Day: February 17, 2022

The US said Wednesday that Russia has moved more forces to the Ukrainian border, countering claims by Moscow that it was pulling back some troops.

Speaking at a teleconference, a senior Biden administration official said Moscow’s claims of a drawdown were “false” and it has increased its military presence by up to 7,000 troops in recent days.

“Every indication we have now is they mean only to publicly offer to talk and make claims about de-escalation while privately mobilizing for war,” said the official, according to CNN.

The latest claim by the US came a day after Russian defense officials reported that some military units are leaving their positions near Ukraine’s border. But Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that the US does not see any “meaningful pullback” of Russian troops.

Moscow, according to Ukrainian officials and NATO, has recently amassed more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine, prompting fears that the Kremlin could be planning a military offensive against its former Soviet neighbor.

Denying that it is preparing to invade, Russia has accused Western countries of undermining its security through NATO’s expansion toward its borders.

Russia also issued a list of security demands to the West, including a rollback of troop deployments from some ex-Soviet states and guarantees that some of those states would not join NATO.

In a written response to the demands, Washington said it is committed to upholding NATO’s “open door policy,” while NATO also conveyed the alliance’s reply “in parallel with the United States.”

Source: Anadolu Agency

Continuous monitoring and a balanced approach will ensure the protection of the human rights of Muslim communities, which is the “shared responsibility” of the Muslim nations, experts said on Wednesday.

“Protecting rights and identities of (vulnerable) Muslim communities need a very balanced approach so that their religious and cultural rights and dignity is preserved,” said El Habib Bourane, director of Muslim Communities and Minorities of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

Addressing a two-day international conference to discuss human rights violations faced by Muslims, he also stressed that Muslim communities need to make positive contributions to their living countries.

The conference in Istanbul has been organized by Turkiye’s justice and foreign ministries and the Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC) of the OIC.

Urging Turkiye and the OIC to step up pressure on the Myanmar regime, Reza Uddin, chairman of the Human Rights Committee and Council Member of the Arakan Rohingya Union, said the military junta of the Buddhist-majority country had stepped up violations against the Rohingya.

“(We) must step up pressure on Myanmar, by all means, to permanently stop the genocidal acts and crimes against Rohingya people,” Reza said.

The OIC official Bourane said the human rights situation of over 1million Rohingya refugees “continues to deteriorate”.

“Myanmar must fully comply with the provisional measures issued by the International Court of Justice,” he said, referring to the case of genocide brought against Myanmar by the Gambia at the UN court.

Atrocities faced by Rohingya

Shabbir Ahmad Chowdhary, a Bangladeshi diplomat, said the atrocities faced by the Rohingya Muslims in their homeland are “unprecedented”.

“Bangladesh extended her hand of humanitarian assistance to the Rohingya when they were brutally persecuted in their homeland and fleeing to save their lives,” he said.

Bangladesh, he said, “calls on the international community to come together to ensure the safe and dignified return of the Rohingya to Myanmar.”

Global Kashmiri activist Ghulam Nabi Fai asked the OIC to initiate a joint resolution at the Human Rights Council “to set up an inquiry commission on human rights violations” in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir at the UN’s human rights body in Geneva, which is scheduled to meet from Feb. 28 to April 1.

Fai urged the OIC to persuade India to release all political prisoners unconditionally, including Khurram Parvez, Yasin Malik, Shabir Shah, Masarat Alam, and Aasiya Andrabi.

“The OIC must convince the UN to persuade India to rescind the domicile law which is designed to change the demography of Kashmir,” he said, adding the policymakers of OIC member countries “will look to solving the root cause of the problem of Kashmir – the unfulfilled promise of self-determination as guaranteed by successive UN Security Council resolutions.”

Zamir Akram, a Pakistani expert on multilateralism and former UN diplomat, said the world was witnessing the “largest single most and gravest rights violations happening in India”.

“Hindutva fascism has put at stake lives of 200 million Muslims,” he alleged, referring to warnings issued on impending genocide in India by US-based Genocide Watch – an international watchdog on human rights violations.

