Day: December 3, 2021

Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul defeated AS Monaco 96-86 on Thursday, grabbing their fourth win in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.

With this victory, the Istanbul team ended their four-game losing streak.

In the Round 13 game at Istanbul’s Ulker Sports and Event Hall, Fenerbahce’s Nando De Colo, who played with 15 points, one rebound and four assists, made history as he took over the mantle of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague’s most prolific all-around player.

“De Colo posted a PIR of 14 in Fenerbahce’s 96-86 home win over AS Monaco for a career total of 4,184. He surpassed the recently-retired Vassilis Spanoulis with an assist on the final play of the game to take over first place in the all-time rankings. Spanoulis had 4,183 in his illustrious career,” the EuroLeague said.

A Performance Index Rating (PIR) is a basketball mathematical statistical formula that includes contributions of the players including points, rebounds and assists that is used by the EuroLeague, which basically defines the efficiency of the players.

Jan Vesely led Fenerbahce with 20 points, 10 rebounds and five assists while Marco Guduric also contributed with 18 points, two rebounds and four assists.

Monaco’s Mike James rallied his team with 31 points, two rebounds and two assists, but his efforts were not good enough to grab a win.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Prominent Iraqi Shia politician Muqtada al-Sadr on Thursday voiced his intention to form a national majority government without foreign interference.

“Neither Eastern nor Western, a national majority government,” al-Sadr posted on Twitter following a meeting with political actors rejecting the outcome of recent parliamentary polls that the Shia cleric’s Sairoon Alliance dominated.

Al-Sadr’s party won the Oct. 10 elections with 73 seats in the 329-member parliament, followed by the Taqaddum (progress) bloc of parliament speaker Mohamed al-Halbousi with 37 seats.

On Tuesday, the Coordination Committee of the Iraqi Resistance, an umbrella organization of prominent Shia political parties excluding al-Sadr’s movement, said in a statement that it categorically rejected the elections’ final results.

In a separate statement on Thursday, the committee said the meeting with al-Sadr “confirmed that foreign forces (in Iraq) will leave according to a (set) timetable.”

In the elections, pro-Iranian factions, which also form part of the committee, saw their seats decline from 47 in the 2018 elections to around 20.

Many Shia factions objected to the results, demanding a nationwide manual recount.

Following protests in the country, authorities began a limited manual recount on Oct. 27 of more than 2,000 ballot boxes subject to complaints by political parties in the provinces of Nineveh, Babylon, and Baghdad.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The US warned Russia on Thursday over any new military aggression against Ukraine and urged Moscow to fulfill its commitments under the Minsk agreements.

“We are deeply concerned by evidence that Russia has made plans for further significant aggression against Ukraine,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at the 28th meeting of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Stockholm, Sweden.

“So we call on Russia to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity to de- escalate, reverse the recent troop buildup, return forces to normal peaceful positions, and to implement the Minsk commitments, especially the cease-fire provisions, and those allowing OSCE monitors unfettered access,” Blinken said.

“Russia unfortunately continues to violate the Helsinki Principles and repeatedly obstructs the work of this organization. It’s responsible for the perils confronted every day by the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine. The seizure by force of Crimea has brought relentless abuses against Crimean Tatars, ethnic Ukrainians, and others who peacefully oppose this occupation.”

Underlining that diplomacy is the only responsible way to resolve this crisis, Blinken noted that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was talking about implementing the Minsk agreements.

“But let’s also base that on the facts. There are a series of commitments that both parties made under Minsk with the OSCE involved as well: a cease-fire unimplemented by Russia, withdrawal of all heavy weapons unimplemented by Russia, allowing OSCE monitoring unimplemented by Russia…I could go on.”

“If our Russian friends are prepared to implement their commitments under Minsk and our Ukrainian friends are as well, we will fully support that, and that is the best way to avert a renewed crisis in in Ukraine,” he added.

Blinken also called on Belarus to cease its violent crackdown and release all political prisoners and heed the demands of the people for free and fair elections under independent observation as well as cease the outrageous weaponization of migration.

