Category: World

Lawyers representing the Trump administration told the federal judge overseeing the reunification of separated migrant families that it will take one to two years to identify potentially thousands of children.

U.S. District Court Judge Dana Sabraw in California ordered last month that children separated before the administration’s “zero tolerance” policy went into effect should be identified.

The order followed a report by the Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General that estimated thousands of children were separated before zero tolerance, the May-June 2018 policy that systematically separated children from migrant parents who crossed the border illegally.

After reuniting the majority of the more than 2,800 children separated during zero tolerance, the Trump administration resisted identifying and reuniting those children separated prior to the policy.

Lawyers for the Justice Department said the task was onerous, claiming most of those children have been released from government custody to live with sponsors.

Now, the lawyers for the administration “estimate that identifying all possible children…referred to and discharged by (Health and Human Services)…would take at least 12 months and possibly up to 24 months,” according to a filing in the Southern District of California late Friday.

As Britain looks to extend its stay in the European Union, it seems British passports haven’t followed the same path.

New UK passports have been issued without the words ‘European Union’ on the front cover.

One person who received the passport said she was “truly appalled” by the removal of the EU from the passport.

“I was just surprised – we’re still members of the EU. I was surprised they’ve made the change when we haven’t left, and it’s a tangible mark of something which I believe to be completely futile,” Susan Hindle Barone told the UK’s Press Association.

How British passports will look like post-Brexit has been a sticking point for those who supported to remain in the EU and a rallying call for some supporters of the Leave campaign, after a decision by the UK government in 2017 to change passports from burgundy to dark blue.

Former UKIP leader and ardent Brexit supporter Nigel Farage has previously described the change as his idea of “Brexmas”.

The UK Home Office said that in order to use the “best value to the taxpater, passports that include the words “European Union” will continue to be issued for a short period”.

Britain was expected to leave the EU on the 29 March.

Prime Minister Theresa May has since requested two extensions, one granted and the latest a request by May on Friday for Article 50 to be extended up to June 30.

The UK is currently scheduled to leave on April 12, after a first extension was already granted.

Several employees of Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency (AA) have said they don’t know where the agency gets data for election results, Deutsche Welle reported.

AA has come under fire for not updating its election coverage on March 31 at a critical juncture, when Turkey held local elections, for 13 hours. AA’s halting of its election coverage came at a time when opposition candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu’s votes reached those of Binali Yıldırım, the nominee of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the race for mayor of İstanbul.

The AA employees, who spoke anonymously to Deutsche Welle, said they as well as many department managers do not have access to the system established for election coverage, adding that a small number of people are have authorized access to it.

“Nobody knows where the election data come from. We have been asking about this among ourselves, too,” said one of the employees of the agency.

In a statement on Tuesday Şenol Kazancı, the director general of AA, said after noticing the pause on election night he called their results subcontractor to warn them, but he refrained from revealing which company it was. “The details aren’t important,” he said.

Abdullah Bozkurt-nordicmonitor

Turkey’s top judicial council members were jailed because they ruled that prosecutors who investigated the Turkish intelligence agency’s illegal arms shipments to jihadist groups in Syria were justified under the laws and regulations that were in effect at the time.

Three members of the Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK) — the country’s top judicial body, which oversees the conduct of judges and prosecutors and decides on assignments, promotions and disciplinary actions of members of the judiciary –opposed the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for punishing the Turkish prosecutors who exposed the unlawful shipments to Syria.

Ahmet Berberoğlu, Şaban Işık and Kerim Tosun, three leading jurists who had run on independent tickets for election to the HSK in 2014, wrote a dissenting opinion in the 3rd Chamber arguing that the prosecutors who exposed the illegal arms shipments acted within the confines of the law. They said the mandate provided to the prosecutors under the law at the time justified their actions in investigating agents of the National Intelligence Organization (MIT). They highlighted the fact that intelligence operatives were not duly authorized to conduct such an operation on the Turkish-Syrian border and that they failed to present any official document to prove the operation was approved through proper channels when asked by the prosecutors.

