The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Tayyip Erdogan

  • Turkish Court keeps U.S. Pastor in jail

    A Turkish Court decided on Wednesday to keep Andrew Brunson, an American Pastor in jail, dashing hopes that he could be released during his trial on terrorism and spying charges.

    This is a case that has deepened a rift with NATO ally Washington.

    Brunson, a Christian Pastor from North Carolina who has lived in Turkey for more than two decades, was indicted on charges of helping the group that Ankara blames for the failed 2016 coup against President Tayyip Erdogan, as well as supporting outlawed PKK Kurdish militants.

    U.S. envoy says it is disappointed by the Pastor’s continued detention in Turkey

    Brunson, who denied the charges, faces up to 35 years in jail if found guilty.

    “It is really hard to stay in jail and be separated from my wife and children,’’ Brunson, wearing a black suit and a white shirt, told the Court in Turkish.

    “There is no concrete evidence against me. The disciples of Jesus suffered in his name, now it is my turn. I am an innocent man on all these charges. I reject them. I know why I am here. I am here to suffer in Jesus’s name.’’

    President Donald Trump has called for his release and the U.S. Senate passed a bill in June including a measure that prohibits Turkey from buying F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets because of Brunson’s imprisonment and Turkey’s purchase of Russia’s S-400 air defence system.

    The U.S. envoy to Turkey said he was “disappointed’’ by the ruling by the Court in the Aegean province of Izmir where Brunson had been living.

    “Our government is deeply concerned about his status and the status of other American citizens and Turkish local employees of the U.S. diplomatic mission who have been detained under state of emergency rules,’’ Charge d’affaires Philip Kosnett told reporters outside the courtroom.

    Read Also: Turkey seeks arrest of ex-CIA officer over coup plot

    “We have great respect for both Turkey’s traditional role as a haven for people of faiths and Turkey’s legal traditions. We believe this case is out of step with these traditions,’’ he said.

    Brunson was Pastor of the Izmir Resurrection Church, serving a small Protestant congregation in Turkey’s third-largest city, south of the Aegean town of Aliaga where he is now on trial.

    His lawyer Ismail Cem Halavurt had raised hopes that he could be released as the prosecution witnesses finish testifying.

    But Halavurt said on Wednesday that the prosecution has added the testimonies of two new anonymous witnesses to the case and that the court will hold its next hearing on October 12, to hear them and view new evidence.

    Turkey’s lira weakened against the dollar immediately after the ruling, reflecting investor worries about tensions with the United States.

    It was nearly half a per cent weaker on the day, at 4.8215 at 1234 GMT.

    Brunson’s trial is one of several legal cases that have raised tensions between Washington and Ankara.

    A U.S. judge sentenced a Turkish bank executive in May to 32 months in prison for helping Iran evade U.S. sanctions, while two locally employed U.S. consulate staff in Turkey has been detained.

    The NATO allies are also at odds over U.S. policy in Syria, where Washington’s ally in the fight against Islamic State is a Kurdish militia Turkey says is an extension of the PKK, which has waged a three-decade insurgency in southeast Turkey.

    The Turkish government says Brunson’s case will be decided by the courts.

    But Erdogan has previously linked his fate to that of Fethullah Gulen, the U.S.-based Muslim cleric Turkey blames for the coup attempt and whose extradition Ankara seeks.

    Gulen has denied having any link to the failed coup, in which at least 250 people were killed.

    NAN

  • Erdogan to be sworn in for another term in office

    Recep Tayyip Erdogan is due to be sworn in as Turkey’s First Executive President with vastly expanded powers on Monday, when he also plans to announce his cabinet.

    Erdogan is scheduled to take the oath of office at the Grand National Assembly in Ankara at 4:30 pm (1330 GMT), as Turkey completes its transition from a parliamentary model to an all-powerful presidency.

    The radical changes were approved by a razor-thin majority in an April 2017 constitutional referendum.

    Erdogan would become both the head of state and government, with the prime minister’s post abolished.

    He will have sweeping new powers, including over the judiciary and the ability to rule by decree.

    He won re-election on June 24, with 52.59 per cent of votes.

    In parliamentary polls held the same day, his ruling Justice and Development Party ( AKP ) secured a majority through its alliance with the far-right Nationalist Movement Party ( MHP ).

    Read Also: Buhari congratulates Erdogan on re-election victory

    After taking the oath, Erdogan plans to visit the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the modern, secular,Turkish Republic.

    His inauguration at the 1,150-room presidential palace will be attended by 22 presidents and 28 prime ministers and parliament speakers, among others, state News Agency, Anadolu, reported.

