Turkey: Erdogan is bullying Europe because Trump gave him the green light – by Iveta Cherneva

The show which Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is playing now with the migrant crisis is, to a great extent, the result of the green light he got from Trump last October when the US troops withdrew from Syria.

Erdoğan entered Syria like a king and started running the show. Several days ago, he even proclaimed to his party that the Syrian province Idlib was Turkish territory now. “We are the hosts now”, he said.
The 33 killed Turkish soldiers in Syria were a big blow – but it was a small price to pay for the gains Erdoğan has made.

Erdoğan’s ambitions to continue expecting help from NATO in Syria are arrogant, as is his country’s veto on the Alliance’s defence plan for the Baltic States and Poland in NATO, unless the Syrian Kurdish YPG is recognised as a terrorist organisation. These are just blackmailing tactics.

Turkey will never get direct military help by NATO in Syria. And forget about Article 5 in the Turkey-Syria case. In the end, it is Turkey that entered Syria, not the other way around. This is why Article 4 and consultations are the most that Turkey can hope for, and they already used that option last week.

A Turkish government spokesman announced that 100,000 refugees are now headed towards the EU. When all other leverage fails for Erdoğan, it is the refugees’ turn. This is the show we are watching. I won’t even mention the refugee deal that Turkey struck with the EU – that is pretty irrelevant right now, from where I am sitting.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov will try to serve as a mediator between the EU and Turkey – he did so on Monday and will continue over the following days.

The chiefs of the three EU institutions are meeting the Greek leadership on Tuesday in Greece but that will be no more than a symbolic meeting. The real breakdown of dialogue is not between EU institutions and Greece. It is elsewhere.

Erdoğan’s plans, however, are to see many more dramatic scenes at the EU border. Unavoidably, there will be human suffering. Turkey’s propaganda will make the most of it.

The last refugee episode tells Europe that the show will end when Erdoğan says so. Today, the Turkish leader said that “millions” of refugees will enter Europe. It doesn’t take millions, however. Several thousand refugees and several fatalities will be more than enough to accomplish what Erdoğan intends – humiliate the EU.

Read more at: Erdogan is bullying Europe because Trump gave him the green light – EURACTIV.com

China-US relations: Arrest Meng Wanzhou, executive of Huawei, not favorable to improving relations China - US

Huawei arrest: China demands release of Meng Wanzhou

Note EU-Digest: Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Canada at the request of the US, who wants her extradited to US because of business dealings Huawei has with Iran. For those who might have forgotten - the US (Trump Administration) unilattery broke off relations with Iran, when the Trump Administration pulled out of the International Nuclear Agreement, signed between Iran and many other nations around the world, including the EU and the US. Hopefully Canada (Trudeau) will show some "backbone", by not extraditing her to the US, specially since all the other co-signers of the International Nuclear Agreement, including the EU and Canada, are still respecting the agreement with Iran.

Read more at 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-46465768

Canada - Tariffs: Trump Tariffs Are Becoming More Stick Than Carrot in Nafta Talks

Canada seeks protections from a President Trump who treats tariffs like a 'toy':

For the complete report go to:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-09-20/trump-tariffs-are-becoming-more-stick-than-carrot-in-nafta-talks

Middle East - Iran: US demands Britain back Trump with Iran sanctions

Ambassador Woody Johnson has challenged the UK to abandon its European neighbours who back the 2015 international deal to constrain Iran's development of nuclear capabilities in return for  trade with Iran. Johnson said on Sunday that Britain should join forces with America to enforce the US president's hard-hitting sanctions. He also delivered an explicit ultimatum to British companies, telling then to stop doing business with Iran or face "serious consequences" for their trade with the US.

The comments are a direct challenge to Prime Minister Theresa May's minority Conservative government, days after a minister point-blank refused to go along with Trump's sanctions on Tehran and keep the nuclear agreement alive.

They also come six days after Jeremy Hunt, the Foreign Secretary, signed a joint statement with the EU which promised to push ahead with blocking the impact of the sanctions on European businesses. Johnson's comments escalate the tensions over what is the first test of the so-called special relationship between the US and UK since Trump's visit to the UK last month.

Britain negotiated the original Iran deal in 2015 with France, Germany, China, Russia and the US in a process coordinated by the European Union. The Tehran regime agreed to curb its nuclear program in return for the lifting of sanctions.

But Trump pulled out of the deal, which was struck by his predecessor Barack Obama, three months ago because Trump believes it is not stopping Iran from meddling the Middle East. Hard-hitting economic sanctions were reimposed last week with more to come in November.

Note EU-Digest: Hopefully Britain will not cave in to the bullying tactics of Trump, instead reurn to the welcoming arms of the EU in a new Brexit referendum.Like was said before, getting out of the EU for any member will mean losing your EU "security blanket" in standing up against the "big powers".

Read more: US demands Britain back Trump with Iran sanctions