In two separate incidents that took place on Jan. 1 and Jan. 19, 2014, Turkish prosecutors intercepted arms-laden trucks that were bound for Syria. The shipment was escorted by the Turkish intelligence agency, although there was no official authorization as required by Turkish law. Immediately after the exposé, the prosecutors were sacked, reassigned and later arrested and tried on fabricated charges of espionage.

The Erdoğan government also orchestrated an investigation into five Turkish prosecutors who had been working in Adana province and were involved in investigating illegal arms shipments to jihadist groups in Syria. The prosecutors targeted by the government were Süleyman Bağrıyanık, the chief public prosecutor in Adana province; Ahmet Karaca, the deputy chief public prosecutor; Aziz Takçı, a public prosecutor; Özcan Şişman, a public prosecutor; and Yaşar Kavalcıoğlu, the chief public prosecutor in the Kırıkhan district of Adana province.

In a well-articulated dissenting opinion, HSK members Berberoğlu and Işık wrote that the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe warned Turkey in its 2011 opinion, saying that “there might be risks of indirect interferences, since the terms, which describe the preconditions justifying disciplinary sanctions, are very broad and often vague. This leads to the risk that the disciplinary power could be used to sanction a judge whose judicial decisions are disliked, without explicitly referring to such a motive.”

They also maintained that a 15-article bill on the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) that was hastily submitted to parliament in April 2014 and subsequently passed into law proved that when Turkish investigators probed the trucks filled with arms, MIT had no power to transport arms and the prosecutors had every right to investigate the claims of arms shipments to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). After the scandalous exposé, Erdoğan rushed to parliament to suggest a series of amendments to give the intelligence agency more power and immunity from prosecution. The new law stated that if prosecutors receive a tip about MİT officials or affiliates, they must initially seek the organization’s opinion about the authenticity of the tip. If MİT says the tip concerns a responsibility or an operation of the organization, then prosecutors will not be able to launch an investigation. In addition, prosecutors will not be able to launch investigations into claims against MİT officials coming from whistleblowers.

The amendments allowed MİT to conduct operations against possible overseas threats designated by the Cabinet. According to the law MİT will not bear any responsibility for such operations; the entire responsibility falls on the political power in the country, namely the government. Also, MİT agents operating under an assumed identity will not be held accountable for their activities, and MİT agents who infiltrate terrorist organizations will have no criminal liability for crimes committed while under cover.

The bill also authorized MİT to conduct wiretaps without a court order. In addition MİT officials will only be tried at a high criminal court in Ankara, according to the amendments, which means the government can exert more control over courts in the capital.

Tosun, another member of the HSK, wrote a separate dissenting opinion advocating the view that Turkish prosecutors had to investigate a tip that alleged illegal arms were being shipped to terrorist groups. He said prosecutors would be guilty of dereliction of duty if they were to ignore a credible tip received by law enforcement agencies in the border areas.

Nevertheless the decision to allow a witch-hunt investigation into the Turkish prosecutors who had done their jobs was approved by four to three on Dec. 23, 2014. The decision came after the government took control of the HSK in the Oct. 12, 2014 elections by pouring in cash and lobbying intensively for partisan members that ran on the Judiciary Platform (YBP), a government list. The HSK election dealt a huge blow to the separation of powers in Turkey given that other checks and balances — such as the legislative branch and the media — were already largely under government control.

Eight out of 10 newly elected members of the HSK, which had a total of 22 members, were from the YBP. As another seven members of the board are selected by the government, according to the government-endorsed bill that became law, the government-backed group acquired the majority in the judicial council. In addition to the YBP, members of the Judges and Prosecutors Association (YARSAV) and independent candidates run for seats in the HSK.

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ traveled across Turkey to seek support for HSK candidates close to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government. Even on election day, Justice Ministry Undersecretary Kenan İpek was sitting with Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor Fethi Şimşek and YBP candidates at the courthouse all day long, exerting pressure on the judges and prosecutors who came to cast their votes. Then-Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said in televised remarks that if a group of judges not supported by the government were to win the top HSK seats, it would will be tantamount to a “coup d’état in the judiciary.”