    Erdogan has been in power for 15 years, first as prime minister, and then as president, from 2014.

    Under the new system, the counting of terms starts afresh, which means he starts his first five-year term on Monday.

    There is a two-term limit on the office of the president, so he could effectively stay in power until 2028.

  • Turkish opposition holds rallies against state of emergency

    Turkey’s main opposition party organised dozens of rallies across the country on Monday to protest the ongoing state of emergency, in place since July 2016, which grants the government sweeping powers.

    More than 50,000 people are jailed under state-of-emergency decrees and more than 150,000 people have lost their jobs.

    Decrees are issued in place of laws on a range of matters, from national security to privatising sugar factories.

    The centre-left People’s Republican Party (CHP) said it organised protests in each of the country’s 81 provinces, ahead of a vote Wednesday in parliament on extending the state-of-emergency by another three-months, bringing it to a full two-years.

    Read Also: http://staging.thenationonlineng.net/iraqi-court-sentences-turkish-woman-death-joining-isis/

    The government says the state of emergency is needed to combat terrorism, in particular from the movement of Fethullah Gulen, a U.S.-based cleric, who Ankara blames for organising a failed military coup in 2016.

    The CHP and other government critics say emergency rule is eroding democracy and the rule of law and being applied unfairly.

    The protests come on the first anniversary of a referendum on vastly expanding the powers of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

    The vote narrowly passed, though the opposition alleged there were irregularities.

    Protesters held up signs saying “no to one man” and against emergency rule. One of the main slogans chanted: “Rights, Law and Justice.”

    Hundreds of people took part in a demonstration near Istanbul’s iconic Taksim Square and similar rallies were being held in other major cities, according to videos and images posted by CHP members of parliament.

    Main broadcast media outlets did not report the demonstrations.

    NAN

  • U.S. pastor denies allegations of coup links as Turkey trial begins

    A U.S. pastor on Monday denied allegations of links to a group accused of orchestrating a failed military coup in Turkey, as he went on trial in a case that has fuelled strains in relations between Ankara and Washington.

    Brunson, a Christian pastor from North Carolina living in Turkey for 23 years, was been indicted on charges of helping the group that Turkey holds responsible for the failed 2016 coup against President Tayyip Erdogan.

    “I’ve never done something against Turkey. I love Turkey. I’ve been praying for Turkey for 25 years.

    “I want truth to come out,” Andrew Brunson told the court in the western Turkish town of Aliaga, north of the Aegean city of Izmir.

    “I do not accept the charges mentioned in the indictment. I was never involved in any illegal activities,” said Brunson, making his defence in Turkish.

    Read Also: Leah’s absence a blow to our church, says Pastor

    His wife was in the courtroom, as were North Carolina senator Thom Tillis and U.S. envoy for religious freedom Sam Brownback.

    Brunson’s trial is one of several legal cases which have hurt ties between Turkey and the U.S.
    The two countries are also at odds over Washington’s support for a Kurdish militia in northern Syria that Turkey considers a terrorist organisation.

    Washington has called for Brunson’s release while Erdogan suggested in 2017 the pastor’s fate could be linked to that of U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, whose extradition Ankara has repeatedly sought to face charges over the coup attempt.

    NAN

  • 17 Turkish journalists go on trial for waging ‘asymmetric war’

    17 Turkish journalists go on trial for waging ‘asymmetric war’

    Seventeen employees of a Turkish opposition newspaper went on trial on Monday accused of supporting a terrorist group, a case seen by government critics as a further sign that freedom of expression is under attack.

    “Journalism is not a crime,” chanted several hundred people gathered outside the central Istanbul court to protest against the prosecution of writers, executives and lawyers of the staunchly secularist Cumhuriyet newspaper.

    The hearing coincides with an escalating dispute with Germany over the arrest in Turkey of 10 rights activists, including one German, as part of a crackdown since 2016’s attempted coup against President Tayyip Erdogan.

    Turkish prosecutors were seeking up to 43 years in jail for staff from the paper, including some of Turkey’s best-known journalists, who are accused of targeting Erdogan through “asymmetric war methods”.

    “According to the government, everyone in opposition is a terrorist, the only non-terrorists are themselves,’’ Filiz Kerestecioglu, a member of parliament from the pro-Kurdish opposition party, told newsmen ahead of the trial.

    According to the 324-page indictment, Cumhuriyet was effectively taken over by the network of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, blamed for the failed putsch last July, and used to “veil the actions of terrorist groups”.

