Young Diplomats

In 2012,  during the Presidential Primaries Barack Obama and Willard Mitt Romney had spent about $ 1 billion each to finance their presidential campaign. Instead of paying his bill to a candidate, the New York billionaire Donald Trump has decided to enter himself into the arena: “I earn $ 400 million a year, so what difference does it make to me? “Another billionaire Ross Perot promised in 1992 to” buy the White House to give it back to the Americans who cannot afford it. “

Mr. Trump will probably fail to win, but not without have shed the light on how the American Political System works: “I am a businessman. When [a candidate] call me, I donate. If I need something two or three years later, I call them and they are there for me. “Former New York Senator and candidate in the Democratic primaries, Hillary Clinton was” there “too,” I told her to come to my wedding, she did it . You know why ?  Because I donated  money to her foundation. “To obtain an incorruptible president, suggests Mr. Trump, choose it from the list of major corrupters!

A judgment of the Supreme Court in 2010 removed most restrictions on political donations. Since then, the wealthiest are  shamelessly displaying their favors. To explain the unprecedented number of Republican candidates for the White House (seventeen!), the New York Times noted that almost all can rely “on the  support of a billionaire, which means that their campaign have no more  connection with their ability to raise funds by adressing the voters “.  John Ellis (“Jeb”) Bush has already redefined the nature of “small gifts”. For most candidates, it’s less than $ 200; for him, less than 25, 000 dollars …

Three billionaires – MM. Charles and David Koch, M. Sheldon Adelson – have become sponsors of the Republican Party. The Koch brothers, who are harshly criticized by the unions intend to spend $ 889 million on the elections next year, about the same as each of the two major parties. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker appears to be their favorite, but three of its competitors have complied to their invitation with the hope of getting funding for their electoral campaigns.

Mr. Walker is also trying to satisfy Mr. Sheldon Adelson, eighth fortune of the country and worshiper of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Again it is not the only one to  blandish the octogenarian billionaire. Two years ago, Mr. Adelson believed that the US should send nuclear missiles on Iran rather than negotiating with its leaders. The seventeen Republican candidates had perhaps this assessment in mind when they debated between them on 6 August. Not surprisingly , all opposed the recent agreement between Washington and Tehran.

As of last week the media highlights have pointed out the experiencing of a set of moves taken by the Turkish government which have symbolized a shift in its approach towards the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. It’s a clear sign of Turkey’s change of approach toward ISIS.

As argued, up until present Erdogan’s government had maintained a sort of “secret agreement” with the Islamic forces, in which it is informally held that Ankara has no interest whatsoever in attacking the Islamic State and thus, it is widely expected that it won’t join the Western air striking operations against ISIS targets. Part of the reason for this is the Kurdish factor, who both Turkey and Al-Baghdadi try to fight constantly. In exchange, Turkey has ensured that ISIS or any other affiliated Islamic movement would stay within its own borders and would never cross the Syrian border into the Turkish state. Such an unwritten, although over-understood, agreement has served as a way to contain ISIS activities in the region and keep the Turkish people away and safe, while at the same time “ignoring” the global fight against Islamization.

However, lately Turkey has apparently changed its opinion on this symbiotic unofficial relation. It seems like Erdogan has understood that ISIS constitutes a bigger and more real threat than he had thought before—not only a worldwide threat, but now also a threat in Turkey’s shores. As such, he has decided to “break” the agreement with the Islamists, and has consequently met with the American President Barak Obama in an attempt to express his interest to join the International efforts against ISIS, and to take active part in the ongoing air strikes. Indeed, it has already been cleared to publication that Turkey has carried out its first air strike on ISIS targets. Such a step has been taken after reaching certain committing agreements with the U.S.

The new path of action taken by Turkey has been initiated by a number of events which have been taking place throughout the last month, including a Turkish military build-up at the Syrian border, an intensification of anti-Islamic State security operations in the country, a recent visit of a high-level U.S. delegation to Ankara, and the opening of Turkish air bases to U.S-led coalition war planes.

