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Turkish
MP faces treason charges after telling RT ISIS used Turkey for
transiting sarin
RT,
16
December, 2015
A
treason investigation has been launched against a Turkish MP who
alleged in an exclusive interview with RT that Islamic State
jihadists delivered deadly sarin gas to Syria through Turkey.
Ankara’s Chief Prosecutor's Office opened the case against Istanbul MP Eren Erdem of Republican People's Party (CHP) after his interview about sarin was aired on RT on Monday.
"Chemical weapon materials were brought to Turkey and put together in ISIS camps in Syria, which was known as the Iraqi Al-Qaeda at that time."
RT
EXCLUSIVE: Sarin materials brought via Turkey & mixed in Syrian ISIS camps– Turkish MP to RT http://on.rt.com/6zep
Erdem
noted that the chemicals used for the production of weapons did not
originate from Turkey. “All basic materials are purchased from
Europe. Western institutions should question themselves about these
relations. Western sources know very well who carried out the sarin
gas attack in Syria,” Erdem told RT.
As
Turkish media reported Wednesday, the prosecutor’s office is
planning to send a summary of proceedings to the Ministry of Justice
on Thursday. Following that, the summary may be forwarded to the
Turkish parliament, which could vote to strip Erdem of his
parliamentary immunity.
Once
Turkish mass-media reported the criminal investigation had been
opened against Erdem, the hashtags #ErenErdemYalnızDeğildir -
#ErenErdemYouAreNotAlone began to circulate in Turkish social networks.
#ErenErdemYouAreNotAlone began to circulate in Turkish social networks.
On
Tuesday, MP Erdem issued a written statement in his defense, saying
he had become the target of a smear campaign because of his
statements made in parliament.
He
claimed he had received death threats over social media following the
publication of his interview with RT, revealing the Turkish
paramilitary organization Ottoman Hearths had published his home
address on Twitter to enable an attack on his house.
“I
am being targeted with death threats because I am patriotically
opposed to something that tramples on my country's prestige,” said
the MP.
As
for his accusations about Turkish businessmen being involved in
supplying Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) with the poisonous
gas sarin and other reactants needed for chemical warfare, Erdem
maintained this statement was made based on the results of a Turkish
court investigation in 2013.
Erdem
revealed that five Turkish citizens had been arrested by the Adana
Chief Prosecutor's Office as a result of an investigation coded
2013/139. A Syrian national was prosecuted in Turkey for procuring
chemical agents for Islamist groups in Syria. At the same time, Erdem
noted all the persons arrested within the framework of the 2013/139
investigation were released a week later.
In
an interview to Turkey’s Kanal 24 on Tuesday, Cem Küçük, a
columnist at the pro-government Star daily, said that Erdem's claims
about sarin gas should be regarded as treason. Erdem should be
stripped of his parliamentary immunity to “pay for his deeds,”
Today’s Zaman cited Küçük as saying.
The
Turkish public is “very much polarized” and those supporting the
government and followers of the ruling Justice and Development Party
(AKP) make up “about half of the country,” Hisyar Ozsoy, Turkish
MP for leftist HDP party, told RT.
“They
really do not care about what is happening in terms of freedom of
expression,” Ozsoy said, adding that “anybody who is critical of
the government is facing incredible pressure: indictments, court
cases, even imprisonments.”
The
Turkish government - and the president in particular - use
polarization of the Turkish community as a mode of carrying out
politics that very much worries the other half of the citizenry.
The
most widely-reported chemical attack in Syria took place in the early
hours of August 21, 2013, in Ghouta, on the outer fringes of
Damascus. Rockets containing sarin gas were reportedly fired, killing
more than 1,400 people, including no fewer than 426 children. It was
on the very day a UN team of inspectors arrived in the city to
investigate the alleged March 19 chemical attack in Khan al-Assal,
northern Syria.
Nothing on this that I can see in Turkey's main newspapers, but there was this.