AKP parliamentary group deputy chairman Mahir Ünal went further by publicly declaring in September 2014 that the AKP would not respect the election results if the government lost in the HSK elections. Erdoğan also drew public ire for his remarks on the elections: “As the head of state, naturally I will have a plan B or plan C, according to the results [of the HSK elections].”

Independent candidates and candidates affiliated with YARSAV faced smear campaigns by pro-government media throughout the election campaign of 2014. Chief Public Prosecutor Hüseyin Baş, who filed a motion against the justice minister after the minister asked him to cover up a corruption investigation in İzmir, announced that he had given up his candidacy for membership in the HSK due to a “cruel campaign” that was carried out against some candidates. Baş wrote that the elections had turned into ugly and cruel campaigns for candidates who were not supported by the government.

Independent members of the HSK were dismissed and arrested by the Erdoğan government on July 20, 2016 under a state of emergency declared after a false flag coup bid on July 15 of that year. They were arrested, tried and convicted on fabricated charges and sentenced to lengthy prison terms. Berberoğlu, who served as an HSK member between 2010 and 2016, had been a judge since 1994. He remains in prison pending trial and faces up to 15 years if convicted. Işık was convicted by the 9th Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals, which is totally under government control, on terrorism charges and sentenced to 10 years in prison in December 2018.

Tosun, who was released in November 2016 after he agreed to testify against his colleagues in the trial under pressure from the government, was convicted in February 2019 and given a lighter sentence of two years, nine months and 22 days in prison. The sentence was commuted for time served. In the meantime, all the Turkish prosecutors who investigated the illegal arms shipments to jihadist groups in Syria remain in prison as of today.

Human rights NGO Amnesty International has launched a campaign calling for the release of 16 civil society figures, including businessman and rights activist Osman Kavala, facing life in prison for allegedly attempting to overthrow the Turkish government.

A Turkish court on March 4 accepted an indictment seeking life sentences against 16 people, including Kavala and renowned activist Yiğit Aksakoğlu, over their alleged roles in the 2013 Gezi protests, the biggest anti-government demonstrations since President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in 2002.

The indictment which contains 746 plaintiffs, including Turkish President Erdoğan, accuses the activists of attempting to overthrow the government or prevent it from performing its duties by organising the protests in an attempt to “force the government to resign or call early elections” and, failing that, “to prepare the grounds for a civil war or coup.”

Kavala, who has been in jail on pre-trial detention for almost 17 months, and Aksakoğlu, who has been in prison for five months, are the only two of the 16 facing life sentences that are in pre-trial detention.

“The Turkish authorities must immediately and unconditionally release Osman Kavala and Yiğit Aksakoğlu and drop the trumped-up charges against all 16,’’ Amnesty said.

International rights groups such as Freedom House and Human Rights Watch have condemned the indictment demanding a life sentence for the civil society leaders.

At least six foreign journalists were barred from taking part in a press conference held in Istanbul on Thursday announcing a 275 million euro investment from the European Union in Turkish rail projects, the Independent newspaper reported.

Turkish Finance and Treasury Minister Berat Albayrak, who took part in the press conference, said the journalists had been excluded because their accreditation documents had expired.

“Everywhere in the world … members of the press have their accreditation periodically renewed,” Turkish news site Diken quoted Albayrak as saying. “Those who have had theirs renewed are here and can ask questions freely. Some haven’t had theirs renewed. But maybe they will next year, or maybe not.”

Foreign journalists have faced problems receiving accreditation in this year Turkey, Diken reported, adding that some had not received their press cards in time for today’s event despite submitting the documentation on time.

Journalists not admitted to the press conference included reporters from German outlets Süddeutsche Zeitung, ZDF, Tagesspiegel and ARD Radio, Diken said.

EU Commission Vice President Jyrki Katainen expressed his regret that journalists had been barred and said the EU “was working with Turkish authorities to make sure ‘freedom of the press is respected,’” the Independent reported.

The press conference on Thursday marked one of the largest ever foreign investments in Turkey to build a 1-billion-euro state-of-the-art rail line connecting Istanbul to the EU border.

However, political relations with the EU have been under serious strain for years, particularly in the aftermath of a coup attempt in July 2016.