The OIC official Bourane said Indian Muslims were facing “major and complex challenges.”

“There are calls for anti-Muslim violence, and (such a phenomenon) is moving from fringes to the mainstream,” he explained, pointing to a ban on wearing headwear by Muslim girl students in India who have denied basic education to them.

“Anti-Muslim rhetoric is taken into the mainstream (in order) to reshape India into Hindu Rashtra (state),” he said.

“There is a high risk these incidents may lead to further communal tensions, perhaps to widespread violence,” he warned.

Earlier, in response to OIC taking note of hate speeches and the ban on wearing headwear by Muslim girl students, India described it as an “interference in its internal affairs”.

In a statement, the Indian Foreign Ministry said issues in India are considered and resolved in accordance with constitutional framework and mechanisms, as well as democratic ethos and polity.

OIC must widen scope of engagement

Hassan A. Abdein, a UK-based journalist, said the OIC and the IPHRC “should bring back international cooperation” to tackle challenges like Islamophobia.

The OIC has been successful in generating global consensus on several issues in the recent past, he said, adding: “Now is the time to forge new partnership and pursue human rights.”

Pointing to Pakistan taking leadership of the OIC in the coming March, he said the Muslim bloc should hold many events and activities to widen the scope of engagement.

“We must be committed to upholding human rights of Muslims everywhere and anywhere in the world,” he said, stressing in any conversation “victims must be part of the dialogue and negotiations”.

Aydin Safikhanli, an IPHRC member from Azerbaijan, said Muslims “should use all international, UN and regional mechanisms” to solve their issues.

“To solve the problems, we must work together and work closely with international and regional mechanisms,” he said.

Ambassador Tasmin Aslam of Pakistan called for “actionable steps” rather than “just statements and resolutions.”

Suggesting raising the cost for states persecuting Muslims by way of boycott, she said: “57 Muslim countries have sufficient strength to influence policies of these countries.”

Source: Anadolu Agency

Turkiye has played a key role in NATO for 70 years by contributing to the alliance’s missions across a wide geography and with its second-largest military force.

NATO, founded on April 4, 1949, currently has 30 members and is headquartered in Brussels.

In 1952, its 12 founding countries of Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Britain, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and the United States added Turkiye as a member.

Turkiye’s NATO membership was an important development not only politically but also militarily. For NATO, Turkiye’s membership meant gaining a reliable and unique ally on the southern flank, with air, land, and sea capabilities and strong armed forces.

Turkiye is the first ally to directly confront the threats and risks in the region with its strategic and critical location. At the same time, NATO is also important as one of the fundamental elements in Turkiye’s security and defense.

Turkiye is among the five countries that contribute most to NATO operations in a wide geography from the Balkans to Afghanistan and from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean.

Until the withdrawal of Afghanistan from NATO, Turkiye, which was a “Frame Country” in the Afghan capital Kabul, assumed the responsibility of security and operation of the international airport in Kabul.

Turkiye also sent troops to Kosovo as part of NATO’s Kosovo Force (KFOR) multinational peacekeeping force in the Balkans. It also provided a permanent naval element to NATO’s activity, which aims to prevent irregular crossings in the Aegean Sea.

Turkiye also contributed to Operation Ocean Shield to combat piracy in the Somalia and Gulf of Aden. The operation was expanded to the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea.

Supporting operations under the NATO Mission Iraq (NMI), Turkiye provides air refueling support to NATO AWACS flights within the scope of the International Coalition Against the Daesh/ISIS terrorist organization. Turkiye also opened its Konya Air Base for the use of NATO AWACS planes.

Turkiye was one of the countries that supported the common budget of NATO the most. Turkiye, which is the eighth country that contributes the most to the budget, was among the allies that benefited heavily from NATO infrastructure funds.

Turkiye takes command of VJTF last year

Turkiye also took command of the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) in 2021. The VJTF command was transferred to France on Jan. 1, 2022.

