkey

    Westerwelle urges EU to be fair to Turkey

    ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News

    Turkish Foreign Minister Davutoğlu (R) hosts his German counterpart in Istanbul. DAILY NEWS photo, Emrah GÜREL
    Turkish Foreign Minister Davutoğlu (R) hosts his German counterpart in Istanbul. DAILY NEWS photo, Emrah GÜREL

    German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle has criticized the European Union in its negotiation process with Turkey, saying it should act more fairly during the accession of candidate’s negotiations to join the bloc.

    The “European Union should act respectful and fair to Turkey in the negotiation process,” Westerwelle said during a visit to Turkey yesterday.

    Westerwelle met with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu in Istanbul yesterday, with Westerwelle and Davutoğlu later holding a joint pres conference.

    Westerwelle said Turkey’s accession process to the EU should go on without a break.

    “Once the train has stopped, it is very difficult to get it moving again. Therefore, the train should not stop and the next chapter, which is the competition chapter, should open soon,” Westerwelle said, adding that they talked about the German foundation issue during his meeting with Erdoğan.

    The Turkish prime minister has accused German foundations of indirectly supporting the local administrations run by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

    Davutoğlu corrected the question of a journalist during the press conference regarding the German foundations and said Erdoğan did not say the German foundations were financing the terrorist group.

    Westerwelle said they cleared away any misunderstandings regarding the issue of German foundations. “Both German foundations and German banks are highly appreciated in Turkey,” Westerwelle said.

    via Westerwelle urges EU to be fair to Turkey – Hurriyet Daily News.