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Sunday, July 31, 2016
Saturday, July 30, 2016
Turkey jails journalists as Erdogan rebukes Western critics
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| This handout picture taken on July 29, 2016 and released by Turkish Presidential Press Service shows Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) shaking hands with Turkey’s Chief of General Staff Hulusi Akarl at the Presidential Complex, in Ankara. |
Turkey was on Saturday holding 17 journalists on charges of “terror group” membership as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Western critics to “mind your own business” over a relentless crackdown following a failed coup.
But in a goodwill gesture two weeks after the July 15 coup bid, Erdogan also announced he was withdrawing thousands of lawsuits against individuals accused of insulting him.
Turkey has detained more than 18,000 people over the attempted putsch which has been blamed on the US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen — a charge he denies — with the relentless crackdown sparking warnings from Brussels that Ankara’s EU membership bid may be in danger.
Seventeen journalists remanded in custody by an Istanbul court over links to Gulen woke up in jails across the city on Saturday as international concern grows over the targeting of reporters in the wake of the putsch.
Twenty-one journalists had appeared before a judge in hearings lasting until midnight on Friday. Four were then freed but 17 were placed under pre-trial arrest, charged with “membership of a terror group”, the state-run Anadolu news agency said.
Those held include the veteran journalist Nazli Ilicak as well as the former correspondent for the pro-Gulen Zaman daily Hanim Busra Erdal.
Among those freed was prominent commentator Bulent Mumay who was given a rapturous welcome by supporters.
“I could never have imagined being accused of such a thing. It was a madness. It’s not right to arrest journalists — this country should not make the same mistakes again,” he said, quoted by the Dogan news agency.
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu defended the detention of reporters, saying it was necessary to distinguish between coup plotters and those “who are engaged in real journalism”.
The president also announced that as a gesture of goodwill after the coup he was dropping hundreds of lawsuits against individuals accused of insulting him.
“I am going to withdraw all the cases regarding the disrespectful insults made against me,” said Erdogan.
Earlier this year, officials had said more than 2,000 people were being prosecuted on charges of insulting the president.
‘Mind your own business!’
Thousands of those detained after the coup have now been released, with an Istanbul court releasing 758 soldiers late on Friday, adding to another 3,500 former suspects already set free.
“And if there is even the slightest doubt that the (treatment) is improper, then the consequences will be inevitable,” he told German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung.But with concern growing about the sheer numbers rounded-up, EU enlargement commissioner Johannes Hahn said he needed to see “black-and-white facts about how these people are treated”.
In a speech at his presidential palace late Friday remembering those killed during the failed coup, Erdogan angrily denounced the criticism and accused the West of deserting Turkey in its hour of need.
“Some people give us advice. They say they are worried. Mind your own business! Look at your own deeds,” Erdogan said.
“Not a single person has come to give condolences either from the European Union… or from the West,” said Erdogan.
“Those countries or leaders who are not worried about Turkey’s democracy, the lives of our people, its future while being so worried about the fate of the putschists cannot be our friends,” he growled.
One of the very few EU officials of any rank to visit Turkey in the wake of the coup was Alan Duncan, a junior minister within Britain’s foreign office.
But Erdogan was on Saturday to meet Foreign Minister Mohammed Abdulrahman al-Thani of Qatar, one of Turkey’s closest allies.
‘Taking the plotters’ side’
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Turkey has succeeded in eradicating all elements linked to Gulen from the military after sacking nearly half of its generals following the failed coup.
“We are going to make our armed forces stronger and we are going to work towards making this country more secure,” he said.
Turkey implemented a shake-up of the military on Thursday after nearly half of its 358 generals were sacked for complicity in the coup.
Erdogan had earlier also lashed out at a top US general who had expressed concerns about military relations after the putsch.
Quoted by US media, US Central Command chief General Joseph Votel said Thursday that the coup bid and subsequent round-up of dozens of generals could affect American cooperation with Turkey.
“You are taking the side of coup plotters instead of thanking this state for defeating the coup attempt,” Erdogan said at a military centre in Golbasi outside Ankara, where air strikes left dozens dead during the coup.
Votel swiftly denied any link to the coup however.
Brothers arrested over alleged Belgium attack plot
Two men suspected of planning an attack in Belgium have been detained by police, prosecutors say.
The men, named only as Nourredine H, 33, and his brother Hamza H, were arrested after a series of houses were searched on Friday evening.
Raids were carried out in the cities of Mons and Liège by federal police. No weapons or explosives were found.
The federal prosecution office said in a statement: “Based on provisional results from the investigation, it appears that there were plans to carry out an attack somewhere in Belgium.”