About 4,200 soldiers from the 66th Mechanized Infantry Brigade Command served in the VJTF, which is part of the NATO Response Force. In addition, 6,400 military personnel took part in this force, with the participation of military units from Albania, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, England, and the US.

Moreover, Turkiye also hosts LANDCOM, NATO’s land command, in the Aegean coastal province of Izmir. The country also hosts a radar base within the NATO Ballistic Missile Defense architecture in the town of Kurecik in its eastern Malatya province.

The Centre of Excellence for Defence Against Terrorism, Partnership for Peace Training Center, and Multinational Maritime Security Center of Excellence are also NATO units in Turkiye.

Combating terrorism, irregular migration

Turkiye has been the international frontrunner in the fight against terrorism, especially against the terrorist YPG/PKK, Daesh/ISIS, and FETO, the group behind the 2016 defeated coup.

Turkiye, which meets the safety and humanitarian needs of millions of refugees, is the country hosting the highest number of registered refugees in the world, in addition to hosting more than 3.7 million Syrians.

It also ensures the safety of more than 5 million Syrians in the areas cleared of terrorism on the other side of the Syrian border and meets their basic humanitarian needs.

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

FETO and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 251 people dead and 2,734 injured.

Turkiye also accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Continuing diplomatic maneuvering over the Ukraine crisis, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced on Thursday that Moscow will send its response to US and NATO proposals on security issues “within hours.”

Speaking at a news conference in Moscow after meeting with his Italian counterpart Luigi di Maio, Lavrov said the document will also be made public to avoid “misinterpretation.”

“We will send this letter to the American side today … Within a few hours, after we send it to the Americans, we plan to (also publish) it,” he said.

Explaining the decision to publish Russia’s reaction, Lavrov said it is necessary so civil societies can understand what positions are taken by each country.

If the positions are kept secret, “as our colleagues from Washington and Brussels prefer,” then the public opinion will be shaped by “lies and open propaganda,” including many reports about the situation on the Russian-Ukrainian border, he said.

While Russia announced this week that it was withdrawing troops from the border, the US said that on the contrary, Moscow is sending more troops.

In a separate statement, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that for the first time in history, countries “appointed to the roles of the aggressor and victim,” with “diametrically opposite assessments of many issues” and “divergent approaches to many bilateral and international problems” spoke in unison, rebuffing reports that an Russian invasion of Ukraine is imminent.

In support of her statement, she cited the statements of a number of Ukrainian politicians, including military leaders.

According to Zakharova, Western officials are using the situation to distract attention from their own problems, mentioning as an example British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who faced calls for his resignation, but that was forgotten after the beginning of what she called a “disinformation campaign” against Russia, actively supported by the British media.

Western countries have accused Russia of amassing more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine, prompting fears that the Kremlin could be planning a military offensive against its ex-Soviet neighbor.

Denying that it is preparing to invade, Russia has accused Western countries of undermining its security through NATO’s expansion towards its borders.

Russia also issued a list of security demands to the West, including a rollback of troop deployments from some ex-Soviet states, and guarantees that some of those states would not join NATO.

In a written response to those demands, Washington said it is committed to upholding NATO’s “open-door policy,” while NATO also conveyed the alliance’s own reply “in parallel with the United States.”

Source: Anadolu Agency

At a daily briefing in Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that contrary to the Western warnings, the Ukrainian armed forces’ assessment was the same as Russia’s — that there was no extraordinary military buildup on the border.

Western countries have accused Russia of amassing more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine, prompting fears that the Kremlin could be planning a military offensive against its ex-Soviet neighbor.

Denying that it is preparing to invade, Russia has accused Western countries of undermining its security through NATO’s expansion towards its borders.

Peskov warned that the situation could get out of hand on the contact line between Ukraine forces and pro-Russia separatists in the eastern region of Donbas, incited by Western media reports.

“We’re attentively monitoring. We’ll see how the situation (in Ukraine) develops.

