Israeli Prime Minister Ben Netanyahu unveiled files stolen from Iran – but U.S. intelligence officials say the information has been known for years. D’oh!
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Watch Alistair Reign News Channels on YouTubeDemonstrations turned violent late Thursday ahead of a tricky first G20 summit for US President Donald Trump, as German police clashed with a hard core of masked anti-capitalist activists hurling bottles and stones.
What should have been a peaceful march by around 12,000 people in Hamburg protesting against globalisation was halted as police used water cannon and tear gas to disperse around 1,000 far-left militants.
Seventy-six police officers were injured, a spokesman for Hamburg’s police told AFP.
“Police are still being attacked,” he said.
Officers called with loudspeakers on protestors to remove their masks but this was ignored and after more objects were thrown, authorities decided to separate them from the other protestors, police said on Twitter.
“Unfortunately it has come to the first clashes. We are implementing corresponding measures,” read another tweet.
Protesters were seen scrambling to leave the scene, while others defiantly stood in the way of water cannon trucks as they moved in surrounded by riot police with helmets and batons.
Police tweeted a photo of a car and flames and said shop windows were smashed.
The main “Welcome to Hell” march was then called off but thousands of people remained as night fell and demonstrators engaged in smaller skirmishes in the back streets of Germany’s second city, AFP correspondents said.
Up to 100,000 demonstrators are expected before and during the two-day Group of 20 meeting gathering Trump, Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping of China starting on Friday.
There were 20,000 police on standby together with armoured vehicles, helicopters and surveillance drones. A holding centre for detainees has been set up in a former hardware store with space for 400 people.
“War, climate change, exploitation are the result of the capitalist system that the G20 stands for and which 20,000 police are here to defend,” demonstrator Georg Ismail told AFP.
Major events like the G20 have in recent years usually been held in remote locations, but Germany was forced by its logistical demands to host it in a large city with a big venue and dozens of hotels.
Hamburg is desperate to avoid a rerun of the kind of major clashes seen at the 2001 G8 summit in Genoa or the Frankfurt opening of the new European Central Bank building in 2015.
In Hamburg, some 30 demonstrations have been announced, organised by anti-globalisation activists and environmentalists, trade unions, students and Church groups.
“Welcome to Hell” organiser Andreas Blechschmidt said the motto is “a combative message… but it’s also meant to symbolise that G20 policies worldwide are responsible for hellish conditions like hunger, war and the climate disaster“.
The main focus of attention inside the G20 venue on the first day of the summit on Friday will be Trump’s first face-to-face meeting with Putin.
Speaking in the Polish capital earlier on Thursday in front of 10,000 people, Trump didn’t mince his words about Moscow.
“We urge Russia to cease its destabilising activities in Ukraine and elsewhere, and its support for hostile regimes — including Syria and Iran — and to instead join the community of responsible nations in our fight against common enemies and in defence of civilisation itself,” he said.
Arriving in Hamburg later Thursday, Trump headed to talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has vowed to defend the 2015 Paris climate accord despite the US leader’s decision to withdraw.
Merkel said before meeting the US president that Trump was facing isolation within the G20 over the issue — one of several topics where the new US leader is likely to clash with his fellow leaders.
“We are not going to paper over the differences but rather, we will call discord discord. Because there are also different opinions on some important questions,” Merkel said.
Trump held a dinner with leaders of South Korea and Japan, focusing on North Korea’s successfully test of an intercontinental ballistic missile this week. He tweeted afterwards only that the meeting was “great”.
In his first public remarks since the test, Trump said in Warsaw that Pyongyang’s military sabre-rattling must bring “consequences” and warned he was considering a “severe” response to its “very, very bad behaviour“. [01]
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Watch Daily News at Alistair Reign Channel on YouTube.One week on from the atrocity at the Manchester Arena, Tina Daheley reports on the attack targeted on the audience of thousands of young and teenage girls as they left a pop concert. She hears from concert attenders and parents, and investigates the community context and the extremist Islamist links behind the mass murder committed by the suspected suicide bomber, a 22-year-old man born of Libyan parents in the city.
Sorry folks, I have removed this video to make space on my server for new videos. We have a wide variety of films to watch in the Video section.
Reporter: Tina Daheley.
Producer: Andrew Bell.
Executive Producer: Karen Wightman.
Editor: Jim Gray.
Watch rare films and TV series in our Documentaries section.
Watch Daily News at Alistair Reign Channel on YouTube.Ross Kemp, investigative-journalist turns his attention to the deadliest migrant route in the world. The 1,000 miles of Libyan desert, a journey more dangerous than the sea, followed by the treacherous Mediterranean crossing from Tripoli to Italy in rubber boats unfit for purpose. Three thousand people make this journey every week. Twelve die each day.
