Day: June 21, 2021

The US vowed on Monday to hold recently-elected Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi accountable for potential human rights violations “on his watch” as indirect negotiations continue on Tehran’s nuclear program.

White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said President Joe Biden has no plans to sit down with the president-elect amid continuing progress to return Iran and the US to full compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal world power struck with the Islamic Republic.

“We strongly urge the Iranian government regardless of who’s in power to release political prisoners, improve respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms for all Iranians,” Psaki said.

“As we’re in the middle of these discussions after the sixth round, the precise nature and sequence of these sanctions-related steps in the United States would take would need to take to achieve a mutual return to compliance with the JCPOA is a subject of the talks and of the discussions,” she said. “We certainly understand as we’ve seen in past rounds of these negotiations that there will be a range of rhetoric to address political needs at home.”

Iran earlier Monday said a deal to revive the pact is within reach with a text being agreed upon.

“It is not unlikely that the next round of talks in Vienna will be the last,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Habibzadeh said. “We have reached a clear text on all issues. All that remains is for all parties to make a political decision.”

The sixth round of talks between Iran and world powers in Vienna concluded on Sunday, as delegates returned to their respective capitals for consultations and final decisions.

Former US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew Washington from the nuclear agreement with Iran in 2018, and went on to re-impose sanctions on Tehran lifted under the agreement in a failed push to bring Iran back to the negotiating table for a more extensive agreement.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Kosovo needs Turkey’s persistent support to gain recognition and membership in international organizations, the country’s president said.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency on the sidelines of the three-day Antalya Diplomacy Forum which closed on Sunday, Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu said: “We will continue to need Turkey’s support in gaining more recognition and will continue to need their support for membership to international organizations.”

“We will be in touch with the Turkish institutions to make sure that every single effort that we make internationally is one that gains the strong support of Turkey, not just their vote but also to have their voice to lobby in favor of Kosovo’s recognition and membership,” she said.

“Because that is extremely important not just for our prosperity and development, but for longstanding, peace and stability in the region as such,” she added.

The relations between Kosovo and Turkey have been strong due to a vibrant Turkish population in Kosovo and a Kosovar community in Turkey, she said.

These communities should continue to be a bridge between the two nations, she further said.

In her meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Osmani-Sadriu said the two leaders discussed many areas of cooperation from trade to health to defense.

She said Kosovo is a great place to invest with its young population “which speaks lots of languages [and is] very much tech savvy.”

The president noted that 80% of Kosovo’s production in the IT sector is exported to the US “which shows what great quality it is.”

“And that’s an area where we could definitely develop more but there are so many areas in which Turkish businesses would be not just welcome in terms of politics, but also welcome in terms of the legal instruments that we provide,” she added.

– ‘Kosovo’s independence is irreversible process’

Osmani-Sadriu said she held very fruitful meetings on the sidelines of Antalya Diplomacy Forum, adding the process of Kosovo’s recognition as an independent state “is a path that is facing quite a lot of challenges and hurdles, because of Serbia and Russia’s efforts to stop this process.”

“But let me point out that Kosovo’s independence is an irreversible process. There is nothing that can stop our way forward for more recognitions and more memberships, sometimes it may take us longer, but we’re still moving forward,” she added.

The president said Kosovo is now recognized by over 100 countries around the world and they continue efforts to raise this figure.

“Because the International Court of Justice has confirmed that Kosovo’s independence is in line with international law, so there’s practically no reason whatsoever for any country to hesitate to recognize Kosovo,” she added.

On the ongoing talks with Serbia, Osmani-Sadriu said the dialogue between the two countries “is not about the status of Kosovo. The status of Kosovo has been resolved once and forever on Feb. 17 2008.”

“The dialogue is about two neighbors living side by side, by removing barriers in trade, talking about the missing persons from the war, and talking about other issues that are in the benefit of the two peoples that we represent on an equal footing as two sovereign states. We will never ever accept Kosovo’s independence to be on that table, neither its borders,” she said, adding that revisiting these issues will only destabilize the entire region.

She said the path to European integration will gain pace after it is recognized by more countries.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Due to its current domestic issues, the US is focusing on affairs within the country rather than external relations, according to a former Department of State official.

“I think the United States is able to handle domestic and foreign policy issues simultaneously. However, the current domestic unrest has no comparison since the 1960s when the US was confronted with similar problems such as civil rights and voting rights,” retired American Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt told Anadolu Agency on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum.

“These domestic issues are consuming a lot of attention in the US,” said Kimmitt, adding that issues resulting from racism, wealth inequality, the COVID-19 pandemic, national debt, and climate change could result in the US being “inwardly focused, but not at the expense of transatlantic ties.”

On the direction of ties with Europe and NATO under President Joe Biden, he said: “It is clear that in the last two weeks of foreign visits, the President and his administration are attempting to repair the transatlantic ties.”

Under former President Donald Trump, the US had questioned NATO’s value and said EU trade policies were unfair against Washington, tensing the country’s ties with both.

Kimmitt, who had served as assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs, said that though a reversal in rhetoric from the US under the new administration was “a good start, it will be important that the US follows through with the necessary diplomacy and actions to turn those words into results.”

The policies of China and Russia towards Europe, meanwhile, differ from those of Washington, he added.

“China sees Europe as merely a market and source of prosperity for only its citizens and does not share the same values of human rights and democracy,” said Kimmitt. “Russia sees Europe as a threat on their borders and certainly does not share similar values of freedom, liberty and democratic rule.”

He underlined that the US was willing to “maintain the transatlantic relationship on the basis of mutual interests and trust.”

– Biden-Erdogan meeting: Movement to resolve differences

Kimmitt said the recent meeting between Biden and Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the NATO summit in Brussels gave hope for a mutual willingness to resolve issues between the two “longstanding” allies.

Noting that US-Turkey ties could be at an all-time low, he listed several outstanding issues between the two nations, such as the S-400 missile defense systems in Turkey, the US’ suspension of Ankara from the F-35 stealth fighter jet program and Washington’s continuing support for the PKK/YPG terror group, which it refers to as the SDF.

“But, this week saw presidents Erdogan and Biden come together and announce a willingness to work together on these issues, and we should all hope there is a movement to resolve these differences between two longstanding NATO allies.”

In 2019, the US suspended Turkey from the F-35 program after objecting to its buying Russian S-400 missile defense, claiming that the Russian system would endanger the fighter jets. Turkey has said repeatedly that there is no conflict between the two and proposed a commission to study this issue. Turkey has also said it fulfilled its obligations on the F-35s and that its suspension was against the rules.

Separately, Ankara has long objected to US support for the YPG/PKK in northern Syria, a group the US claims it is allied with to fight Daesh/ISIS. Turkey has said using one terrorist group to fight another makes no sense.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK — listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and the EU — has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. The YPG is the PKK’s Syrian branch.

Source: Anadolu Agency