    However, Gulen has denied any involvement in the coup.

    The newspaper has called the charges “imaginary accusations and slander”.

    Social media posts comprised the bulk of evidence in the indictment, along with allegations that staff had been in contact with users of Bylock, an encrypted messaging app the government says was used by Gulen’s followers.

    Rights groups and Turkey’s Western allies have complained of deteriorating human rights under Erdogan.

    In the crackdown since July 2016’s failed coup, 50,000 people have been jailed pending trial and some 150,000 detained or dismissed from their jobs.

    According to the Turkish Journalists’ Association, as part of the purge some 150 media outlets have been shut down and around 160 journalists are in jail.

    The crackdown has strained Turkey’s ties with the European Union, but reaction from the bloc has been restrained because it depends on Turkey to curb the flow of migrants and refugees into Europe.

    However Europe’s leading power, Germany, has stepped up pressure in recent days, threatening measures that could hinder German investment in Turkey and reviewing Turkish applications for arms deals.

    Turkish authorities say the crackdown is justified by the gravity of the coup attempt, in which rogue soldiers tried to overthrow the government and Erdogan, killing 250 people, most of them civilians.

    Cumhuriyet is accused of writing stories that serve “separatist manipulation”.

    The newspaper’s editor Murat Sabuncu and other senior staff have been in pre-trial detention since being arrested in November.

    Other defendants include well-known columnist Kadri Gursel and Ahmet Sik, who once wrote a book critical of Gulen’s movement.

    Former editor Can Dundar, who is living in Germany, is being tried in absentia.

  • Jerusalem on alert as religious tensions rise over holy site

    Jerusalem on alert as religious tensions rise over holy site

    Israel bolstered security in the Old City of Jerusalem on Friday and prepared for possible clashes with Muslim worshippers after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided metal detectors at a sensitive holy site would not be removed.

    There have been daily confrontations between Palestinians hurling rocks and Israeli police using stun grenades since the detectors were placed at the entrance to the shrine, known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount, on Sunday, after the killing of two Israeli policemen.

    Muslim leaders and Palestinian political factions have urged the faithful to gather for a “day of rage” against the new security policies, which they see as changing delicate agreements that have governed the holy site for decades.

    The Israeli police said extra units had been mobilised to bolster security in the Old City, while Muslim access to the shrine for prayers would be limited to women of all ages and men over 50.

    Roadblocks were in place on approach roads to Jerusalem to stop buses carrying Muslims to the site.

    “Police are coordinating to enable Friday prayers to take place and at the same time security measures are taking place,” spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.

    The Noble Sanctuary-Temple Mount compound, containing the Dome of the Rock and the Aqsa Mosque, has long been a source of religious friction.

    Since Israel captured and annexed the Old City, including the compound, in the 1967 Middle East war, it has also become a symbol of Palestinian nationalism.

    On Thursday, there were calls for Netanyahu to back down and remove the metal detectors so as not to inflame the situation.

    President Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, after discussing the issue with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, called Israeli President Reuven Rivlin to press for their removal.

    Nickolay Mladenov, UN’ special coordinator for long-stalled Israel-Palestinian peace talks, appealed for calm and the White House urged a resolution.

    Jordan, which is the ultimate custodian of the holy site, has also been involved in mediation efforts.

    After a late-night meeting of his security cabinet, Netanyahu decided the metal detectors should stay.

    Officials said they were necessary to ensure Palestinians and Israeli-Arabs do not smuggle weapons into the holy compound.

    Far-right members of Netanyahu’s government, which relies on religious and right-wing parties for support, had publicly urged him to keep the devices in place.

    “Israel is committed to maintaining the status quo at the Temple Mount and the freedom of access to the holy places,” the security cabinet said in a statement.

    “The cabinet has authorised the police to take any decision in order ensure free access to the holy places while maintaining security and public order.”

    Tensions around the Noble Sanctuary-Temple Mount have erupted into violence in the past.

    In 2000, after then Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon visited, Palestinians took it as a provocation.

    It led to clashes that spiraled into the second Intifada, when an estimated 1,000 Israelis and some 3,000 Palestinians were killed over four years of violence.

    As well as anger at having to submit to Israeli security policies, Palestinians are alarmed at what they see as the slow chipping away at the status quo at the Noble Sanctuary.

    Since Ottoman times, while Jews are permitted to visit the area, considered the holiest place in Judaism, where an ancient temple once stood, only Muslims are allowed to pray.

    Over the past decade, however, visits by religious-nationalist Jews have increased sharply and some attempt to pray.

