Turkish Islamist 'Dictator' Erdogan and Barzani's son will be in the US at the same time.

Turkish Islamist 'Dictator' Erdogan and Barzani's son will be in the US at the same time. (Anf).

Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan is expected to visit the US on May 16, while KDP President Masoud Barzani’s son and Southern Kurdistan intelligence official Masrour Barzani has been reported to have a visit on the same date.

Barzani is going to attend a program organized by a right-wing organization called the Heritage Foundation. Barzani will also be meeting with US officials to discuss the Mosul operation and the situation in Southern Kurdistan.

Erdoğan’s US visit will be focused around seeking support for their anti-Kurdish and anti-Rojava stance. Turkey had protested US President Donald Trump approving a plan that foresees providing the Syrian Democratic Forces with heavy weapons before Erdoğan’s visit last week.

It is unclear whether Erdoğan and Barzani will have a meeting in the US.

ISIS leader in Egypt tells Muslims to avoid Christian gatherings

ISIS leader in Egypt tells Muslims to avoid Christian gatherings. (AN).

CAIRO: ISIS’s leader in Egypt has warned Muslims to stay away from Christian gatherings as well as government, military and police facilities, suggesting that the militant group will keep up attacks on what he referred to as “legitimate targets.”

In April, two Daesh suicide bombers killed at least 45 people at churches in the cities of Alexandria and Tanta, one of the bloodiest attacks the country has experienced in years.

“We are warning you to stay away from Christian gatherings, as well as the gatherings of the army and the police, and the areas that have political government facilities,” the leader, who was not named, said in an interview in Daesh’s Al Naba weekly newspaper published on Telegram.

Militants are increasingly targetting religious minorities, a challenge to President Abdel Fattah Al Sissi, who has promised to protect them from extremism.

Islamic State has been turning its sights on targets outside its base in the Sinai, putting more pressure on the government and presenting extra challenges for security services.

Video - Turkish gov’t-funded Albanian religious teacher recorded praising ISIL & Bin Laden in classroom.

Turkish gov’t-funded madrassa teacher recorded praising ISIL in classroom - Turkish Minute https://t.co/P5Vnn3cjSH pic.twitter.com/J2lFiHrxPi

— Turkish Minute (@TurkishMinuteTM) January 22, 2017

Video - Turkish gov’t-funded Albanian madrasas teacher recorded praising ISIL & Bin Laden in classroom. (TP).

A recording has revealed a teacher who works at a Turkish government-funded religious school in Albania speaking with a student about how Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants seek to “provide protection to the Muslim people of Syria, Palestine and Egypt.”

During his 35-second video, a student says he does not understand if ISIL militants are Muslim or not. In her answer, the teacher says ISIL seeks to protect Muslims and that therefore they are good people.

The controversial teacher works at an imam-hatip school established by the state-run Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA), which has largely been funded by Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government since 2002.


The Turkish government’s education projects in foreign countries are for the most part managed by TİKA. Full transcript can be read here.

'Islamist Dictator' Erdogan’s fifth column in Europe.

'Islamist Dictator' Erdogan’s fifth column in Europe. (TurkishMinute). By Abdullah Bozkurt.

The plain, simple and bitter truth is that Turkey’s Islamist rulers have supported and maintained parallel networks in Europe, thrown political, diplomatic and financial support to front NGOs whose role is to promote hatred, run an intimidation campaign and curtail free speech in European nations that are home to large Turkish and Muslim expat communities.

Delivering a very passionate speech last month at the European Parliament, Guy Verhofstadt, President of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, called this as fifth column that is being operated by the cronies of autocrat president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to undermine Europe within. He called on lawmakers to fight for European values, send a strong message to Erdoğan by freezing the accession talks with Turkey, which will most likely threaten this autocrat’s economic lifeline.

Turkey’s top Islamist has been secretly organizing clandestine networks in Europe to extend his influence and to create a network of supporters among Turkish and Muslim communities (especially from Egypt, Syria, Somalia and Balkans) that could be called to serve for political goals of Erdoğan. Just last week, we have seen how this network was mobilized by Erdoğan in Germany, Belgium, Austria and Luxembourg where crowds gathered to show their support to this autocrat’s goals.

The heavyweights in Erdoğan’s fifth column in Europe is three major organizations that were set up on political and religious grounds to cater different consistencies. 

The easiest way to discern the pattern among these NGOs and Erdoğan’s political machinations is by looking how they quickly pile on when Erdoğan wanted. The first organization is the Union of European Turkish Democrats (UETD), founded in Germany in 2004 but later expanded to other European countries France, Belgium, Austria, Netherlands and the UK. It has been totally transformed an Islamist grass root base for Erdoğan. The organization, working closely with Turkish embassies, is important vehicle in delivering results for Erdoğan from get-out-to-vote campaigns to lobbying activities in European capitals.

While the UETD focuses exclusively on Turkish expat communities, the Union of the NGOs of the Islamic World (UNIW), another NGO set up by Turkish Islamist rulers in 2005, actively works among Muslim communities in Europe and other continents. Among its members include controversial charity groups such as International Humanitarian Relief (IHH), accused of arms smuggling to rebels in Syria, and Ensar Foundation that was involved in a rape spree of dozens of children in the conservative Turkish district Karaman. Erdoğan orchestrated the cover up of criminal investigations into both and protected them from prosecutions. The UNIW has been running various schemes in Europe link up with Muslim groups in order to secure their loyalty to the undeclared Caliph Erdoğan.

The leaked emails of Erdoğan’s son-in-law Berat Albayrak, authenticated inadvertently by a court complaint, revealed that both UETD and UNIW have worked together in Europe to promote goals set up by Erdoğan family.

In a 19-page report, Emanet, who is now advisor to energy minister Albayrak, said UETD must be overhauled to better realign with the Islamist government’s goals and suggested that the Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (DİTİB), the wealthy organization that is run by Imams sent by Turkish government to Europe.

With its control of so many mosques in Europe and huge financial resources at its disposal, DİTİB presents serious challenges before integration policies of all European countries that host sizable Turkish communities.

As a result, Turkey’s autocratic president has not only migrants to mobilize in order to destabilize Europe but also an Islamist fifth column in the heart of Europe to march forward when the time comes. The militant religious networks are already mushrooming in Europe on fertile ground provided by this fifth column’s clandestine activities. Read the full story here.

UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment, on the visit to Turkey

Colonel Kizilaslan was found dead in his prison cell this morning. 22nd such death after the coup. pic.twitter.com/NwWq17GwAn

— Mahir Zeynalov (@MahirZeynalov) November 5, 2016

UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment, on the visit to Turkey.

II. Preliminary findings.

Given the limited duration of my stay in the country, and the limited number of detention places and inmates visited, the observations I am presenting today are preliminary and non-exhaustive. Based on the information collected during my mission, I will draft a more comprehensive and updated report that will be presented to the United Nations Human Rights Council in March 2018.

During our meetings with the authorities, all officials of the judicial, legislative and executive branches of the State emphasized their commitment to Turkey’s “zero tolerance” policy on torture. At no point did any official at any level in the hierarchy challenge the absolute and non-derogable prohibition, or suggest any exceptions or interpretations inconsistent with international law.

2. Disconnect between policy and reality.

However, during my interactions with inmates, lawyers and civil society representatives, I also received persistent allegations suggesting a serious discrepancy between the legal and procedural safeguards put in place and their actual implementation as far as the investigation of alleged violations is concerned. Based on my preliminary assessment, this discrepancy seems to be the result of several coinciding factors:

• The sweeping security measures taken by the Government in response to the failed coup of 15 July 2016 seem to have resulted in a general sense of intimidation and distrust in many segments of the population, preventing not only inmates and their families, but also civil society, lawyers, and doctors from initiating or participating in any procedure that may be perceived – rightly or wrongly - as opposing or criticizing the Government and its officials.
• Some recently passed legislation and statutory decrees have created an environment conducive to torture and other forms of ill-treatment, including:
  • the extension of the period of custody without judicial review to 30 days;
  • the extension of the period without access to a lawyer to five days;
  • the denial of confidential exchange between inmates suspected of terrorist crimes and their lawyers;
  • the introduction of immunity from criminal prosecution for forces conducting counter-terrorist operations in the Southeast.
• As a consequence of the recent dismissals of thousands of judges, prosecutors and other officials, the case-load of individual complaints cannot be processed in a timely manner.
• Due to these dismissals and other delays caused in administrative appointment processes, the National Human Rights and Equality Institution, which according to Turkish domestic law is also to exercise the function of the National Preventive Mechanism foreseen in OPCAT, currently cannot assume its decisive preventative role of carrying out regular, independent and objective inspections of all places of detention in Turkey.

For certain phases of detention, we also received numerous allegations of torture and other ill-treatment following the patterns outlined below. The forensic expert who accompanied me throughout the visit, conducted a number of medical examinations of inmates, some of which confirmed physical injuries consistent with the testimonies we received.

3. Post-Coup Arrests.

After the state of emergency was declared in the immediate aftermath of the attempted coup of 15 July 2016, mass arrests of individuals suspected to be associated with the Gulenist movement (labelled by the Government as “Fethullahist Terrorist Organisation”, FETÖ) were conducted.

Testimonies received from inmates and their lawyers suggest that, in the days and weeks following the failed coup, torture and other forms of ill-treatment were widespread, particularly at the time of the arrest by police and gendarmerie officials or military forces and subsequent detention in police or gendarmerie lock-ups as well as in unofficial detention locations.

