Obama Should Keep His Nose Out of Europe’s Affairs
BBC: US President Barack Obama has arrived in Turkey on a two-day visit, after giving his support to Ankara's efforts to join the European Union.

He said Turkey's accession to the EU would send an important signal to the Muslim world and firmly anchor the country in Europe.

But French President Nicolas Sarkozy said it was up to the EU itself to decide who joined the bloc. Obama Backs Turkey EU Accession >>> | Sunday, April 5, 2009

THE TELEGRAPH: President Barack Obama Arrives in Turkey on Last Stop of European Tour

President Barack Obama has arrived in Turkey on the last stop of his maiden tour to Europe, hours after he urged the European Union to accept the country as a full member.

Air Force One touched down at Ankara's Esenboga airport at around 9.10pm local time in what was Obama's first trip to a majority Muslim nation since becoming president in January.

The president arrived direct from an EU summit in Prague where he endorsed Turkey's accession to the bloc, despite opposition from French President Nicolas Sarkozy and guarded remarks from German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Obama told EU leaders: "The United States and Europe must approach Muslims as our friends, neighbours and partners in fighting injustice, intolerance and violence, forging a relationship based on mutual respect and mutual interests. Moving forward toward Turkish membership in the EU would be an important signal of your commitment to this agenda and ensure that we continue to anchor Turkey firmly in Europe." >>> By Alastair Jamieson | Monday, April 6, 2009

TIMESONLINE: Leave Turkey’s Bid to Join EU to Us, Nicolas Sarkozy Warns Barack Obama

The love-in between Nicolas Sarkozy and Barack Obama proved short-lived after the French President warned his US counterpart yesterday to keep his nose out of the issue of Turkey’s membership of the European Union.

President Obama used his first EU-US summit, on the eve of his visit to Turkey, to encourage European leaders to embrace the Muslim country and “anchor it in Europe”. However, Mr Sarkozy, a long-standing opponent of full membership for Turkey, rebuffed the US leader in language that seemed to sour the revival of Franco-US relations.

Support for Turkey in joining the EU, a process that it began formally in 2005 and hopes to complete before 2020, has long been an American foreign policy goal.

Mr Obama, who flew to Turkey last night, clearly wanted to leave on a positive note. He told EU leaders: “The United States and Europe must approach Muslims as our friends, neighbours and partners in fighting injustice, intolerance and violence.

“Moving forward towards Turkish membership in the EU would be an important signal of your commitment to this agenda and ensure that we continue to anchor Turkey firmly in Europe.”

Mr Sarkozy, who has talked of offering Turkey a privileged partnership rather than membership, did not wait to hit back. “I have been working hand in hand with President Obama but when it comes to the European Union it is up to member states of the European Union to decide [on membership],” Mr Sarkozy said in an interview on French television. “I have always been opposed to this entry and I remain opposed,” he added.

His comments laid bare the continuing EU split over Turkish membership, with France and Austria openly opposed and deep reservations in Germany and the Netherlands. Turkey would become the most populous EU country and Germany in particular is said to have concerns about the shift in power that this would cause, with the largest number of MEPs coming from Turkey, along with strong voting rights in European Council decisions. >>> David Charter in Prague | Monday, April 6, 2009

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Syria Warned over Britons Held for Weeks
THE INDEPENDENT: Britain has warned Syria that marked progress towards an improved relationship between the two countries could be undermined if Damascus continues to refuse consular access to two Britons held by the security forces here.

Maryam Kallis, 36, was seized by plain-clothes security men on 15 March while walking with one of her four young children on a busy Damascus street. She has been kept incommunicado and at an unknown location ever since and Amnesty International said this week that it believed she could be in danger of torture or other ill-treatment. A British male, who has not been named, was seized in an apparently unconnected episode two days later, and the Syrian authorities have not so far disclosed the reasons for either detention. >>> By Donald Macintyre in Damascus | Thursday, April 2, 2009

World Bank Warns of Social Discontent in Russia
THE TELEGRAPH: The World Bank has given warning of serious social discontent in Russia after delivering a bleak assessment of the country's economy.

World Bank warns of social discontent in Russia. Photo courtesy of The Telegraph
Scotching optimism that the world's largest country may already be in recovery, the bank predicted that Russia's economy is contracting far more sharply than the Kremlin has acknowledged.

According to revised government forecasts, the Russian economy will shrink by 2.2pc this year. But it its latest economic report on Russia, the World Bank predicts that Gross Domestic Product will actually contract by 4.5pc.

The assessment comes as foreign investors focussed on emerging markets again start to flirt with Russia after months of record capital flight in the wake of last August's war with Georgia and a collapse in the price of oil.

The Russian stock exchange's benchmark RTS index has gained over 30pc this year alone, outpacing most emerging markets, after a modest recovery in oil and metal prices.

But Zeljko Bogetic, the World Bank's lead Russia economist, cautioned against such optimism.

"As the crisis continues to spread to the real economy around the world, initial expectations that Russia and other countries will recover fast are no longer likely," he said. >>> By Adrian Blomfield in Moscow | Monday, March 30, 2009

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Britain Warned over Sharia-compliant Finance Arrangements
RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE: A British campaigning group has hit out at plans that would allow current financial arrangements to be altered to allow Sharia-compliant bonds to be issued.

