Category: General

PARIS (AA) – The French newspaper Le Monde said Sunday that the expression “apartheid” becomes more appropriate every day for the system that Israel has implemented in Palestine.

In an editorial titled “Israel-Palestine: The Changing Paradigm,” the newspaper said that if another war in Gaza is to be prevented, a new approach providing equal rights for both Palestinians and Israelis is required.

Focusing on the question of what will happen now after the cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinian resistance group Hamas, it pointed out that both sides had made great decisions after the events of 2009, 2012 and 2014, but because there was a real lack of determination by both parties, the attempts were inconclusive and led to new tensions.

The article also called for the urgent lifting of the embargos imposed by Egypt and Israel on the two million people of Gaza.

It emphasized that Gaza is part of Palestine and that tensions would not decrease until a comprehensive solution is reached.

It added that the expression “de facto apartheid” recently chosen by two major human rights organizations — Israel’s B’Tselem and US-based Human Rights Watch — to describe the system of domination of the Palestinians established by Israel unfortunately seems increasingly more appropriate in characterizing the situation.

Source: Anadolu Agency

CARACAS, Venezuela (AA) – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro denounced his Colombian counterpart Sunday for proposing to reopen the border between the two countries.

Maduro said Ivan Duque’s unilateral move would destabilize the border, arguing that people transiting between the two countries would create a COVID-19 crisis in the bordering region.

He specifically claimed that Colombia would “contaminate” Venezuela with its COVID variants.

“The Indian variant, the California variant and the South African variant are already circulating in Colombia,” so the reopening of the border would “contaminate” Venezuela’s bordering state of Tachira, he noted.

Maduro said Duque’s proposal is an attempt to raise funds from the international community and “create a smokescreen” to distract attention from the wave of protests currently taking place in Colombia that began over the government’s proposed tax hikes and spread to include economic issues, inequality, the shortage of COVID vaccines and police brutality.

“They have tried to create smokescreens to divert world attention from the enormous and tragic crisis that Colombia is experiencing. They want to create a source of disturbance on the border and they want to create a show with Venezuelan migrants,” he said.

Maduro said his government will not allow that to happen and that Venezuela will “protect the border and defeat the plan to send more powerful variants against Venezuela.”

However, he remained open to the possibility of reaching an agreement between the two countries with the right “biosecurity measures.”

Source: Anadolu Agency

ANKARA (AA) – Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif urged the US administration on Monday to lift current sanctions against Iran which were imposed under former US President Donald Trump.

In response to a recent statement by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken regarding US sanctions on Iran, Zarif said on Twitter: “Lifting Trump’s sanctions, is a legal and moral obligation. NOT negotiating leverage.”

“Didn’t work for Trump – won’t work for you”, Zarif said.

Zarif called on authorities to release Iran’s billions of dollars taken hostage abroad because of Washington’s “bullying.”

Speaking in ABC News’ This Week With George Stephanopoulos, Blinken said on Sunday that the lifting of US sanctions on Iran depends on Tehran’s compliance with its nuclear commitments toward Washington.

“Iran, I think, knows what it needs to do to come back into compliance on the nuclear side, and what we haven’t yet seen is whether Iran is ready and willing to make a decision to do what it has to do. That’s the test and we don’t yet have an answer,” Blinken said.

In the past several weeks, Iran and other signatories to the JCPOA have been engaged in marathon negotiations in the Austrian capital Vienna to revive the 2015 deal.

After the fourth round of talks last week, Iran’s top negotiator Abbas Araghchi expressed the hope for a successful outcome of talks, saying the parties have specified the structure and annexes of the text agreement.

Enrique Moura, an EU official, also acknowledged “good progress” in talks and said an agreement is being worked out.

Former US President Donald Trump unilaterally left the agreement in 2018 and reimposed sweeping US sanctions it agreed to lift under the deal and imposed new ones in the hopes that the penalties would bring Iran back to negotiations for what Trump hoped would be a “better” deal.

Iran resisted the ex-president’s efforts and instead stepped away from the nuclear restrictions it agreed to under the accord as regional tensions between the US and the Islamic Republic soared.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), known commonly as the Iran nuclear deal, is an agreement on the Iranian nuclear program reached in Vienna on July 14, 2015 between Iran and the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council – China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, United States – plus Germany) together with the European Union.

Source: Anadolu Agency

ANKARA (AA) – Cynthia Cindy Kiro will be the next governor-general of New Zealand, the country’s prime minister announced on Monday.

The 62-year-old will be the first Maori woman to hold the position when she takes over from Patsy Reddy, who will complete her five-year term in September.

The governor-general of New Zealand serves as the viceregal representative of the British monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth II.

