If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.
Turkey summons the US ambassador over "security lapses" after clashes erupted in Washington.
Turkey has blamed US officials for "aggressive and unprofessional actions" and "security lapses" during President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit last week.
The Turkish foreign minister said it had summoned the US ambassador, John Bass, and asked for an investigation.
During the key visit, a brawl erupted between protesters and Turkish security personnel, injuring 11 people.
Police called it a "brutal attack" on protesters, but Turkey blamed the violence on pro-Kurdish demonstrators.
Meanwhile, US State Department spokesman Heather Nauert said "the conduct of Turkish security personnel... was deeply disturbing".
"The State Department has raised its concerns about those events at the highest levels," she added.
Watch: Erdogan watches as security guards attack protesters
US summons Turkish envoy over brawl
The incident happened on Tuesday outside the Turkish ambassador's residence in Washington, hours after Mr Erdogan met US President Donald Trump.
Video footage of the clash showed men in suits charging past police to kick and punch protesters.
"A written and verbal protest was delivered due to the aggressive and unprofessional actions taken, contrary to diplomatic rules and practices, by US security personnel," the Turkish foreign minister said in a statement.
The "lapses of security", it added, "were caused by the inability of US authorities to take sufficient precautions at every stage of the official programme".
Media captionInside President Erdogan's US visit that turned violent
US officials have already summoned the Turkish ambassador over the violence, which was described by Washington police as a "brutal attack on peaceful protesters".
But the Turkish embassy said the demonstrators were linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), and had aggressively provoked Turkish-Americans gathering to greet the president. They in turn had acted in self-defence.
The incident drew an outcry among US lawmakers, and Senator John McCain called for the Turkish envoy to be expelled.
Ադրբեջանում «մանթրաժ» են. Վահան Մարտիրոսյանը հիմա էլ դավաճանել է Ադրբեջանին
Lragir.am
Ներքին կյանք - 28 Մայիսի 2017,
Ադրբեջանական ԶԼՄ-ները գրում են այն մասին, որ Հայաստանից Ադրբեջան փախած եւ ներկայում Ուկրաինայում գտնվող Վահան Մարտիրոսյանը, ով միացել էր Բաքվի այսպես ասած «Խաղաղության պլատֆորմին» եւ հակահայկական հոդվածներ էր գրում ադրբեջանական ԶԼՄ-ներում, հայտարարություն է տարածել, որ զղջում է իր արարքի համար:
Ադրբեջանական ԶԼՄ-ները գրում են, որ հնարավոր է նոր վահանմարտիրոսյաններ հայտնվեն, ովքեր նախ դավաճանել են սեփական ժողովրդին, իսկ հետո՝ ադրբեջանական ժողովրդին: Ըստ ամենայնի, նկատի է առնվում այդ տխրահռչակ «խաղաղության պլատֆորմին» միացած հայերին:
Հետաքրքիր է, որ ադրբեջանցիներն իրենց իսկ ստեղծած պլատֆորմը փաստացի համարում են դավաճանների պլատֆորմ՝ այնտեղ կարող են հայտնվել միայն սեփական ժողովրդին դավաճանածները:
Georgia ex-leader Saakashvili plans defiant return to Ukraine
28 July 2017
BBC
Image copyrightREUTERS Image captionMikheil Saakashvili introduced free market reforms in Georgia before losing an election in 2012
The former Georgian President, Mikheil Saakashvili, says he will go back to Ukraine to mobilise his supporters there, in defiance of Kiev's decision to strip him of Ukrainian citizenship.
Mr Saakashvili moved to Ukraine in 2013 and served as governor of Odessa under President Petro Poroshenko. Both have championed pro-Western market reforms.
But the two men have since fallen out.
Last year Mr Saakashvili said corrupt oligarchs close to Mr Poroshenko were blocking the reforms.
Speaking to the BBC's Newshour programme from New York, Mr Saakashvili, who heads an opposition party in Ukraine, said Mr Poroshenko was trying to remove his most serious opponent.
However, according to opinion polls, Mr Saakashvili's Movement of New Forces (Rukh) has less than 2% support among Ukrainians.
Accused of corruption in his native Georgia, he lost his Georgian citizenship in 2015 after becoming a Ukrainian national. Mr Saakashvili rejects the Georgian corruption charges as politically motivated.
According to the Ukrainian authorities, he put false information on his citizenship registration form in 2015.
He told the BBC that he would strive to "get rid of the old corrupt elite" in Ukraine. But he denied any ambition to become Ukrainian president. Image copyrightAFP Image captionWhen they were friends - 2015 and President Poroshenko (l) appoints Mr Saakashvili governor of Odessa regionAnti-corruption campaign
Mr Saakashvili said corrupt Ukrainian oligarchs were annoyed by his campaign to clean up the economy, which has been stagnating for years.
"I'll do my best to return to Ukraine," he said, calling President Poroshenko "extremely unpopular".
The former Georgian president has close ties with some US politicians, but said he would not seek asylum in the US, despite the risk now of being stateless.
Last year, he resigned as the Odessa governor, expressing fury at rampant corruption, and launched his political party in Ukraine.
In a statement (in Ukrainian) on Wednesday evening, Ukraine's migration service said that "according to the Constitution of Ukraine, the president takes decisions on who is stripped of Ukrainian citizenship based on the conclusions of the citizenship commission".
It did not provide the exact reason, but stated that this could be done if a Ukrainian national acquired citizenship of another country or submitted false documents.
By News from Elsewhere......as found by BBC Monitoring Image copyrightJOHN F. KENNEDY LIBRARY Image captionA middle-aged man and the sea: Ernest Hemingway is among Nakhchivan's essential reads
The leader of the landlocked Azeri exclave of Nakhchivan has published a list of 30 books that he says all citizens should read.
The republic's supreme assembly chairman Vasil Tabilov drew up the list in order to foster patriotism and widen youngsters' outlook, the Minval.az news websitereports.
As well as classics from Azeri and medieval Eastern authors, the list includes Western authors such as Jack London and Ernest Hemingway, with "The Old Man and the Sea" coming in at number 20.
Top of the list is former Azeribaijan President Heydar Aliyev's snappily titled "The appeal of the national leader Heydar Aliyev to the people of Azerbaijan in connection with the new year 2001, a new era and the third millennium",
Scholars of political sciences will be unsurprised to find that Machiavelli's "The Prince" is also included. Will there be spot checks?
Mr Tabilov's decree means that a set of the 30 works should be sent to every school, library and cultural institution in Nakhchivan, but the very idea of "must read" has lead to some social media users asking if there would be spot checks.
"Great initiative. I would spread this order throughout Azerbaijan. Those who don't read these books should be fined!" JamNews reported one person as saying.
While most appreciated the thoughtful nature of the list, some readers were also confused by the inclusion of Maurice Maeterlinck's "The Life of the Bee", assuming the Belgian poet's philosophical work on the social structure of the hive to be an instruction manual on beekeeping.
Nakhchivan is an autonomous part of Azerbaijan, separated from the rest of the country by Armenia. Former president Heydar Aliyev, father of current Azeri leader Ilham Aliyev, was born in Nakhchivan which, declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1990.
BBC Monitoring: Azerbaijan country profileImage copyrightBIODIVERSITY HERITAGE LIBRARY Image captionMaurice Maeterlinck's The Life of the Bee - Not actually about beekeeping
Comment