“Additionally, we’ve seen a flouting of conventional arms control commitments in Europe,” he said.

He noted that Russia maintains forces in Georgia and de facto authorities in Abkhazia and South Ossetia and Russian troops remain entrenched in Moldova without Moldova’s consent.

“And at home, Russia has cracked down on civil society organizations, the latest being key branches of a very respected human rights group, Memorial, as well as independent media.”

Meanwhile, he said that in the Caucasus, the US welcomes the resumption of direct dialogue between Armenia and Azerbaijan and urged them to make progress on humanitarian issues.

Blinken also said “we all share an interest in ensuring Afghanistan is never again used as a base to plan terrorist attacks against our countries and our people.”

“Enhanced border security cooperation with our Central Asian partners will be vital. We will continue to support the OSCE’s engagement through its field presence in Central Asia and its programs on counterterrorism, democratization and human rights, border control, and management.”

– Minsk agreements

The Minsk agreements were signed to stop the ongoing conflict between pro-Russian separatists and the Kyiv administration.

The agreements included a cease-fire in the region and prisoner exchange while also allowing Kyiv to adopt a constitutional amendment that would give Donbas a special status.

The pro-Russian separatist forces, on the other hand, were supposed to withdraw from the Ukrainian-Russian border.

However, implementation of the agreements has been hampered as the two sides accuse each other of violating the cease-fire

Source: Anadolu Agency

The secretary general of the Organization of Turkic States said the inter-governmental association is ready to establish partnership relations with all countries and described its summit held last month in Istanbul as an “historical event.”

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Anadolu Agency, Baghdad Amreyev said the eighth summit of leaders of the Organization of Turkic States attracted the attention not only of Turkic countries but also of all countries interacting with the Turkic world in one way or another.

“We continue to receive feedback not only from the states of our region but also from countries such as the US, China, India and the Arab countries, which demonstrates the international significance of this event,” Amreyev said.

Amreyev noted that the international community followed the forum closely and the reaction was “lively but not hostile.”

The historic nature of the summit was also demonstrated by the decisions taken such as the changing of the body’s name to the Organization of Turkic States and the establishment of the Turkic Investment Fund, the first financial institution within the Turkic world, as well as the adoption of the final Istanbul Declaration and a “Vision Document” for the next two decades, he said.

Amreyev highlighted that the renaming has given the organization a new and special status, besides increasing its authority and role in the international arena.

“Many political analysts saw the renaming of the Organization of Turkic States as a ‘new geopolitical reality’ in the Eurasian space,” he said.

The name of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States (Turkic Council) has been changed to the Organization of Turkic States, according to a joint declaration of the council’s 8th summit.

The declaration was issued following a summit held on Nov. 12 on Democracy and Freedoms Island in the Sea of Marmara under the theme “Green Technologies and Smart Cities in the Digital Age.”

Platform expresses common interests of Turkic states

Amreyev also welcomed Turkmenistan’s accession to the group as an observer country.

“All sovereign and independent Turkic states in the world — Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Hungary, which also considers itself part of the Turkic world — are united under the common flag of the Organization of Turkic States,” he said.

Underlining that member states to the organization are “fraternal nations,” Amreyev said they are united not only by a common ethnic identity, language and culture as well as spiritual values and traditions, but also by history, geography, economy and information space.

“Therefore, the creation of a universal platform expressing the common interests of the Turkic states is a very logical step,” Amreyev noted.

He also stressed the importance of uniting Turkic countries in the wake of contemporary challenges like global climate warming, pandemics, terrorism and extremism to maintain peace and stability across the world.

Amreyev also underlined that the creation of a common Turkic information space is one of the key conditions for the development of the body.

He reminded that during the third meeting of the Ministers and High Officials in charge of Information and Media of the Turkic Council that was held in Baku in April this year, the parties approved the Action Plan 2021-2022 and agreed on the establishment of a Media Coordination Committee.

“The establishment of a single ‘International Turkic News Channel’ and strengthening of cooperation between news agencies and national TV channels are also under active consideration,” according to Amreyev.

Constructive relations with outside world

Underlining that the organization was established 12 years ago, Amreyev said that during this period, there have been no problems with the outside world and no complaints about its activities.