In Ross Kemp: Libya’s Migrant Hell, he tracks the route with his usual brawn studded with the occasional fleck of emotion. This is not nuanced film-making, but somehow that feels right for an issue so huge, horrifying and urgent; a bit of plain-spoken directness feels welcome.
This video has been removed to make space for new videos. We have a wide variety of films to watch in the Video section.
Beginning in the Sahara, where threats include smugglers, Isis training camps, armed militias and kidnappers, Kemp intercepts a truck rammed with 22 people.
“We are running for our lives,” one man explains. Later, he joins 30 men and women on a 350-mile desert stretch to the next handover point: a seven-hour journey travelling 70 mph in 45C heat.
Instantly sweating like a pig in his headscarf, Kemp declares: “I don’t think I could do it, that’s for sure.”
Watch rare films and TV series in our Documentaries section.
Watch Daily News at Alistair Reign Channel on YouTube.During the 1987 Intifada, this film weaves the story of how 18 cows inspired the Palestinian’s of Beit Sahour, and at the same time became a thorn in the side of Israeli authorities determined to find the illegal bovines. (Warning: some language not meant for children).
The Wanted 18 tells the story of one of the most unique chapters in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
I have removed this video to make space on my server for new videos. We have a wide variety of films to watch in the Video section.
Although this film is from 2014, I recently discovered, and enjoyed watching, so I wanted to share with others.
Directors: Paul Cowan, Amer Shomali
Writer: Paul Cowan
Stars: Alison Darcy, Heidi Foss and Rosann Nerenberg.
Watch rare films and TV series in our Documentaries section.
Watch Daily News at Alistair Reign Channel on YouTube.Updated on March 12th: Hundreds of protesters gathered near the Dutch Embassy in the Turkish capital Ankara, despite the street where it is located being sealed off by police. Demonstrators waved Turkish and Ottoman flags, shouted anti-Dutch slogans and some threw eggs, according to state-run TRT Television.
Mr. Ed Husain, a political reporter and author, tweeted images from the protest held Saturday.
Clearly outraged by his plane being refused landing clearance, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Cavusoglu tweeted the following messages, among several other remarks, all directed at the Netherlands’ government.
After his rejection by Dutch officials, Turkey’s foreign minister made his way to Metz, France, where he was welcomed by Pro-Erdogan counterparts and supporters.
End Update.
The Netherlands has withdrawn permission for a plane carrying Turkey’s Foreign Minister, Mr. Mevlut Cavusoglu to land in the country to speak at a rally supporting expanded powers for current president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
In response, the Turkish President compared the Dutch government to “Nazis” when addressing a rally of supporters in Istanbul – only days after using the same label against the German government over rally cancellations.
Turkish authorities have sealed off the Dutch embassy and consulate, citing security reasons, sources at Turkey’s foreign ministry have said. Turkey closed off the residences of the Dutch ambassador, the head of the embassy and the consul general as tensions between the NATO partners escalated.
Mark Rutte, the Dutch Prime Minister, called the remarks “crazy” at a campaign event.
“I understand they’re angry, but this of course was way out of line,” he added.
A spokesperson for the Dutch government said the move was taken because of “risks to public order and security” caused by the proposed visit by Mevlut Cavusoglu to Rotterdam on Saturday, March 11th.
“The Dutch government does not have any opposition to gatherings in our country to inform them about it. But these gatherings are not allowed to contribute to tensions in our society and everyone who wants to hold a gathering is obliged to follow instructions of those in authority, so that public order and safety can be guaranteed.”
Speaking at Istanbul’s airport, he said the Dutch are trying to prevent Turkish officials from meeting voters in Europe, adding: “So they cancelled it due to security concerns, what, so is the minister a terrorist? We will give them the response they deserve.”
It was the latest of a series of prohibitions on campaigning in Europe by Turkish leaders drumming up support among the country’s expat voters, including several in Germany. Turkey summoned the Dutch charge d’affaires to the foreign ministry in Ankara as the dispute continued on Saturday. It came just days before the Netherlands goes to the polls in parliamentary elections on March 15th.
With tensions growing between the EU and Turkey, Mr. Cavusoglu repeated threats to cancel agreements including last year’s deal to stem the flow of refugees to Greece if the bloc failed to carry out promised visa liberalization for Turks. He said Turkey would present a final text to the bloc on progress of the deal “and either it will all be cancelled, including the visa liberalization and migrant deal, or it will all be implemented.”
At least four German local authorities have withdrawn permission for pro-Erdogan campaign events, as well as areas of Austria and Switzerland. Allies of the Turkish President are targeting more than a million Turkish voters living in Europe who will be eligible to cast a ballot in the vote on April 16, 2017. The referendum could see Turkey’s parliamentary system replaced with an executive presidency using constitutional amendments that have alarmed human rights groups.