In return, ISIS has quickly understood that a new enemy has been added to their list. Consequently the 20th July 2015, they carried a suicide attack in Suruc, a Turkish city near the Syrian border. Additionally, a Turkish soldier was taken into ISIS hands in the first week of September. Although this isn´t the first time over the past years that incidents of the sort have affected Turkish nationals, it looks like now the time has come for a declared war between ISIS and Turkey.

While trying to analyze the reasoning for the change of policy, there is one crucial factor that comes first to mind: the ongoing changes in the government composition in Turkey. Currently elections are taking place in the country. The results of which have shown a shift in the coalition making process, in which a new group has made its path and has taken a significant place in such coalition. This is the Kurds’ party, which will apparently be able to exert some influence in decision-making in the country. How is this related to ISIS? ISIS has been oppressing Kurds in Syria and in other nearby regions. Thus, the enmity between the two is a long-declared one. Possibly this is the Kurds’ main influence into the government decision at the moment.

Certainly many other elements are to be taken into account in the assessment of the facts, however, because the debate is open, it is rather relevant to pose the following question: is Turkey’s involvement in the fight against ISIS a consequence of security-seeking and search for threat deterrence, or is it a product of the political game in which the elections-period becomes crucial? Probably both answers are to be included in the equation.

Editor’s Note : Dana Chocron is a promising Middle East Analyst. She is a Specialist of Turkey and Israel. She is an active participants of Israeli-Palestinians think thanks that promote innovative economic and cultural solutions to resolve the conflict. She is currently serving as a Foreign Policy Advisor for a Middle Eastern State.

Who still remembers the “road of the Canary”? It’s the key to understand the Refugees Crisis in Europe and its solutions.  In the mid-2000s, West African migrants trying their luck on overloaded fishing boats, from the Senegalese coast, to reach the Spanish archipelago, gateway to Fortress Europe. Two thousand kilometers from Atlantic Ocean to cross. Hundreds of corpses drifting, missing or stranded on beaches in the Canaries. A peak was reached in 2006: 31 000 migrants greeted somehow, and probably 6000 deaths, by the admission of the Spanish authorities.

That’s when Madrid and Dakar decided to cooperate and find solutions: specific migration with “legal” quota,  sending patrol boats and a helicopter to the Spanish coast; last but not least the strengthening of development aid, tens of millions of euros given to Senegal (also in Mali, Guinea, Cape Verde …) for education, training, micro-enterprise development , among others. The “Road of the Canary” will disappear in two years, Spain is considered as an example by Brussels.

Helping the countries of origin of migrants can be a solution. But today, faced with the huge current wave of migration, it is no longer valid. The so-called migrants ‘economic’ were added mass political refugees – and how to tell the difference: wars do not they create misery? – Daech fleeing the Syrian conflict, the Libyan chaos, the atrocious Eritrean dictatorship … In desperate, Europe looks for solutions, at least to try to accommodate these migrants. In the urgency and division: some shout their “Willkommen” while others erect barbed wire. As to stem the sources of this wave, it may take time … It would eradicate Daech, to remove Bashar Assad while stabilizing Syria, to dispose of Eritrea Isaias Afewerki of the satrap, to try to negotiate peace in Libya, divided between its many militias …. Suffice to say: mission impossible.

The municipality of Mumbai led by the Hindu nationalist right has forbidden people to eat mutton, due to a religious festival celebrated by the  Jains. Beef meat  was already banned in recent months.

Every time a new ban is announced by the government in India, everybody is laughing at it. The information website Firstpost.com was the best, Wednesday, September 9, to ridicule the latest decision of the Municipality of Bombay.

Taking for alibi the feast of Paryushana that the Jain community will celebrate the 11 to 18 September and during which 10 million believers worldwide must fast, the economic capital of India has decided to ban the entire population mutton consumption 10, 13, 17 and 18 September. The beef, he is already banned since recent months.

An initiative of Narendra Modi’s party

“Thanks  to (elected officials) who allow us to eat chicken, eggs and onions,” said the journalist Deepanjana Pal, who remind that “Jains do not consume meat, eggs or roots or honey, or milk products nor alcohol “…

It is the Indian People’s Party (BJP, the Hindu nationalist) which is at the origin of this amazing generalization. “The fish remains in sale without problems because when the fisherman take him out of the sea, he is already dead, while cutting meat in a butcher shop show clearly an intention to take the life of the animal “ claimed the Premier Training Narendra Modi.
“No one has explained to the Jains  that before being dead, also fish are alive,” quipped columnist Firstpost.com which console himself by  recalling that the holy city of Rishikesh, close to the source of the Gange, banned eggs in 2004. “Not for one day, or four days, but forever.”