On the contrary, there is a great interest in the organization as 15 states, from Europe to Asia and all the way to Latin America, have expressed their intention to become observers, he said.

“All this shows that we are on the right track, we have earned a good international reputation and we have been able to build constructive relations with the outside world,” Amreyev stressed.

He said that only those countries which have constitutionally and nationally one of the Turkic languages as a state language or an official language in its entire territory can get observer status in the organization, but there are more flexible conditions of acceptance for partner status.

“The Organization of Turkic States is ready to establish partnership relations with all countries of the world in the presence of common interests and is open to constructive dialogue and mutually beneficial relations with all those who are ready to cooperate with us,” Amreyev noted.

The Organization of Turkic States was formed in 2009 to promote cooperation among Turkic-speaking states. It consists of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey and Uzbekistan as member countries and Hungary and Turkmenistan as observer states.

Source: Anadolu Agency

A former Armenian parliamentarian has said a new window of opportunity has opened in relations between Yerevan and Ankara, despite Turkey’s support to Azerbaijan in the Karabakh War which ended in November 2020.

Styopa Safaryan, a member of center-right party Heritage, told Anadolu Agency that after the recent war between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was facing difficulties at home and was willing to take steps to revive bilateral relations with Turkey.

“Pashinyan is trying to show that there is a positive signal from Turkey so that a common agenda can be formed. He is making these statements understanding very well the sentiment on the ground […],” he said.

He added that the most sensitive issue in the normalization agenda is the Zangezur corridor, which will provide the Turkey-Nakhchivan-Azerbaijan connection.

Safaryan stated that some circles in Armenia interpreted the opening of the corridor as a political strangling of Armenia.

He claimed that Turkey will gain a lot from the opening of these roads without using the expression “Zangezur Corridor.”

“If this [corridor] expression is used, the Armenian-Turkish dialogue will be finished,” Safaryan said.

The routes of the corridor and its mode of transportation have been a bone of contention between Armenia and Azerbaijan, former Soviet states, who have been at loggerheads since the 90s.

Their tensions culminated in the second Karabakh War in 2020 in which Azerbaijan liberated several cities and some 300 settlements and villages after nearly three decades of illegal Armenian occupation.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The emergence of new coronavirus variants is not a surprise and the global community and the World Health Organization (WHO) are monitoring the situation very closely, a WHO official said.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency in an exclusive interview, Richard Pebody, WHO Europe regional spokesman, said: “Viruses do change over time. As they replicate, as they multiply, mutations happen. And we see it with all viruses, with influenza. That happens with other viruses. So it’s not a surprise.”

He said the emergence of new variants should not cause panic.

As a “very clear message” to people and governments, Pebody said the vaccination of vulnerable groups should be ensured. He, meanwhile, stressed that physical distance, respiratory and hand hygiene, and wearing of face masks should be followed to reduce the transmission of the virus.

Pebody, who leads the high threat pathogens team at WHO Europe, said the omicron variant of the coronavirus was only reported days ago, but the initial information that the WHO used to assess the virus last week suggested that “there was a possible increased risk of reinfection with this new variant.”

Also, there is a large number of mutations of the virus, particularly around what is called the spike protein, which also caused concern, he added.

Vaccines, omicron variant

Responding to a question on the effectiveness of vaccines against the omicron variant, Pebody said “vaccines continue to be a really important intervention that we should be using to prevent severe disease.”

The primary purpose, he said, is to prevent hospitalization and deaths.

The current protection has been “good, durable and long-lasting,” according to the WHO official. “And when we look at the mutations that there are in this virus, we would continue to anticipate that it will still provide protection against severe disease.”

Pebody said there are regions in Europe with a “fantastic” rate of vaccination of the vulnerable population, while some others still see “a very high proportion” of older people and healthcare workers who have not been vaccinated.

“If you’re in a vulnerable group, at risk of severe disease, so it’s so important that these groups are properly vaccinated so that they’re protected,” he said, adding the vaccination also helps to cut the spread of the coronavirus and the time it takes to mutate.

