Anadolu Agency

ISRAEL FEARFUL OF PALESTINIAN
STONE-THROWING DOLL
LOW OIL PRICES TO HELP NARROW
TURKEY’S DEFICIT: MOODY’S
JERUSALEM (AA) – Israeli costumes services at Haifa
port seized 4,000 stuffed dolls that were en route to the
occupied West Bank.
Officials said they confiscated the dolls Tuesday under the
pretext that they were meant to be used as tools of incitement against Israel. Haifa Customs Director Coby Yahav
said his department will continue its work to prevent the
“smuggling of weapons and the infiltration of inciting material,” in reference to the dolls. >> POLITICS
FOOTBALL: GALATASARAY HEAD FOR
EUROPA LEAGUE
ANKARA (AA) - Low oil prices are expected to help narrow Turkey’s current account deficit, Alpona Banerji, vice
president and senior credit officer at credit agency Moody’s
told Anadolu Agency on Wednesday.
“Turkey’s current account deficit is expected to moderate
this year and next year, as a result of the combination of
lower oil prices and slower domestic demand,” Banerji said.
Banerj listed some of the factors that challenge the Turkish
economy as “substantial external vulnerabilities, like the
large current account deficit, ..... >>ECONOMY
Turkish presence in Mosul
part of ‘planned training’
Thursday December 10, 2015
Deputy PM Numan Kurtulmus says Ankara had been
cooperating with Iraqi government from the beginning
A Turkish military presence in northern
Iraq is part of “planned training”, Deputy
Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said on
Wednesday.
Speaking at Anadolu Agency’s Editor’s’
Desk in Ankara, Kurtulmus said the training had been going on for a long time in
that part of Iraq, adding that Turkey had
been working with the country’s central
government from the beginning.
The posting of military trainers to
Bashiqa, near Mosul, has caused a diplomatic spat between Ankara and Baghdad.
Baghdad insists the forces be withdrawn while the Turkish government
has said the troops are merely part of a
routine rotation of a training program
for Kurdish peshmerga fighters.
Turkey’s presence in northern Iraq is
not a new situation; Turkish troops
have been providing peshmerga
forces – the army of the Iraqi Kurdish
regional government – with training
since Sep 2014. Kurtulmus said the
training came after a request from
Mosul’s governor following the Daesh
group’s storming of the Iraqi province.
He added: “About 2,400 peshmerga,
Turkmen and Arabs have been trained
within preparations to rescue Mosul,
that’s why – it is not a fresh situation.”
“It is an exaggerated issue and I hope
the tension will be de-escalated as soon
as possible,” he added. >MORE DETAILS
Turkey wants support in
anti-PKK fight, says spokesman
Presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin says the ‘determination’
against Daesh should also be shown against the PKK
Turkey wants to see the same determination
shown against Daesh by the international
community to be extended to the PKK.
This was according to Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin, speaking to
reporters in Ankara on Wednesday.
Claiming that it was wrong to differentiate between some terror groups as being
“good” or “bad,” Kalin added: “Developing
a policy from this point of view is wrong,
both diplomatically and morally.”
Turkey to investigate
Gulenist links to
unsolved murders
Turkish prosecutors to examine
cases from 2000 to 2013 to search for
links to terror group
Prosecutors in Ankara have launched
an investigation into the links between the Gulenist terror group and
unsolved murders committed between 2000 and 2013, a prosecution
source said Tuesday.
The Office of Investigation into
Crimes Committed Against Constitutional Order will review the files of
old murder cases for evidence of a link
to the organization headed by preacher Fetullah Gulen.
The organization, also known as the
“parallel state”, said to have plotted to
overthrow the Turkish state by installing its followers among state institutions,
particularly the police and judiciary.
The inquiry will encompass all unsolved
murders during the 13 year period, the
source said on condition of anonymity.
Among the cases to be examined will
be the February 2009 killing of Behcet Oktay, the president of Ankara
police’s special operations department;
the death of candidate judge Didem
Yaylali in August 2013; the killing of
academic Necip Hablemitoglu in December 2002; and the May 2006 killing of a member of Turkey’s Council of State.
