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  • Turkey applies pressure on Twitter, Facebook, Google and YouTube to share data on critics

    The Turkish government’s pressure on Twitter, Facebook, Google and other Internet companies to establish a presence in Turkey has more to do with abuse of the criminal justice system to punish critics and little to do with collecting taxes on online advertising revenues.

    According to documents obtained by Nordic Monitor, the Turkish police expressed frustration in identifying government critics because US companies such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Google do not maintain offices in Turkey and hence refuse to share information with the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

     

     

     

    In a document dated July 30, 2018 and sent to the Istanbul 33rd High Criminal Court, Özgür Karlıtepe, who heads the cybercrime unit at the Istanbul Police Department, lamented that the police had failed to produce a comprehensive report on a critic. He blamed the shortcomings in the report on the uncooperative attitude of US-based companies like Twitter, Facebook, Google and Instagram.

    The report was prepared after the Istanbul court on February 14, 2018 asked for an investigation into the social media accounts of a defendant named Savaş Kahraman, who was being tried in the case of Kaynak Holding, a major conglomerate that included Turkey’s largest publishing house which was unlawfully seized by the government in 2015. However, the police failed to obtain information from US companies Facebook, Instagram, Google, Twitter and YouTube when it communicated with the lawyers’ offices representing these companies. The police said the information could have been obtained if the managers of these companies were present in Turkey and maintained offices there.

    In response to the police requests, the lawyers representing the US Internet firms referred to a 1979 agreement on extradition and mutual assistance on criminal matters between Turkey and the US. Since the agreement rules out any cooperation on politically motivated charges and stipulates a US judicial review, it is nearly impossible for the Erdoğan government to obtain private information about critics of the regime.

    The police said they could not communicate with the managers of companies such as Facebook, Instagram, Google, Twitter, YouTube, Snapchat, Blogspot and Periscope because they reside outside Turkey. They added that in the past the police contacted two Istanbul-based law offices, Elig Lokmanhekim Ictem Gurkaynak, which represented Gmail and Twitter, and BTS & Partners, which represented Facebook, but they failed to obtain identity information on account holders. The law firms responded that the matter must be handled through the 1979 bilateral agreement between Turkey and the US.

     

    Nevertheless, the documents show that the cybercrime unit tried to crack and hack into accounts that allegedly belonged to the defendant using the email address registered on his social media accounts, but they failed as several people had similar names. On February 14, 2018 the police conducted the first examination of Kahraman’s social media accounts but came up empty-handed.

     

    A total of 110,000 social media accounts were investigated, 7,109 social media users were detained and 2,754 of them were arrested in 2018 due to their posts, according to a statement from Turkey’s Security Directorate General issued in December 2018. The directorate said 2,828 of the social media users who were detained were released on judicial probation. Turkish police detain dozens and at times hundreds of people over their social media accounts every week.

     

    Thousands of social media accounts and websites that are critical of Erdoğan and the government have been blocked by courts that are accused of acting on political orders from the government. The rule of law was effectively suspended in Turkey, with the judiciary completely subordinated to the executive branch following a mass purge of more than 4,000 judges and prosecutors, or one-third of the entire judicial staff in Turkey.

     

    According to Twitter’s latest Transparency Report, which covered the July 1, 2017-Dec. 31, 2017 period, Turkey issued 466 court orders for removal requests, while the number for the rest of the world combined was 47. In other words, 91 percent of censorship requests in the form of court judgements came from only one country, Turkey, demonstrating how the Turkish judiciary has been politicized and subordinated to the executive branch of government.

  • Turkish justice minister says 107 Gülen-linked people extradited to Turkey

    Turkish Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gül said on Wednesday that 107 Turks have been extradited to their home country as part of the government’s manhunt for supporters of the faith-based Gülen movement.

    Speaking to the state-run Anadolu news agency, the justice minister said Turkey has sent extradition requests to 91 countries for a total of 504 people.

    The Turkish government holds the movement responsible for a coup attempt in July 2016 and is pursuing a massive witch-hunt against its supporters at home and abroad on charges of coup involvement and terrorism, calling it a terrorist organization. The movement strongly denies any connection to the abortive putsch or terrorist acts.

    Gül also reiterated Turkey’s extradition demand for the movement’s leader, Fethullah Gülen, from the US, where the preacher has lived in self-imposed exile since 1999.

    The minister said Turkey has sent seven extradition requests to the US and is currently awaiting US action on the matter.

