Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s speech in Ankara, starting late March 30 and ending early March 31, on the results of the local elections

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s speech in Ankara, starting late March 30 and ending early March 31, on the results of the local elections

    Monday, March 31, 2014   No comments

I wholeheartedly greet our 81 provinces as well as sister and friendly capitals and cities of the world from Ankara, from the AK Party headquarters. I’ve just addressed via teleconference thousands of people who gathered in Skopje Square. They were sharing the joy you have here in freezing weather.  I first want to express my absolute gratitude to my God for such a victory and a meaningful result. 

I thank my friends and brothers all over the world who prayed for our victory. I thank my brothers in Palestine who saw our victory as their victory. I thank my brothers in Egypt who are struggling for democracy and who understand our struggle very well. I thank my brothers in the Balkans, in Bosnia, in Macedonia, in Kosovo and in all cities in Europe who celebrate our victory with the same joy we have here. I thank my suffering brothers in Syria who pray for our victory although in a great pain, facing starvation and under bombs and bullets. I express the gratitude of my people to all our brothers and friends who gave a support to Turkey’s independence struggle just like before the Independence War of Turkey. Of course, this precious people deserve the greatest appreciation.

The US is paying the cost of supporting the House of Saud as cracks begin to appear

The US is paying the cost of supporting the House of Saud as cracks begin to appear

    Sunday, March 30, 2014   No comments

PATRICK COCKBURN
President Obama flew to Saudi Arabia to patch up relations with King Abdullah at the end of last week in his first visit in five years. The alliance had been strained by Saudi anger over US negotiations with Iran on its nuclear programme and Obama’s refusal to go to war in Syria to overthrow Bashar al-Assad last year. For its part, the US is upset by Saudi Arabia covertly supporting al-Qa’ida-type movements in Syria and elsewhere.

Turkey, Erdogan, denounced as "villainous" the leaking of a recording of top security officials discussing fabricating excuse for military action against Syria, blocks YouTube

Turkey, Erdogan, denounced as "villainous" the leaking of a recording of top security officials discussing fabricating excuse for military action against Syria, blocks YouTube

    Friday, March 28, 2014   No comments

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday denounced as "villainous" the leaking of a recording of top security officials discussing possible military action in Syria to the video-sharing site YouTube (Watch part of the conversation on youtube).

Turkish authorities ordered the shutdown of the site.

Erdogan's foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu called the posting a "declaration of war," an apparent reference to an escalating power struggle between Erdogan and rivals.

The anonymous posting was an audio file with photographs of the officials involved.

Hundreds of Armenian families had to flee Kessab in northern Syria after the latest incursion by Turkey-backed rebels

Hundreds of Armenian families had to flee Kessab in northern Syria after the latest incursion by Turkey-backed rebels

    Thursday, March 27, 2014   No comments

Asbarez.com reports that the Armenian populated villages of Kessab were the target of three days of brutal cross-border attacks from Turkey by al-Qaeda affiliated armed bands, which have cost 80 lives and forced the civilian population of the area to flee to neighboring hills. Some 670 Armenian families, the majority of the population of Kessab, were evacuated by the local Armenian community leadership to safer areas in neighboring Basit and Latakia.

Saudi Arabia’s new terrorism law and a series of related royal decrees create a legal framework that appears to criminalize virtually all dissident thought or expression as terrorism

Saudi Arabia’s new terrorism law and a series of related royal decrees create a legal framework that appears to criminalize virtually all dissident thought or expression as terrorism

    Thursday, March 20, 2014   No comments

The sweeping provisions in the measures, all issued since February 2014, threaten to close down altogether Saudi Arabia’s already extremely restricted space for free expression.

“Saudi authorities have never tolerated criticism of their policies, but these recent laws and regulations turn almost any critical expression or independent association into crimes of terrorism,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East and North Africa director. “These regulations dash any hope that King Abdullah intends to open a space for peaceful dissent or independent groups.”

President Obama's Nowruz Message to the Iranian People (with Persian)

    Thursday, March 20, 2014   No comments

President Obama's Nowruz Message to the Iranian People (with Persian)

 

President Obama sends best wishes to everyone celebrating Nowruz. In his video message, the President speaks directly to the people and leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran about the possibility for the first time in many years of a new chapter in the history of Iran and its role in the world -- including a better relationship with the United States and the American people.

Edward Snowden: NSA whistleblower's leaks prompt US to make control of internet truly worldwide

Edward Snowden: NSA whistleblower's leaks prompt US to make control of internet truly worldwide

    Wednesday, March 19, 2014   No comments

The web may be thought of as being worldwide, but from its inception the internet was created, controlled and overseen largely by a single country: the United States. Now, however, the US Government has said it intends to yield the reins to the global digital community.