“There will be no other than nuclear negotiations with the Americans, who do not hide their “hostility toward Iran,” said Wednesday the Iranian leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, calling again Washington “Great Satan“.  Iran Washington

“We have agreed to negotiate with the US on the nuclear issue on specific grounds and our negotiators to the occasion. We do not have  given authorization to negotiate on other issues and we will continue in this way, “said the Supreme Leader in a speech before thousands of people gathered at his residence in Tehran, according to its website.

The founder of the Islamic Republic? S Imam Khomeini, declared that “the United States is the Great Satan,” recalled Mr. Khamenei. “The Iranian people have kicked out  the satan, we will not let him come back through the window,” he added.

This statement comes as the House of Representatives and the US Congress must decide in the coming days on the nuclear deal July 14 between Iran and the powers of the 5 + 1 group (the US, France, United Kingdom, Russia, China and Germany).

The agreement aims to ensure the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program with restrictions on at least ten years in exchange for a gradual and reversible lifting of international economic sanctions.

Thirteen members of armed groups who had Friday launched attacks against police in Tajikistan were killed Saturday during a major police operation that also allowed to make several arrests, announced the Ministry of Interior of Tajikistan.

Friday, eight policemen and nine attackers were killed in two attacks, one against the Defense Ministry in Dushanbe, the capital, the other against a suburban police station.

The authorities immediately blamed the deputy defense minister Abdoukhalim Nazarzoda – who was immediately sacked – and moderate Islamic opposition to which it belongs have them organized.

“At present, we have arrested 32 members of the criminal group Nazarzoda, of which 13 have been eliminated,” the ministry said in a statement.

According to authorities, the perpetrators of Friday’s attacks were successful during the operation to “take a large amount of weapons and ammunition”, before fleeing especially towards the mountains north-east of the capital.

A large-scale operation was still underway Saturday with the participation of military and helicopters, to find them, while more than 500 weapons and ammunition boxes were recovered by police, according to same source.

The authorities “have proposed to the rebels to surrender, but they refused. The operation is continuing,” the ministry said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday denounced an “attempt to destabilize the situation” in Tajikistan during a telephone conversation with his Tajik counterpart Emomali Rakhmon and expressed his support, according to the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, quoted by the public channel Pervy Kanal.

During the bloody civil war between pro-communist power and Islamist rebels who made 150,000 dead between 1992 and 1997, Mr. Nazarzoda fighting within the united opposition which united democrats and Islamists, according to the Ministry of Interior.

He then obtained a high official position in favor of an amnesty under the peace agreements signed in 1997 and that marked the end of fighting.

The department says that Mr. Nazarzoda then joined the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT), only legal Islamic party in the former Soviet republic.

This party was banned last week by authorities who accuse him of having links with the organization Islamic state. After that decision, analysts had expressed concern radicalization of the opposition.

The route used by drug traffickers from the Kingdom of Morocco is known to all. But mum’s the word on this business that defies control. Clearly the Morroco-Algeria borders is not a problem for Cannabis smugglers.

The latest report of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) indicates that “Morocco is still the largest producer of cannabis resin in Africa, mainly to Europe.” North Africa remains the subregion of Africa which have been seized the largest quantity of cannabis resin, notes the report, which states that “these catches were particularly large in Algeria, where they increased from 53 tonnes in 2011 to over 211 in 2013 “.

A Ketama, north of the kingdom, nearly 80 000 hectares annually produce 100,000 tons of raw hashish, generating almost 2 billion dollars in revenue. Greenish areas are spread out to infinity. Surrounded by fields, countless storage hangar, production plants of different varieties of “zetla” [cannabis], the “double zero” to “gabba”, as we say here [to describe the qualities of Manufacturing]. The lord of the premises are inviolable; it would be easier to go as a tourist to the moon than to enter this industrial site in the open. Along the road, toddlers and women with visible tattoos offer small cannabis resin pads at competitive prices – small amounts as a sample before any commands. But the big traffic does not devises on sidewalks.