    As part of the crackdown on Gülen supporters, over half a million people in Turkey have been the subjects of prosecution since July 2016 according to official figures.

  • Turkish foreign trade deficit narrows 63% as imports slump

    Turkey posted a foreign trade deficit of $2.13 billion in February, a decrease of 63 percent from the same month a year earlier.

    The deficit narrowed from $5.79 billion in February 2018, as imports contracted by 17 percent to $15.7 billion and exports increased by 3.4 percent to $13.6 billion, the Turkish Statistical Institute said on Friday. Exports covered 86 percent of imports.

    Turkey’s foreign trade deficit is shrinking markedly after a currency crisis last year slashed the lira’s value against the dollar by almost one third, crimping demand for imports and making exports cheaper. The crisis also sent the economy into a recession in the second half of the year.

  • Multi-property owning landlords grow as negative gearing wanes

    The proportion of Australians losing money on rental homes is falling but new figures reveal a growing number of people with at least three properties being propped up with assistance from taxpayers.

    As Labor confirmed an overhaul of negative gearing rules will commence from January 1 if it wins next month’s election, tax data shows 1.3 million people made a combined loss of more than $12 billion on their rental houses and units.

    The Australian Taxation Office data covering the 2016-17 financial year showed 11,349 people held at least six properties on which they are negatively geared. The number of people negatively gearing three or more properties has grown despite the falling proportion of loss-making landlords.

    Although only up marginally on the 2015-16 period, the number with six or more negatively geared properties has grown by 10 per cent since the Coalition came to power.

    Single property owners remain the most numerous at 930,00, having increased by less than 3 per cent since the election of the Abbott government.

    The overall number of people negatively gearing a property has fallen over the past four years but the proportion with more than three properties now amounts to almost one in 10.

    The single biggest deduction for both positively and negatively geared properties remains interest. In 2016-17, negatively geared landlords claimed back $18 billion in interest costs compared to $3 billion among the 855,000 people who broke even or made a profit on their properties.

    Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said the start date of Labor’s policy would be a dark day for home owners.

    “Labor’s policy announcement today is January 1, should a Labor government be elected, can be marked in the diary as the time in which Australian home owners will see the values of their properties diminish and renters will see the price of rent increase,” he said.Trade Minister Simon Birmingham says property owners can mark down January 1 as the starting date for falling prices under Labor’s negative gearing changes.CREDIT:ALEX ELLINGHAUSEN

    The Property Council said on Friday it was still “strongly opposed” to the proposal and its possible impact on the housing market and broader economy, particularly around new housing construction.

    Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen is standing by the policy, saying the tax office data confirmed the rise in people who were getting tax assistance for their fifth or sixth property.

    “Labor wants to create the conditions that promote home ownership, not a system which promotes a nation of property oligarchs and renters,” he said.

    “The stronger growth for investors accumulating multiple investment properties is just another indication of the ‘excesses’ in negative gearing, something the current Prime Minister is well aware of.”

    Mr Bowen also confirmed Labor’s halving of the concession on capital gains tax will also start from January 1.

    Of 800,000 people who earned less than $6000 in the financial year, 269,000 shared in almost $100 million of franking credits or $371 per person on average. Combined, this group of people paid $19.8 million in net tax.

    At the other end of the scale, 30 Australians who earned more than $1 million in income but paid no tax shared in $6.1 million of franking credits or more than $203,000 each.smh.

  • VCE champions from Sirius College once again

    Sirius College is celebrating the achievements of its students in 2017 VCE end of year exams. 4 students received 50 perfect study scores in Further Maths, Physics and Business Management; and achieved first place in the state. Students’ ATARs are also brought pride to school with 2 students above 99, 7 students above 98, 14 students above 95, 30 students above 90 and 64 students above 80.

    Brightest stars of 2017 with the ATAR score of 99.70 and 99.65

    Rami Dennaoui and Harun Ergi became the most successful students of Sirius College in 2017 with the ATAR of 99.70 and 99.65. They sustained the Sirius College’s 99+ achievements with their achievements.

    4 students achieved first place in the state

    Many Sirius College students have achieved perfect study score in subjects like Chemistry, Further Maths, Mathematical Methods, Computing, Turkish etc. for years and 2017 is no exception. Rami Dennaoui and Sannan Nadir in Physics, Mahmoud Kashoa in Business Management, Osman Isik in Further Maths received 50 perfect study score and achieved first place in the state. With their achievements, Rami, Sannan, Mahmoud and Osman made their parents and the school community proud.

    Great achievement in one and half year only

    A significant achievement came from Sannan Nadir who received 98.95 ATAR. Sannan arrived in Australia from Oman with her mother and sister in the middle of 2016.  Although he has been exposed to Australian curriculum only for the last 1 and a half year he was able to attain a very high ATAR and a perfect study score in Physics.

    Every 1 in 3 students 80+, every 1 in 5 students 90+

    Sirius College Executive Principal Mr Serdar Takimoglu stated that as the school administrators they are delighted with the good news and congratulated the teachers, parents and students as the architects of this remarkable success.

    Mr Takimoglu affirmed that this year’s achievements with 14 students above 95, 30 students above 90 and 64 students above 80 ATARs has been another addition to its VCE success for years. He said “99+ ATAR scores mean that your sons and daughters in Sirius College are either superstars or competing with superstars which maximises their potential.”

    Sirius College Director of Curriculum Mr Cem Giray stated that every 1 in 3 students in Sirius College achieved an ATAR score 80 and above, and every 1 in 5 students received 90 and above. Giray said “Sirius College’s strive for continuous improvement reflected in its 2017 ATARs too. Compared to its 2016 data, every Campus’s ATAR average improved significantly with a 5.3% increase in Keysborough, 7.6% in Eastmeadows and 7.8% in Meadow Fair.”

     

    30 students achieved 90 and above

    Sirius College Students who have achieved an ATAR above 90 are as follows:

    Rami Dennaoui (99.70), Harun Ergi (99.65), Sannan Nadir (98.95), Mudher Al Safi (98.70), Sarah El Wazni (98.65), Fatma Lelik (98.60), Haadi Zubairi (98.35), Razeen Amjath (97.80), Gadeer Al-Hobaish (97.40), Muthaqi Mohamed (97.20), Zoya Rana (97.00), Sule Babayigit (96.90), Dilara Ilhan (96.55), Zahra Al Sultan (95.95), Ruwayda Haibe (94.80), Ayaan Dirie (94.40), Selma Ahmic (93.80), Muhammed Bayrakci (93.55), Sefika Basic (93.15), Chaden Halujy Ammar (92.90), Abrar Abdul Ridha (92.80), Yean Yean Kong (92.60), Reem Allahham (91.90), Abdullah Nazar (91.85), Sakarie Ahmed (90.60), Saliha Kuru (90.30), Shimry Mohamed Buhary (90.05), Yosafe Zakoulouta (90.05), Saza Rwandzy (90.00).

  • Bus driver investigated for insulting Erdoğan by putting paper with his photo on floor

    A bus driver in Turkey was investigated for allegedly insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan by putting a newspaper with a full-page photo of the president on the stairs of his bus.

    The driver was called into the police station for questioning after a passenger traveling from Ankara to Burdur on Feb. 24 filed a complaint about the driver, the Demiroren news agency (DHA) reported on Monday.

    It is quite common for bus drivers in Turkey to put newspapers on the stairs or aisles of public busses especially during poor weather.

    In his defense, driver R.K said he did not intend to insult the president and was released.

    Insulting the president is a crime in Turkey, according to the controversial Article 299 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK). Whoever insults the president can face up to four years in prison, a sentence that can be increased if the crime was committed through the mass media.

    According to the Denge ve Denetleme Ağı, or DDA (Checks and Balances Network), an umbrella civil society group that consists of 271 nongovernmental organizations, 13,000 cases have been filed against individuals over the past seven years based on Article 299. The group said elected individuals should be more tolerant of criticism, satire and accusations, which are a natural result of being in those posts.

    The slightest criticism of Erdoğan is considered an insult, and there has been a rise in the number of cases in Turkey in which people inform on others claiming that they insulted the president, the government or government officials. (SCF with turkishminute.com)

  • Pro-Erdoğan religious scholar claims Turkey will be lost if people vote for opposition

    Professor Hayrettin Karaman, an Islamic scholar and columnist for the pro-government Yeni Şafak newspaper, warned on Friday ahead of local elections on March 31 that Turkey will be lost to its enemies if the electorate tries to teach President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan a lesson.

    Telling a symbolic story in his column, Karaman, who likened Erdoğan to a property watchman, said if you decide to punish the watchman, the property could be seized by enemies who have been waiting for the right time.

    Government officials and the pro-government media have been concerned about the possible impact of a deteriorating economy on the elections and asked voters not to punish it at the polls. Erdoğan and his aides often claim that Turkey’s existence is at stake in the elections of March 31.

