MESOPOTAMIA NEWS INTEL : GUELEN NEPHEW CAPTURED IN KENIA
TURKISH SPIES ALLEGEDLY KIDNAPPED a nephew of dissident cleric Fethullah Gülen in Kenya and forcibly transported him to Turkey, according to reports in Turkish media. Citing “government sources”, Turkey’s state-owned news agency, Anadolu, said this week that Selahaddin Gülen had been “forcibly repatriated” to Turkey from abroad by officers of the National Intelligence Organization, known as MİT. But it did not specify when or where the alleged operation took place. Subsequent reports suggested that Selahaddin Gülen’s wife, Serriye Gülen, posted a video on social media, in which she said the couple lived in Nairobi, Kenya, and that her husband, who worked as a school teacher, had disappeared on May 3. It was also reported that Gülen’s alleged kidnapping was soon afterwards confirmed by media outlets connected to the Gülen movement. The Gülen movement consists of supporters of Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen, who runs a global network of schools, charities and businesses from his home in the United States. The government of Turkey has designated Gülen’s group a terrorist organization and claims it was behind the failed 2016 coup against Turkey’s President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Ever since the failed coup, Erdoğan’s government has fired or imprisoned over 200,000 government employees, which it accuses of being “Gülenists”. The cleric, who lives in the US state of Pennsylvania, denies Erdoğan’s accusations. It is not clear whether Gülen’s nephew was kidnapped in a cover operation, or whether he was delivered to the MİT by the Kenyan authorities. Since the failed 2016 coup, the Turkish government has pressured numerous countries in the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa to arrest and extradite alleged Gülenists. Kenya has so far refused to take action against individuals and institutions that Ankara claims are connected to the Gülen movement. It is worth noting that in 1999 the MİT carried out a controversial covert operation in Kenya, which resulted in the kidnapping of Kurdish separatist militant Abdullah Öcalan. Öcalan, 74, is the leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which Turkey and several other countries have designated a terrorist organization. He remains imprisoned to this day. |
MESOPOTAMIA NEWS Q & A : Why EU falls behind US on Palestine-Israel issue
The EU has long played an active role in seeking an end to Israeli-Palestinian hostilities. Why has it lost this role?
Shada Islam@shada_islam – Nazlan Ertan@NazlanEr – AL MONITOR – May 27, 2021
BRUSSELS — The European Union was once viewed as an important and credible actor in the Middle East, even a potential counterweight to the United States. No longer. During the recent upsurge in Israeli-Palestinian violence, the 27-member bloc has come across as little more than a passive bystander, distracted by deepening internal divisions and out of touch with both the changed power dynamics in the region and an emerging rights-focused policy discourse in Washington.
With a cease-fire in place since May 20, EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell pointed to the need to move away from “crisis management mode” and solve the “underlying conflict” through “a true political and negotiated solution.” A newly appointed EU special representative for the Middle East, Dutch diplomat Sven Koopmans, will soon travel to the region to meet “key actors” from Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Egypt and the United States.
MESOPOTAMIA NEWS : Iran’s enriched uranium stockpiles 16 times higher than limit set by nuclear deal
Iran has also failed to explain traces of uranium found at several undeclared sites, a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency shows, possibly setting up a fresh diplomatic clash between Tehran and the West that could derail wider nuclear talks currently underway in Vienna.
By Reuters and ILH Staff – ISRAEL HAYOM Published on 06-01-2021 07:41 – Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Grossi | – Iran holds a quantity of low enriched uranium nearly 16 times higher than the limit authorized in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, according to a report Monday by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
MESOPOTAMIA NEWS SECRETS : THE MAFIA STATE TURKEY / A detailed Anatomy / SEDAT PETER, HAKAN FIDAN et.al.
Quiet, Coup in Progress — Part 2 – / 31. May 2021
In Part 1 we established that mob boss Sedat Peker’s attacks on Youtube have been targeting two members of Turkey’s siloviki that are close to fascist party boss and Tayyip’s coalition partner Devlet Bahçeli, as well as Tayyip’s close family and his loyal interior minister. These are four of the main pillars of Tayyip’s islamofascist police state: Serhat Albayrak is the mass media propaganda pillar and Soylu, Çakici, and Agar are the repression, terror, and extortion pillars. We might add a fifth, as Soylu also supplies a good deal of the regime’s mass surveillance.
Ten of the 104 retired admirals who were arrested for signing an open letter calling the government to respect the Montreux Convention
MESOPOTAMIA NEWS TODAYS COMMENTARY : How the international community sought to create an endless Israel-Palestinian war
By SETH J. FRANTZMAN 31 May 2021
One of the remarkable outcomes of the recent Hamas war on Israel was the use of terminology that illustrates a larger goal designed to create conditions that justify Hamas “resistance” and claim Israel is a “settler” state. These terms, similar to the chants of “from the river to the sea” that span the far-left and far-right Hamas supporters are designed to assert that Israel should be destroyed as a country. They have origins in the international community’s attempt to undermine Israel from the first days of the state.