Merchandise conveyed by donkey

Ketama is the devil’s lair, where you risk you peddle drugs and report you to the customs barriers and the royal gendarmerie, two kilometers away. “If the culture of kif is allowed, traffic is another story, it’s like this, it’s all about barons and money, so complicity at all levels,” confesses a Moroccan friend we’ll call Slimane. At night, opening the heavens of the gods … According to a source very aware of this trafficking, production of Ketama takes two destinations: Spain and Algeria.

Vehicles are supplied and out of plantations with an average of two quintals each. As fate of an oil mill and a cement factory. Once the right of way paid, vehicles swallow asphalt quietly direction, in our case, of Oujda, the capital of the Oriental [after the name of the border region], addresses this privileged Algeria generous. This is where the underworld negotiates quality, quantity, price, date of transition …
The goods conveyed at night or at dawn, usually a donkey, very few on board motor vehicles is delivered to the warehouses of the villages [Algerian] neighboring Maghnia, Marsa Ben M’Hidi, Souani , Sebdou … The delivery of drugs to the cities of Oran and Algiers, to the east and south is done in a studied way. Disillusioned by so many voices of hypocrisy surrounding the extent of trafficking indicate, “No one is fooled, traffickers buy the road to get their poison. Here are all suspended status, the power of money can crush us in a flash. As for the barons, the real ones, those who make and break local laws, these, we do not see them. ”

You have to pay

It is difficult to doubt the words of our interlocutors, in the sense that, through this officially closed border – trenches, fence, outposts of soldiers, police patrols, customs, control brigades against drugs, fixed barriers  and various security services … – you have to pay. Everyone knows it and everyone is silent!
 

Legalization of cannabis: “An idea whose time has come”
Huge amounts of drugs are seized in kilometers from the frontier line, often on the East-West highway, or outright in southern Algeria. Talking yet closed border, it’s ridiculous! Our Moroccan brother Slimane, always under the condition of anonymity, in a burst of pride, opines: “All in all, it’s fine to anathematize Morocco but, if there were no buyers (the Algerians), there would never vendors (Moroccans)! This is a business that relates to all parties, and drug trafficking is universal … “Who will stop the traffickers? Certainly not the trenches and wire mesh …

A Turkish soldier who went missing this week on the border with Syrian territory controlled by Islamic State has been seen in a hospital run by the militants, Hurriyet newspaper reported on Saturday.

If confirmed, the soldier’s capture would be a major problem for Turkey, after it stepped up military action against Islamic State in July, opening its air bases to U.S.-led coalition war planes and launching air strikes.

The soldier vanished and another was killed in cross-border shooting with Islamic State fighters on Tuesday near the Turkish town of Kilis, close to Syrian territory that has been under Islamic State control for months.

According to security forces in Ankara who spoke to daily Hürriyet on Sept. 5 citing intelligence reports, Sefer T. was wounded from his foot during the clash. The soldier was taken by militants to an ISIL-controlled hospital near the Syrian city of Aleppo, the source said.Turkish officials declined to comment.

Turkish authorities also received reports suggesting that ISIL considered to transfer the soldier to Mosul in Iraq, although this claim could not be verified.

Officials stressed that efforts have been continuing to release the Turkish soldier, while ruling out any negotiations with ISIL involving an exchange.

A number of ISIL-linked social media accounts have been suggesting that the group could only release the Turkish hostage when Ankara agreed to leave the anti-ISIL coalition.

Late last month, Islamic State released a video accusing Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan of “treachery”, and urged Turks to rise up against him.

This would not be the first time Islamic State has held Turkish hostages. Last year 46 Turks, including senior diplomats, were kept captive for more than three months before being released.

They were freed at a time when Ankara was still being reluctant to engage in efforts to stop Islamic State’s spread, a policy it changed in July.

The timing of the capture is also politically problematic for Erdogan and his AK Party, which is preparing for a second election in November after losing its parliamentary majority in a June vote.