    While police are supposed to eject them if they do, the rules are not always enforced, fuelling Muslim anger.

  • Turkey rejects proposals to drop EU accession talks – Minister

    Turkey rejects proposals to drop EU accession talks – Minister

    Turkey has rejected proposals to drop European Union accession talks in favour of cooperation in other areas, an official has said.

    Turkish EU Affairs Minister Omer Celik said on Thursday ahead of a European Parliament vote on suspending Turkey’s membership bid.

    Celik, speaking during a visit to Ankara by EU enlargement commissioner Johannes Hahn, said it was wrong for EU lawmakers to call for the suspension of Turkey’s membership talks.

    The minister, however, added that such approaches would not benefit either side.

    “We reject with the back of our hand any proposals that there should be strong cooperation between Turkey and the EU in other areas instead of accession talks,’’ Celik told newsmen.

    On Wednesday, EU lawmakers called for a suspension of Turkey’s membership talks with the EU, saying President Tayyip Erdogan’s crackdown on opponents meant Ankara did not meet the bloc’s democratic criteria.

    A vote on the proposal is expected to pass comfortably, but the parliament has limited influence on the issue.

    The European Commission and EU governments have ignored calls for a formal suspension of a process already in limbo.

    Turkey’s ties with its European allies have deteriorated since July 2016’s abortive putsch, with Turkey accusing some European states of not showing enough support.

    “The European Parliament has failed in its solidarity with Turkey following the coup attempt.

    “We had expected strong support, but the call to end membership talks instead is wrong,’’ Celik said.

    In addition, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus, in an interview on Wednesday told newsmen that Turkey was not responsible for the escalation of tensions between the two sides.

    “Europe displaying inappropriate behaviour toward Turkey is not a situation we can accept.

    “Being against our President Erdogan is also not a rational stance from Europe.

    “Europe must decide if they really want to enlarge,’’ Kurtulmus said.

    EU commissioner Hahn said he hoped the interaction between the two sides would lead to a higher level of political dialogue.

    “I don’t know what will be decided, but I have to stress that the European Parliament is one of the institutions elected by the European citizens.

    “Members of the European Parliament represent the view of their voters,’’ Hahn said.

    Kurtulmus said he believed sincere negotiations between the two parties would help resolve issues, and that Europe should take notice of the helping hand Turkey has extended.

    EU leaders have been critical of Erdogan and his behaviour toward opponents, both before and after the abortive coup.

    However, they do not want to undermine an agreement struck in 2016 whereby Turkey effectively stopped migrants reaching Greece, easing a crisis that had threatened EU unity.

    Celik said Turkey had noted the bloc’s criticism regarding its judiciary and freedom of press and expression, however, added the EU was blocking the process by not opening new chapters.

  • ‘Israel paid $20m to families of flotilla raid victims’

    ‘Israel paid $20m to families of flotilla raid victims’

    Israel has paid total compensation of 20 million dollars to the families of the victims of an Israeli raid on a Turkish aid flotilla that killed 10 people in 2010, Turkey’s Finance Minister Naci Agbal said on Friday.

    Turkish media quoted Agbal to have said that the payment, which will be divided among the 10 families, comes some nine months after Israel had already offered apologies for the raid.

    The compensation was one of Ankara’s conditions for rapprochement – agreed to pay the families of those killed.

    “Compensation has been paid to the families of those who lost their lives during the Mavi Marmara attack,” Turkish broadcasters quoted Agbal as saying.

    Relations between Israel and Turkey broke down in 2010 when Turkish pro-Palestinian activists were killed by Israeli commandos enforcing a naval blockade of the Gaza Strip.

    The soldiers raided a ship, the Mavi Marmara, leading a flotilla towards the Islamist Hamas-run Palestinian territory.

    In June 2016, however, the two countries said they would normalise relations, a rapprochement driven by the prospect of lucrative Mediterranean gas deals as well as mutual fears over security risks in the Middle East.

    Turkish President named a new ambassador to Israel in November last year, reciprocating a move by the Israelis, in a move toward restoring diplomatic ties between the once-close allies.

  • Four Arab states send 13 demands to Qatar

    Four Arab states send 13 demands to Qatar

    Four Arab states boycotting Qatar over alleged support for terrorism on Friday sent Doha a list of 13 demands including closing Al Jazeera television and reducing ties to their regional adversary Iran.

    Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt and Bahrain, on June 5, cut economic, diplomatic and travel ties to Doha.

    An official of the four Arab countries, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that they gave Doha 10 days to comply, failing which the list becomes “void”.