Germany’s refusals have sparked a diplomatic row seeing Angela Merkel’s government repeatedly compared to Nazis by Mr. Erdogan and his ministers. All cancellations have cited safety and administrative issues, but have been linked to concern over a post-coup crackdown seeing thousands of people detained in Turkey, including a Die Welt journalist who was jailed on terror charges after reporting on government corruption. [01]
Authorities initially detained Deniz Yücel, a correspondent for Die Welt newspaper, earlier this year on the 14th of February after he reported on emails that a hacker collective claims they obtained from the private account of Mr. Berat Albayrak, Turkey’s energy minister – and the son-in-law of Turkey’s president, Mr. Erdoğan.
On Monday, an Istanbul court ordered Deniz Yücel, a dual citizen of Turkey and Germany, to be jailed pending trial, Reuters reports. He is the first German reporter to be held in a widespread crackdown that has followed last year’s failed July 15th coup in Turkey.
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Watch Daily News at Alistair Reign Channel on YouTube.Thousands of children in Armenia are needlessly separated from their parents and placed in institutions due to disability or poverty, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The government should urgently provide community-based services and quality, inclusive education so that all children, including children with disabilities, can grow up in a family.
Read the 102-page report, “‘When Will I Get to Go Home?’ Abuses and Discrimination against Children in Institutions and Lack of Access to Quality Inclusive Education in Armenia”, documents how thousands of children in Armenia live in orphanages, residential special schools for children with disabilities, and other institutions.
They often live there for years, separated from their families. More than 90 percent of children in residential institutions in Armenia have at least one living parent. Human Rights Watch also found that the Armenian government is not doing enough to ensure quality, inclusive education for all children. Inclusive education involves children with disabilities studying in their community schools with reasonable support for academic and other achievement.
“The government of Armenia has made some bold commitments to reduce the number of children in institutions, but needs to make sure those promises are backed by serious, sustained action,” said Jane Buchanan, associate Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch and author of the report. “All children have the right to grow up in a family, and government and donor resources should support families and children, not large institutions.”
Residential institutions often serve as the main distributor of social services to families facing difficult life circumstances such as poverty, unemployment, poor housing, health issues, or disability. Services and staff are often concentrated in institutions, rather than available and accessible in communities, including for the rehabilitation and education of children with disabilities. This compels many families to send their children to residential institutions, even when they would prefer to raise them at home.
The government aims to move children out of at least 22 residential institutions by 2020 and transform these buildings into centers for community-based services. Some have already been converted. However, the three orphanages that exclusively house children with disabilities will continue to operate. Failing to provide family-based care for children with disabilities on an equal basis with other children is discriminatory and should be ended immediately, Human Rights Watch said.
The government also has stalled key amendments to the Family Code, which would facilitate foster care and adoption – options essential when children cannot safely return to their birth families. The current government budget provides support for only 25 foster families in the country.
According to UNICEF, financial support for children in institutions in Armenia is between US $3,000 and US $5,000 per year per child. These funds could be used for community-based services and direct support to families, which are less expensive in the long term, according to UNICEF.
Children with disabilities often do not attend classes with other children or if they are in the classroom, may not be provided with the services they need to participate in an academic curriculum. They may instead be given art, sewing, or other tasks to occupy them. For many children with disabilities, their education consists primarily or exclusively of one hour or shorter individual sessions once or a few times a week.
Community schools often lack sufficient staff, in particular aides who can provide direct support to one or more children. In some cases, a parent, most often a child’s mother, will remain with the child in the classroom to provide support. Some children with disabilities receive sub-standard home education, with teachers visiting a child at home to teach basic literacy and numeracy only.
International standards provide that schools should be fully accessible, and provide reasonable accommodations to support students, regardless of their disability. Support measures provided to children with disabilities should be individualized, based on each child’s particular learning needs, and strengthen opportunities for students with disabilities to participate fully in the classroom.
Children with disabilities who age out of orphanages or special schools may remain in institutions as adults indefinitely. This can be due to the lack of accessibility in housing, transportation, and employment. In other cases, however, they remain in institutions because they are deprived of their legal capacity, denied the right to make decisions for themselves. They can be denied opportunities most people take for granted, such as deciding where to live, having a job, developing friends and hobbies of their choosing, finding a life partner or spouse, or raising children.
“Edmond” (not his real name), a young adult with a mild intellectual disability who lives in an institution, told Human Rights Watch, “I cannot answer who decides that I stay here. … I have been here since I was 8 years old, and I will stay here. It is one of my dreams to be able to live on my own and live my own life. For a long time, I thought about being able to live on my own, but I lost hope.”