Press freedom in Turkey has been a source of serious concern and criticism from the EU, which has cited repressive measures after the coup attempt by the country’s government as a justification for the stall in accession negotiations. On February 20, the European Parliament’s foreign affairs committee voted in favour of suspending the accession negotiations.ahvalnews

Journalists barred from conference announcing EU grant to TurkeyGrant will help fund the construction of a railway line between the southeast edge of the EU border in Bulgaria and Istanbul

State Department spokesperson Robert Palladino was asked to comment on the controversial opposition victories in Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city, and Ankara, its capital. The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has made moves to contest the result in both cities.

“Free and fair elections are essential for any democracy. That means acceptance of legitimate election results, which is essential,” Palladino said.

“We expect nothing less from Turkey, which has a long proud tradition in this respect,” he added.

While the ruling party suffered major losses in Turkey’s big cities, it performed well on a district level and retained a high percentage of the total tally of votes.

The US Embassy in Kosovo has issued a statement hailing a parliamentary inquiry into the expulsion of six Turkish nationals in March 2018 due to a request from Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, saying that “political pressure on the security sector to break Kosovo law is an egregious breach of democratic values.”

“The issue is not the alleged guilt or innocence of the individuals, but rather the apparent circumventing of Kosovo’s legal processes by Kosovo politicians,” the statement said.

“We urge full transparency in the security sector, and in the conduct of foreign affairs, to prevent inappropriate interference by Kosovo politicians in the future.”

The expelled men were sought by Turkish prosecutors over their alleged ties to the Gülen movement.

Erdoğan accuses the Gülen movement of being behind a failed coup in Turkey in July 2016, although the movement strongly denies any involvement.

According to The Times newspaper, a report produced by the investigative committee of the Kosovar parliament concluded that the expulsions accounted for at least 31 violations of the country’s constitution and laws as well being in contravention of the European Convention on Human Rights, to which Kosovo is a signatory.

Xhelal Svecla, the committee’s chairman, told The Times the order came “from within the highest institutions.”

“The Kosovo Intelligence Agency [KIA] got the request from the Turkish side to hand over and deport six Turkish nationals residing legally in Kosovo,” he said. “There are suspicions that the list was bigger. … According to our findings this goes even higher than our secret service.”

Kosovar President Hashim Thaci, a close ally of Erdoğan, is believed to have ordered the deportations. Last September, Erdoğan promised Thaci that he would help Kosovo, which is only recognized by 102 of the 193 UN member states, to join international institutions such as Interpol. Thaci, meanwhile, was one of the few heads of state to attend Erdoğan’s inauguration last July.

Kati Piri, Turkey rapporteur for the European Parliament (EP), in an interview on Tuesday said Turkey’s constitutional amendments in 2017 crossed their red line, and that is how they ended up calling for the suspension of accession talks.

Speaking to the Platform for Peace and Justice (PPJ), Piri reminded that the new constitution was drafted in disregard of the recommendations of the Venice Commission.

“We think that our red line – the one we have been warning Turkey about ever since the coup attempt, and that they did not take seriously – has been crossed, and that is how we have ended up with our position today,” Piri said.

“If Turkey was genuinely committed to wanting to join the EU, it would have been smart to take the EP’s position into consideration, but, clearly, it did not. There has not been a Turkish minister in the EP for the last 3 years. For the last 2 years, the government decided not to have meetings with me, the rapporteur on Turkey. Last time I was there none of the ruling party ministers wanted to meet,” Piri said, adding: “It is quite stupid if you consider that the EP decides on visa liberalization, the upgrade of the Customs Union, the EU’s budget, including the funds for Turkey, etc. It is not a very smart diplomatic move to treat the EP the way that they do.”

Piri was also asked about the European Council’s relative unwillingness compared to the EP so far to tackle human rights violations and the crackdown on the justice system in Turkey and whether it was mainly due to the refugee deal concluded between Turkey and the EU to control the flow of Syrian refugees.

Piri admitted that the deal was an issue, but she also pointed out that EU has “serious democratic deficit issues” within itself, referring to sanctions procedures against Hungary and Poland.

