Category: Foreign Affairs

Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Saturday offered assistance to Turkey to help the country confront forest fires that broke out since Wednesday.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said he called his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu to offer Jordan’s condolences to Turkey over the victims of the fires.

Safadi said King Abdullah II has issued directives to provide Turkey with any assistance needed to confront the fires.

“At the directives of His Majesty, we are ready to offer any support needed,” he said on Twitter, adding that his country will “stand in full solidarity with our brethren.”

Since July 28, a total of 98 forest fires erupted in Turkey, with most of them being in southern regions, while the Turkish authorities managed to take 88 of them under control. Six people have so far lost their lives in the fires.

The Turkish Agriculture and Forestry Minister Bekir Pakdemirli on Saturday said on Twitter that the efforts were underway to bring the remaining 10 forest fires under control.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a phone call with Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic, Turkey’s Communications Directorate said on Saturday.

Erdogan and Vucic discussed steps to improve Turkey-Serbia relations and regional issues, according to a statement.

On Friday, Vucic also conveyed his condolences to Erdogan for the victims who died due to the wildfires, and said Serbia is ready to help Turkey douse blazes and recover from the fires.

Since July 28, a total of 98 forest fires erupted in Turkey, with most of them being in southern regions, while the Turkish authorities managed to take 88 of them under control, but six people have so far lost their lives due to fires.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin over the phone, Turkey’s Communications Directorate said on Saturday.

Erdogan thanked Putin for Russia’s allocation of five firefighting aircraft and three more helicopters for supporting Turkey’s fight against forest fires across the country, according to a statement.

Putin also wished a speedy recovery to Turkey, the statement said.

Issues that will improve Turkey-Russia relations were also discussed by the two leaders, it added.

Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry also said 11 air vehicles would be sent to Turkey to fight the forest fires.

At the request of the Turkish government, a total of 11 aircraft will be sent to Turkey to put out the forest fires near residential units and tourist areas, said the ministry in a written statement.

The group of air vehicles belongs to the Russian Defense Ministry and the Emergency Situations Ministry, it also noted.

The country’s death toll due to forest fires since July 28 rose to six.

Turkish Agriculture and Forestry Minister Bekir Pakdemirli earlier on Saturday noted on Twitter that the country contained most of the forest fires, saying the efforts were underway to take the remaining 10 forest fires under control.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Over 3.2 million voters are set to elect the 53-member assembly of Pakistan-administered Kashmir or Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) for a five-year term on Sunday.

More than 700 candidates from 32 political and religious parties are contesting for the 45 general seats. Out of the rest eight reserved seats, five are for women and three seats, one each for religious scholars, technocrats, and overseas Kashmiris. The members for these seats are nominated after the elections.

Out of 45 general seats, 12 seats are reserved for Kashmiri refugees who had migrated from the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir in 1947 and 1965 and are settled in various parts of Pakistan. Therefore, in the 10 districts of AJK, elections will take place on 33 seats only.

Out of 700 candidates, only 20 women candidates are contesting elections from general seats.

Major political parties contesting polls

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) of Prime Minister Imran Khan has fielded 45 candidates. The party is seen as a favorite to form the next government given the tradition that the party ruling Islamabad, wins elections in Muzaffarabad.

In the 2016 elections, the party could win only two seats.

A former AJK Prime Minister, Barrister Sultan Mahmood Chaudhry, who is leading the party in the region, is the strong candidate to head the next government. He is contesting from his stronghold, Mirpur, a wealthy district of the Jammu division.

However, Sardar Tanveer Ilyas, an overseas billionaire, and a close confidant of Imran Khan has overshadowed Chaudhry. Ilyas, who is currently serving as an Adviser to the Chief Minister of Pakistan’s Punjab province Sardar Usman Buzdar is contesting from Bagh district.

According to political analysts, Prime Minister Khan’s aggressive stand on India’s scrapping of autonomy to the Indian-administered Kashmir in Aug.2019, can benefit the party in the elections.

However, the party’s average performance in terms of economy and failure to control the rising inflation is seen as a disadvantage for its candidates.

Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz)

The center-right Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) of the three-time Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is currently ruling the AJK.

