EU pays tribute to Saudi journalist Khashoggi on anniversary of killing - by Toga Bozoglu

The European Union paid tribute on 2 October to the memory of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist who was murdered last year in the premises of the Consulate General of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul.

The EU reiterated in a statement the need to ensure full accountability for those responsible and insisted on an investigation of the circumstances of the killing.

“Jamal Khashoggi continues to be an inspiration to journalists and associates with whom he was in contact for his work, including colleagues in the EU institutions.”

“As Jamal Khashoggi, journalists are too often the target of attacks in many countries.

 On this occasion, the European Union reaffirms its unequivocal commitment to the freedom of the press and the protection of journalists across the world.”, the statement reads.

Note-EU-Digest: Kudos to the Government of Turkey, for renaming a street near the former Saudi Consulate General offices in Istanbul, "the Khashoggi street", and allowing Jeff Bezos, Founder of Amazon, and owner of the Washington Post, where Khashoggi worked, to unveil a memorial to the murdered journalist today, the first anniversary of the journalist's death. 

The US remains the number one exporter of arms to Saudi Arabia and the world. Earlier in the year, Trump rebuffed bi-partisan US congressional efforts to punish Saudi Arabia for the killing of columnist Jamal Khashoggi \, and turned back criticism over the kingdom’s prosecution of its war against Houthi rebels in Yemen.

EU pays tribute to Saudi journalist Khashoggi on anniversary of killing | New Europe

TURKEY - WEATHER: Heavy rain floods Istanbul Grand Bazaar

Watch: Heavy rain floods Istanbul's Grand Bazaar

Read more at: 

https://www.euronews.com/2019/08/17/watch-heavy-rain-floods-istanbul-s-grand-bazaar

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Turkey: Turkish opposition vows to defeat crooked Erdogan's AKP again in Istanbul poll rerun

'We will emerge victorious': Turkish opposition vows to defeat Erdogan in poll re-run

Ready more at: 
https://www.euronews.com/2019/05/07/we-will-emerge-victorious-turkish-opposition-vows-to-defeat-erdogan-in-poll-re-run

Turkey municipal elections: Erdogan shows he is not only a sore looser but also a typical dictator as Istanbul election is declared annulled and new election called

Recep Tayip Erdogan a sore looser

Note EU-Digest: with several smaller parties dropping out of the race and urging their supporters to support the CHP, the AKP might now even suffer a bigger defeat

Read more at:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-06/turkey-new-istanbul-elections

Turkey: a major Earthquake in the Istanbul area could kill at least 30.000 people say experts

Read more:
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/expected-istanbul-earthquake-could-kill-up-to-30-000-people-expert-warns-135865

Turkey - LGBTI Community : Istanbul police disperse gay pride march

Riot police have used tear gas to disperse hundreds of people at a gay pride march in Istanbul. The city's LGBTI community and their friends had said they were determined to march.

Read more:: Istanbul police disperse gay pride march | News and current affairs from Germany and around the world | DW | 01.07.2018

Clean Energy: Royal Dutch Shell Plans to Spend $1 Billion a Year on Clean Energy by 2020 - Rakteem Katakey

Royal Dutch Shell Plc plans to spend as much as $1 billion a year on its New Energies division as the transition toward renewable power and electric cars accelerates.

“In some parts of the world we are beginning to see battery electric cars starting to gain consumer acceptance” while wind and solar costs are falling fast, Shell CEO Ben Van Beurden said in a speech in Istanbul on Monday. “All of this is good news for the world and must accelerate,” while still offering opportunities for producers of fossil fuels.

Shell sees opportunities in hydrogen fuel-cells, liquefied natural gas and next-generation biofuels for air travel, shipping and heavy freight -- areas of transport for which batteries aren’t adequate. The intermittent nature of wind and solar energy means power plants fired by natural gas will have a long-term role, Van Beurden said.