Kiro’s appointment for a five-year term has been approved by the queen and she will take office at a ceremony on Oct. 21, according to a report by Radio New Zealand.

“I very much look forward to working with her,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said a news conference in Wellington, where she was joined by Kiro.

She said Kiro, who served as the country’s children’s commissioner from 2003 to 2009, has “demonstrated her passion for the wellbeing of children and young people, as well as education and learning.”

“I know she will bring that same commitment to all New Zealanders as governor-general,” the premier added.

Kiro holds a PhD in social policy and an MBA in business administration.

During her academic career, she served as associate professor and head of Massey University’s School of Public Health.

Kiro told the news conference that she is “proudly Maori and I’m also part British.”

“So, I bring, with this unique marriage, an understanding of the foundational basis of Te Tiriti o Waitangi [Treaty of Waitangi] and its place in our history,” she said.

The Treaty of Waitangi was signed on Feb. 6, 1840, by representatives of the British monarchy and native Maori chiefs from the North Island of New Zealand.

Kiro said she was taking the position with a “huge sense of gratitude and humility” and viewed it as a “great honor.”

“This notion of service has really gone to the heart of everything I have done in the past. It’s been a career of service, especially for children and young people, but mostly for those people who don’t have a voice to speak for themselves,” she added.

Source: Anadolu Agency

EDIRNE, BALIKESIR, Turkey (AA) – Turkish security forces arrested 22 more people over suspected links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Turkey, security sources said on Monday.

Security forces in the northwestern province of Edirne nabbed eight suspected members of FETO who were planning to illegally cross into Greece, said the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

Police began following a minivan coming from Istanbul.

When the suspects noticed they were being followed by the police, they tried to hide at a house in the city center, the sources added.

Turkish forces raided the house and arrested eight suspected FETO members, including dismissed police officers and teachers.

Meanwhile, prosecutors in the northwestern Balikesir province issued warrants for 26 FETO suspects.

The suspects, which include active-duty military personnel, dismissed soldiers and senior FETO members, known as “covert imams” were found to be in contact with FETO members via payphone, the sources said.

A total of 14 suspects were arrested in simultaneous operations across 17 provinces as part of the investigation launched by prosecutors in Balikesir province, said the sources, requesting anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

Efforts are ongoing to track down and apprehend the remaining suspects.

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

Ankara 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

EDIRNE, Turkey (AA) – Turkish security forces on Monday nabbed eight suspected members of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) – the group behind the defeated 2016 coup attempt – who were planning to illegally cross into Greece, according to security sources.

Police in the northwestern province of Edirne, which borders Greece, began following a minivan coming from Istanbul, said the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

When the suspects noticed they were being followed by the police, they tried to hide at a house in the city center, the sources added.

Turkish security forces raided the house and arrested 8 suspected FETO members, including dismissed police officers and teachers.

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

Ankara 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

ANKARA (AA) – The second Africa Media Representatives Training Program organized by Turkey started on Monday.

The virtual session is being hosted by Anadolu Agency’s News Academy, the Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB), and the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT).

In the opening session, Murat Kazanci, YTB’s head of cultural and social affairs, said the program benefits journalists, and they will continue to hold such workshops.

TRT’s Deputy Head of Education Department Mustafa Canturk said the public broadcaster has held media training programs in over 80 countries since 2015.

Anadolu Agency’s News Academy Director Bora Bayraktar said recent developments in the media sector, as well as current affairs, would be covered in the program until May 31.

Both the participants and trainers will learn from each other’s experiences, he added.

The participants shared their expectations from the program, hoping to enhance their skills as well as improve cultural ties with Turkey.

Sessions in the 8-day program will include combatting disinformation, social media, photo editing and photography, video, news writing, new media, as well as interview techniques.

The first training for African journalists, held from Oct. 23 – Nov. 12, 2019, was attended by 20 correspondents from 13 countries.

Source: Anadolu Agency

ISTANBUL (AA) – Reports of anti-Muslim and Islamophobic hatred in the UK skyrocketed by 430% on May 8-17 compared to the previous week, with one monitoring group on Monday linking the surge to the most recent escalation between Israel and Palestinians.

Thirteen reports related to Islamophobic attacks on May 1-7 increased to 56 the following week, according to a statement by Tell Mama UK, which said the incidents were “clearly affected by what takes place in Israel and Palestine.”

“Following the spike, we have and continue to observe a concerning number of reports regarding examples of racist bullying amongst students. And in some cases, worrying and wholly unacceptable comments from staff and management in some schools towards students,” said the group.

