David Cameron on Turkish EU membership - now and then ...

Watch two David Camerons

Former editor of Die Welt: Turkey has sent 1000 state-paid preachers to Germany

Former editor of the German quality daily Die Welt, Wolfram Weimer:

"Turkey has sent 1000 state-paid preachers to Germany and builds serially mosques. Edogan invests in the open Islamization of Germany."

"Erdogan had martially announced: "The mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our bayonets and the faithful our soldiers." The Turkish President has long pursued a missionary grand strategy for Islamic expansion - first within Turkey, increasingly also abroad. Therefore, Turkey is investing systematically in the evangelization of Germany. Islamization is to be master-organized by state religious authority Diyanet and its offshoot Germany DITIB. In addition to the comprehensive construction of mosques and prayer rooms - financed through State resources - Ankara now officially sends around 1,000 imams to German mosques. They act in many German communities as preachers and pastors, but also as Erdogan´s political agitators. They usually stay only a few years in Germany, speak German poorly and spread an orthodox Sunni, Ottoman repressive conception of religion and occasionally stir anti-Semitism."

Read the entire article (in German) here.

And soon Erdogan´s "soldiers" do not even need a visa in order to reach the "battle field"!:

The European Commission is set to recommend granting visa-free travel for Turkish citizens inside Europe's passport-free Schengen area, despite unease among some EU lawmakers.

Dr. Oliver Hartwich: "Merkel´s irresponsible decision has created an existential challenge to her own country"

Angela Merkel´s open doors refugee policy has seriously weakened Germany and the entire EU:

Nothing is fine in Europe these days. Since Angela Merkel singlehandedly opened Germany’s borders to refugees, asylum seekers, migrants and any other nomads, the continent has been plunged into chaos. First and foremost, Merkel’s irresponsible decision has created an existential challenge to her own country. But it also threatens to wreck the European Union -- or at least turn it into an entirely different organisation. --

Before too long, we can expect Turkey to use the leverage presented to it by the refugee crisis to extort more concessions from Merkel. And how ironic would that be: to see liberal Britain depart from the EU while authoritarian Turkey joins – and both of them essentially because of the same reason.
Merkel’s political stupidity has exposed her to blackmail from Turkey – and from Greece. Again, it is completely ironic how the balance of power has shifted in Europe. Only half a year ago, it was the Greek government that was humiliated in Europe and had to give in to Germany’s demands. The refugee crisis has changed that too. --

What this shows is how much Merkel’s policies have reduced Germany’s standing. Not so long ago, Germany was seen as strong and Merkel as one of the most powerful politicians in the world. Today, the British are preparing their departure from the EU, Turkey cannot believe its luck to be dictating its demands to Berlin, and even Greece may feel encouraged to stand up to Germany.

We are witnessing a fundamental shift of power within the EU. This shift of power has weakened Merkel’s Germany and it will eventually lead to an EU that is very different from the EU that we knew.

It is indeed the end of the EU as we knew it. Britain out, Turkey in and Greece debt free: who would have thought what seismic shifts the refugee crisis could trigger in the EU’s power play?

Read the entire article here

The shale gas revolution forces Gazprom to reduce prices in Europe

Russia´s Gazprom has been forced to lower the price it charges for the gas delivered to European Union customers and Turkey:

Deputy chairman of Gazprom Aleksandr Medvedev said "our partners asked us to revise our prices and…what we did is correct the parameters of our formula, which lead to the relative price reduction of 10 percent on the average."
Medvedev said "the new price will ensure Russian gas remains competitive."
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Complaints by some EU countries that Gazprom was charging too high a price have been strengthened recently by the success in the U.S. of shale gas production.

The U.S. canceled plans to import liquefied natural gas from Russia after it became clear domestically produced shale gas could fill U.S. needs.

Russia reoriented that gas intended for the U.S. to markets in Europe but Poland, for example, is going ahead with exploration for shale gas Gaand Ukraine has already produced small amounts in its initial stage of development.

Gazprom continues to cast doubts on the viability of shale gas with Gazprom chief Aleksei Miller saying in his blog on the Gazprom website earlier this month "the so-called shale gas revolution is one and the same thing as American Hollywood."

Read the entire article here

PS

Miller may still continue to belittle the importance of shale gas. But the fact that Gazprom - which was hoping to dominate the European gas market - now has been forced to reduce the price in Europe, speaks volumes about the credibility of its childish denial of reality. And this is only the beginning of the shale gas revolution ...

Turkey and Indonesia: "Shining examples of Islamic democracies"?

Turkish president Abdullah Gul, honoured with a doctorate at the University of Indonesia, has praised his own country and Indonesia in a speech in Jakarta:

Turkey and Indonesia are shining examples of Islamic democracies, and offer hope to nations in the Middle East and North Africa seeking to follow the same path.

“It is not only possible, but also desirable, to achieve a functioning democracy,” Gul said on Wednesday at the University of Indonesia, which conferred him with an honorary doctorate in political science.

“By just being us, we serve as a catalyst for reform,” he told cabinet ministers, professors and students in Depok.

Gul said the world’s two leading moderate Muslim-majority nations had a unique role to play in ushering in change as unrest swept the Middle East and Libya.

Read the entire article here.

Turkey and Indonesia may have made some progress towards democracy, but are they "shining examples" of democracy?:

Human Rights Watch
World Report 2011: Indonesia

Over the past 12 years Indonesia has made great strides in becoming a stable, democratic country with a strong civil society and independent media. However, serious human rights concerns remain. While senior officials pay lip service to protecting human rights, they seem unwilling to take the steps necessary to ensure compliance by the security forces with international human rights and punishment for those responsible for abuses.