“Children and young adults with disabilities have the same rights to education and opportunities as their peers,” Buchanan said. “Making sure children with disabilities can go to school in their communities is a good first step, but it is an empty gesture unless children get a quality education that enables them to achieve academically, fulfill their potential, and contribute to a diverse society.” [01]
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Watch Daily News at Alistair Reign Channel on YouTube.What Do Hollywood, Oliver Reed and Saddam Have in Common? I will give you a hint: It was NOT weapons of mass destruction. What it was, is a “Clash of Loyalties“, an Iraqi film funded by, and based on Saddam’s version of the country’s fight for freedom from Britain, and the resulting independence of Iraq after the First World War. Although, one co-star of the film DID recently declare: “Oliver Reed was a weapon of mass destruction.”
The film was financed by Saddam Hussian, and filmed mainly at the Baghdad Film Studios in Baghdad’s Mansour neighbourhood, and on location at the Tigris-Euphrates marshlands, Babylon and Kut.
The film stars Oliver Reed as Gerard Leachman, Marc Sinden as Captain Dawson and Helen Ryan as Gertrude Bell, with a stirring score by Ron Goodwin.
Against all odds, the film was completed and produced. However, the movie industry had no interest in purchasing it; and today, it sits in the garage of the filmmaker; a pile of stacked up tin reels, rusty from time; a piece of history lost, and recently uncovered.
Sorry folks, I have removed this video to make space on my server for new videos. We have a wide variety of films to watch in the Video section.
I thoroughly enjoyed this video. Although it is not directly related to our blog’s mission, it is a peek into history, so I am sharing it with our viewers. Enjoy!
Watch rare interviews and news reports in our Documentaries section.
Watch Alistair Reign News Channels on YouTubeThe British government has quietly issued reams of corrections to previous ministerial statements in which they claimed that Saudi Arabia is not targeting civilians or committing war crimes. The autocratic petro-state is currently engaged in a bombing campaign in Yemen where it has blown up hospitals, schools, and weddings as part of its intervention against Houthi rebels.
Britain has been a staunch defender of the dictatorship’s assault, with UK arms companies supplying billions in weapons and ministers staking their reputation on the conduct of the Saudi Arabian armed forces.
However as MPs went back to their constituencies for recess on Thursday the Foreign Office admitted six ministerial statements from the past year “did not fully reflect” the real situation.
In many cases ministers had denied war crimes were being committed – statements the FCO now believes went too far. Instead, ministers were meant to only say that they had not actively confirmed that war crimes were being committed.
In February, then Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, said:
“we have assessed that there has not been a breach of international humanitarian law by the coalition”, the Foreign Office noted.
It added: “However, these should have stated … ‘we have not assessed that there has been a breach of IHL by the coalition’.”
On another occasion, the FCO noted, Mr Hammond, who is now the Chancellor, had said:
“‘The MOD assessment is that the Saudi-led coalition is not targeting civilians; that Saudi processes and procedures have been put in place to ensure respect for the principles of international humanitarian law; and that the Saudis both have been and continue to be genuinely committed to compliance with international humanitarian law.’
The correction continued:
“This should have said, ‘…The MOD has not assessed that the Saudi-led coalition is targeting civilians. We have assessed that Saudi processes and procedures have been put in place to ensure respect for the principles of international humanitarian law; and that the Saudis both have been and continue to be genuinely committed to compliance with international humanitarian law.”
Oliver Sprague, Amnesty UK’s Arms Programme Director, said:
“This is jaw-dropping stuff. The government has admitted grossly misleading parliament no fewer than six times on issues as serious as the deaths of civilians in Yemen.
“The government has spent most of this year telling us that assessments had been conducted and it was confident that no breach of international law had occurred – when it’s now apparent no specific assessment of Saudi operations had been done whatsoever.
“It appears that what the UK government is admitting is to only having reviewed general Saudi procedures rather than investigating the many actual reports of unlawful attacks.
“It’s staggering that such a shameful admission is made at the eleventh hour on the last day of parliament. It’s not even doublespeak, it’s just plain wrong.”
A spokesperson for Campaign Against Arms Trade, which has led calls for a boycott, said:
“This is a stunning piece of back-peddling, and the timing feels very cynical.
“The corrections reveal that Philip Hammond’s original statements were either totally wrong or outright distortions.
“UK arms have been central to the devastation inflicted on Yemen and it’s time for the government to come clean about its role.”
Mr Cameron, who stepped down as PM this week following the election of Theresa May to leader of the Conservative party, said in January that Britain’s relationship with Saudi Arabia is “important for our own security”.
Last week The Independent reported that the UK government had refused to rule out re-electing Saudi Arabia to a key UN human rights council.
Saudi Arabia Human Right’s Violation article’s in Belfast Telegraph:
Belfast Telegraph: Government admits it was wrong to say Saudi Arabia is not targeting civilians or committing war crimes.
Sources have confirmed that the countries counter-terrorism chief has been critically injured after being shot in the head by coup plotters, as authorities round up more than 6,000 people in Erdogan’s ruthless crackdown.