    Karaman’s column and his analogy came in this context as he warned people that the very existence of Turkey is at risk if Erdoğan is not in power.

    Earlier, the same scholar issued fatwas labeling those who cast votes against Erdoğan as “opponents of Islam” and provided Islamic justification for cracking down on dissidents.

  • Townsville flood zone could face ‘tornado’-strength winds, more rain as records tumble

    Tornado-strength winds are possible along the north Queensland coast today as Townsville’s flood emergency continues after record-breaking rainfall over the city and surrounds during the past week.

    Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) state manager Bruce Gunn said six-hour rain totals of 150-200 millimetres were predicted along the coast from Ingham to Bowen today, accompanied by strong wind gusts.

    “There is some chance of tornadoes forming in that onshore flow,” he said.

    “As the convergence lines feed into the monsoonal low and cross the coast, there is enough favourable wind sheer to make that possible.

    “So we are putting out a heads-up, I guess, for the possibility of those destructive winds associated with storms of that size, of that type. We’ve used the cyclone siren a few times in this event.”

    Mr Gunn said 1,012mm of rain fell on Townsville Airport over the seven days to 9:00am, “smashing” the previous weekly rainfall record of 886mm, set in 1998.BOM forecaster Dean Narramore said at 11:30am, there had been some extraordinary rainfall numbers coming in for the Townsville area, with a number of locations receiving over a metre of rain over in the last seven days.

    Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill said at 12:15pm 10,000 people were without power and about 200 were in the city’s evacuation centres.

    Around 1:00pm police reported the Ross River had broken its banks in the suburb of Aitkenvale, which is close to the already-flooded suburbs of Rosslea and Hermit Park.

    Councillor Hill said about 1,000 cubic metres of water a second is still going over the Ross River Dam spillway.

    By midday, the dam had risen above 231 per cent capacity, while a severe storm warning at 12:43pm noted “intense” rain falling over the catchment.

    “We don’t know how much rain is still likely to flow into the Ross River Dam catchment,” Cr Hill said.

    “We cannot give you any certainty about what we are going to need to do into the future.

    “I’d rather have 20,000 homes with sandbags and plastic in preparation, people ready, and only affect a small number.”

    The Army is delivering 90,000 sandbags to affected Townsville homes today.

    Townsville disaster coordinator Assistant Chief Superintendent Steve Munro said there were 82,000 houses in Townsville and flood modelling predicted up to a quarter would be affected by flooding in the worst-case scenario.

    “At the moment, we have probably got 400, 500 [homes] affected [by flooding],” he said.

    “The modelling says what it is going to say — it could move up to the 10,000, 20,000 [homes]. We don’t want to get to that stage (but) we can’t control that.”

    Earlier, Townsville’s flood emergency was declared a catastrophe by the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA).

    ICA spokesman Campbell Fuller said the Townsville flood had been declared a catastrophe and almost 2,000 claims had already been lodged.

    “Under the declaration, claims from affected policy holders in Townsville will be given priority by insurers, those claims will be triaged as well to direct urgent assistance to the worst affected property owners,” he said.

    Thousands of homes have been abandoned in Townsville’s flooded suburbs and authorities have been conducting numerous evacuations throughout the morning.

    But the city had a brief reprieve overnight as the heaviest rainfall was recorded further north.

    It was a night of torrential rain and damaging winds for Ingham, Tully and Halifax.More than 500 millimetres of rain was dumped on Ingham over 12 hours, with 415mm falling on nearby Halifax since 9:00am yesterday.In the past 24 hours, 236mm has fallen near Tully, while Paluma received 260mm.

    BOM forecaster Adam Blazak said 145mm fell in Ingham in just one hour.”Extremely heavy rainfall. It managed to just dodge the Townsville dam, so that worked out quite well,” he said.Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) chief superintendent Lance Duncan said swift water specialists remained on alert, with warnings of more torrential rain and flash flooding between Ingham, Townsville and Bowen over the next two days.”QFES has assisted in 220 relocations of people from their residences,” he said.”The SES has received about 570 requests for assistance and that’s just over the last 24 hours and working with the Defence Force too, the SES [distributing] 20,000 sandbags in the Townsville area.”

    Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume.)

    BOM forecaster Sam Campbell said the monsoon trough was moving slowly to the south, which would bring more rain to Townsville and the Herbert and Lower Burdekin area.

    “We’ll start to see the rainfall rates increasing in the Townsville area,” he said.