    The official who did not elaborate further, suggested that the offer to end the dispute in return for the 13 steps would no longer be on the table.

    The official said that the list which was compiled by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt and Bahrain, also demands the closing of a Turkish military base in Qatar.

    The demands aimed at ending the worst Gulf Arab crisis in years appear designed to quash a two decade-old foreign policy in which Qatar has punched well above its weight, striding the stage as a peace broker, often in conflicts in Muslim lands.

    Doha’s independent-minded approach, including a dovish line on Iran and support for Islamist groups, in particular the Muslim Brotherhood, has incensed some of its neighbours who see political Islamism as a threat to their dynastic rule.

    The demands, the official said, was handed to Qatar by mediator Kuwait.

    The official added that the demands also require that Qatar stop interfering in the four countries’ domestic and foreign affairs and stop a practice of giving Qatari nationality to citizens of the four countries,

    He said that Qatar must pay reparations to these countries for any damage or costs incurred over the past few years because of Qatari policies.

    Any resulting agreement to comply with the demands will be monitored, with monthly reports in the first year, then every three months the next year, then annually for 10 years, the official said without elaborating.

    Turkey’s Defence Minister Fikri Isik rejected the demand, saying any call for the base to be shut would represent interference in Ankara’s relations with Doha.

    He suggested instead that Turkey might bolster its presence.

    Isik said: “strengthening the Turkish base would be a positive step in terms of the Gulf’s security.

    “Re-evaluating the base agreement with Qatar is not on our agenda.”

    The Arab official said that Qatar must also announce it is severing ties with terrorist, ideological and sectarian organisations including the Muslim Brotherhood, Islamic State and al Qaeda.

    Others, the officials said, are Hezbollah, and Jabhat Fateh al Sham, formerly al Qaeda’s branch in Syria, , and surrender all designated terrorists on its territory.

    The four Arab countries accuse Qatar of funding terrorism, fomenting regional instability and cozying up to revolutionary theocracy Iran.

    Qatar has denied the accusations.

    Qatari officials did not reply immediately to requests for comment.

    On Monday, Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said Qatar would not negotiate with the four states unless they lifted their measures against Doha.

    “The demands are so aggressive that it makes it close to impossible to currently see a resolution of that conflict,” said Olivier Jakob, a strategist at Switzerland-based oil consultancy Petromatrix.

    Several Qataris who spoke to Reuters described the demands as unreasonable. “Imagine another country demanding that CNN be closed,” said 40-year-old Haseeb Mansour, who works for telecom operator Ooredoo.

    Abdullah al-Muhanadi, a retired public sector shopping for groceries in Doha on Friday morning, said the boycott must be lifted before negotiations to resolve the dispute could start.

    “There’s a lot on the list that is simply not true or unreasonable, so how can we comply?” he said.

    “There are no Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps elements in Qatar and the agreement with Turkey is a long- standing diplomatic agreement so we cannot ask them to leave.”

    U.S. President Donald Trump has taken a tough stance on Qatar, accusing it of being a “high level” sponsor of terrorism, but he has also offered help to the parties in the dispute to resolve their differences.

    Turkey has backed Qatar during the three-week-old crisis.

    It sent its first ship carrying food aid to Qatar and dispatched a small contingent of soldiers and armoured vehicles there on Thursday, while President Tayyip Erdogan spoke with Saudi Arabia’s leaders on calming tension in the region.

  • Turkish authorities seek detention of 189 lawyers in post-coup probe

    Turkish authorities seek detention of 189 lawyers in post-coup probe

    Turkish authorities issued detention warrants for 189 lawyers as part of an investigation into followers of a Muslim cleric accused of orchestrating the July 2016 attempted coup, state-run Anadolu news agency said on Wednesday.

    The scope of purges that have also seen more than 130 media outlets shut down and some 150 journalists jailed has unnerved rights groups and Western allies, who fear President Tayyip Erdogan is using the coup bid as a pretext to muzzle dissent.

    The agency said the 189 suspects were sought by anti-terrorist police across eight provinces including Istanbul for alleged links to the network of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen.

    He has denied involvement in the failed putsch.

    Police have so far detained 78 of the lawyers, some believed to be users of ByLock, an encrypted messaging app the government says was used by Gulen’s followers.

    Since the July coup attempt, authorities have jailed pending trial 50,000 people and sacked or suspended 150,000, including soldiers, police, teachers and public servants, over alleged links with terrorist groups, including Gulen’s network.

    Erdogan says the crackdown is necessary due to the gravity of the coup attempt in which 240 people were killed.