‘Turkey must recognise genocide’
Turkey has rejected demands by the European Parliament that it recognise the killing of Armenians as genocide before it can join the EU.
Armenians say that up to 1.5 million of their people were slaughtered in mass killings under the Ottoman Empire in 1915.
But the Turkish government insists that the killing of Armenians was not a systematic genocide. They maintain that a smaller number of Armenians died, and that they perished unintentionally because of exposure, famine and disease.
The request has angered Ankara, and the Turkish prime minister immediately rejected the resolution.
Turkey has also come under pressure to recognise the Greek-speaking Republic of Cyprus, an EU member, in the run up to membership talks.
Other issues of contention are Ankara’s record on human rights, religious freedom and its treatment of minorities.
The resolution requesting the recognition of the genocide came as the European Parliament backed the opening of EU entry talks with Turkey, due to start Monday Oct 3. They are largely a formality, but the approval of talks is seen as a positive step.
There are concerns within the EU about Turkey joining the bloc. French and Dutch voters recently rejected a planned EU constitution, in part over concerns about the country’s bid for membership.
The largely Muslim country has been trying to join the EU for years.(The Daily Telegraph)
Iran denies shift in India ties
Iran says it has no plans to pull out of a $22bn gas deal with India after Delhi voted on Saturday for Iran’s nuclear plans to be referred to the UN Security Council.
Top Iranian official Ali Agha Mohammadi denied a report in India’s Hindu newspaper the gas deal was in doubt.
Under the accord, India would import 5m tonnes of liquefied natural gas a year for 25 years.
On Tuesday Iran had said it would reconsider economic co-operation with countries such as India which had supported the UN nuclear move.
However, Mr Mohammadi, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said “we have had good, deep relations with India in many fields and regional affairs and their behaviour at the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] was strange and we didn’t expect them to vote against Iran.”
The Indian government has maintained since Saturday that it did not come under pressure to back the vote from the US, which has thanked Delhi for its support.
India says the IAEA resolution is consistent with Delhi’s stated position on Iran and is in no way linked to a recent landmark India-US nuclear accord.
India’s government is under attack both from the opposition and its left-wing allies for its decision to side with the West against Iran.(BBC)
Bush expects Iraq violence to rise
President George W. Bush warned Wednesday there will be an upsurge in violence in Iraq before next month’s voting, but said the terrorists will fail.
“We can expect they’ll do everything in their power to try to stop the march of freedom,” Bush said. “And our troops are ready for it.”
The president is facing declining public support for the war that has claimed the lives of at least 1,925 members of the U.S. military A weekend anti-war demonstration in Washington drew an estimated 100,000 to the capital and polls show Bush approval rating is at the lowest point of his presidency.
National polls have shown a majority of Americans now believing the war was a mistake.
In an AP-Ipsos poll this month, only 37 percent approved or leaned toward approval of how Bush has handled the situation in Iraq; strong disapproval outweighed strong approval by 2-1, 46 percent to 22 percent.
Insurgent attacks have escalated ahead of an Oct. 15 referendum on a new constitution that has raised fears of a bloody sectarian split between Iraq’s Shiite Muslim majority and the disaffected Sunni minority.
If two-thirds of voters in any three of Iraq’s 18 provinces reject the document on Oct. 15, a new government must be formed and the process of writing the constitution started over.(AP)
US urges calm between Israel, Palestinians
The US government this government urged Israel to weigh its actions while simultaneously calling on the Palestinian authorities to dismantle “terrorist networks” amid a series of bombing raids and rocket attacks.
The fifth anniversary of the Palestinian intifada was marked by the cancellation of a summit between Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, against the backdrop of the bomb and rocket assaults.
“Both sides have responsibilities,” stressed US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.
Israel launched new air strikes on Gaza Wednesday as Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas prepared for talks with US President George W. Bush seeking to prevent a further escalation of the five-year conflict.
“On the Palestinian side, that responsibility is to act to stop any terrorism, to act to dismantle terrorist networks,” McCormack told reporters at the State Department.
“On the Israeli side, you’re familiar with our message to them, and that is that they take steps to ease the daily plight of the Palestinian people as well as to, again, take into account the effect of their actions upon what all share as the ultimate goal of bringing peace and stability to the region,” McCormack said.(AFP)
North Korea disarmament ‘underway’
Five countries trying to end North Korea’s nuclear weapons programs have started working out the specific steps to dismantle Pyongyang’s atomic programs and the rewards to match completion, South Korea said on Wednesday.
Last week, the five parties - China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States - and North Korea reached an agreement where Pyongyang pledged to scrap its atomic weapons in exchange for security guarantees, economic aid and increased diplomatic recognition.
An action plan was needed to follow up on the pledges made in the accord, South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said at a press briefing. The next round of the six-party talks is scheduled for November.
“We have launched preparations to set up specific steps and their sequence, focusing on nuclear dismantlement and corresponding measures,” Ban told reporters.
“I look forward to related countries taking steps even before the next round of the talks in order to set a positive tone and to help accomplish an early resolution.”
Experts said the agreement reached in Beijing on September 19 was simply the start of a long road ahead to ending Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programs and it would likely see complications that strain ties among the other parties, in particular between Seoul and Washington.(Reuters)
Turkey has rejected demands by the European Parliament that it recognise the killing of Armenians as genocide before it can join the EU.
