Day: March 9, 2023

Ankara "strongly condemned" an anti-Türkiye activity by ringleaders, and supporters of the PKK/PYD/YPG terrorist group in the European Parliament building, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.

“It is unacceptable to allow such an activity that targets our country's integrity, and serves the propaganda of a terrorist organization that is listed as a terrorist organization by the European Union," a ministry statement said.

This situation once again reveals the "hypocrisy and insincerity of the European Parliament in the fight against terrorism," it added.

Türkiye expects EU institutions and member states to stand by it in its fight against terrorism, which poses a threat to international security, the statement said.

"Allowing this activity, which is intended to gain legitimacy by mentioning the name of our country, also contradicts the international obligations of the EU," it added.

Türkiye will "resolutely continue its fight against all terrorist organizations without discrimination," the Foreign Ministry said.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the US, and the EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of more than 40,000 people.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Bangsamoro has formally adopted an electoral code, seen as another step toward cementing the foundation for the establishment of an autonomous region in the southern Philippines.

Murad Ebrahim, chief executive of the Muslim-majority region, told Anadolu over the phone on Thursday that the Bangsamoro parliament "finally adopted the election code" late Wednesday night.

"The bill was adopted around 12 last night (1600GMT) last night," he said.

The regional government is run by Bangsamoro Transitional Authority (BTA), led by Ebrahim, who was elected as the first chief minister in Feb. 2019 and reappointed last August for a second term until 2025, when the first elections are scheduled.

Ebrahim said the electoral code was passed during an extended session of the 80-member parliament.

“There was no objection, and 67 (lawmakers) voted for with no abstention or opposition,” he said, adding that several lawmakers were not present during the session because “they were either out of the country or not available.”

In 2018, a decades-long insurgency by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) led to peace negotiations with the Philippines government, and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) was formed in the southern Philippines.

The Bangsamoro parliament has 41 MILF nominees, while the remaining 39 are picked by the national government in Manila.

“We got the majority,” Ebrahim said of the electoral code.

The chief minister said work is still going on two other codes, one for local governance and another for revenue.

“The local governance code is in the stage of consultation, while the revenue code is waiting for cabinet approval,” Ebrahim explained.

The election codes will serve as the legal framework for the structure, function, procedure, and principles of elections in the autonomous region, which is home to nearly five million people.

The Bangsamoro autonomous government will have six codes, three of which, the Bangsamoro Administrative Code, Bangsamoro Civil Service Code, and Bangsamoro Education Code, were adopted during the first term of the MILF government.

“These are among the six codes that should be passed during the transition period,” he said.

The incumbent government and parliament were reappointed last August, with 39 of the 80 members being new faces, while the rest were reappointed from the last parliament.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The wars and confusion in Libya were brought about by Western countries which instead of donating items like books, computers and medicine to the country sent arms in large amounts, the president of the Afro Arab Youth Council said Wednesday.

Abdul Haddi Elhwegi, who hails from Libya, told Anadolu that the amount of guns in the country far exceeds its population.

“The problem in Libya is the big number of weapons in the country which are in the hands of groups and individuals .Our population is 7 million, but there are 21 million guns in the country. On average, every Libyan has three guns. They do not give us computers and books but only give us weapons,” he said.

Elhwegi called on all African youths to work for peace and development so that Africa becomes a great continent.

“In Africa, we have a lot of natural resources and a good climate. But instead of supporting us to develop, the donor countries have made us a marketplace for their weapons,” he said.

Elhwegi is among the international delegates that are in Uganda to celebrate the 19th anniversary of the Afro Arab Youth Council. They visited Mpoma Girls Secondary School to show solidarity with African girls during International Women’s Day.

Other delegates who visited the girls school were Muslim youth leaders from Egypt, Morocco, Sudan and Nigeria.

Led by the Secretary General of the Afro Arab Youth Council, Abbas Agaba, they planted trees at the school after delivering inspiring speeches to the students.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Moldova’s breakaway Transnistria region on Thursday accused Ukraine of carrying out an attack on its leadership and said that the attack has been thwarted.

“The crime, on the directives of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), was prepared against a number of officials,” said a statement by the breakaway region's State Security Ministry.

It said that the suspects of the alleged attack were detained and that an investigation has been launched.

Separately, Transnistria’s prosecutor Anatoliy Guretskiy claimed that the alleged attack aimed to take out the leadership of Transnistria.

"The place where the attack was supposed to take place indicates that the calculation was, firstly, to eliminate the first persons of the state. In addition, no less, the calculation was for a large number of victims,” Guretskiy claimed.?

Meanwhile, the SBU denied its involvement in the alleged attack and declared the claims as "nonsense", saying that its dissemination shows "a clear goal of Russia to destabilize the situation in the territory that is actually occupied and under its control."

"Any statements by representatives of the so-called 'Ministry of State Security' of the fake 'Pridnestrovian People's Republic' regarding the participation of the SBU in the preparation of the terrorist attack should be considered exclusively as a provocation orchestrated by the Kremlin," a statement by the SBU said.

Transnistria is an unrecognized breakaway region internationally recognized as part of Moldova but is currently controlled by pro-Russian separatists.

Source: Anadolu Agency

WASHINGTON (AA) - The US House of Representatives voted Wednesday against a resolution directing the Biden administration to withdraw all US troops from Syria.

The war powers resolution was submitted by Florida Republican Matt Gaetz and was rejected in a 103-321 vote, with 47 Republicans and 56 Democrats voting "Yes."

The bill cited section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution, directing President Joe Biden to remove US armed forces from Syria within 180 days after the adoption of the resolution.

Among the Republicans who backed Gaetz's resolution were Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Andy Biggs of Arizona and Anna Paulina Luna of Florida.

In his address to the House, Gaetz questioned how Syria has become "the great platform of great power competition in the world."

Recalling that security forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad opened fire when anti-government protests erupted in the country in 2011, he said there were "a whole lot of weapons and money being sent from the rich Gulf monarchies through Jordan into Syria."

Accusing Iran of "activating Hezbollah" and "invading Syria," he noted that Russia is also "pitching their vision of the world as a regime preservation force."

He added that Israel cut "a deal with Russia to keep Iran out of southern Syria."

"Now, all of a sudden you've got the Kurds who declare war on Syria, and it makes it a little messy that the Kurds are also in conflict with Turkey, which is a NATO ally," he continued.

Adding that the US got involved in “this mess in Syria” in 2015, he said: "And since we have been there, we have seen Americans die, we have seen tens of billions of dollars wasted."

On the fight against Daesh/ISIS, Gaetz said he would encourage his colleagues to "go read the inspector general's report of the last quarter, which indicates that ISIS is not a threat to the homeland,” also noting that Türkiye is conducting operations against Daesh/ISIS in Syria.

"I do not believe what stands between a caliphate and not a caliphate are the 900 Americans who have been sent to this hellscape with no definition of victory, no clear objective, and purely existing as a vestige to the regime-change failed foreign policies of multiple former presidents," he said.

Some 900 US troops are currently deployed in Syria, and US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley visited northern Syria this weekend.

According to US media reports, reporters traveling with Milley asked if he believed the deployment of around 900 US troops to Syria was worth the risk.

“If you think that that's important, then the answer is 'Yes,’” he said.

The top US general's visit to the region in northeastern Syria occupied by the YPG/PKK terrorist group sparked tensions between the two NATO allies with US ambassador to Türkiye Jeff Flake summoned to the Turkish Foreign Ministry on Monday over the visit.

Source: Anadolu Agency