Court rules to confiscate books by prominent journalists
A
local court has decided to confiscate books by two prominent Turkish
journalists after they were found during an operation on a cell where
suspected militants of the outlawed Patriotic Revolutionary Youth
Movement (YDG-H) were detained.
A total of three books focusing on the Kurdish problem by journalists Hasan Cemal and Tuğçe Tatari will be confiscated after the Third Criminal Court of Peace in southeastern Gaziantep province decided to remove them from bookstores for being seized during an operation.
The books were charged with “spreading terrorist propaganda to the extent of encouraging violence” and “praising crime and criminal activity.”
A Gaziantep public prosecutor launched an anti-terror operation on Oct. 11 against a group suspected of being YDG-H militants and providing arms to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
A number of books by imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan were seized during the operation, alongside some magazines, leaflets and calendars.
In addition to the above-mentioned publications, Cemal’s “Delila / Bir Genç Gerillanın Dağ Günlükleri” (Delila / Mountain diaries of a young guerilla) and “Çözüm Sürecinde Kürdistan Günlükleri” (Kurdistan Diaries during the Resolution Process), and Tatari’s “Anneanne, Ben Aslında Diyarbakır’da Değildim” (Grandmother, I wasn’t really at Diyarbakır) were also seized inside the flat of a suspect identified as H.V.
The prosecutor’s office litigated later on Oct. 11, demanding the confiscation of all publications seized during the operation.
The court ruled for the confiscation of the books on Dec. 4, arguing they spread terrorist propaganda and praised criminal activity.
“The investigation shows that the seized material spreads terrorist propaganda by legitimizing the methods of the terror organization that involve compulsion, violence or threats,” the ruling said.
Speaking to daily Radikal, Tatari’s lawyer, Aslı Kazan Gilmore, defined the decision as “against the constitution and laws,” and “a violation of the right to express or disseminate opinions.”
“We are facing an unjust and illegal decision by the criminal court of peace that was given after government policy on the Kurdish question shifted,” Gilmore said, adding they would appeal to the Constitutional Court, if necessary.
The decision was also slammed by deputies from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).
“It is not possible to make a legal assessment about an action that is definitely illegal. It is not possible to fight against violence by confiscating books. As lawyers, we have fought against such practices for many years,” said CHPAnkara deputy Şenal Sarıhan on Dec. 16.
“Look at where we have now reached - it is the same as the practices of martial law … This is also the result of recent pressure imposed on freedom of the press and freedom of expression,” Sarıhan also said.
Meanwhile, Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) İzmir deputy Ertuğrul Kürkçü said many local court rulings did not comply with amendments in the Anti-Terror Law made in line with European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) rulings.
“A judge cannot make a decision for confiscation without supporting his decision with concrete justification. We see that the judge has exploited his right of discretion in this case. This ruling has no legal validity,” Kürkçü said.
A total of three books focusing on the Kurdish problem by journalists Hasan Cemal and Tuğçe Tatari will be confiscated after the Third Criminal Court of Peace in southeastern Gaziantep province decided to remove them from bookstores for being seized during an operation.
The books were charged with “spreading terrorist propaganda to the extent of encouraging violence” and “praising crime and criminal activity.”
A Gaziantep public prosecutor launched an anti-terror operation on Oct. 11 against a group suspected of being YDG-H militants and providing arms to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
A number of books by imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan were seized during the operation, alongside some magazines, leaflets and calendars.
In addition to the above-mentioned publications, Cemal’s “Delila / Bir Genç Gerillanın Dağ Günlükleri” (Delila / Mountain diaries of a young guerilla) and “Çözüm Sürecinde Kürdistan Günlükleri” (Kurdistan Diaries during the Resolution Process), and Tatari’s “Anneanne, Ben Aslında Diyarbakır’da Değildim” (Grandmother, I wasn’t really at Diyarbakır) were also seized inside the flat of a suspect identified as H.V.
The prosecutor’s office litigated later on Oct. 11, demanding the confiscation of all publications seized during the operation.
