LIBYAN MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD SUPPORTS ANTI-ISIS FORCES IN LIBYA
While our beloved country is witnessing a great many momentous events that threaten the homeland with waves of sedition, discord and division, we find a glimmer of hope in the patriotic people committed to the Revolution and the homeland within the Libyan Chief of Staff’s army and the revolutionary forces that rose up to fight the so-called “Islamic State of Iraq and Syria” terrorist organisation (ISIS) in and around the city of Sirte – this organisation which distorts Islam and deals oppression and humiliation to the people, contradicting the tolerant nature of the faith and the inherent nature of the people of this homeland, said Libyan Muslim Brotherhood in a statement on 23 May.
“We, the Libyan Muslim Brotherhood, solemnly salute these anti-ISIS heroes and pray and mourn the martyrs of the city of Misrata and other Libyan cities. We pray for a speedy recovery for our wounded, reminding everyone of the need to close ranks and unite,” it added.
HUNDREDS OF CIVILIANS FLEE IRAQ’S FALLUJAH AREA
Hundreds of people on 27 May fled the Fallujah area as forces pressed simultaneous offensives on the Iraqi city and on another of ISILs key bastions in Syria. An estimated 50,000 civilians remained trapped in Fallujah city however, as well as twice that number along Syria’s border with Turkey as a result of an IS sweep near Aleppo.
Tens of thousands of Iraqi forces on May 22-23 launched an offensive to retake Fallujah, one of only two major Iraqi cities still controlled by IS, the other being Mosul. IS fighters holed up in Fallujah are believed to number around 1,000 and while the myriad forces involved in the operation have moved closer, none have yet entered the city proper. Fallujah is one of IS’s most important bastions.
ERDOGAN URGES ACTION ON HUMANITARIAN CRISIS
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on 23 May described the current humanitarian system as “inadequate for solving urgent problems”. Speaking at the first ever World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, Erdogan said that only certain countries were sharing the burden of the humanitarian crisis. “Now everybody should take on responsibility on this issue,” he said, adding that while needs were increasing day by day, the funds were not increasing at the same rate.
“Turkey is a country that knows this weakness and experiences it in a bitter way,” he said, adding that while Turkey has spent around $10 billion on humanitarian aid for around 3 million refugees on its soil since the beginning of the conflict in Syria, the international community spent around $455 million. He said that the humanitarian summit should be a turning point in aid financing.
STATES SHOULD MODEL OVERSEAS AID ON TURKEY: UN
The UN’s High Representative for Least Developed Countries (LDCs) on 27 May said other states should emulate Turkey’s support for poorer nations. Gyan Chandra Acharya, addressing a joint news conference in Antalya, spoke of his sincere appreciation to Turkey for taking consistent leadership in highlighting LDCs at the global level.
Speaking after the first session of a review into the 2011 Istanbul Program of Action for Least Developed Countries, Acharya said: “If every country fulfills the commitments … to LDCs, then we will have a lot of progress.”
MAVI MARMARA VICTIMS COMMEMORATED IN TURKEY
Scores of people on 29 May gathered outside Israel’s embassy in Turkey’s capital to mark the sixth anniversary of the deadly attack on the Gaza-bound Mavi Marmara aid flotilla. The humanitarian aid ship was attempting to lift the blockade of Gaza in 2010, when nine Turkish activists were killed after Israeli forces stormed the vessel. A tenth died in hospital four years later.
The Ankara Platform of Faith Freedom organised the commemoration ceremony with other NGOs, including Turkey’s Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH). During the ceremony, people prayed together, carried Palestinians flags and chanted slogans against Israel. Soner Kartal, spokesman for the Ankara Platform, claimed the Mavi Marmara attack was not just aimed at the Turkish people or state, it was aimed at Muslims.
CHINESE MUSLIMS FORCED TO SPY ON VILLAGERS
Villagers in a remote part of northwestern China’s troubled Xinjiang region are being forced by local authorities to spy on their Muslim neighbours, watching constantly for behaviour deemed “suspicious” or opposed to Beijing’s rule over the mostly Muslim Uyghur region, a report said on 27 May.
Residents of Kizilsu village in Peyziwat (in Chinese, Jiashi) county in the Kashgar (Kashi) prefecture must now sign a “Joint Responsibility Contract” that threatens collective punishment for villagers found not in compliance with 30 specific regulations, the report said. Rights groups accuse Chinese authorities of heavy-handed rule in Xinjiang, including violent police raids on Uyghur households, restrictions on Islamic practices, and curbs on the culture and language of the Uyghur people.
PRESS FREEDOM WATCHDOG DENIED UN STATUS
A request by the Committee to Protect Journalists to be recognised as a non-governmental organisation at the United Nations was rejected on 26 May after 10 countries opposed it, including Russia and China. The vote at the UN NGO committee capped a four-year application by the US-based press freedom watchdog for the special status that provides access to UN premises and gives civil society a voice in UN affairs. Azerbaijan, Burundi, Cuba, Nicaragua, Pakistan, South Africa, Sudan and Venezuela also opposed the request.
CPJ executive director Joel Simon said it was “sad” that the UN upholds press freedom in its resolutions but denies accreditation for special status to an NGO that can help inform decisions on that issue. CPJ defends the rights of journalists worldwide to report without fear of reprisals. Greece, Guinea, Israel, Mauritania, the United States and Uruguay voted in favor of the CPJ’s request. India, Iran and Turkey abstained.
FREE SPEECH WIN WITH DUTCH UPHOLDING ISRAEL BOYCOTT
Foreign Minister Bert Koenders on 26 May said the Dutch government has said that the Dutch people are entitled a request by Israel. The Dutch government has defended the right to boycott Israel, in a rejection of Israeli efforts to outlaw such political activity. According to Koenders, Israel regularly raises the topic of BDS in bilateral meetings with the Dutch government. The minister said that while the government itself does not support the boycott of Israel, “endorsing BDS falls under freedom of expression.”
The Netherlands is the second EU state to publicly state that support for the Palestinian-led BDS campaign should be protected under the principle of freedom of expression. In March 2016, the Swedish foreign ministry affirmed that BDS “is a civil society movement” and that “governments should not interfere in civil society organisation views.”
NEW TURKISH CABINET WINS PARLIAMENTARY BACKING
Turkey’s new government on 29 May won a parliamentary vote of confidence. Prime Minister and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) chairman Binali Yildirim’s government received 315 votes while 138 lawmakers voted against the administration.
The party has 317 deputies in the 550-seat Grand National Assembly. Only 453 deputies attended Sunday’s vote. Yildirim named a new cabinet on 22 May after former prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s resignation on 5 May. He backed President Erdogan’s call for new a constitution and a presidential system of governance.
KHAMENEI URGES LAWMAKERS TO RESIST ‘SCHEMES’ FROM THE WEST
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on 28 May urged newly-elected lawmakers to resist “schemes” from the West as parliamentarians met in Tehran for the first time since elections finished in April. “The turbulent state of the region and the world and the international adventurism of oppressors and their vassals have confronted Iran with conditions more complicated than before,” said a message from Khamenei, read to a packed parliament chamber.
Khamenei, who has the final say on all matters in the country, repeated his familiar call for loyalty to the principles of the 1979 revolution and resistance against Western infiltration.