Van Beurden was addressing the World Petroleum Congress -- a gathering of ministers and CEOs from some of the largest oil producers -- at a time when the accelerating shift to clean energy is raising questions about their long-term business models. While Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak and Saudi Arabian Oil Co. boss Amin Nasser said oil and gas will be dominant for decades to come, Van Beurden highlighted the potential for some of the fastest-growing nations to leapfrog straight to a cleaner energy mix.

“When you consider the areas of the world where energy demand is still to expand, like Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, there is a huge opportunity,” Van Beurden said. “These are areas that are not, on the whole, locked in to a coal-driven system. There is the potential for them to shift more directly onto a less energy-intensive pathway to development.”

There is often too much focus on energy-transition policies in Europe and North America instead of the fast-growing developing world, Van Beurden said. “What happens in England is important, but what happens in Ethiopia is at least as important. From Denmark to the DRC, from the U.S. to Uganda, to India, to China, there is a lot of work to do.”

Read more: Shell Plans to Spend $1 Billion a Year on Clean Energy by 2020 - Bloomberg

Turkey: Istanbul Bombings: Kurds and Erdogan Playing Political Football--James M. Dorsey

Twin bombs in central Istanbul may not have had the newly refurbished Vodafone Arena stadium of Besiktas JK, one of Turkey’s top football teams, as its main target.

But the event underscores the propaganda value of attacking a soccer match for both jihadist and non-jihadist groups. This also raises important questions about counter-terrorism strategy.

The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons, a splinter of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), claimed responsibility for Saturday’s blasts that targeted police on duty to maintain security at a match between top Turkish clubs Besiktas and Bursapor.

According to reports, thirty of the 38 people killed in the attacks were riot police.

The Falcons’ operation appeared designed to maximize police casualties — and minimize civilian casualties. In that regard, they were very different from other acts of terrorism by jihadist groups.

The Islamic State’s attack on the Stade de France in Paris in November last year — and its reportedly subsequent foiled attempts to bomb international matches in Belgium and Germany – aimed at civilian casualties.

American-Turkish soccer scholar and writer John Konuk Blasing reporting from Istanbul during the blasts noted that the attacks occurred two hours after the match — attended by more than 40,000 people — had ended.

Mr. Blasing argued that the timing of the two bombs called into question President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s effort to capitalize on the attacks by asserting that they had been “aimed to maximize casualties,” irrespective of their identity.

Blasing reasoned that “the target of the stadium was chosen in order to send a message, a twisted and violent message that says, ‘We can do worse damage if we wanted to. Right now, we are attacking the state, not citizens. But if we want to target citizens, we can do that too.'”

Consequently this proves tha Erdogan’s analysis is not correctt 

Read more: Istanbul Bombings: Kurds and Erdogan Playing Political Football - The Globalist

Turkey: Istanbul stadium attacks: has ISIS signature but Turkey points finger at PKK -

The Turkish government says Kurdish militants appear to be responsible for twin bomb attacks on police outside a stadium in Istanbul on Saturday.

Deputy PM Numan Kurtulmus said initial findings pointed towards the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has targeted security forces in the past.

At least 38 people died near Istanbul's Vodafone Arena when attackers struck after a top-division football match.

A car bomb hit a police vehicle and a suicide bomber blew himself up nearby.

Mr Numan told CNN Turk news channel that about 300-400kg (660-880lb) of explosives had been used in Saturday evening's attack. 

Read more: Istanbul stadium attacks: Turkey points finger at PKK - BBC News

Turkey: At least 28 innocent people killed, 60 injured by "derelicts" as blasts rock Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport

Istanbul: Daesh Deranged Murderers Killing Innocent People

 At least 28 people have been killed and 60 more injured in two blasts that rocked Istanbul’s Ataturk airport, according to Turkish officials. The explosions were reportedly suicide bomb attacks.

The blasts occurred in the airport’s International Arrivals Terminal. 

A Turkish official confirmed to Reuters that two explosions have hit the airport. According to some Turkish media, the blasts were terrorist attacks targeting two separate locations in the airport.