It won the 2016 polls, won 31 seats, and formed the government.

Led by Prime Minister, Raja Farooq Haider PML-N is contesting polls on 44 seats. Haider, whose many family members live in the Indian-administered Kashmir is an outspoken politician who has angered many because of his blunt remarks.

The infrastructure development, mainly construction of road networks across the AJK over the past few years is seen playing in favor of the PML-N. But not being in power in Islamabad, is its biggest disadvantage.

Haider is contesting from Muzaffarabad, the capital of AJK.

Another senior party leader, and Speaker of the AJK Assembly, Shah Ghulam Qadir is contesting from two seats from scenic Neelam Valley near the Line of Control (LoC), which divides the region between Pakistan and India.

Noreen Arif, a PML-N candidate from Muzaffarabad, is the only woman politician who has been elected to the state assembly twice through direct elections in 2011 and 2016.

Pakistan People’s Party

The center-left Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) of the slain Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto is also in the neck-and-neck race. Led by Ms. Bhutto’s son, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the party has fielded 44 candidates.

The PPP had won the 2011 elections when it was ruling Islamabad. However, analysts predict a tough task for the party.

Sardar Yaqoob Khan, a former AJK president, and Chaudhry Latif Akbar, a former minister are leading the campaign for the party in the region.

Akbar appears to be in a strong position to win his seat from Muzaffarabad. However, Khan, who is contesting two seats in the Rawlakot district, is facing a tough challenge from PTI and PML-N candidates.

The PPP, whose leader, and former Prime Minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had introduced the parliamentary form of government in the AJK in 1975, has ruled the region four times

Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference

Jammu Kashmir Muslim Conference is the oldest political party of the undivided Jammu and Kashmir, which was formed in 1931 in Srinagar, capital of India-administered Kashmir.

It has also ruled the region four times.

However, after PML(N) spread its wings in the AJK ahead of the 2011 elections, Muslim Conference lost a major chunk of voters. In the 2016 elections, it won only two seats.

Led by former AJK Prime Minister Sardar Atiq Ahmad Khan, the party has fielded 42 candidates in the forthcoming elections.

District Bagh, the hometown of Atiq, is considered the party’s stronghold.

Jamat-e-Islami

Jamat-e-Islami, one of the mainstream religious parties in Pakistan, has a sizable vote bank in the AJK, although the party has never been able to win more than a couple of seats.

The party is contesting on 30 seats.

Abdul Rasheed Turabi, a sitting lawmaker, was considered to be its strongest candidate. He has, however, withdrawn from the contest in favor of PTI’s Tanveer Ilyas.

Another candidate, Mushtaq Shah is posing a serious threat to Prime Minister Haider’s campaign.

Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan

Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), a party, which is banned in Pakistan is a new entrant in the AJK’s electoral politics.

The far-right religious group was banned by the Pakistani government in April this year for staging violent protests in major cities demanding the expulsion of the French ambassador over offensive cartoons of Prophet Muhammad published in France last year.

The party represents the Sunni-Barelvi school of thought, which has deep roots in the region.

Analysts say the party, although, not in a position to win any seat, may dent the vote bank of the right-wing political parties.

Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Party

Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Party (JKDP) is the only woman-led political party in the AJK. Headed by Nabila Irshad, a local politician, and lawyer by profession, the party had fielded 18 candidates to contest its first-ever election. But later withdrew majority of candidates in favor of the PTI. The party has now settled to contest only from three seats. Irshad herself is contesting from Sundhnoti district.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The way Russia is benefiting from the crisis created by the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline project poses a problem for Ukraine, its foreign minister said Thursday.

“America and Germany have agreed on something, Poland and Ukraine have also agreed on something, but you and I, we all understand that the main beneficiary of the crisis created by Nord Stream 2 is the Russian Federation,” said Dmytro Kuleba, according to the Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform.

“And this is the main problem and the main question, the answer to which is currently unknown, so it is necessary to work on it,” he told a press conference in the capital Kyiv with his Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto.

On Wednesday, the US and Germany announced they had reached an agreement on the controversial project that will see Berlin take extensive measures to assuage US concerns.

In exchange, the Biden administration will not reportedly impose further congressionally mandated sanctions on entities linked to the project, which is roughly 98% complete.

The US had long opposed the pipeline over concerns that it could be used by Russia to bypass existing gas lines through Ukraine.

On the deal, which will allow the completion of the pipeline from Russia to Europe, Kuleba said: “We currently have many questions on how the US-German agreement could reduce security risks for Ukraine and Central European countries, associated with the launch of Nord Stream 2. We will be talking about this with the United States and Germany.”

“We’ve been always saying honestly that for us, Nord Stream 2 is first and foremost a security issue, and we would like that the wording in the German-American statement on security (would) be stronger,” he added.

On Ukraine’s restive Donbass region, bordering Russia, Szijjarto said Hungary backs a “peaceful resolution” to the crisis.

Fighting between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists in Donbass, eastern Ukraine has seen more than 13,000 people killed since 2014, according to the UN.

The region is one of several sources of friction between Russia and Ukraine, including Moscow’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, which Turkey, the EU, US, and UN General Assembly all view as illegal.

On Wednesday, the White House announced that President Joe Biden will welcome Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Aug. 30.

“The visit will affirm the United States’ unwavering support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russia’s ongoing aggression in the Donbas and Crimea, our close cooperation on energy security, and our backing for President Zelenskyy’s efforts to tackle corruption and implement a reform agenda based on our shared democratic values,” it said in a statement, using an alternate spelling for the Ukrainian leader’s name.

The invite marks an about-face from the last US president, Donald Trump, who suggested ending sanctions over the Crimea annexation and avoided giving Ukraine unconditional support vis-à-vis its much larger eastern neighbor.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The Turkish president said on Monday that the existence and unity of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) are “above all political considerations.”

Speaking in the TRNC’s parliament, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey “fully” supports the proposal of TRNC President Ersin Tatar in Geneva. “We cannot and will not compromise,” he added.

Earlier in the day, the president said any new negotiation process in Cyprus can only be held between two equal and sovereign states.

Every year the TRNC celebrates July 20 as its Peace and Freedom Day to mark the operation – a large-scale military intervention to protect Turkish Cypriots from the violence that struck the island in 1974.

Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the UN to achieve a comprehensive settlement.

In the early 1960s, ethnic attacks forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety.

In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aiming at Greece’s annexation led to Turkey’s military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence.

The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) was founded in 1983.

The island has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Turkey, Greece, and the UK.

The Greek Cypriot administration entered the EU in 2004, the same year when Greek Cypriots thwarted the UN’s Annan plan to end the decades-long dispute.

Seeking a fairer approach to the Cyprus issue, the Turkish Cypriot president has proposed establishing a cooperative relationship between the two states on the island, with both enjoying equal international status.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The Turkish president on Monday reiterated his call to all parties who desire a just, lasting and sustainable future in Cyprus to seize the historic opportunity.

“Turkish Cypriots have the equal international status and sovereign equality on the island of which they are equal partners,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a news conference ahead of his official visit to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).

The proposal presented by TRNC President Ersin Tatar at the informal talks in Geneva in April provided an opportunity to find a solution to the Cyprus dispute.

“In this way, the Turkish Cypriot side has once again shown to the world who is in favor of solution and who is profiting from the deadlock,” Erdogan said.

The unofficial first 5+1 meeting – with both sides of the island, guarantor countries Turkey, Greece, and the UK, and the UN – was held in Geneva on April 27-29.

He said that any new negotiation process in Cyprus can only be held between two equal and sovereign states.

“Turkish Cypriots have been fighting for equality and justice on the island for more than half a century,” Erdogan noted.

“It should not be forgotten that the TRNC is a state that stands on its own feet despite all kinds of difficulties. It is taking firm steps towards a prosperous future with its democratic tradition and developing economy,” Erdogan added.

Erdogan stressed that Turkey and every member of Turkish society will continue to stand by the Turkish Cypriots.

Erdogan’s Visit to TRNC

The Turkish president has embarked on a two-day official visit to TRNC.