Police intelligence and anti-terror officers will also be involved in the investigation.
>MORE DETAILS
Kalin said that apart from fight against
Daesh “we have a fight against the terror
organization called the PKK”.
The PKK – considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and EU –
resumed its armed campaign in late July.
Since then, around 195 members of the
security forces have been martyred while
more than 1,700 terrorists have been killed,
according to official figures.
Daesh is an enemy of my country,
a disgraceful thing, as it puts my
religion in a malicious position,’
Bilal Erdogan says
Daesh does not represent Islam and I do
not even think they are Muslim, Turkish
president’s son, Bilal Erdogan, has said in
response to Russian allegations that he is
involved in an illegal oil trade with the
terrorist group.
In remarks made to an Italian newspaper, Corriere della Sera, Tuesday in
the Italian city of Bologne where he
is pursuing his doctorate degree at the
John Hopkins University, Erdogan
said: “Kremlin’s spokesperson says
‘Erdogan’s son is exporting oil via the
Ceyhan port with ships coming from
Daesh’ and it appears in newspapers
worldwide. I have nothing to do with
such a marine transport”.
Russia made the allegations after
Turkey downed a Russian jet for violating
Turkish airspace in late November.
“Above all, Daesh is an enemy of my
country, a disgraceful thing, as it puts my
Turkey’s Galatasaray dropped from the Champions League
religion in a malicious position. They
do not represent Islam and I do not even
think they are Muslim,” he said.
About why Turkey does not seal its
border with Syria, Bilal Erdogan said
that Turkey was taking strict action
against oil smuggling.
“Turkey has a 900-kilometer border
and is doing its best, but it is rather
difficult. We asked formation of a
buffer zone, which can be easier to
both control the border and receive
the refugees, but, unfortunately, we
have not been heard,” he said.
About Russia’s negative reaction to
establishing a no-fly zone on the
Turkish-Syrian border, he said: “Who
knows why... Turkey and Russia are
partners and neighboring countries.
I am of the opinion that the problem
will be solved, but if everyone pursues their interests, I do not think it
will take place”.
He said that Russia’s closing down
of dialogue channels with Turkey
would not improve the situation.
“The thing that broke out with Russian jet is saddening, but we should
focus on real issues like Daesh and
future of Syria,” he said.
>MORE DETAILS
Thursday
to Europe’s second-tier club competition on Tuesday with a
SUNNY
1-1 draw against Kazakh opponents Astana.
10 °C
By coming third in their group, Galatasaray ensured continued European football this season in the Europa League.
Friday
Patrick Twumasi broke the deadlock in the 62nd minute
PARTLY CLOUDY
for Astana at the Turk Telekom Arena in Istanbul only for
8 °C
the hosts to pull a goal back two minutes through Selcuk
Inan. >>SPORT
Russian tourism ban on
Turkey ineffective,
experts say
Twitter users show support for Muslim
student’s tweet poking fun at
Republican presidential front-runner
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has become a figure of ridicule on
social media after he called for
the U.S. to ban the entry of
all Muslims.
Almost immediately after the
real estate mogul made the policy statement, he was mocked
on social media and not only by
other Republican candidates.
A tweet by Firas Alkhateeb
garnered a lot of attention.
“Does anyone know if the
concentration camps Trump is
planning for us Muslims will
have WiFi?,” he said.
Users of the micro-blogging
site quickly showed support
for Alkhateeb by retweeting
his message nearly 700 times,
liking it north of 600 times
and responding in like fashion.
“If they do, I’m converting,”
Alaskan
journalist
Brian
O’Connor said in response.
“So it’s like 1960s Ohio, but
with wifi?,” O’Connor added,
referring to discrimination faced
by blacks during the decade.
A Methodist pastor and retired
Navy chaplain from Boston
also responded to Alkhateeb.
“Can I go? I’m not a Muslim
but my Wi-Fi is crap,” said
Pastor Williams.