The court ruled for the confiscation of the books on Dec. 4, arguing they spread terrorist propaganda and praised criminal activity.
“The investigation shows that the seized material spreads terrorist propaganda by legitimizing the methods of the terror organization that involve compulsion, violence or threats,” the ruling said.
Speaking to daily Radikal, Tatari’s lawyer, Aslı Kazan Gilmore, defined the decision as “against the constitution and laws,” and “a violation of the right to express or disseminate opinions.”
“We are facing an unjust and illegal decision by the criminal court of peace that was given after government policy on the Kurdish question shifted,” Gilmore said, adding they would appeal to the Constitutional Court, if necessary.
The decision was also slammed by deputies from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).
“It is not possible to make a legal assessment about an action that is definitely illegal. It is not possible to fight against violence by confiscating books. As lawyers, we have fought against such practices for many years,” said CHPAnkara deputy Şenal Sarıhan on Dec. 16.
“Look at where we have now reached - it is the same as the practices of martial law … This is also the result of recent pressure imposed on freedom of the press and freedom of expression,” Sarıhan also said.
Meanwhile, Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) İzmir deputy Ertuğrul Kürkçü said many local court rulings did not comply with amendments in the Anti-Terror Law made in line with European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) rulings.
“A judge cannot make a decision for confiscation without supporting his decision with concrete justification. We see that the judge has exploited his right of discretion in this case. This ruling has no legal validity,” Kürkçü said.
Turkey detains 27 Russian commercial ships in retaliation
As
Russia has detained eight commercial ships flying Turkish flags in
the Black Sea since the jet crisis erupted between the two countries,
Turkey has detained a total of 27 Russian ships in a retaliatory
move, as reported by daily Habertürk on Dec. 16.
The
diplomatic crisis between Russia and Turkey has continued to result
in economic ramifications since Nov. 24 when the Russian jet was
downed by Turkey. One of these areas is marine trade, according to
sources close to the matter.
Sources
told daily Habertürk that Russia detained a total of five commercial
ships with Turkish flags “in line with the Black Sea Memorandum”
in the week following the jet incident.
“The
number of detained Turkish ships has reached eight as of Dec. 15,”
sources claimed.
They
added that Turkey did nothing in the beginning, with the expectation
of halting of such moves by Russia. As Russia continued to act in
this manner, Turkey has decided to do the same in line with the
“reciprocity principle,” according to sources.
Turkish
officials have detained a total of 27 ships with Russian flags as of
Dec. 15 due to missing documents or transactions in line with the
Mediterranean and Black Sea memoranda, sources added.
Authorities
from the both countries have started to discuss the issue via e-mail,
and Russia has given Turkey green light to talk about the issue.
“It
is not clear where or when to meet. The parties have showed their
intention to overcome the issue,” sources said
Curfews
in Turkey’s southeast to be tightened further
The
authorities plan to implement even stricter practices during curfews
imposed in districts in Turkey’s southeast for military operations
targeting the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), daily
Hürriyet has reported.
Upon
new decisions to be followed at times of curfew, announced after a
cabinet meeting on Dec. 14, the police will ask for the military’s
help when necessary during curfews.
Military
personnel and special operations forces will therefore provide
support to counterterrorism police officers while additional police
stations will be built in areas under curfew, particularly those near
the border with Syria.
The
government is also aiming to halt cross-border support to the PKK,
cutting links to Kurdish areas in northern Syria administered by
affiliates of the PKK.
The
decision to allow military support to be given was presented in the
meeting as a “consolidated method” in operations to clear towns
of PKK militants.
This
method, however, has drawn criticism from the main opposition
Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the Peoples’ Democratic Party
(HDP), who said it would halt public access to education and health
services.
The
move comes amid a series of indeterminate curfews recently imposed in
the southeastern towns of Cizre and Silopi in Şırnak province.
Cizre and Silopi hit headlines late on Dec. 13 when around 3,000
teachers and a large number of doctors began to flee the two towns
before the official start of the curfews..