265 killed in night of chaos
2,839 soldiers held in prison,
2,745 judges facing arrest
1,140 people wounded
6,000 people arrested
2,839 military officers detained
200 top Turkish court officials in custody, including:
140 members of the Supreme Court,
48 members of the Council of State
50,000 British tourists in Turkey during coup violence [01]
The Telegraph in UK reports: Turkish authorities have continued their crackdown in the aftermath of an attempted coup, with more than 6,000 people detained as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s revenge mission raises fears for the future of democracy in the region.
On Saturday night, thousands of supporters poured onto the streets of Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir to demonstrate their loyalty to Mr Erdogan after a tumultuous 24 hours.
Turkish authorities on Sunday announced 6,000 people including generals had been detained in the aftermath.
World leaders including US President Barack Obama have strongly condemned the attempted putsch but also urged Turkey to respect the rule of law in its aftermath, especially after pictures emerged showing the rough treatment of some coup plotters when arrested.
“The clean-up operations are continuing,” Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said.
Arrest warrants were issued for 2,745 judges in what was widely expected to mark the start of a purge of opposition forces.
“They will pay a heavy price for this,” he warned, calling for the death penalty to be reintroduced.
“This uprising is a gift from God to us because this will be a reason to cleanse our army,” the president said in response to the bloodiest challenge to his 13-year-rule.
After a night when Turkey’s democracy appeared to hang by a thread, Western and Middle Eastern leaders offered vocal support for the country’s democratic institutions.
However, senior Western diplomats were privately voicing fears that Mr Erdogan would use the coup to entrench his powers.
“For now everyone is delighted that democracy is restored,” a source told The Sunday Telegraph. “The fear is for what comes next.”
The source added that keeping Turkey on a democratic track would top the agenda at Sunday’s meeting of EU foreign ministers, who have been relying on the country to stem the flow of migrants into Europe since signing a deal with Ankara last year.
“Erdogan’s instinct and priority will now be to clamp down on dissent and consolidate power,” said Mujtaba Rahman, of Eurasia Group, a risk consultancy. “This has to complicate cooperation with Europe over refugees, as it’ll give more voice to already squeamish constituencies in the EU about closer ties with Turkey.”
Some 104 plotters were killed in clashes, while 161 others fell as “martyrs”, the government said.
The coup was defeated with the aid of tens of thousands of Mr Erdogan’s supporters who poured on to the streets after he flew back to Istanbul in the middle of the night, using a hastily arranged press conference to urge them to take back control.
By the time the last plotters surrendered on the Bosphorus bridge, the crowds had descended on the disarmed rebels, beating them with clubs and humiliating the failed soldiers as they cowered on the ground.
Turkish authorities named Akin Ozturk, a former air force commander, as one of the “masterminds of the coup” alongside two army generals, Adem Huduti and Avni Angun.
Up to 50,000 British holidaymakers were in the country during the attempted coup. Many of them looked for ways to return home after Istanbul’s main airport was temporarily shut and flights cancelled.
Flights have resumed, with Turkish Airlines operating a full timetable and British Airways running a reduced schedule.
Thomas Cook, meanwhile, which takes tourists to coastal resorts several hundred miles away from where the failed coup took place, said it was operating a full holiday programme.
The rebel army faction – which calls itself the Peace Council and denounced Mr Erdogan’s increasingly non-secular and autocratic approach – said it was trying to overthrow the government to “protect human rights”.
Mr Erdogan, caught by surprise as he enjoyed a holiday in the south, was quick to blame his old foe Fethullah Gülen, a Muslim cleric, and former ally, living in exile in the US. Mr Gülen’s followers were known to have a strong presence in Turkey’s police and judiciary, but less so in the military.
The cleric, however, condemned the attempted coup and said he had played no part in it, but Mr Erdogan demanded his US allies hand him over for questioning.
However, there were signs of tension between Mr Erdogan and Washington, with John Kerry, the US Secretary of State, angrily denying allegations that the US had backed the coup.
John Kirby, the State Department spokesman, said claims that the US was involved were “utterly false and harmful to our bilateral relations.”
Amid fears of a bloody retribution, Stephane Dion, Canada’s foreign minster, has called on Turkey to handle the aftermath of the coup attempt according to “fundamental principles of democracy.”
By Saturday morning, all symbols of the coup had been dismantled or hijacked by government supporters.
Some stood on top of an abandoned armoured vehicle in the middle of the main highway into Istanbul. “Erdogan, Erdogan, he will never fail us,” they shouted into the windows of cars driving past.
The US-led coalition against the Islamic State (IS) group has resumed air strikes from a Turkish air base that were suspended after a failed military coup d’etat, the Pentagon said on Sunday, AFP reports.
“After close coordination with our Turkish allies, they have reopened their airspace to military aircraft,” Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said in a statement.