Twenty-eight people have lost their lives in the blasts that hit the airport, Istanbul Governor Vasip Sahin said, Turkey’s NTV channel reported.

More than 60 people have been injured, six of them seriously, in explosions at Ataturk Airport in Istanbul, according to the Turkish state Anadolu news agency.

Many people caught in the blasts and near the airport posted photos and videos from the scene, showing the destruction caused by the explosions as well as people hiding in various places in search of safety.

Gunfire was heard from the car park near the airport, CNN Turk reports, citing the witnesses. Four armed men were reportedly seen running away from the terminal building after the explosions, according to Turkey’s NTV channel.

Note EU-Digest: Whoever eventually gets  blamed for this cruel act can only be regarded as totally deranged murderers.

Read more: Over 20 killed, 60 injured as blasts rock Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport — RT News

Turkey - Terrorism: Turkey says ISIL member carried out Istanbul suicide bombing

The Turkish government says the suicide bomb attack in Istanbul on Saturday was carried out by a member of the self-proclaimed Islamic State organisation.

The explosion killed an Iranian and three Israelis – two of them dual American nationals – and wounded dozens of others in a shopping street popular with tourists.

The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said his country is trying to determine whether the attack was aimed at its nationals.

The bomber who also died in the attack has been identified by the Turkish authorities as Mehmet Ozturk, who was born in 1992 and came from the southern province of Gaziantep.

“According to the information given to me, this person (who carried out the attack) is not on the list of people wanted by the police or gendarmerie. Up to now, five people have been detained,” said Turkey’s Interior Minister Efkan Ala, adding that seven provinces in the south were now under curfew.

Read more: Turkey says ISIL member carried out Istanbul suicide bombing | euronews, world news

Turkey - Terrorism: Istanbul hit by suicide bomb attack - by Constanze Letsch

Istiklal Street,, Istanbul

The governor, of Istanbul , Vasip Şahin, confirmed     that a blast on Saturday morning had been caused by a suicide bomber who had set off the bomb close to the local district governor’s office on Istiklal Street, a pedestrian boulevard lined with international stores and restaurants.

CNNTurk reported that the bomb went off early and that the attacker had wanted to hit another target. According to the governor, one of those killed was the suicide bomber, and three of those injured were in critical condition.

Meanwhile, the Israeli foreign ministry has confirmed that there were Israeli citizens among the wounded.
Police sealed off the scene and helicopters were circling overhead as security forces investigated the area. Several ambulances rushed to the scene.

A witness told the Guardian that he heard a loud explosion and several injured people sprawled on the ground before running from the scene. Turkey’s broadcasting agency, RTÜK, has issued a broadcast ban.

The deputy prime minister, Numan Kurtulmuş, condemned the attack and vowed that Turkey would not be cowered by terrorism.

“They want to scare Turkey with these attacks,” he said during a visit in the Black Sea town of Ordu. “They want citizens to lock themselves in at home. They want citizens to be unable to leave the house. But no, they can do whatever they want, but we will not get used to terror.”

Read more: Istanbul hit by suicide bomb attack | World news | The Guardian

Turkey: German Foreign Minister Steinmeier on Terrorist Attack in Istanbul

Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, after speaking with his Turkish counterpart, confirmed that eight German citizens were among those killed in the terrorist attack in Istanbul today.
Earlier in the day he made the following statement:

"We condemn this barbaric and cowardly act of terrorism in the strongest possible terms. It was aimed at the heart of the Turkish metropolis of Istanbul, which we all value as a cosmopolitan and outward-looking city. At this difficult time, we stand side by side with Turkey.

"We mourn the victims of this murderous attack. Our thoughts are with their families and with all those whose loved ones are still unaccounted for.

"Unfortunately, we now have to assume that German nationals were among those injured in this terrorist attack. Nor can we rule out the possibility that there may be Germans among those killed.