Hitler thought so -
TURKISH GOVERNMENT: WE CAN OCCUPY RUSSIA IN SEVEN DAYS
"Since
the crash of" Sukhoi-24 "russian, Russia has taken every
conceivable opportunity to undermine Turkey. Certainly my government
behaves like a mature and experienced government, but our patience
has limits. Faced with Russian efforts, we have, no fear, no remorse.
We act with moderation, to bring our relations back to normal, if
necessary, I
assure you, we can can occupy Russia in less than seven days
with NATO and our regional allies "
TURKEY TO ESTABLISH MILITARY BASE IN QATAR
Turkish
soldiers patrol a military station at the border crossing with Syria
in Akçakale
Turkey
will establish a military base in Qatar as part of a 2014 mutual
defense agreement aimed at combatting “common enemies,” Turkey’s
ambassador to Qatar, Ahmet Demirok, said on December 16.
Demirok
sad that some 3,000 ground troops, plus air and naval units, will be
stationed at the base. It will be Turkey’s first overseas military
installation
Turkey abuses refugees, deports them back to warzones – Amnesty
The
Turkish government has been rounding up refugees and transporting
them to detention centers where they are abused and mistreated,
according to Amnesty International. From there, many are deported
back to "warzones" in Iraq and Syria.
In
a Wednesday report titled
'Europe's Gatekeeper,' Amnesty alleges that Turkey has been “herding
scores – possibly hundreds – of refugees and asylum-seekers onto
buses” and
transporting them “more
than 1,000 kilometers to isolated detention centers where they have
been held incommunicado,” the
organization said in a press
release.
It
goes on to cite refugees who claim they were beaten and shackled for
days before being sent back to the same countries they had fled.
Social media accounts operated by supporters of Turkey's ruling AKP party have begun to attack the head of Turkey's air force, the Turkish press has reported.
Accounts
on Twitter belonging to supporters of Turkish
president Recep Tayyip Erdogan have turned their ire on the
Commander General of Turkey's Air Force, Abidin Unal, blaming
him for the shooting down of Russia's Su-24 bomber last
month.
On
November 24 Turkey's armed forces announced its fighter jets had shot
down Russia's Su-24 bomber and claimed that the aircraft had
violated Turkish airspace for 17 seconds, a claim disproved
by Russia's air force.
The
claim was repeated by Turkish President Tayyip Recep Erdogan,
who said the plane was shot because it "did not answer our
warning," and said Turkey has "a right to defend its
airspace."
On
Tuesday, Turkey's Sozcu
newspaper reported that
though members of the government had been quick to claim
responsibility for shooting down the bomber in the
immediate aftermath of the attack, the Turkish president and
others are now trying to distance themselves, and pin the blame
on the head of the Turkish air force instead.
According
to Sozcu, several Twitter accounts belonging what the papers
calls "AK Trolls" have published tweets attacking General
Unal in recent days, including calls for his resignation.
Turkish
President Erdogan founded the Justice and Development (AK) Party
in 2001, and its current leader is Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu.
Cehennem Yakıtı
AK troller Hava Kuvvetleri Komutanı Abidin Ünal'ı Rusya krizinin sorumlusu göstererek linç ediyor. Pes ya!
Erdogan's
Neo-Ottoman dream may end in civil war should his ethnic cleansing of
Kurds continue
According to Today's Zaman (December 14)-
ISIL to attack Turkey if it joins ground war, intel reports say
According
to intelligence reports, the radical terrorist Islamic State in Iraq
and the Levant (ISIL)
is planning to send militants to Turkey to
organize terrorist attacks and kidnap Turkish soldiers if Turkey
joins the ground war offensive on ISIL in Syria and Iraq, the
Habertürk daily reported on Monday.
Habertürk
reported on Monday that according to the recent reports of Turkey's
National Intelligence Organization (MİT),
ISIL's so-called Latakia deputy military attaché Abu Qutadah
Tunisi, alias “Hazim Bin Ali Abd al-Salam,” and so-called Baaj
Governor Abu Musa, alias “Abd al-Aziz Khudayr Ahmed al-Jaburi”
met in the Iraqi province of Nineveh to organize new large-scale
terrorist attacks in the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks on Nov.
13.
The
MİT reports also said that a number of other high-level ISIL
terrorists also met in Mosul, northern Iraq.
According
to the report, Tunisi, a Tunisian citizen, is trying to bring a
group of ISIL terrorists of Tunisian origin from Greece to Turkey to
organize terrorist attacks in the country. Tunisi, who is known for
his contacts with ISIL's sleeper cells in Europe, met with Abu Musa
in Nineveh to plan new terrorist attacks in European countries such
as the Netherlands and France.
CHP
asks gov't about released ISIL members in Turkey
In a parliamentary question on Sunday, main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) İstanbul deputy Eren Erdem asked Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu about a number of ISIL militants who were recently detained by police in Gaziantep and Konya, but who were released pending trial after questioning.
“Police
detained nine people, seven from different nationalities, in
Gaziantep in the last week for being members of ISIL, but they were
released [by a court]. In the same way, an ISIL member who admitted
that he joined ISIL to avenge his two slain brothers killed by the
Syrian army in Syria, was released by a court in Konya where he is
being tried along with 23 other ISIL members among whom only 12 have
been arrested pending trial,” Erdem said in his parliamentary
question.
“What
is the number of ISIL members in Turkish jails? How many ISIL
members who were previously detained and arrested were released in
Turkey? Does the government have any plan to legislate a repentance
law for those convicted of being members of ISIL or similar
terrorist organizations?” he asked.
Gaziantep
police had arrested nine alleged members of ISIL on Nov. 4 believed
to have been preparing a suicide bomb attack on a political party's
İstanbul office.
"The
group's members were caught with the vehicles, grenades, explosives
and weapons they were going to use in the attack. Bloody attacks
aimed at creating an atmosphere of fear and chaos before the
parliamentary election [of Nov. 1] were prevented," a statement
from the Gaziantep Governor's Office said on Nov. 4.
According
to Turkish media reports at the end of October, there was strong
evidence that an ISIL cell from Gaziantep carried out the Ankara
twin suicide bombings which killed more than 100 people.
The
bombings, the deadliest terrorist attack in the history of the
Turkish Republic, targeted a group of pro-Kurdish and leftist
activists who had gathered near Ankara's central train station ahead
of a peace rally on Oct. 10. More than 500 people were also injured
by the blasts.
Turkey:
“ISIS has shelled our
troops in Iraq”
According
to Turkish officials, ISIS fighters fired rockets at a Turkish tank
company stationed at the Bashiqa area near Mosul in Iraq earlier
today. Turkey withdrew some troops earlier this week – However,
they merely moved them to another camp near Mosul. Meanwhile, Baghdad
maintains they should pull out completely since as the Turkish Army
presence continues in Iraq.
No
casualties were reported amongst Turkish troops – however, four
Turkish soldiers were, according to the Turkish government, injured
during this incident. Also, this event happens as the Russian
government has repeatedly accused the Erdogan-led Muslim Brotherhood
government in Turkey of buying oil from ISIS.
Ankara
claims it deployed soldiers and tanks to northern Iraq to support
Kurdish forces in their fight against the Islamic State. However, the
Turkish Airforce has repeatedly bombed PKK militants in Iraq and
remains somewhat hostile with the Kurdish population inside Turkey
itself as clashes between Kurdish protesters and the Turkish police
have been on the rise in the past week.
“This
was an attempt by the Islamic State to breach Kurdish defensive lines
following significant losses in recent months,” read the statement
by the Turkish Defense Ministry. “Pressure continues to build on
ISIS as Peshmerga forces hold supply lines connecting their key
strongholds in Iraq and Syria”.
Furthermore,
The Turkish government said in a statement Wednesday’s fighting
demonstrated it had been right to send forces to protect its
personnel: “This attack showed how legitimate our concerns were
about the security of Bashiqa camp,” it said.
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