    “We’ll probably see that last for a few hours as that burst of activity moves through. And then we could see another burst of activity in the evening hours.”

    There have also been more falls in western Queensland.

    Julius Dam near Mount Isa in the state’s north-west received 199mm in the past 24 hours.

    Mount Isa and Cloncurry have received 50 to 80mm and further heavy falls are expected today and tomorrow..abc.net

  • Mueller report finds ‘no proof of collusion with Russia by Trump’

    Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian meddling in the 2016 election did not find any collusion with Russia by US President Donald Trump or any of his campaign officials – according to a summary submitted to Congress.

    It adds that Mueller did not draw a conclusion on whether Trump or anyone in the White House obstructed justice during the investigation.

    Attorney General William Barr sent the summary of conclusions from the report to congressional leaders and the media on Sunday after Mueller handed in his report last Friday.

    Trump celebrated the political win with a tweet that read: “No Collusion, No Obstruction, Complete and Total EXONERATION. KEEP AMERICA GREAT!”

    Mueller’s two years of investigation concluded that no one in Trump’s campaign “conspired or coordinated with the Russian government,” according to the summary of findings.Mueller’s two years of investigation concluded that no one in Trump’s campaign “conspired or coordinated with the Russian government,” according to the summary of findings.

    “While this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him,” Attorney General William Barr quoted Mueller as writing in his report.

    Mueller did not himself reach a conclusion on whether Trump had broken the law by interfering into various 2016 election investigations but presented his evidence to Barr who drew the conclusions.

    But Barr made clear that he had rejected the possibility of a criminal charge.

    “The report identifies no actions that, in our judgment, constitute obstructive conduct, had a nexus to a pending or contemplated proceeding, and were done with corrupt intent … each of which … would need to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt,” Barr wrote in his letter to lawmakers.

    The news is likely to ignite a new political fight in Washington as Democrats will want Barr to release the report in its entirety.

    U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, Democratic chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, has called for Barr to testify to Congress due to “very concerning discrepancies and final decision making at the Justice Department.”

    Trump has always denied collaborating with Moscow or obstructing justice. Russia also denies interfering in the US elections. though US intelligence agencies say it did.

    “It’s a shame that our country had to go through this,” Trump told reporters before boarding Air Force One to return to Washington from Florida. “This was an illegal takedown that failed. And hopefully, somebody’s going to be looking at the other side.”

    Mueller’s investigation brought charges against 34 people, including Russian agents and former key allies of Trump, such as campaign chairman Paul Manafort, former security adviser Mike Flynn and his personal lawyer Michael Cohen.

    None of the charges, however, directly related to whether Trump’s campaign worked with Moscow.

    Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, said the report findings were better than he expected and White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said the findings were a “total and complete exoneration of the President of the United States.”euronews

     

  • New Zealand holds memorial for mosque attack victims

    Thousands in the New Zealand city of Christchurch have remembered the victims of deadly shootings at local mosques two weeks ago. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern called for a global effort to end violent extremism.

    At Friday’s memorial in a Christchurch park, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern called on her country to “be the nation that discovers the cure” to the irrational hate and fear thought to be behind the March 15 mosque attacks. But she freely admitted that New Zealand itself was not immune to such “viruses.” She has won praise from around the world for the way she has dealt with the tragedy.

    Thousands gathered for the memorial service at North Hagley Park. New Zealand has seen many outpourings of grief and condemnation after the attack, and its leaders have taken immediate action to tighten the country’s previously lax gun laws. Military-style semi-automatic and automatic firearms like those used in the March 15 attack are to be banned from April 11.

    Among those performing at the Christchurch ceremony was Yusuf Islam, also known as Cat Stevens. Islam, himself a Muslim convert, performed his song “Peace Train.” “Our hearts go out to the families of those whose lives were snatched away in that evil carnage while they were worshipping at the mosque two weeks ago,” he said before his performance.

    The shootings by the suspected Australian gunman also left many people injured. Christchurch mayor Lianne Dalziel called the atrocity “an attack on us all.” But, she said, in the end a deed aimed at dividing people had “united us” instead. Services were also held in several other New Zealand cities.

    The service in Christchurch was also attended by numerous dignitaries, including Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Among those who spoke was Farid Ahmed, the husband of Husna Ahmed, one of those who died in the attack in the Al Noor mosque. He told the crowd he had forgiven the shooter because of his beliefs. “I don’t want to have a heart that is boiling like a volcano,” Ahmed said.