“As a result, counter-ISIL coalition air operations at all air bases in Turkey have resumed,” he added, using an acronym for the IS group.
“US facilities at Incirlik are still operating on internal power sources, but we hope to restore commercial power soon. Base operations have not been affected.”
The Turkish authorities on Saturday imposed a security lockdown at the Incirlik air base in the southern province of Adana used by US and other coalition forces in the fight against jihadists in Syria and Iraq.
The government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday put down the bloody coup attempt, but it raised concerns in the West about the stability of the country and its continued role in the anti-IS coalition.
The United States has been forced to scale back its fight against Islamic State after losing access to the main Turkish air base it uses to launch air strikes against jihadists, reports Josie Ensor in Istanbul.
Turkish authorities imposed a security lockdown after a botched coup saw rebel soldiers take control of Incirlik air base in the south-east of the country on Friday night.
A senior air force general stationed at the base was arrested yesterday along with over a dozen lower ranking officers on suspicion of involvement in the putsch, which lasted several hours before it was shut down by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan loyalists.
Ankara suspects Incirlik was used to refuel military aircraft “hijacked” by the coup plotters and used to fly over cities across Turkey in a show of force.
The base has become a key hub for US forces after Turkey last year agreed to allow the fellow Nato member use of Incirlik to carry out lethal raids against Isil jihadists in Syria.
“US officials are working with the Turks to resume air operations there as soon as possible,” Peter Cook, the Pentagon press secretary, said in a statement. “In the meantime, US air forces central command is adjusting flight operations in the counter-Isil campaign to minimise any effects on the campaign.”
The Incirlik airbase is of critical importance to the US military, as not only does it facilitate the US aerial operations against terrorists in neighboring Syria and Iraq, but it is also one of six Nato sites in Europe that house tactical nuclear weapons.
Some have speculated that the base may be held “hostage” by Ankara as a bargaining chip ahead of demands for the extradition of Mr Erdogan’s arch enemy, Fethullah Gulen, currently a resident of the state of Pennsylvania.
The Foreign Office says in a statement: “We are concerned by events over the weekend in Turkey. Our Embassy continues to monitor the situation closely.
“While the situation appears to have calmed the security environment remains potentially volatile. We are advising British nationals to monitor our travel advice and to check with their airline or tour operator before travelling.
“British nationals requiring assistance in Turkey can contact the Foreign Office on 0207 008 0000.
“We have urged calm, the avoidance of any further bloodshed and support for the democratic institutions of Turkey, a message that the Foreign Secretary relayed to the Turkish Foreign Minister yesterday (Saturday).
“The Foreign Secretary has also spoken to, and been regularly updated by, diplomatic staff in Ankara and in Istanbul. They’re doing a fantastic job, working around the clock to help British nationals.”
Turkish authorities have now detained 6,000 people including generals, in action that has sparked international concern.
“The clean-up operations are continuing,” Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag was quoted as saying by the state-run Anadolu news agency.
World leaders including US President Barack Obama have strongly condemned the attempted putsch but also urged Turkey to respect the rule of law in its aftermath, especially after pictures emerged showing the rough treatment of some coup plotters when arrested.
Mahir Zeynalov is a journalist with Turkey’s English language daily Today’s Zaman. She said: “Erdogan has seized every moment in the past few years to empower himself, especially after challenges such as anti-government Gezi demonstrations and the massive corruption scandal of 2013.
“There is no doubt that he is poised to win a possible referendum designed to make him an executive president with expanded powers.
“The failed coup attempt is a windfall for Erdogan in his bid to further consolidate his power.”
Eight Turkish military officers who fled to Greece by helicopter following the failed coup have been charged with illegal entry and violating Greek airspace, according to their laywer.
The men, who have sought asylum in Greece, arrived by military helicopter on Saturday after sending a distress signal to authorities at the airport in the northern city of Alexandroupolis.
They remain under arrest and will appear in court on Monday.
The soldiers, all married and in their forties, say they played no part in the putsch but fled to Greece after policemen started shooting at them.
Josie Ensor in Istanbul reports that the police department’s Counterterrorism Chief Turgut Aslan is this morning being treated in hospital after being shot in the head by coup plotters.
He is critically injured but still alive. He was held hostage for 24 hours after being captured by putschists during the attempted coup.
Plotters believed to be behind the military coup aimed at toppling President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are still at large in Istanbul, according to the Turkish Government.
A senior official said a few groups had yet to surrender, but that they no longer pose a risk to the Government.
These include important military figures who will be captured soon, according to the spokesman.
Thousands took to the streets of Turkey Saturday in support of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, after authorities crushed a military coup that claimed at least 265 lives.
After facing down the bloodiest challenge to his 13-year rule, Erdogan triumphantly addressed flag-waving supporters in Istanbul following Friday’s chaos in the strategic NATO member of 80 million people.