‘Measures for delta will be really important for omicron as well’

The COVID-19 pandemic, which has erupted almost two years ago, is a long journey yet to be over, said Pebody. “But we know what measures are needed to tackle the pandemic” including vaccination, hygiene rules, social distancing, and the use of masks.

“But it’s also important that we overcome the inequities that are recurring within Europe and also obviously globally as well so that we can hopefully get to the end of a pandemic,” he added.

Amid the emergence of the new omicron variant, the delta variant is the dominant mutation within the European region, according to Pebody.

“Omicron has really only a very small number of cases at this point within our region. But the same measures that we have in place for delta will be really important for omicron as well. So again, it comes back to the ones I mentioned – vaccination and public health measures.”

Answering a question regarding the reported omicron variants detected in the Netherlands in flights from South Africa, Pebody said “this highlights again the importance of ensuring that we’ve got strong surveillance systems in place to pick up cases of omicron linked to travel.”

Source: Anadolu Agency

A segment of Armenian society is in favor of peace and normalization of ties with Turkey, according to the head of an Armenian think tank.

There is a three-way split in public opinion in Armenia about peace with Turkey, Benyamin Poghosyan, director of the Center for Political and Economic Strategic Studies, told Anadolu Agency.

“There is one faction that is entirely opposed to any sort of normalization with Turkey, largely due to their recent conflicts rather than the historical disputes,” he said.

A second group believes direct dialogue between Armenia and Turkey, not through mediators, is necessary to resolve outstanding issues, but they still harbor hostility toward Turkey for its support to Azerbaijan, Poghosyan added.

“The third group supports Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s views on relations with Turkey. They are in favor of overlooking Turkey’s role in last year’s Karabakh conflict and opening new channels for dialogue to achieve peace and normalization,” he explained.

Turkey’s support was critical for Azerbaijan in the 44-day conflict with Armenia over Karabakh that erupted last September.

By the time a Russian-brokered agreement brought the fighting to an end on Nov. 10, Baku had liberated several cities and 300 settlements and villages that were illegally occupied by Armenia for almost 30 years.

Over the past year, Ankara has repeatedly urged Yerevan to check its hostile approach and work for regional peace.

In August, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan advised Armenia to acknowledge reality and take advantage of new opportunities created by Azerbaijan’s liberation of Upper Karabakh.

“If Armenia moves in line with this, Turkey will also act accordingly,” he said.

Pashinyan acknowledged the “positive signals” coming from Ankara, hinting in October at “starting a conversation with the aim of normalizing our relations with Turkey.”

Most recently, Turkey’s Defense Minister Hulusi Akar urged Armenia to “take the hand of peace extended by Turkey and Azerbaijan.”

“There are conflicts and troubles in many parts of the world, but the places where people have come together for talks and to find political solutions are now much safer and more prosperous,” he said in a November visit to Baku.

“If Armenia understands this, makes the necessary contributions and responds positively, serious progress can be made in terms of both security and welfare.”

Source: Anadolu Agency

Sources said US Special Forces dispatched 70 soldiers to Al-Hasakah through Iraq on Nov. 28 to provide armed training to YPG/PKK members east of the Euphrates River.

The US soldiers, who arrived in the town of Rmelan — where the US airbase is located — started armed training for hundreds of YPG/PKK terrorists on Dec. 1.

In the training, which will last for about a month, the use of light, medium and heavy weapons, raids and infiltration methods in the villages will be taught to the terrorists.

After the training, the sources, who asked not to be named, said that some of the terrorists will be sent to the Ash Shaddadi district in Al-Hasakah and the Omar Oil Field in Deir Ez-Zor, while the remaining terrorists would stay in Rmelan.

The US and France, members of the coalition against Daesh/ISIS, previously supported YPG/PKK terrorists with military training in areas of Al-Hasakah and Deir ez-Zor.

The YPG is the Syrian branch of the PKK, a designated terror group in the US, EU, and Turkey. US support for the YPG-led SDF has significantly strained relations with Ankara.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK has been responsible for the deaths of at least 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.

Source: Anadolu Agency