During his visit, Erdogan will address a special session of the Turkish Cypriot parliament and attend celebrations of July 20 Peace and Freedom Day, marking the 47th anniversary of Turkey’s 1974 Peace Operation, which protected the island’s Turkish Cypriot community from Greek Cypriot violence.

He will also meet with Turkish Cypriot President Ersin Tatar to exchange views on the latest developments in the Eastern Mediterranean and bilateral relations.

Erdogan will also attend a mass inauguration ceremony of some completed projects.

Every year the TRNC celebrates July 20 as its Peace and Freedom Day to mark the operation – a large-scale military intervention to protect Turkish Cypriots from the violence that struck the island in 1974.

Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the UN to achieve a comprehensive settlement.

In the early 1960s, ethnic attacks forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety.

In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aiming at Greece’s annexation led to Turkey’s military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence.

The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) was founded in 1983.

The island has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Turkey, Greece, and the UK.

The Greek Cypriot administration entered the European Union in 2004, the same year that Greek Cypriots thwarted the UN’s Annan plan to end the decades-long dispute.

Criticizing a recent decision by a top EU court that allows the banning of headscarves under certain conditions, Erdogan said: “They must first learn what freedom of belief is.”

The Court of Justice of the EU on Thursday ruled on two cases brought by Muslim women in Germany who were suspended from their jobs for wearing headscarves.

It ruled that companies in member states can ban employees from wearing headscarves if they “need to present a neutral image to customers.”

On the first visit by an Azerbaijani parliamentary delegation to Northern Cyprus, Erdogan said establishing such high-level contacts between countries and the TRNC is a result of “our efforts”.

A delegation of the foreign affairs and inter-parliamentary relations committee of Azerbaijan’s parliament visited the TRNC on Friday.

Speaking about the situation in Afghanistan, Erdogan said it is not “the right approach” for the Taliban to continue with an “invasion movement.”

Source: Anadolu Agency

Sudan’s vice president visited South Sudan’s capital on Wednesday to reiterate Khartoum’s support for its neighbor and to urge the government and armed groups to fully implement the 2018 peace agreement.

After meeting with President Salva Kiir, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, vice president of Sudan’s transitional government, said Sudan will continue to offer its support to the peace partners in South Sudan so they can carry out security arrangements and other parts of the deal that have yet to be implemented.

Dagalo commended South Sudan’s leaders for progress made in reconstituting the National Legislative Assembly, the council of states and establishing state governments. He said they need to move more quickly on implementing agreed-to security arrangements, especially the training of government and former rebel forces into a unified army.

“We have been assured that the joint forces are going to be graduated [from training], and this is positive news. And we hope that their graduation should not delay any more because we want to see the second batch go for training as well,” said Dagalo. He said Sudan would be monitoring “this development more closely through the different joint committees,” as a guarantor of the peace deal.

Chapter two of the revitalized peace agreement requires the parties to form a unified army. The first group of forces registered at training centers across the country have remained at the camps for nearly two years.

Dagalo said implementing the peace deal is the only means to guarantee stability in the country.

He added that “a stable South Sudan will mean a stable Sudan.”

Sudan and Uganda are guarantors of South Sudan’s peace deal signed by the parties in September 2018 in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. The agreement calls for a 36- month transitional period to be followed directly by a national election but several of the document’s key provisions have yet to be carried out.

South Sudanese officials have repeatedly stated that the government lacks the funds needed to implement the deal.

Kiir has complained that sanctions and the arms embargo imposed on the country by the United Nations Security Council have slowed implementation of the peace agreement. Kiir has also insisted that the country is unable to train thousands of joint forces to form a unified army due to a lack of weapons, an assertion that western diplomats and United Nations officials have questioned.

Tut Galuak, Kiir’s security advisor who also heads the country’s peace implementation committee, announced Wednesday that the joint forces will graduate shortly after the Muslim holiday of Eid Al Adha.

Despite the challenges that lie ahead such as chronic underfunding for training centers, Galuak told reporters the parties are fully committed to implementing the peace deal.

“We are certain in our stance that the peace implementation is going on well. All parties are optimistic about lasting peace in the country,” said Galuak.

Source: Voice of America