Thousands packed into Ankara’s Kizilat Square, the heart of Istanbul and the coastal city of Izmir at a series of rallies across the country.
Americans have been advised to “reconsider” travel to Turkey following the attempted coup.
“Foreign and U.S. tourists have been explicitly targeted by international and indigenous terrorist organisations,” the State Department has warned.
US airlines ace currently banned from flying to or from Ankara and Istanbul as have all inbound flights from Turkey – both direct and indirect.
The US Secretary of State, John Kerry, called his Turkish opposite number Saturday to offer US support in the wake of a failed coup but also to protest claims Washington had backed it.
The United States was quick to denounce the military revolt in its NATO ally Turkey and to express support for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s elected government.
But some Turkish officials have reportedly suggested the United States was covertly sympathetic to the rogue military officers, a claim Kerry angrily denied.
“He made clear that the United States would be willing to provide assistance to Turkish authorities conducting this investigation, but that public insinuations or claims about any role by the United States in the failed coup attempt are utterly false and harmful to our bilateral relations,” Kirby said of Kerry’s call to Cavusoglu.
Earlier, Turkey’s labour minister Suleyman Soylu had reportedly suggested the United States was behind the revolt, which triggered fighting that left at least 265 dead.
The Telegraph UK: Turkey coup attempt: Counterterrorism chief critically injured after being shot in the head by coup plotters, as authorities round up more than 6,000 in ruthless crackdown.
At least 265 people were killed. An official said that 161 of them were mostly civilians and police officers, while the remaining 104 were coup supporters.
After serving as prime minister from 2003, Erdogan was elected president in 2014 with plans to alter the constitution to give the previously ceremonial presidency far greater executive powers.
Even though the coup failed, the attempt could still destabilize the NATO member, and major U.S. ally, that lies between the European Union and the chaos of Syria, with Islamic State bombers targeting Turkish cities and the government also at war with Kurdish separatists.
Turkish authorities rounded up nearly 3,000 suspected military plotters on Saturday and ordered thousands of judges detained after thwarting a coup by rebels using tanks and attack helicopters to try to topple President Tayyip Erdogan.
At the height of the action, rebel soldiers took control of TRT state television, which announced a countrywide curfew and martial law. An announcer read a statement on the orders of the pro-coup faction that accused the government of eroding the democratic and secular rule of law. Turkey would be run by a “peace council” that would ensure the safety of the population, the statement said.
Turkey is one of the main backers of opponents of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria’s civil war and hosts 2.7 million Syrian refugees. It was a departure point last year for the biggest influx of migrants to Europe since World War Two.
Turkey has suffered numerous bombings and shootings this year, including an attack two weeks ago by Islamists at Ataturk airport that killed more than 40 people, as well as those staged by Kurdish militants.
For several hours overnight on Friday violence shook Turkey’s two main cities, as the armed faction which tried to seize power blocked a bridge in Istanbul and strafed the headquarters of Turkish intelligence and parliament in Ankara.
But the coup attempt crumbled as Erdogan rushed back to Istanbul from a Mediterranean holiday and urged people to take to the streets to support his government against plotters he accused of trying to kill him.
“They will pay a heavy price for this,” said Erdogan, launching a purge of the armed forces, which last used force to stage a successful coup more than 30 years ago. “This uprising is a gift from God to us because this will be a reason to cleanse our army.“
Among those detained were top military commanders, including the head of the Second Army which protects the country’s borders with Syria, Iraq and Iran, state-run Anadolu news agency said.
Some had to be taken under armed police escort in buses to a sports stadium. Reuters footage showed some of the detainees, handcuffed and stripped from the waist up, sitting on the floor of one of the buses.
The government declared the situation under control, saying 2,839 people had been rounded up, from foot soldiers to senior officers, including those who formed “the backbone” of the rebellion.
Authorities also began a major crackdown in the judiciary over suspected links to U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, removing from their posts and ordering the detention of nearly 3,000 prosecutors and judges, including from top courts.
Erdogan has blamed the coup on supporters of Gulen, who he has frequently accused of trying to foment uprising in the military, media and judiciary.
Ten members of the High Council of Judges and Prosecutors and two members of the Constitutional Court have already been detained, officials said.
U.S. President Barack Obama expressed support for Turkey’s government and urged parties on all sides of the crisis to avoid destabilizing the country and follow the rule of law.
But his secretary of state, John Kerry, warned Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu that public suggestions of a U.S. role in the plot were “utterly false” and harmful to relations.
Erdogan, who had been holidaying on the southwest coast when the coup was launched, flew into Istanbul before dawn on Saturday and told thousands of flag-waving supporters at the airport that the government remained at the helm.
A polarizing figure whose Islamist-rooted ideology lies at odds with supporters of modern Turkey’s secular principles, Erdogan said the plotters had tried to attack him in the resort town of Marmaris.