Armenians say that up to 1.5 million of their people were slaughtered in mass killings under the Ottoman Empire in 1915.
But the Turkish government insists that the killing of Armenians was not a systematic genocide. They maintain that a smaller number of Armenians died, and that they perished unintentionally because of exposure, famine and disease.
The request has angered Ankara, and the Turkish prime minister immediately rejected the resolution.
Turkey has also come under pressure to recognise the Greek-speaking Republic of Cyprus, an EU member, in the run up to membership talks.
Other issues of contention are Ankara’s record on human rights, religious freedom and its treatment of minorities.
The resolution requesting the recognition of the genocide came as the European Parliament backed the opening of EU entry talks with Turkey, due to start Monday Oct 3. They are largely a formality, but the approval of talks is seen as a positive step.
There are concerns within the EU about Turkey joining the bloc. French and Dutch voters recently rejected a planned EU constitution, in part over concerns about the country’s bid for membership.
The largely Muslim country has been trying to join the EU for years.(The Daily Telegraph)
Iran denies shift in India ties
Iran says it has no plans to pull out of a $22bn gas deal with India after Delhi voted on Saturday for Iran’s nuclear plans to be referred to the UN Security Council.
Top Iranian official Ali Agha Mohammadi denied a report in India’s Hindu newspaper the gas deal was in doubt.
Under the accord, India would import 5m tonnes of liquefied natural gas a year for 25 years.
On Tuesday Iran had said it would reconsider economic co-operation with countries such as India which had supported the UN nuclear move.
However, Mr Mohammadi, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said “we have had good, deep relations with India in many fields and regional affairs and their behaviour at the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] was strange and we didn’t expect them to vote against Iran.”
The Indian government has maintained since Saturday that it did not come under pressure to back the vote from the US, which has thanked Delhi for its support.
India says the IAEA resolution is consistent with Delhi’s stated position on Iran and is in no way linked to a recent landmark India-US nuclear accord.
India’s government is under attack both from the opposition and its left-wing allies for its decision to side with the West against Iran.(BBC)
Bush expects Iraq violence to rise
President George W. Bush warned Wednesday there will be an upsurge in violence in Iraq before next month’s voting, but said the terrorists will fail.
“We can expect they’ll do everything in their power to try to stop the march of freedom,” Bush said. “And our troops are ready for it.”
The president is facing declining public support for the war that has claimed the lives of at least 1,925 members of the U.S. military A weekend anti-war demonstration in Washington drew an estimated 100,000 to the capital and polls show Bush approval rating is at the lowest point of his presidency.
National polls have shown a majority of Americans now believing the war was a mistake.
In an AP-Ipsos poll this month, only 37 percent approved or leaned toward approval of how Bush has handled the situation in Iraq; strong disapproval outweighed strong approval by 2-1, 46 percent to 22 percent.
Insurgent attacks have escalated ahead of an Oct. 15 referendum on a new constitution that has raised fears of a bloody sectarian split between Iraq’s Shiite Muslim majority and the disaffected Sunni minority.
If two-thirds of voters in any three of Iraq’s 18 provinces reject the document on Oct. 15, a new government must be formed and the process of writing the constitution started over.(AP)
US urges calm between Israel, Palestinians
The US government this government urged Israel to weigh its actions while simultaneously calling on the Palestinian authorities to dismantle “terrorist networks” amid a series of bombing raids and rocket attacks.
The fifth anniversary of the Palestinian intifada was marked by the cancellation of a summit between Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, against the backdrop of the bomb and rocket assaults.
“Both sides have responsibilities,” stressed US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.
Israel launched new air strikes on Gaza Wednesday as Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas prepared for talks with US President George W. Bush seeking to prevent a further escalation of the five-year conflict.
“On the Palestinian side, that responsibility is to act to stop any terrorism, to act to dismantle terrorist networks,” McCormack told reporters at the State Department.
“On the Israeli side, you’re familiar with our message to them, and that is that they take steps to ease the daily plight of the Palestinian people as well as to, again, take into account the effect of their actions upon what all share as the ultimate goal of bringing peace and stability to the region,” McCormack said.(AFP)
North Korea disarmament ‘underway’
Five countries trying to end North Korea’s nuclear weapons programs have started working out the specific steps to dismantle Pyongyang’s atomic programs and the rewards to match completion, South Korea said on Wednesday.
Last week, the five parties - China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States - and North Korea reached an agreement where Pyongyang pledged to scrap its atomic weapons in exchange for security guarantees, economic aid and increased diplomatic recognition.
An action plan was needed to follow up on the pledges made in the accord, South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said at a press briefing. The next round of the six-party talks is scheduled for November.
“We have launched preparations to set up specific steps and their sequence, focusing on nuclear dismantlement and corresponding measures,” Ban told reporters.
“I look forward to related countries taking steps even before the next round of the talks in order to set a positive tone and to help accomplish an early resolution.”
Experts said the agreement reached in Beijing on September 19 was simply the start of a long road ahead to ending Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programs and it would likely see complications that strain ties among the other parties, in particular between Seoul and Washington.(Reuters)
