TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTRY SENDS HUMANITARIAN DAY MESSAGE
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry issued a World Humanitarian Day message on 19 August, praising aid workers’ efforts around the world. “On the occasion of the World Humanitarian Day, we extend our gratitude and appreciation to the aid workers, who diligently maintain humanitarian aid efforts throughout the world under the most compelling conditions, and we commemorate with respect and gratitude those who have lost their lives in the course of these efforts,” a press release said.
The ministry stressed that despite the international community’s efforts, the number of people in need, which is around 140 million, “increases every passing day” and “attacks against humanitarian aid workers never cease, humanitarian law violations become widespread and continue to remain unpunished”.
INTERNATIONAL LAW CLEARLY ON THE SIDE OF PALESTINIANS
A former United Nations human rights investigator and emeritus professor of international law at Princeton University in the U.S. said it was “clear that [on] all the major issues international law is strongly on the side of Palestinians”. “Looking at Israel-Palestine from the perspective of international law is interesting on its own independent of how one views the substantive issues,” Richard A. Falk said during a conference titled “Palestine, Apartheid and Future” at Istanbul Sebahattin Zaim University on 17 August.
“It is interesting because on the one side it is clear that [on] all the major issues international law is strongly on the side of Palestinians whether it is a matter of the illegal settlement, the blockade of Gaza, the annexation of Jerusalem, the diversion of water, the use of excessive force, very important issue, the right of return of refugees,” Falk told a crowd of mostly students in Istanbul.
TUNISIA MUSLIM SCHOLARS SLAM GENDER-EQUALITY INITIATIVE
Muslim scholars in Tunisia have blasted a “gender-equality” initiative proposed by President Beji Caid Essebsi, saying that proposed legal changes included in the initiative – especially those pertaining to inheritance – contravene Islamic Law. “The issue of inheritance is clearly laid out in the Quran, particularly in Surah Al-Nisaa [Chapter 6, ‘Women’], in a way that doesn’t require effort to understand, as the text doesn’t allow for more than one interpretation,” Noureddine al-Khadmi, a former minister of religious affairs, said.
Al-Khadmi was speaking at a Thursday press conference organised by two Islamic-oriented NGOs at Tunisia’s Zaytuna University, where 23 imams and Muslim scholars issued a statement against the initiative, which was unveiled on Sunday to mark the occasion of Tunisia’s National Women’s Day.
TURKEY’S PARLIAMENTARY BODY HEAD CONDEMNS SPAIN ATTACKS
Turkish Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee head has condemned Thursday’s terror attacks in Spain that left at least 14 people dead. In a statement issued on Friday, Taha Ozhan said: “On behalf of my country, I strongly condemn this malicious attack, which targeted the whole humanity, peace and universal values.” On Thursday (18 August) evening, 14 people were killed and more than 100 others injured when a white van ploughed into a crowd in central Barcelona. Spanish police shot and killed five suspected terrorists in an operation after the attack.
Ozhan said that he expressed his condolence to the people of Spain and the families of the victims. “I would like to indicate that we continue our cooperation and solidarity with Spain, which is a friend and ally of Turkey, in the fight against global terror in order to prevent such sufferings again in our countries and in the world.”
NO COUNTRY CAN COMBAT TERRORISM ALONE: TURKEY
Turkey’s presidential spokesman on 19 August said that no country can combat terrorism alone. “The Barcelona attack sent shockwaves around the world and reminded us all once again that no country can combat terrorism alone,” Ibrahim Kalin, presidential spokesman, wrote in a column for Turkey’s Daily Sabah newspaper.
In the column titled “Barcelona attack and the fight against terrorism”, the presidential spokesman reminded that the Barcelona attack was the latest in a series of assaults by terrorists using vehicles to target innocent civilians. “Since the July 2016 attack in Nice, which claimed 86 victims on the renowned Promenade des Anglais, terrorists have carried out similar attacks in Paris, London, Berlin and Stockholm,” he noted.
MERKEL OPPOSES EU-TURKEY DIVORCE
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on 16 August rejected calls to end Turkey’s EU membership process, but signalled that the EU would not enter into talks with Ankara on modernising the existing Customs Union, due to recent political tensions. In an interview with young video bloggers ahead of elections in Germany next month, Merkel has underlined that ending Turkey’s EU process, as demanded by German opposition politicians, would be a wrong message for those in Turkey who are in favour of an EU membership.
She said it was not possible to open new chapters now in the talks due to recent tensions with Ankara, but stressed that membership talks should continue in an “open-ended” manner. “But in any case, for the time being, we would not carry out talks with Turkey on improving, enhancing the Customs Union,” she said. Turkey has had a customs union agreement with the bloc since 1995.
ISIL BIGGEST THREAT TO RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
ISIL is one the biggest threats to religious freedom around the world, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on 15 August in the State Department’s annual religious freedom report. “ISIS is clearly responsible for genocide against Yazidis, Christians and Shia Muslims in areas it controlled,” Tillerson wrote in the preface to the report. “ISIS is also responsible for crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing directed at these same groups, and in some cases against Sunni Muslims, Kurds and other minorities.”
Tillerson added that ISIL continues to target members of multiple religions and ethnicities for rape, kidnapping, enslavement, and death, saying the protection of the victims is a human rights priority for the Trump Administration. “Where religious freedom is not protected, instability, human rights abuses and violent extremism have a greater opportunity to take root,” the former Exxon CEO said. “No one should have to live in fear, worship in fear or face discrimination for his or her beliefs.”
China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and other countries were criticized for what the report said was failure to protect the rights of non-Muslim minorities.
ROHINGYA GROUP SAYS MYANMAR ENGAGED IN ‘GENOCIDE’
The deployment of extra troops to Myanmar’s troubled Rakhine state is to further the “Rohingya genocide”, according to a group representing the Muslim minority on 15 August. The army dispatched a battalion, around 500 soldiers, to the Maungdaw area of northern Rakhine, where Rohingya Muslims form the majority, last week. Hla Kyaw, chairman of the European Rohingya Council, said the troops were from the 33rd Light Infantry Division, which he described as “the most notorious military unit when it comes to the serious violation of human rights against ethnic communities”.
He said the deployment was designed to establish a permanent military presence in Rakhine as well as “the advancement of Rohingya genocide.” He reportedly added: “The advancement of Rohingya genocide is the primary goal of the army. The instability in Rakhine state is used as an excuse for the heavy and permanent presence of the army in Rakhine state.”
PAKISTANI PREMIER VOWS TO STRENGTHEN TIES WITH TURKEY
The government and people of Pakistan greatly value brotherly ties with Turkey, and remain keen to further strengthen relations with the Turkish government, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said on 21 August. Abbasi made the remarks during his meeting with Turkish Ambassador to Pakistan Sadik Babur Girgin, who met the country’s new premier at his office in Islamabad, according to a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office.
Girgin delivered a letter of felicitation from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during the meeting. The premier thanked the ambassador and said the government and people of Pakistan have close relations with Turkey based on shared history, common values and mutual interests.