"The German Government’s crisis unit at the Federal Foreign Office convened immediately. It is working flat out together with the German Consulate-General in Istanbul and the German Embassy in Ankara to get hold of reliable information on the attack and to establish the fate of those affected. We are liaising closely with the Turkish authorities to this end.

"I ask all Germans in Turkey, and especially in Istanbul, to closely follow the Federal Foreign Office travel and safety advice. It is available on the Federal Foreign Office website and is being continually updated to reflect the ongoing situation."

EU-Digest

Turkey: Istanbul police disperse May Day protesters - by Can Hasasu

Turkish police have briefly clashed with protesters in Istanbul after putting the city under a security lockdown in a bid to thwart demonstrations on a tense Labour Day.

Al Jazeera's Can Hasasu, reporting from the central Besiktas district, said about 2,000 people from leftist groups had earlier gathered there before Friday's clashes.

Police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse the crowd. Protesters retaliated by throwing stones and hurling firecrackers at officers
.
"The police claim they used these measures against a small group of masked men, but they later used it on the rest of the group which was peacefully demonstrating," Hasasu said, adding that the Besiktas square was cleared after the incident. 

Read more: Istanbul police disperse May Day protesters - Al Jazeera English

Turkey Elections - Parties shaping their local election candidates

Unless there is an extraordinary shift in the agenda, Turkey will declare its local elections calendar on January 1, 2014, and hit the ballot box on March 30, 2014. Five months later, in August, Presidential elections will take place. After these two elections, if not predated, general elections will be held in June 2015.

When considered in this context, local elections, which will deeply impact the country’s future and are likely to have a triggering effect, have already kicked off. Perfectionist party leaders are attaching a special importance to the three strategically crucial metropolitan municipalities of Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir. Surveys are being conducted, organizations audited. And slowly, candidate profiles for these cities are being shaped.

There are multiple scenarios and name predictions enumerated for the capital city. Let us take a look at who stands a better chance in which city, and which names outshine others.

Istanbul: Istanbul means Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. In a scenario where the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) loses Istanbul, it will create a demoralization in the party, as much as putting a minus sign to Erdoğan’s 11 years of success. Therefore, Erdoğan is being meticulous while picking out the candidate. If the AKP complies with its three terms limit, which indicates that no party official can hold office for more than three terms, it is likely that a strong minister from the current cabinet will be shifted to govern the city. Kadir Topbaş, the current Mayor, stands a weak chance; he is expected to be made a deputy. Among the names discussed are Transport Minister Binali Yıldırım, EU Minister Egemen Bağış and a surprise name, Industry Minister Nihat Ergün. Bağış is being considered for Beyoğlu Municipality, an area still under the rule of the AKP. In this context, there are rumors that a change in the cabinet will occur in the fall, yet Erdoğan is rumored to make the change right before the election, towards the new year.

The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) is seeking to compete with a promising candidate. In a lot of surveys, the difference between the AKP’s Kadir Topbaş and the current Şişli Mayor, Mustafa Sarıgül is measured to have fallen to four points, despite the fact that Sarıgül has not become a CHP member yet. Sarıgül is close to becoming CHP’s candidate, but some in the nationalist wing of the CHP object to his membership. Another prominent name for CHP’s candidate for Istanbul is the deputy leader of the party, Gürsel Tekin. Other names for CHP candidacy include party spokesperson Haluk Koç, deputy group chair Muharrem İnce, journalist Can Ataklı, former Gaziantep Mayor Celal Doğan, yet they are given slight chances. 

Read more: ANKARA WHISPERS - Parties shaping their local election candidates

Turkey police crack down on protesters - situation tense

Gezi Park near Taksim Square, Istanbul, Turkey

Hundreds of police in riot gear forced through barricades in Istanbul's central Taksim Square early Tuesday, pushing protesters who had occupied the square for more than a week into a nearby park.

Police briefly fired tear gas canisters and rubber bullets prompting many of the protesters to flee the square into Gezi Park, where scores had been camping.