In no other place in the world has the international community worked so hard to try to erode the foundations of an internationally recognized state. It’s worth looking at the broader context of this.
MESOPOTAMIA NEW INSIGHT: Sectarianism and Sectarianisation in Iraq: Ambassadorial Appointments as an Exemplar
May 25th, 2021 0 MERI PAPERS – ABOUT THE AUTHOR Dlawer Ala’Aldeen President of MERI.
Sectarianisation of Iraq’s governance has already become a powerful driver of conflict. Left unaddressed, it can become irreversible. Here, ambassadorial appointments are used to underline the depth of sectarian divisions within the legislative and executive institutions, and offer ways forward.
Introduction
Despite on-going attempts, dozens of ambassadorial positions still remain vacant for more than a decade within Iraq’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). Reasons for the failure to fill these critical posts include many, ranging from administrative, legal and political barriers to poor quality of candidates and the MFA’s inability to validate the candidates’ suitability to represent their country internationally. However, like all other senior government appointments, the biggest barrier for progress relates to disagreements among political and institutional leaders over the exact apportionment of the ambassadorial positions along ethno-sectarian lines.
MESOPOTAMIA NEWS : “DEMOCRAT” BIDEN STOPS FUNDS FOR KURDS IN SYRIA (SDF/PKK/PYD)
U.S. cuts defence funding to anti-ISIS fighters in Syria
Ahval NEWS – May 29 2021 09:05 Gmt+3 – U.S. President Joe Biden’s defence budget for 2022 will cut funding to the Kurdish-led Syrian Defence Forces (SDF) and other groups fighting the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria.
Biden has requested a total of $715 billion in defence spending for the fiscal year 2022, which must now be approved by Congress.
Of the $522 million in funding to combat ISIS, $177 million will be spent on assisting “vetted Syrian groups and individuals”, which includes both the SDF and the Maghawir al-Thawra militia group. The remaining $345 million will go to the Iraqi security forces.
This figure is down from the $200 million Syrian groups, including the SDF, received in 2020.
MESOPOTAMIA NEWS NEW : US presents ‘alternatives’ to Turkey on S-400 system
- Ahval NEWS – May 28 2021 08:38 Gmt+3 – The US has presented “alternatives” to Turkey in order to lift sanctions imposed on the country over the acquisition of Russian-made S-400 missile system, US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said in an interview with CNN Turk.
“We have offered alternatives to Turkey, they know exactly what to do if they want to get out from underneath these sanctions,” Sherman insisted. “We have talked about ways to take the necessary steps. And this will be a decision for Turkey to take.”
I hope that we can find a way forward.”
MESOPOTAMIA NEW TURMOIL IN IRAQ :
by Munqith Dagher, Karl Kaltenthaler FIKRA NEWS FOUNDATION – May 25, 2021 – Dr. Munqith Dagher is MENA director and a board member of Gallup International. Dr. Dagher is a contributor to Fikra Forum contributor.Karl Kaltenthaler – Karl Kaltenthaler is a professor of political science and director of security studies at the University of Akron. Kaltenthaler is a contributor to Fikra Forum.
Brief Analysis
The Kadhimi government must move quickly if it wants to avoid a potential popular uprising among dissatisfied Shias in Iraq.
According to the Al Mustakilla Research Group (IIACSS)/Gallup International Iraq recent Opinion Thermometer (IOT) poll conducted in April 2021, Iraqi Shia are showing particularly high rates of dissatisfaction, distrust, and unhappiness regarding their political system when compared to Iraqi Sunnis and Kurds.
The IOT is a long-term project to assess the state of public opinion in Iraq towards democracy and governance in the country. The overarching goal of the project is to determine whether the state of public opinion in the country is on a trajectory conducive to sustainable and well-functioning pluralistic democracy. While the first survey in the project was conducted in April 2021, the project will periodically track key attitudes in Iraq in order to better understand the societal foundations of the existing political order.
MESOPOTAMIA NEWS EXCLUSIVE Turkey pushed NATO allies into softening outrage over Belarus plane, diplomats say
Humeyra Pamuk – Robin Emmott – REUTERS – 28 May 2021
Turkey pushed NATO allies into watering down an official reaction to the forced landing by Belarus of a passenger plane and the detention of a dissident journalist on Sunday, two diplomats familiar with the matter told Reuters.
NATO’s 30 allies released a two-paragraph statement on Wednesday condemning the forcing down of a Ryanair flight to arrest journalist Roman Protasevich but did not include any punitive steps that Baltic allies and Poland had pressed for.
The statement was also less strident than NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg’s public remarks. He called the incident a “state hijacking” and “outrageous”.
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