Sandra Milena said she would
join the camp if she would be
able to get the W-Fi connection, adding a smile at the end
of her tweet.
Frank McConnell suggested that the real estate mogul
and Republican presidential
front-runner will not be so
kind, but instead is “going to
turn the Internet off for Muslims”.
Some feared they may become
Trump’s next target for espousing liberal ideas.
“I hope so because as a liberal,
I am probably not far behind
you,” said one user named
mfsnyder.
Trump may prevent Muslim
entry to the US but one user,
Old Darkness, believes online
access will be available.
“Behave, under King Trump
you’ll get dialup and be forced
to thank him every morning!,” the user tweeted.
Alkhateeb is a student and
teacher at the Dural Qasuim
school in Illinois. He also runs
the Lost Islamic History website that “aims to educate all
people, regardless of religious
affiliation about the story of
Muslims of the past,” according to the site.
>MORE DETAILS
Iraq contradicts Russia over
UN meeting on Turkey
Iraqi envoy denies Russian claim that Baghdad sent
letter to Security Council objecting to Turkish troops
>MORE DETAILS
Turkish president’s
son dismisses Russia
oil trade claims
WEATHER / ANKARA
Russia’s ambassador to the UN
said Tuesday that Iraq sent a letter to the Security Council protesting the presence of Turkish
troops in the north of the country, but Iraq’s UN envoy said no
letter as such had been sent.
Speaking to reporters following a closed-door Security
Council meeting on the recent deployment of Turkish
military trainers in northern
Iraq, Russian Ambassador
Vitaly Churkin said the letter
“triggered our request to hold
informal consultations”.
“They sent a letter to the Security Council ... There were
complaints to the Security
Council, there were public
complaints by the Prime Minister of Iraq and other Iraqi
officials, so it was not our invention,” Churkin said, referring to the council meeting.
Churkin’s Iraqi counterpart,
Mohamed Ali Alhakim, denied that his country had sent
a letter to the 15-member council.
“We are working on this bilaterally between Baghdad and
Ankara, and when we need,
we have letters available to the
Police officer
martyred by PKK
in southeast Turkey
A police officer was martyred
and two others injured in a
PKK terrorist attack on Tuesday in southeastern Turkey, officials said.
Mardin provincial governor’s
office gave few details of the
attack in Nusaybin, which
sits on the Syrian border. The
town has been under curfew
since Dec. 6 as Turkish security
forces combat the PKK terrorist organization.
Following the 2 p.m. local time
(1200GMT) armed attack, the
officers were taken to hospital.
“One of the three police officers who had been getting
treatment at Nusaybin State
Hospital was martyred despite all
medical efforts,” the statement said.
The injured officers’ conditions
are not life-threatening.
The PKK - considered a terrorist organization by Turkey,
the U.S. and EU - resumed its
armed campaign in late July.
Since then, around 195 members of the security forces have
been martyred while more
than 1,700 terrorists...
>MORE DETAILS
Security Council, but they
have not been issued by Baghdad yet,” he said, adding that
the letter Churkin referred to
might be a letter sent by Iraq
on June 25, 2014.
“We have not yet escalated it to
the Security Council,” he said.
“For us what is helpful is the
bilateral discussion going on
right now between Baghdad
and Ankara, and it is going
extremely well,” he added.
The posting of Turkish military trainers to Bashiqa, near
Mosul, on Friday has caused a
diplomatic spat between Iraq
and Turkey,... >MORE DETAILS
Frenchman
named as third
bomber in
Paris concert
attack
A 23-year-old Frenchman has
been identified as the third suspected suicide bomber involved
in the Nov. 13 Bataclan concert
hall attack in Paris that left 90
people dead, the French media
said Wednesday.
According to French daily Le
Parisien, Frenchman Foued
Mohamed Aggad, 23, was allegedly the third attacker who
blew himself up at the hall.
The Paris prosecutor had earlier identified two other suicide
bombers... >MORE DETAILS