But there were running battles at one edge of the square between police and some groups of protesters who fired fireworks, firebombs and stones at police water cannon. Police made frequent announcements through loudspeakers, asking the group to stop attacking police and saying they did not want to use tear gas, before then firing the tear gas. A water cannon could be seen dousing another police vehicle that was set alight by a firebomb.

The police clampdown on Taksim Square came on the 12th day of nationwide protests that were sparked by a violent police crackdown May 31 on a peaceful sit-in at a park in the square by people who were trying to prevent a redevelopment project that would replace the green space with a replica Ottoman Barracks.

Situation tense in Turkey.

Read more: Turkey police crack down on protesters

European Soccer: Turkey PM Erdogan: "fixers, not clubs, should be punished" and makes bid for 2020 European Championship to be held in Istanbul

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan made a plea for individuals rather than clubs to be punished for match-fixing on Thursday, even as FIFA President Sepp Blatter urged increased vigilance against what he called the "scourge'' of rigged matches.

Erdogan spoke to officials from Europe's 53 football nations in Istanbul - the home city of Fenerbahce, whose chairman is suspected of fixing games to help it win the Turkish title last year, and was then barred from entering the Champions League.
Addressing UEFA's annual congress, Erdogan said clubs should not be punished for crimes committed by individuals.

"We have to identify a difference between the individual and the legal entity,'' Erdogan told representatives of UEFA's 53 member associations. "We should act against individuals who committed the crime. Only they should be given the highest sanctions.

In another important step for Turkish football, Erdogan urged UEFA to consider a possible Turkish bid for the 2020 European Championship. Turkey, which is bidding to stage the 2020 Olympics in Istanbul, is also mulling the possibility of bidding to host Euro 2020.

For more: Turkey PM: fixers, not clubs, should be punished - - SI.com

Turkey: 50,000 tickets sold out for Madonna's concert in Istanbul

The first European concert of Madonna’s 58-stop 2012 World Tour, which will start on May 29, will be in Istanbul. She will visit more than 26 European cities following Istanbul. She will also take the stage in South America and Australia, where she has not performed for 20 years.

Turkish ticket sales company Biletix announced all 50,000 tickets for Madonna's June 7 Istanbul concert were sold out as of Feb 27 afternoon.

Fifty percent of the concert was sold out in the first seven hours when tickets were released Feb. 24, according to Hurriyet Daily News. Some 50,000 people will view the concert at Şişli’s Türk Telekom Arena.

For more: 50,000 tickets sold out for Madonna's concert in Istanbul - PanARMENIAN.Net

Turkey the new party capital of Europe

"I enjoy living in the most exciting city of the world: Istanbul. Over the last ten years this dynamic, bustling, chaotic and creative metropolis on the Bosporus has become more international and multicultural.

The growing popularity of the city with exchange students from Europe, the U.S. and elsewhere, and an ever growing number of tourists and expats hasn’t gone unnoticed by the international media and think tanks.

A recent study by the Washington-based Brookings Institution, in a joint investigation with the LSE Cities project, judged that Istanbul had beaten Beijing and Shanghai to claim the title of 2010′s most dynamic city.

For more: Enjoy Istanbul

Do Moderate Muslims Exist? - ( Go to Istanbul) By Andrew Sullivan

That they do is a proposition so easily verifiable that I don't even have to leave my apartment to do it. I can just look out the window. Book a ticket to Istanbul, spend an afternoon here, have a lovely time, drink some tea, meet friendly, tolerant, warm, welcoming Moslems (mostly), and see for yourself. They exist! They're my neighbors and my friends! Babür, is there anyone at our gym, for example, who would not describe himself as a Moslem? Would any member of our gym endorse terrorism, honor killing, forcing me to wear the hijab, or subjecting me to a dhimmi tax? The idea is so absurd it's beyond discussion -- and yet we're discussing it.

For more: Do Moderate Muslims Exist? - The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan