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Regional geopolitics

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  • Re: Regional geopolitics

    Ahmet Davutoglu Says He’ll Step Down as Turkey’s Prime Minister

    .... "A “rift in AKP party might well lead to much wider and much more dangerous conflict in Turkey’s society as a whole,” Carl Bildt, a former prime minister and foreign minister of Sweden who has been widely involved in peace negotiations worldwide, wrote on Twitter.

    Recently, Mr. Davutoglu had suggested he was willing to return to peace negotiations to end a long war — which resumed in earnest last year — with the Kurdistan Worker’s Party, or P.K.K., while Mr. Erdogan has appeared more hawkish. ....

    Comment


    • Re: Regional geopolitics

      azeri propaganda and reality

      "Azerbaijan becoming popular tourist destination - Travel & Tourism News Middle East
      Recently, Azerbaijan has been educating potential visitors by hosting large-scale, high-profile events to garner worldwide exposure and awareness for the destination, read the article."

      With a strong tourism infrastructure, nine climate zones, and home of five UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Azerbaijan has been following the lead of other oil-rich nations by forging its way into the tourism sector


      Welcome to azerbaijan

      Comment


      • Re: Regional geopolitics

        Originally posted by Azad View Post
        azeri propaganda and reality

        "Azerbaijan becoming popular tourist destination - Travel & Tourism News Middle East
        Recently, Azerbaijan has been educating potential visitors by hosting large-scale, high-profile events to garner worldwide exposure and awareness for the destination, read the article."

        With a strong tourism infrastructure, nine climate zones, and home of five UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Azerbaijan has been following the lead of other oil-rich nations by forging its way into the tourism sector


        Welcome to azerbaijan

        Wow it hurts just looking at it. Was Steve Wonder the driver?
        Hayastan or Bust.

        Comment


        • Re: Regional geopolitics

          Field Report: Islamist militants break into Army’s bastion in Aleppo southern countryside.
          Map Update
          By Zen Adra -
          05/05/2016

          The Turkish-backed Army of Conquest (Jaish al-Fateh) launched, today afternoon, a massive attack on Khan Tuman village located nearly 15 km to the south of the northern city of Aleppo.

          The offensive began with Islamist fighters shelling the Army’s defensives with heavy artillery and homegrown rockets Hell Cannons, capturing several points and killing a number of government troops who forcibly retreated eastward.

          Pro-jihadists social media accounts reported of heavy losses among the government troops, including tanks and rocket launchers.

          Jaish al-Fateh is a conglomeration of ultra-hardline fighters, led by the al-Qaeda offshoot in Syria, Jabhet al-Nusra, and made up primarily from Ahrar ash-Sham and Jund al-Aqsa, which are directly linked to Nusra or have a similar ideology.

          The last assault by radical fighters to seize Al-Khalidiyah village (which acts as the southern gate to Khan Tuman) in last April was repelled after the Syrian Army was able to maintain all its positions. The offensive comes hours after Russia and the United States brokered a 48-hour ceasefire in Aleppo and its outskirts, which was officially approved by the General Command of the Army and Armed Forces.

          https://www.almasdarnews.com/article...-map-update-2/ | Al-Masdar News

          Comment


          • Re: Regional geopolitics

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                  • Re: Regional geopolitics

                    Originally posted by Vrej1915 View Post
                    Field Report: Islamist militants break into Army’s bastion in Aleppo southern countryside.
                    Map Update
                    By Zen Adra -
                    05/05/2016

                    The Turkish-backed Army of Conquest (Jaish al-Fateh) launched, today afternoon, a massive attack on Khan Tuman village located nearly 15 km to the south of the northern city of Aleppo.

                    The offensive began with Islamist fighters shelling the Army’s defensives with heavy artillery and homegrown rockets Hell Cannons, capturing several points and killing a number of government troops who forcibly retreated eastward.

                    Pro-jihadists social media accounts reported of heavy losses among the government troops, including tanks and rocket launchers.

                    Jaish al-Fateh is a conglomeration of ultra-hardline fighters, led by the al-Qaeda offshoot in Syria, Jabhet al-Nusra, and made up primarily from Ahrar ash-Sham and Jund al-Aqsa, which are directly linked to Nusra or have a similar ideology.

                    The last assault by radical fighters to seize Al-Khalidiyah village (which acts as the southern gate to Khan Tuman) in last April was repelled after the Syrian Army was able to maintain all its positions. The offensive comes hours after Russia and the United States brokered a 48-hour ceasefire in Aleppo and its outskirts, which was officially approved by the General Command of the Army and Armed Forces.

                    https://www.almasdarnews.com/article...-map-update-2/ | Al-Masdar News
                    "The offensive comes hours after Russia and the United States brokered a 48-hour ceasefire in Aleppo ".
                    This group is backed openly by Saudi Arabia and Turkey. This is serious, this attack will have political consequences.