Last year the jihadists seized 46 Turkish citizens in the Iraqi city of Mosul. The hostages were released unharmed after more than three months, but fears for their fate were seen as a key reason for Ankara’s reticence to engage in anti-ISIL operations.

Turkey has a 900-km (558-mile)-long border with Syria and has borne the brunt of the refugee crisis sparked by the Syrian civil war, hosting around 2 million people who have fled the fighting.

Polls have consistently showed little appetite amongst Turks for greater involvement in the Middle East conflagration, and this incident will likely be leapt upon by Erdogan’s opponents, who are strongly critical of his foreign policy.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/reuters/article-3223401/Missing-Turkish-soldier-seen-Islamic-State-hands–Hurriyet.html#ixzz3ksfLDMR9
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A 3 year old child died, face against the ground, on a beach in Turkey …  Will this terrible picture raise awareness in Europe? “The images incredibly poignant, the body of a Syrian child washed up on a beach do not lead Europe to change their attitude to refugees, what can?” Challenges the British newspaper The Independent.

On September 2, migrants trying to reach Kos, Greece, saw their boat capsized. A shipwreck which claimed the lives of 12 Syrian refugees. On the beach in Bodrum, Turkey, a 3 year old boy was found dead. According to the Turkish daily Hurriyet, these castaways likely came from Ayn al-Arab, Syrian city backed the Turkish border and scene of violent fighting between jihadists of the Islamic state and Kurdish militiamen.

The Independent went on to explain his decision to publish these pictures to unsustainable that “the reality of despair that is the lot of many refugees will not be drowned by the flood of words on ‘crisis of migrants”.

Even tone in the Swiss daily Le Temps that title: “Why we must show the child Bodrum”. And adds: “There are pictures that reflect the urgency of even stronger than long texts. The young boy found dead on a Turkish beach deserves our respect and consideration, not that we look away. ”

“The image that shakes the whole of Europe”, as its part the Spanish daily El País evoking the tragic fate of “Aylan, this little boy who wanted to flee Syrian Islamists.” “The despair that leads to sail to escape the war is reflected in this photograph,” the newspaper added. He said that the drama of Aylan and brother 5 years, both died trying to flee a war zone, echoes the situation of thousands of children.
The grueling odyssey of refugees
“Two million Syrian children living as refugees in other countries, according to UNICEF. Although the majority of these refugees live in neighboring countries of Syria, more and more families decide to try to reach Europe. A third of migrants who land in Greece, including the Syrians, are women and children, “insists the Spanish daily.

For its part, the Belgian daily Le Soir is indignant: “Immigration: the silence is a poison.” And calls: “The political class, populist solutions aside, seems paralyzed when it come to face the immigration crisis. Given its magnitude, it is time that everyone take responsibility. ”

“What do you not understand?” the Greek daily Efimerida Your Syntakton. Bardant her with a young Syrian refugee 3 years, whose body was recovered on the beach in Bodrum, the leftist daily challenges the European Union by adding a subtitle: “On the beaches and lands, they are the values of European culture that are challenged “and also to the poet Kostas Varnali” Where do I have to hide my son that the wicked will not reach you? “. In its pages, the newspaper fiercely critical lack of European migration policy, while economic policy is so well organized.

Ten union confederations called for demonstrations across the country to say “no” to the reform of labor law announced by the Modi government. And Started a giant Strike

The call for a general strike launched by ten trade union confederations was widely followed in India Wednesday, September 2nd. Some 150 million people have not gone to work and started a huge strike in all regions, advance the organizers of this movement to denounce the reform of labor law announced by the Modi government.

Only “Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh on (BMS), close to the ruling party, and the National Front of Indian Trade Unions (NFITU) did not take part in the strike,” notes the Hindustan Times, which states that the sectors Most affected are “transport and the bank”.
According to The Economic Times, mobilization in energy and logistics “also produces a seismic effect on the economy of the country” and the cost of this day could amount to “250 billion rupees” ($ 3.3 billion euros), based on an estimate of Assocham employer association.

Daily Mint is surprised meanwhile that the Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya, will be flown on the same day for Turkey to attend a G20 meeting. “This shows the state of mind of the government, it is totally indifferent to the strike,” protested the leader of the All India Trade Union Congress, the union affiliated to the Communist Party of India.