The warning comes from two bodies, the Christian Legal Centre and Christian Concern for Our Nation (CCFON). They spoke out after changes were recommended to the Legislative Framework for the Regulation of Alternative Finance Investment Bonds (Sukuk). They say that if the changes are accommodated, the British Government would be ‘capitulating’ to Islamic religious law.



The subject of Sharia law has been hotly debated in the UK following comments by the Archbishop of Canterbury when he said that it "seems inevitable" that some parts of sharia would be enshrined in this country's legal code. Earlier this week the former Prime Minister Tony Blair backed the Archbishop. He commented in The Church of England Newspaper: "I thought at the time all this was a lot of fuss over nothing."



But in a written submission to the Treasury, the Christian Legal Centre and CCFON said that any change could radically change the fundamental basis of British society through its financial regulation. >>> By Judy West | Friday, March 6, 2009

NATIONAL SECULAR SOCIETY: Raise Your Voice against Sharia Law

The demonstration and meeting to protest at the introduction of sharia law into Britain will take place Saturday 7 March in Central London. We urge you to be there.

The One Law for All Campaign is calling on members and supporters of the NSS to come along to the demo and raise their voice against the rising clamour for official recognition of the pernicious sharia system of injustice. We will also be objecting to all religious-based tribunals that operate here of any religion. >>> | Friday, March 6, 2009

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Saudi Minister Warns against Racism
DAILY TIMES: RIYADH: Saudi Labour Minister Ghazi Al Gosaibi has warned against growing racism among Saudis towards the millions of foreign workers in the kingdom, media reports said on Monday. Gosaibi told senior Labour Ministry officials that the country should treat foreign workers better, protect their rights and not succumb to racism, local newspapers reported. “Regrettably, we have become overwhelmed by arrogance and even racism, and we have begun to imagine that we are better than those who have come to share in shouldering the burden of development,” he said. Foreign workers have a huge presence throughout the kingdom, estimated at more than eight million altogether. [Source: Daily Times] afp | Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Hat tip: Dhimmi Watch

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Russia Warns of New Iron Curtain
Photo courtesy of the BBC
BBC: President Dmitri Medvedev has accused the West of trying to push Russia behind a new "Iron Curtain".

"This is not our path. For us there is no sense going back to the past," the Russian leader said in Moscow.

He also blamed Nato for provoking last month's fighting between Russia and Georgia over South Ossetia.

His comments come a day after US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Russia was becoming increasingly aggressive abroad.

In a strongly-worded speech, Ms Rice said Moscow was on a "one-way path to isolation and irrelevance".

Diplomatic relations between the US and its European allies, on one side, and Russia on the other, have been strained by the Georgian conflict.

Lambasting Nato

"We are in effect being pushed down a path that is founded not on fully-fledged, civilised partnership with other countries, but on autonomous development, behind thick walls, behind an Iron Curtain," President Medvedev said. Russia Warns of New Iron Curtain >>> | September 19, 2008

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Russia Warned: Withdraw from Georgia, or Else
THE GUARDIAN: European leaders warned Russia yesterday to withdraw its forces rapidly from Georgia or face unspecified consequences, as Moscow stalled on its pledges to honour a ceasefire and pull back the thousands of troops from the Caucasus republic.

With the US and European governments due to meet tomorrow to consider their options for the first time since the crisis erupted 10 days ago, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France threatened the Kremlin with an ultimatum for the first time, warning that more delays in a pullout "would have serious consequences on relations between Russia and the European Union".

The French warning echoed similar statements from the Americans in recent days, none of which appears to have rattled the Russians, whose forces remain in firm control of large tracts of Georgia well beyond the two separatist enclaves of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

"People are going to begin to wonder if Russia can be trusted," said Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, yesterday of Moscow's failure to keep its promises.

The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, added to the pressure on Moscow by insisting on an "urgent" retreat. She also backed Georgian aspirations to join Nato. Downing Street said it would send the foreign secretary, David Miliband, to the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, later this week. Russia Warned: Withdraw from Georgia, or Else: Nato to hold emergency meeting amid doubts over Kremlin promise >>> By Ian Traynor in Brussels and Luke Harding in Tbilisi | August 18, 2008

NZZ Online:
Merkel sichert Georgien Unterstützung zu: Russlands Präsident kündigt Beginn des Truppenrückzugs an >>> 17. August 2008

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Karzai Issues Warning to Pakistan
Watch BBC video: President Hamid Karzai says his country has a right to defend itself >>>
BBC: Afghan President Hamid Karzai has threatened to send troops over the border into Pakistan to confront militants based there.

He said that when militants crossed over from Pakistan to kill Afghans and coalition troops, his nation had the right to retaliate in "self-defence".

Mr Karzai's remarks came two days after Taleban fighters attacked an Afghan jail, freeing hundreds of prisoners.

Pakistan warned it would not tolerate outside interference in its affairs.

Yusuf Raza Gilani, Pakistan's prime minister, said the border between their two countries was too long to police.

Destabilise

"Neither do we interfere in anyone else's matters, nor will we allow anyone to interfere in our territorial limits and our affairs," he told the Associated Press news agency.

"We want a stable Afghanistan. It is in our interest. How can we go to destabilise our brotherly country?" Karzai Issues Warning to Pakistan >>> | June 15, 2008

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