“They bombed places I had departed from right after I was gone,” he said. “They probably thought we were still there.“
Erdogan’s AK Party has long had strained relations with the military, which has a history of mounting coups to defend secularism although it has not seized power directly since 1980.
His conservative religious vision for Turkey’s future has also alienated many ordinary citizens who accuse him of authoritarianism. Police used heavy force in 2013 to suppress mass protests demanding more freedom.
He commands the admiration and loyalty of millions of Turks, however, particularly for raising living standards and restoring order to an economy once beset by regular crises, which grew 4.8 percent year-on-year in the first quarter.
The violence is likely to hit a tourism industry already suffering from the bombings, and business confidence is also vulnerable.
The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, issued the following statement on July 15th, saying “On behalf of all Canadians, I would like to express our concern about this evening’s events in Turkey. We call for restraint by all parties. Canada supports the preservation of Turkish democracy, and condemns any attempt to subvert Turkey’s democratic institutions by force of arms.”
“The Government of Canada is being kept informed of developments in Turkey, and we are doing everything possible to ensure that the safety and security of Canadians in that country is maintained.”
In a night that sometimes verged on the bizarre, Erdogan frequently took to social media, even though he is an avowed enemy of the technology when his opponents use it and frequently targets Twitter and Facebook.
He addressed the nation via a video calling service, appearing on the smartphone of a CNN Turk reporter who held it up to a studio camera.
He also urged Washington to deport Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in the United States. The cleric, who once supported Erdogan but became a leading adversary, condemned the attempted coup and said he played no role in it.
“As someone who suffered under multiple military coups during the past five decades, it is especially insulting to be accused of having any link to such an attempt. I categorically deny such accusations,” Gulen said in a statement.
Kerry said the United States was willing to help Turkey as it tries to identify those involved in the coup attempt, but made clear it would only act if there was evidence against Gulen.
Gunfire and explosions had rocked both Istanbul and Ankara through the night after soldiers took up positions in both cities and ordered state television to read out a statement declaring they had taken power. However, by dawn the noise of fighting had died down considerably.
About 50 soldiers involved in the coup surrendered on one of the bridges across the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul after dawn on Saturday, abandoning their tanks with their hands raised in the air. Reuters witnesses saw government supporters attack the pro-coup soldiers who had surrendered.
By Saturday afternoon, CNN Turk reported that security forces had completed an operation against coup plotters at the headquarters of the military general staff. Security sources also said police detained about 100 military officers at an air base in the southeast.
Neighboring Greece arrested eight men aboard a Turkish military helicopter which landed in the northern city of Alexandroupolis on Saturday, the Greek police ministry said, adding that they had requested political asylum.
At one stage military commanders were held hostage by the plotters and by Saturday evening — 24 hours after the coup was launched — some operations against rebels were continuing.
Cavusoglu, the foreign minister, said soldiers at the Incirlik air base, used by the United States to launch air strikes on Islamic State targets in Syria, were involved in the attempt. He said Turkey would resume operations with the U.S.-led coalition once the anti-coup operations were completed.
The coup began with warplanes and helicopters roaring over Ankara and troops moving in to seal off the bridges over the Bosphorus, which separates Europe and Asia in Istanbul.
Turkish maritime authorities reopened the Bosphorus to transiting tankers after shutting the major trade route from the Black Sea to the Aegean for several hours for security and safety reasons.
In the early hours of Saturday, lawmakers hid in shelters inside the parliament building, which was fired on by tanks. An opposition deputy told Reuters that parliament was hit three times and people had been wounded.
When parliament convened later in the day, the four main political parties – running the gamut from Erdogan’s right-wing Islamist-rooted AK Party to the left-of-center, pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) – came together in a rare show of unity to condemn the attempted coup.
A Turkish military commander also said fighter jets had shot down a helicopter used by the coup plotters over Ankara.
Momentum turned against the coup plotters as the night wore on. Crowds defied orders to stay indoors, gathering at major squares in Istanbul and Ankara, waving flags and chanting.
“We have a prime minister, we have a chief of command, we’re not going to leave this country to degenerates,” shouted one man, as groups of government supporters climbed onto a tank near Ataturk airport.
Kerry said he had phoned the Turkish foreign minister and underlined “absolute support for Turkey’s democratically elected, civilian government and democratic institutions”.
FLIGHTS RESUME
Flag carrier Turkish Airlines resumed flights on Saturday, though some foreign carriers canceled weekend flights.
References Reuters: Turkey rounds up plot suspects after thwarting coup against Erdogan.
Turkish President Recep Erdogan claimed his government was back in control of the country Saturday morning following an overnight coup attempt by members of the military, though the situation on the ground remains unclear. [01]
Alistair Reign News Blog 