                    Comment


                    • Re: Regional geopolitics

                      EU Commission hands major domestic victory to Turkish government

                      Date 04.05.2016
                      Author Tom Stevenson, Istanbul


                      Following a European Commission recommendation, Turkish citizens are
                      one step closer to easier EU travel. Ankara sees the decision as a
                      victory, despite the major hurdles that remain. Tom Stevenson reports
                      fom Istanbul.

                      The European Commission's decision to recommend a Schengen visa waiver
                      for Turkish citizens has the government in Ankara celebrating.

                      The European Commission has been criticized for extending a major
                      diplomatic boon to Turkey at a time when the country is prosecuting a
                      brutal war in its south-eastern provinces, curtailing free speech
                      rights and deporting foreign journalists - including the
                      correspondents of major European media.

                      In Turkey the decision has been hailed as a victory for the
                      government, and in particular for Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who
                      negotiated the deal.


                      EU Commission backs Turkey visa deal

                      'Realpolitik wins'

                      The 90-day visa waiver was offered as part of a deal with the EU that
                      saw Turkey agree to receive and shelter deported migrants from Greece
                      in return for budgetary support amounting to 3 billion euros ($3.45
                      billion).

                      Speaking before the announcement to the "Daily Sabah," a newspaper
                      widely seen as the Turkish government's English-language mouthpiece,
                      Turkey's EU Deputy Minister Ali Sahin said he expected unconditional
                      support for the visa deal. "Turkey does not accept conditional
                      approval [on the visa waiver] ... it should not be forgotten that the
                      EU needs Turkey as much as [Turkey needs] the EU."

                      The European Commission decided to recommend a vote on the visa waiver
                      if outstanding commitments, including five additional criteria, are
                      met by Turkey by June.

                      The Turkish government has been criticized for harsh crackdowns on
                      protesters. Last month, the parliamentary speaker sparked more
                      protests by calling for an Islamic constitution

                      "This is a major victory for the government, and for the prime
                      minister," said Soli Ozel, lecturer at Istanbul's Kadir Has
                      University. "The visa waiver is important for the general population
                      in Turkey, but very important for the business community and the
                      academic community."

                      "Without going through it, it's difficult to understand how much of a
                      draining experience the visa process is, and it generates a lot of
                      unfair competition with a country that has a customs union with the
                      EU."

                      According to Ozel, the visa deal may be a step in the right direction,
                      but it also displays hypocrisy in both parties.

                      "In these deals everybody is unveiled. It used to be that both sides
                      played their hypocrisy more carefully, but now it's out in the open
                      and obvious - the refugee situation is a big headache and so Turkey
                      can get whatever it wants by using that."

                      "The EU can hang its principles wherever it wants: realpolitik wins."

                      The Commission's decision must now be approved by the individual EU
                      member states and the European Parliament before it will pass into
                      effect, which could take as long as two months.

                      Erdogan in a comfortable position

                      The two parties are also currently negotiating Turkey's accession to
                      the European Union, however the process has been slow going, with just
                      one chapter having been successfully closed out of a total of 33 that
                      must be negotiated before a vote on accession is possible.

                      "It isn't over until it's over, of course, but my hunch is that
                      despite some disgruntled members disagreeing the European Council will
                      also accept recommendation and I think it is the right thing to do,"
                      Ozel told DW.

                      "If it were to go south however, Prime Minister Davutoglu would take a
                      big blow to his credibility because he has staked his reputation on
                      this big promise. But Turkey always has the leverage of a backlash in
                      which it refuses to cooperate on the refugees."

                      President Erdogan and Prime Minister Davutglu (left to right) see the
                      decison as a victory. The prime minister has the most to lose if the
                      deal doesn't work

                      Meeting the outstanding EU criteria may exacerbate existing power
                      struggles in Turkish politics surrounding some of the more sensitive
                      matters, including counterterrorism, according to Sinan Ulgen,
                      director of the Istanbul-based EDAM think tank and a visiting scholar
                      at the Carnegie Center in Brussels.

                      "There will now be a political tug of war on whether Turkey will be
                      intent on fulfilling the criteria, some of which are sensitive," Ulgen
                      told DW. "Turkey must confront its framework for dealing with
                      terrorism at a time when government considers there to be a very
                      sizeable terrorism threat - it's doubtful that there will be much
                      movement in that direction."

                      According to Ulgen, Prime Minister Davutoglu may have much to lose or
                      gain by this deal but Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is in
                      a more comfortable position. Should the deal succeed, he can reap the
                      benefits; if it falls through, he can place the blame on Europe,
                      lowering the stakes for himself.

                      "Domestically the few criticisms of this deal that will come from the
                      opposition will not matter. Visa liberalization is long awaited and it
                      will be a substantive win, silencing government critics," Ulgen said.

                      "There are still a number of important obstacles, and the European
                      Parliament has questions about the overall state of democracy in
                      Turkey, so it has the potential to poison the deal. However, this is
                      an important milestone absolutely."

                      Hayastan or Bust.

                      Comment

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