The French version of the statement referred to “planning attacks” in the plural.
A judge will decide whether they should be detained in custody beyond an initial 24 hours.
Thirty-two people were killed in March after assaults on Brussels Airport and a metro station.Belgium is on security alert three – out of four – meaning the threat is considered serious, possible and probable.
Last month, Belgian police received warning that a group of Islamic State fighters had recently left Syria and were heading to Europe to plan attacks in Belgium and France.
Security was increased for Belgium’s national day on 21 July following the truck attack in the French city of Nice that killed 84 people on Bastille Day.
There is currently no connection between the arrests and the March attacks, federal prosecutors said.
Benatia on target again as Juventus beat South China
Medhi Benatia made it two goals in as many appearances for Juventus as the Serie A champions came from behind to beat South China 2-1 in Hong Kong on Saturday.
Having netted in Tuesday’s 2-1 International Champions Cup victory over Tottenham, the on-loan Bayern Munich defender repeated the trick against South China.
Juventus were forced to come from behind, though, with Neto flapping at a free-kick to allow Chan Siu Ki to pounce and coolly slot home.
Lorenzo Rosseti then settled the contest in the 82nd minute, rounding South China goalkeeper Cristian Mora after he spilled a 25-yard drive from Stefano Padovan.But Massimiliano Allegri’s men recovered well from that 21st-minute setback, with Benatia poking home after gathering a loose ball that deflected off the defensive wall from a set-piece.
Flood water kills atleast 14 wedding guests in Pakistan
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| Pakistan police trying to rescue some of the victims |
At least 14 people were killed Saturday when a vehicle carrying wedding guests was washed off a mountainous road by floodwater and flung into a gorge, an official said.
“Dead bodies of 14 people had been retrieved, most of those killed and wounded were women and children,” Rahimullah Mehsud, a local government official of Khyber tribal district, where the incident took place, told AFP.
The accident happened when a pick-up truck carrying the groom’s party of more than 20 people was hit by floods in a remote village of Khyber, one of Pakistan’s seven tribal districts bordering Afghanistan.
The heavy monsoon rains began earlier this month, drenching the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and central Punjab provinces, which have been badly affected by flooding in recent years that some scientists have linked to climate change.Mehsud said a search was ongoing for the missing but rescue workers and residents were facing difficulties as the “area is remote and mountainous”.
He added: “We have no exact number of those travelling in the Datsun pick-up but residents told us there were more than 20.”
Bundesliga sides warned not to rest players against Beyern Munich
Bundesliga teams have been warned not to field weakened teams against Bayern Munich in the coming campaign.
Last season several teams rotated their sides substantially for their games against the champions, indicating that they would prepare to rest players for fixtures they had a better chance of winning.
German Football Association president Christian Seifert would not like to see the same again and is even considering ways to punish any club who give Bayern an easy ride.
Seifert has not actually considered what action he might take, since he is confident the situation will not arise this season.“It destroys the integrity of the game,” he told the Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper. “I would strongly push for consequences if something like that were to happen again.”
“It’s too soon to speculate about it because I don’t think it will happen again,” he said. “We’ve spoken to the clubs about it and I expect every sportsman to have the aim of playing every game the best way they possibly can.”
RERUN: APC wins Imo north senetorial, 2 state constituencies in Imo
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Mr Ben Uwajumogu of the All Progressive Congress (APC) winner of Imo North Senatorial District rerun election held on July 28.
Uwajumogu scored 56,076 votes to defeat Mr Athan Achonu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who scored 43, 815 votes.
Prof. Arinze Agbogu, the INEC Returning Officer for Imo North Senatorial District, who announced the result in the early hours of Friday, said the outcome was a summation of scores of July 23 and that of July 28 exercise.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalled that Uwajumogu, had scored 48,921 on July 23, while Achonu, of the PDP, scored 40, 142 votes which made INEC to declare the rerun inconclusive.
Similarly, INEC declared Mr Nkenna Nzeruo of the APC winner of Oru East State Constituency, while Mr Collins Chiji also of APC was declared winner for Isiala Mbano State Constituency.Agbogu said that available data before him showed that Uwajumogu had majority of lawful votes cast, and therefore returned elected for the Imo North Senatorial District.
The two state constituencies’ elections were equally declared inconclusive due to reported cases of violence that marred the exercise in some communities in the two areas on July 23.
Uwajumogu told journalists in Owerri that he was highly elated over the victory, adding “my gratitude goes more to Gov. Rochas Okorocha whose structure helped me to win this senatorial election’’