Citing the country’s 2010 Equality Act, the statement underlined that “public bodies including schools must have due regard to eliminate discrimination, advance equality between those who share a protected character and those who do not and must endeavour to foster positive and good relations between such groups.”

It urged full investigations on such incidents “alongside meaningful community engagement, and training to ensure compliance with equalities legislation moving forward, to understand how harmful language does impact students and wider communities.”

“Teachers must also set an example by reminding students that bullying, racism, Islamophobia, and other forms of hatred will not be tolerated.”

Tensions escalated across the Palestinian territories last month over an Israeli court verdict to evict Palestinian families from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in favor of settlement groups. The situation worsened after Israeli forces raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque and assaulted worshippers inside.

The confrontation spread to the Gaza Strip, with Israel launching airstrikes that killed at least 248 Palestinians, including 66 children and 39 women, and injured more than 1,900 others. Health authorities in the West Bank also confirmed 31 killed in the occupied region, totaling 279 across all Palestinian territories.

Twelve Israelis were also killed in Palestinian rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.

At least 2,000 buildings were completely destroyed and 15,000 buildings became unusable in the Israeli attacks on the enclave, according to the Gaza-based Palestinian Ministry of Labor and Housing.

Some four mosques and dozens of police stations were completely destroyed in the attacks, while many factories in the industrial zone became unusable.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It annexed the entire city in 1980 in a move never recognized by the international community.

Source: Anadolu Agency

ANKARA (AA) – The autonomous Bangsamoro government in the southern Philippines on Monday kicked off its first Peace and Security Summit for Sustainable Local Development in the region.

Murad Ebrahim, chief minister of the region, told Anadolu Agency that the summit will bring together “all the leaders, the local governments, the security, and the private sector in order to be able to work out together.”

“The summit is being held to strengthen our cooperation in line with peace operations in Mindanao and in neighboring provinces,” Ebrahim said.

The Social Services and Development Ministry of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao is hosting the summit in the capital Cotabato with the attendance of various civil society organizations (CSOs), NGOs, and other humanitarian groups.

Social Services and Development Minister Raissa H. Jajurie said in an earlier statement that it is important to identify “more coherent strategies and areas for cooperation between the Bangsamoro government and other development partners towards durable solutions to displacements and sustainable development.”

“The regional government and the ministry itself will seek solutions to protect Bangsamoro constituents in order to attain and achieve lasting peace in the region,” he said.

Mohagher Iqbal, the basic, higher and technical education minister, said that the CSOs and private sector can contribute to the various priority programs of the region, including education, social services, health, and the economic development of the Bangsamoro people, and ensure that collaboration between the public and private sectors is efficient.

“We need to have a mechanism in place that would define the CSOs’ participation in achieving Bangsamoro development goals. This mechanism, or set of protocols, will also prevent the duplication of roles and the effective use of resources,” he added.

– Extending transition until 2025 lies with Congress

In a separate statement, the Third-Party Monitoring Team (TPMT) on the region’s transition said it is closely following the ongoing deliberations in the Philippine Congress on extending its transition period by seeking to amend the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL).

“The Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro [CAB] and the Organic Law share the same objectives of achieving lasting peace on the basis of justice, as well as genuine and meaningful self-governance for the Bangsamoro,” the team said.

The team said whether or not an extension of the transition period is justified is a “decision up to the elected representatives of the Filipino people.”

It said Philippines Secretary Carlito G. Galvez, adviser to President Rodrigo Duterte on the peace process, and Chief Minister Ebrahim have both “made clear their strong advocacy for an extension of the period of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), before a regional election in 2025 in line with the majority of the bills filed in Congress.”

“We further note the active discussion among the public and civil society in Bangsamoro on the extension, including the petition of more than 1 million signatures in support of the extension,” the statement added.

After forming the transitional government in February 2018, whose mandate ends in 2022, voices in and outside Bangsamoro have grown stronger to extend the transition period until 2025.

The officials and civil society in the Bangsamoro autonomous region say the normalization process demands more time to finally pave the way for elections in 2025.

They argue that many important goals in an agreed peace plan have yet to be realized.

Several bills have been submitted in Philippines Congress to extend the period until 2025.

“Now, after more than a year in office, we see that time until 2022 will not be enough in implementing the provisions of the agreement,” Ebrahim told Anadolu Agency in a recent interview.

Calling the timeframe “very ambitious from the start, especially when taking into account comparable international experience for transitions to peace,” the monitoring team said the region faces “a complex task of establishing an autonomous political entity which should not be underestimated. The constraints imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic have considerably added to the challenges.”

“Realizing those dreams will require all partners to the peace process to continue to demonstrate the commitment, perseverance and patience which has achieved so much to this point.”

Source: Anadolu Agency