New allegations of security force involvement in torture emerged in 2010. But the military consistently shields its officers from investigations and the government makes little effort to hold them accountable. The government has also done too little to curb discrimination against and attacks on religious, sexual, and ethnic minorities.

While Indonesia today has a vibrant media, authorities continue to invoke harsh laws criminalizing those who raise controversial issues, chilling peaceful expression. Indonesia has imprisoned more than 100 activists from the Moluccas and Papua for "rebellion" for peacefully voicing political views, holding demonstrations, and raising separatist flags.
In August Indonesian police arrested 21 individuals for planning to float pro-independence flags attached to balloons during a visit to the Moluccas by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Police subjected them to severe beatings that lasted for days including with wooden sticks and bars and forced them to hold painful stress positions. In September Papuan activist Yusuf Sapakoly, convicted of "rebellion" in 2007 for assisting activists who displayed a pro-independence flag, died of kidney failure after prison authorities denied him medical treatment. In July, after 10 months of delay, prison authorities in Papua permitted political prisoner Filep Karma to travel to Jakarta for necessary surgery.
Indonesia's criminal libel, slander, and "insult" laws prohibit deliberately "insulting" a public official and intentionally publicizing statements that harm another person's reputation, often even if those statements are true. In early 2010 Tukijo, a farmer from Yogyakarta, was sentenced to six months' probation and a three-month suspended prison sentence for criminal defamation after he asked a local official to disclose the results of a land assessment.

Read the entire piece here.

Human Rights Watch
World Report 2011: Turkey

The Justice and Development Party (AKP) government's constitutional amendments open the way for further reforms to strengthen human rights, Human Rights Watch said. But the government has failed to address serious ongoing concerns. These include unjustified prosecutions for alleged speech crimes, the arbitrary use of terrorism laws, unnecessarily prolonged pretrial detention, a clampdown on the legal pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), and police violence against demonstrators.
The government's partial revision of the constitution, approved by national referendum in September 2010, paves the way for creating an ombudsperson, limits the role of military courts, and gives individuals the right to petition the constitutional court to challenge the constitutionality of laws. It also ends immunity from prosecution for the leaders of the September 12, 1980 military coup and public officials who committed human rights abuses in its wake, among other reforms.
Despite a climate of increasingly open debate, the government prosecuted and convicted people during 2010 for nonviolent speeches, writings, and participating in demonstrations, Human Rights Watch said.  Journalists and editors are frequent targets for prosecution, with some facing scores of ongoing legal proceedings in 2010.
"The authorities in Turkey see some speech as a threat to be countered rather than a right to be upheld," Ward said. "A confident Turkey has nothing to fear from free expression."
Another problem during 2010 was ill-treatment by the police, particularly during street stops, demonstrations, and arrests.  The use of firearms by the police and the gendarmerie, particularly against unarmed suspects, was also a matter of concern, Human Rights Watch said. There was no progress on tightening rules governing use of force.

Read the entire article here.

Another recent report from Turkey:

The arrest of nine journalists and writers on March 3, 2011, in the absence of clear reasonable cause, will have a chilling effect on free speech, Human Rights Watch said. The nine were accused of links to the alleged "Ergenekon" coup plots against the Turkish government.

Those arrested include Ahmet Şık and Nedim Şener, two prominent journalists known for critical reporting on the Turkish criminal justice system and police. Şık is co-author of a book about the investigations and trials in the Ergenekon case - after the alleged name given to their organization by the conspirators. He had been working on a book about the police. Şener had written a book on the murder of Hrant Dink, a renowned journalist and human rights defender, and its investigation.

Krauthammer on Obama´s lack of leadership

"America is led by a man determined that it should not"

Charles Krauthammer is not amused by the kind of leadership Barack Obama has shown during the Libya crisis. And it is not difficult to agree with what he is saying:

And as for the United States, who knows what American policy is. Administration officials insist we are not trying to bring down Gaddafi, even as the president insists that he must go. Although on Tuesday Obama did add “unless he changes his approach.” Approach, mind you.

In any case, for Obama, military objectives take a back seat to diplomatic appearances. The president is obsessed with pretending that we are not running the operation — a dismaying expression of Obama’s view that his country is so tainted by its various sins that it lacks the moral legitimacy to . . . what? Save Third World people from massacre?

Obama seems equally obsessed with handing off the lead role. Hand off to whom? NATO? Quarreling amid Turkish resistance (see above), NATO still can’t agree on taking over command of the airstrike campaign, which is what has kept the Libyan rebels alive.

This confusion is purely the result of Obama’s decision to get America into the war and then immediately relinquish American command. Never modest about himself, Obama is supremely modest about his country. America should be merely “one of the partners among many,” he said Monday. No primus inter pares for him. Even the Clinton administration spoke of America as the indispensable nation. And it remains so. Yet at a time when the world is hungry for America to lead — no one has anything near our capabilities, experience and resources — America is led by a man determined that it should not.

A man who dithers over parchment. Who starts a war from which he wants out right away. Good God. If you go to take Vienna, take Vienna. If you’re not prepared to do so, better then to stay home and do nothing.

Read the entire column here.

PS

As we have pointed out several times already, only the US is capable of leading an operation like the one going on in Libya now. Formally NATO can take over, but in reality the US stays as leader, want it or not. Obama´s active avoidance of visible leadership is not very clever, because everybody - including the muslim countries - knows who is the real leader.

The internal bickering within NATO is also very damaging with regard to the future of the alliance. The worst performer is Germany, which in reality has allied itself with Russia and China. And sometimes one wonders, why Turkey is a member of the alliance?