Many of my interlocutors reported that law enforcement officials felt free to harass, intimidate and insult anyone perceived as opposing the Government or its authority, in all impunity. After this initial phase marked by arbitrariness, however, the ill-treatment appears to have ceased. Apart from occasional verbal threats, my team received no allegations and collected no evidence of currently ongoing torture or ill-treatment with respect to those inmates, male or female, who were arrested for reasons related to the attempted coup.

The majority of those reporting previously to have been subjected to torture or ill-treatment said that they did not file complaints to the authorities for fear of retaliation against them or their families and because of a deep distrust in the independence of the prosecution and the judiciary and, consequently, in their willingness or ability to adequately investigate and adjudicate their claims. Upon my request, the Turkish authorities agreed to provide statistical data on individual complaints filed for alleged torture or other forms of ill-treatment.

While I have not yet received and analysed all the data requested, preliminary information gathered seems to suggest that the small number of investigations carried out by the authorities so far is grossly disproportionate to the alleged frequency of violations.

As noted above, the dismissals, the related arrests and other sweeping security measures taken by the Government in response to the failed coup of 15 July seem to have resulted in a general sense of intimidation and distrust in many if not most segments of the population, discouraging not only inmates and their families, but also civil society, lawyers, and medical doctors from initiating or participating in any procedure that may be perceived – rightly or wrongly - as opposing or criticizing the Government and its officials.

As a result, allegations of torture and other forms of ill-treatment related to the failed coup have not been effectively investigated. Read the full report here.

‘Police chiefs interrogated under influence of drugs, torture,’ tweets lawyer || https://t.co/J7yYAsJVPj pic.twitter.com/133QRppmDe

— Turkey Purge (@TurkeyPurge) December 4, 2016

“Dancing with death in Mosul” Consequences of Turkey’s Claim on Mosul: Iranian Parliamentarians.

“Dancing with death in Mosul” Consequences of Turkey’s Claim on Mosul: Iranian Parliamentarians. (IFPnews).

“Dancing with death in Mosul”, “Erdogan’s dizziness in the Middle East equation” and “reopening old wounds by the fantasy of the Ottoman Empire”; these are part of the remarks made by a number of Iranian MPs about Turkey’s paradoxical behaviour in dealing with Takfiri [extremist] terrorism.

Iranian Parliament member, Seyyed Mohammad Javad Abtahi pointed to the formation of ISIS and Turkey’s recent actions and said, “The US had plans to create a country from Mosul to Aleppo; however, their plot began to fall apart thanks to the achievements of Syrian and Iraqi armies, Popular Mobilization Forces and the Russia–Syria–Iran–Iraq coalition.”

He added that Americans claim their share of Mosul operation because Washington, with the aid of Saudis’ media outlets, has shown a strong inclination to introduce itself as the saviour of Iraq, especially to the Sunni Muslims.

Abtahi appreciated the attempts made by Iraqi Prime Minister to preserve the territorial integrity of his country and said, “The ideology of reviving the decaying Ottoman Empire will breed undesired consequences.”

“Raising the claim that Mosul historically belongs to Turkey is pretty dangerous and can create new tensions between the countries in the Middle East,” Abtahi warned.


He stressed that Mosul operation progressed faster than expectations and noted, “Saudi media try to question the achievements of Mosul operation; however, the point is that Baghdad never carries out military operations on an impulse.”

Javad Karimi Qoddousi, another Iranian parliamentarian, said that Turkey seems to be puzzled by the Middle East equations; its behaviour is mingled with paradox and lacks a clear strategy.
“Ankara used to take steps circumspectly but today, it has become an impulsive Turkey making rash decisions,” he added.

Another MP Jahanbakhsh Mohebbinia, on the other hand, said that the fantasy of reviving the Ottoman Empire has wasted a colossal amount of Turkey’s social, financial and security assets.

“Ankara’s violation of Iraq’s territorial integrity is actually playing with fire and its flames will blow back to Turkey’s face,” he stressed.

Lawmaker Gholam-Ali Jafarzadeh referred to Ankara’s interactions with and its aids to ISIS and noted, “Turkey is now paying the price by grappling with terrorist operations and insecurity within its borders.”

Jafarzadeh stressed that Ankara is actually reopening old wounds by claiming that Mosul historically belongs to Turkey.


“The Islamic Republic of Iran has never had any intentions for seizing other countries’ resources and it has always worked as a surgeon trying to remove the cancerous ISIS,” he said.  Hmmm.....Iran just saying 'Make my day'....... Do you feel lucky punk? Update:

Barzani office:"we r not entitled 2conclude deals on Iraq sovereignty or defense matters.Only Baghdad is". @Hayder_alKhoei @odriscoll_dylan

— Elijah J. Magnier (@EjmAlrai) November 2, 2016