“This is not a parliament which is hostile to Turkey,” Piri said with reference to EP’s stance on Turkey. “When I started as rapporteur, we had a totally different position because, despite the fact that things were already problematic in Turkey, we thought that the EU should use the tools at its disposal, including the opening of chapters, to try to positively influence democratic developments in the country. That did not happen.”

When asked about how influential the EP’s positions have been, the Dutch MEP said: “If you ask me if our position on Turkey’s accession will influence the Council: Yes. But do I think that it is very likely that in June the Council will call for the suspension of the accession talks? No.”

“On the other hand, if a country or government does not really want to become a member of the EU, which is now the case with the current government in Turkey, the EP’s influence is much less important. Because if it does not really care about the EU’s opinion on things, given the fact it does not really want membership (using it only as a rhetoric), the influence of any EU institution, not just the EP, is obviously less effective,” Piri added.

Looking back, Piri admitted that EU made serious mistake in its policy towards Turkey, reaffirming her views expressed to the Hürriyet newspaper in January 2018.

“I think the moment that we allowed Cyprus in without having a solution to the Cyprus problem is the moment we gave up with the unanimity rule of ever finding a good policy on Turkey,” Piri said. “If you have a member state which can and will always block certain strategies with Turkey… I think that is a big mistake.”

Piri also claimed that the EU has always been dishonest about the accession process.

“Even if Turkey were a perfect democracy, Merkel and, for instance, Sarkozy would not want Turkey in the EU. That is the difference with me. I do not think that Turkey does not belong in the EU. In my opinion, it is a European country,” Piri said. “Of course, the EU would need some reforms before being able to take in such a big country, but I think we could do it.”

Piri’s report calling for the suspension of EU accession talks with Ankara was adopted on Feb. 20 by the EP Committee on Foreign Affairs and approved on Wednesday by the Parliament’s general assembly.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry reacted to the report, calling it “devoid of meaning”. turkishminute

The first Vice President of The European Commission, Frans Timmermans, has called on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to respect the results of the Marc 31 local elections that saw his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) lose control over Ankara and İstanbul, U.S. news site Politico reported reported on Saturday.

“Turkey has been moving away from European values ​​at great speed in recent years. We hope that this will not be made worse by the fact that the [ruling Justice and Development party] AKP doesn’t respect the election results,” it quoted the Dutch Commission as telling German newspaper told Welt Am Sonntag in an interview published Saturday.

Erdoğan’s conservative AKP lost control to main opposition secularist Republican People’s Party (CHP) in several key cities , including capital Ankara and Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city where Erdoğan served as mayor between 1994 and 1998.

Turkey’s Islamist AKPs soon after Sunday’s polls said it would contest the results, lodging appeals for elections in a numerous of cities, provincial capitals and districts.

While noting that parties have the right to call for election results to be checked if they have legitimate doubts, Timmermans stressed that “…it is important that the Turkish authorities can independently verify the election result and that the AKP finally recognises the result.”

Timmermans also added that by voting for parties that support embracing European values, Turkish citizens have sent the government a clear signal and “Erdoğan must acknowledge that and try to bring his policies closer to European values.”

He also said that breaking off talks with Turkey over its accession to the EU would be a mistake and a “disappointment” to pro-European forces in the country.

Timmermans, the centre-left Party of European Socialists’ pick for Commission president in the European election in May, noted that despite Turkey being light-years away from the EU, “…locking the door now and locking it completely by breaking off accession negotiations is not in the interests of the European Union.”

Turkey accession talks to join the 28-member bloc began in 2005; however, the negotiations have stalled for a host of reasons, including objections from numerous member countries.

Andre Nahles, the leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, sent a congratulatory message CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu on the party’s results in the local elections.

“Especially the excellent election victories in Ankara and Istanbul are a clear sign that the people in Turkey want real democracy and justice and oppose the authoritarian attempts of the Turkish government. It is precisely under these difficult circumstances that your success cannot be overestimated as a signal for a new political start,” the letter said.

Nahles went on to wish the CHP strength and endurance in the struggle for democracy, the rule of law and social justice in Turkey.