“We’ve repeatedly been warning that excessive concentration of Ukraine’s armed forces in close proximity to the demarcation line, along with possible provocation, may represent a terrible danger,” he said.

Citing “alarming” reports of exchange of fire between the sides, Peskov urged Western authorities and NATO to use their influence to stop Kyiv from further escalation.

“Nobody, no Western representative speaks about huge strike potential of the Ukrainian armed forces at the demarcation line. And together with provocative actions, which have strengthened over the past day or several days, this is a very, very dangerous situation,” he said.

Peskov also accused “many Western countries, including NATO” of leading “open information aggression” against Russia through reports that Moscow is planning to attack Ukraine, despite having returned some of its troops to their permanent deployment areas from military drills near the border.

Another example of such aggression was “fake” claims that Russia might attack Ukraine after Feb. 20.

Amid the recent tensions, Russia has issued a list of security demands to the West, including a rollback of troop deployments from some ex-Soviet states, and guarantees that some of those states would not join NATO.

In a written response to those demands, Washington said it is committed to upholding NATO’s “open-door policy,” while NATO also conveyed the alliance’s own reply “in parallel with the United States.”

Source: Anadolu Agency

Russian recognition of Ukraine’s separatist Donetsk and Luhansk regions would be yet another flagrant violation of the country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, NATO defense ministers warned on Thursday as the alliance and Moscow traded claims and counter-claims over Russian troops amassed at Ukraine’s border.

On day two of an alliance meeting, the defense chiefs agreed in a statement that recognition would be a “further blatant violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty and of the Minsk agreements” and would undermine international mediation efforts led by Germany and France in the so-called “Normandy format” to find a political solution for the conflict in Eastern Ukraine.

Since 2014, the regions have been plagued by violence fueled by Russian-backed separatists.

After the meeting, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters, “Despite Moscow’s claims, we have seen no sign of withdrawal or de-escalation so far,” rebuffing Russian claims of a partial withdrawal of some 100,000 troops at Ukraine’s borders.

He reiterated NATO’s call on Russia to pull back troops and heavy equipment from the borders, stressing that doing so would be the first step towards finding a peaceful political solution to the issue.

Stoltenberg explained that the situation is dangerous because Russia has “enough troops, enough capabilities to launch a full-fledged invasion against Ukraine with very little or no warning time.”

But he also mentioned the ambiguity of the situation, where an invasion may be imminent but has not happened, saying: “We know about (Russia’s) capabilities, but of course we don’t know with certainty about their intentions. It remains to be seen what they actually do.”

Russian-backed separatists in Georgia

The remarks came after NATO defense ministers held a session with their Ukrainian and Georgian counterparts to assess the Russian threat and NATO’s support for its partners.

The ministers also discussed the Russian presence in the separatist Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, as well as the recent Russian Duma vote recommending recognition of the separatist breakaway areas of Donetsk and Luhansk of Ukraine as independent states.

He also confirmed that NATO has yet to receive Russia’s response to its invitation to continue talks on European security, arms control, and military transparency, but underlined that the NATO-Russia Council is “the best platform” to hold talks.

He stressed that “NATO believes in dialogue” and “it is never too late to find a political solution.”

Long-simmering issue

In 2014, alongside its invasion of Ukraine’s Crimea Peninsula, Moscow began to support separatist forces in Eastern Ukraine against the central government, a policy that it has maintained for seven years.

The US, with its European allies, has been warning that Russia is preparing for aggression against Ukraine after having amassed over 100,000 troops and heavy equipment in and around its neighbor.

Denying that it is preparing to invade, Russia has accused Western countries of undermining its security through NATO’s expansion towards its borders.

On Tuesday, Russia announced that some of its troops in the western and southern military districts have started returning to garrisons, but the US said that on the contrary, Russia is sending more troops to the region.

The Russian lower chamber of parliament, the State Duma, voted the same day for recognition of Ukraine’s separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states.

Source: Anadolu Agency