Escalation between Iraq and Turkey as Erdogan slams Abadi

October 12, 2016

Jeddah, Oct 12: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has rejected Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi’s criticism of the presence of Turkish troops in Iraq ahead of a planned operation to retake Mosul from Daesh.

eddah

“Who’s that? The Iraqi prime minister? First you know your place,” retorted Erdogan.

“You are not my interlocutor; you are not my equal,” Erdogan told a meeting in Istanbul at which he addressed Al-Abadi. “You should know your limits.”

“It is not important at all how you shout from Iraq. You should know that we will do what we have to do,” said Erdogan.

Turkey shares a 1,200 km border with Syria and Iraq, and faces threats from Daesh in both. Turkey is concerned however, that once Daesh is evicted from Mosul, the overwhelmingly Sunni city will be taken over by Iran-affiliated Shiite militias.

Ankara maintains an estimated 2,000 troops in Iraq — around 500 of them in the Bashiqa camp
in northern Iraq. They are training local fighters who will join the battle to recapture Mosul, according to Turkish media reports.

The Iraqi premier’s spokesman, Saad Al-Hadithi, said Erdogan was “pouring oil on the fire” with his remarks. “Turkey’s response has turned a law and security issue into a problem of a personal nature,” he told AFP.

The differences between Ankara and Baghdad flared up after the Turkish Parliament extended a government mandate by one year thereby allowing its troops to remain on both Iraqi and Syrian soil.

The Shiite-dominated Iraqi Parliament labeled the Turkish troops an “occupying force.”
Erdogan rejected the demand for Turkish troop withdrawal.

“Iraq had certain requests from us regarding Bashiqa, and now they are telling us to leave. But the Turkish Army has not lost so much standing as to take orders from you,” said Erdogan.
Turkey’s position is that involving Shiite militias in a drive to expel Daesh from Mosul will not bring peace.

“If you try to change the demographic structure in Mosul, you will ignite the fires of a major sectarian war,” said Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu is traveling to Saudi Arabia on Thursday for a meeting with the foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states in Riyadh.

Confirming the news to Arab News on Tuesday, Saudi Foreign Ministry spokesman Osama Nugali said: “Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir and Cavusoglu will hold a joint press conference on Thursday where they will address this issue (of Mosul).”

Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi told Arab News on Tuesday that the GCC meeting with Turkey has assumed significance in the light of the new developments.

“Saudi Arabia and Turkey should be worried about Iran and the sectarian government in Baghdad,” he said. “They (Tehran and Baghdad) have supported demographic changes elsewhere in Iraq. They are changing history; their intentions are bad; and we know this from what they have already done in Sunni areas.”

According to Khashoggi, if Iran and the notorious Shiite militia, Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi, launch an attack of their own on Mosul, “then that will lead to a mass Sunni exodus from Mosul.” He said a Shiite presence in Mosul would make Sunnis anxious and fearful.

Khashoggi is worried about something else. “Iran may populate Mosul with people who are not indigenous to the area,” he claimed. “The Iranians have done this before; they change demographics, and should not be allowed to do so.”

He is strongly opposed to allowing what he sees as Iranian-American designs to succeed in Mosul.

“Erdogan will not allow the Americans and Iranians to go into Mosul with Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi,” he said. “Turkey will insist on — and get — a role for the Peshmergas because the Peshmergas are Erdogan’s strong allies.”

Khashoggi said Turkey would need support from the GCC states and “Turkey would get it, because Turkish concerns are Saudi and Gulf concerns as well.”

He did not agree with the American approach of aligning with Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi and the Kurds in order to liberate Mosul. “That is totally wrong. This should not be allowed (because) Al-Hashad Al-Shaabi are not people indigenous to Mosul,” he said.

Meanwhile, a US State Department official told Arab News that Iraq’s neighbors needed to respect Iraqi sovereignty and territorial integrity.

“That is the premise that the global Counter ISIL Coalition operates under in Iraq, and we expect all of our partners to do the same,” he said. “We call on both governments to focus on their common enemy — Daesh.”

According to the spokesman, it is imperative for all parties in the coming days and weeks to coordinate their steps in order to ensure a unity of effort in the fight against Daesh.

“We continue to believe that this is a diplomatic matter for the governments of Iraq and Turkey to resolve and we support continued dialogue that will lead to a resolution of this matter,” he said.

“It is important that all parties who support the Iraqi government’s efforts to defeat Daesh do so in a manner that does not inflame sectarian tensions,” he said, and added: “This is something that we have discussed as a coalition and also with the government of Iraq.”

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News Network
May 5,2020

Dubai, May 5: Saudi Arabian prosecutors have ordered the arrest of a Saudi citizen for insulting an Asian expatriate and abusing him for not embracing Islam.

A video went viral online showing the expat, apparently with little knowledge of the Arabic language, being insulated by an Arabic-speaking man who does not appear in the clip, for having not embraced Islam and for not fasting.

A monitoring centre affiliated with the public prosecution examined the video the content of which “shows the citizen’s use of abusive words against the Asian resident on the pretext of inviting him to Islam,” the prosecution source said.

“The public prosecution closely follows up whatever infringes rights of citizens and residents including harm to their dignity and legal rights regardless of pretexts of such infringement,” the source added.

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Agencies
July 19,2020

Occupied Jerusalem, Jul 19: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial resumed on Sunday.

Netanyahu is charged with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in a series of scandals in which he is alleged to have received lavish gifts from billionaire friends and exchanged regulatory favors with media moguls for more agreeable coverage of himself and his family.

Netanyahu denies wrongdoing, painting the accusations as a media-orchestrated witchhunt pursued by a biased law enforcement system.

The trial opened in May. Just before appearing in front of the judges, Netanyahu took to a podium inside the courthouse and flanked by his party members bashed the country’s legal institutions in an angry tirade.

Netanyahu was not expected to appear at Sunday’s hearing, which is taking place at an occupied Jerusalem court and is mostly a procedural deliberation.

The trial resumes as Netanyahu faces widespread anger over his government’s handling of the coronavirus crisis.

While the country appeared to have tamped down a first wave of infections, what’s emerged as a hasty and erratic reopening sent infections soaring. Yet even amid the rise in new cases Netanyahu and his emergency government — formed with the goal of dealing with the crisis — appeared to neglect the numbers and moved forward with other policy priorities and its reopening plans.

It has since paused them and even re-impose restrictions, including a weekend only lockdown set to begin later this week.

Netanyahu’s government has been criticized for a baffling, halting response to the new wave, which has seen daily cases rise to nearly 2,000. It has been slammed for its handling of the economic fallout of the crisis.

His trial thus comes at inopportune timing. Netanyahu had hoped to ride on the goodwill he gained from overcoming the first wave of infections going into his corruption trial, but the increasingly souring mood has affected his approval rating and may deny him the public backing he had hoped for. The anger has sparked protests over the past few weeks that have culminated in violent clashes with police.

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Agencies
May 25,2020

Abu Dhabi, May 25: Dusty weather to persist in the UAE on Monday as well with a chance of rainfall in parts of the country, the national Met department reported.

According to the NCM, the weather today will be fair to partly cloudy, with a chance of some convective clouds formation by afternoon - eastward and northward - extending to some internal areas that may be associated with some rainfall.

The weather will get humid by night and Tuesday morning over some coastal areas.

NCM predicts a wet Eid break.

Sharjah Police issued a weather warning as heavy rain flooded roads in Sharjah's Kalba among other areas.

Moderate to fresh winds will gain strength during the day causing blowing dust and sand.

The sea will be slight to moderate in the Arabian Gulf and in Oman Sea.

Earlier on Sunday, a weather alert was issued by authorities as moderate to heavy rain - accompanied with hail - lashed parts of the UAE. A rainbow in Dubai skies cheered up residents, celebrating a unique Eid this year amid the coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic - by mostly staying home.

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