Video - Undated video shows Turkish border guards assaulting a Syrian Kurdish refugee at N Syria border.

GRAPHIC CONTENT | Undated video posted online shows #Turkish border guards brutally torturing a #Syrian Kurdish refugee at N #Syria borders: pic.twitter.com/ukLjxNNmdN

— Rojava Defense Units (@DefenseUnits) December 14, 2016

Moscow calls on Turkey to prove Russia supplied arms to Kurdistan Workers’ Party

Moscow calls on Turkey to prove Russia supplied arms to Kurdistan Workers’ Party. (Tass).

Turkey should prove its claims that Moscow allegedly supplies weapons to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, Russian president’s special envoy for the Middle East and Africa, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told journalists on Monday.

"When somebody alleges anything, he must present the evidence," he said, answering a corresponding question.

Earlier on Monday, Turkish President Tayyip Recep Erdogan accused Moscow of attempts to supply air defense systems to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party that is outlawed in Turkey.

According to the diplomat, Turkey has no legal grounds to take part in an antiterrorist operation in Syria jointly with the United States.

"On what grounds?" he said, answering a corresponding question. "It’s interference in the affairs of sovereign states."

'Visa-Free Regime With 'Islamist' Turkey May Increase Terrorist Risk in EU': EU Report.

'Visa-Free Regime With 'Islamist' Turkey May Increase Terrorist Risk in EU': EU Report. (SP).

The proposed visa liberalization for Turkish citizens travelling to the EU could potentially have an impact on the terrorist risk in the EU in as far as the movement of terrorists of Turkish citizenship to and from the Schengen area is concerned, an extract from the report, seen by The Telegraph newspaper, reads.


Criminals could also take advantage of the unrestricted entry to the European Union to pursue their own goals, including through drug trafficking, importing illegal firearms and people smuggling into Europe, the report revealed.

"It can be expected that, as soon as Turkish citizens will obtain visa-free entry to the EU, foreign nationals will start trying to obtain Turkish passports in order to pretend to be Turkish citizens and enter the EU visa free, or use the identities of Turkish citizens, or to obtain by fraud the Turkish citizenship. This possibility may attract not only irregular migrants, but also criminals or terrorists," the report stressed.

Turkey is yet to meet five out of the 72 total requirements, notably those related to data protection and anti-terrorism laws, among other issues. Hmmm......Giving Turkey visa free travel is pure madness. Read the full story here

Related: 

Theresa May says UK may block Turkey & Balkans EU membership!

Turkish 'prosecutors' bring no charges against Celik for Russian pilot’s murder.

Turkish 'prosecutors' bring no charges against Celik for Russian pilot’s murder.(Tass).

Prosecutors in the Turkish town of Izmir are studying the evidence to prove that Turkish ultranationalist Alparslan Celik is guilty of murdering Russian pilot Oleg Peshkov but have brought no official charge so far, Celik's lawyer Murat Ustundag told TASS on Friday.

"I have not received any official notification from the Prosecutors’ Office if official charges have been brought against my client or dropped. The prosecutors have not initiated any court proceedings against Celik on either of the charges. For the moment, the investigators are studying the existing evidence, including the Russian pilot episode, to decide if it can serve as ground for initiating criminal proceedings," Ustundag said adding that he and his colleagues were still waiting for the prosecutors’ decision.

"If the prosecutor’s office considers the existing evidence to be sufficient, it will open a criminal case. We have received no official notification to this effect so far," Ustundag said.

Some media reports which appeared earlier on Friday claimed that the prosecutors had cleaned Celik from a charge of murdering the Russian pilot.

Police arrested ultranationalist Alparslan Celik and another 14 suspects at an Izmir restaurant on March 30. The policemen took away several unregistered tommy-guns, a rifle and pistols from the suspects some of whom had recently returned from Syria where they had fought on the side of the militants. The local media distributed Celik’s confession in which he said it was he who killed Oleg Peshkov, the pilot of the downed Su-24 plane. However, the Turk changed his evidence when in custody. He said he was not personally involved in shooting at the Russian pilot and had never issued such orders.

A Turkish Air Force plane shot down a Su-24 Russian bomber on November 24 last year. The Ankara government claims that the plane violated the Turkish airspace. The Russian Defense Ministry says, in turn, that the Su-24 was in the sky over Syria. The crew ejected but one of the pilots, Oleg Peshkov, was killed by fire from the ground while he was descending on his parachute. The second pilot was saved and taken to a military base. Hmmm......I said a month ago that he wouldn't be charged......Anyone Surprised?

Turkmen Alparslan Celik alleged killer of Russian Su-24 pilot not to be charged for Murder. https://t.co/IlpREC4LQA pic.twitter.com/8UIJ0eTXWw

— MFS - The Other News (@MFS001) April 4, 2016

I used to think I couldn’t be affected by Turkey’s shrinking press freedom. Boy oh boy was i wrong.

Source Quote Bloomberg Here.

I used to think I couldn’t be affected by Turkey’s shrinking press freedom. Boy oh boy was i wrong. (Foreignpolicy). By David Lepeska .

Last week, Turkey added my name to the 'Persona Non grata' list. 

I should be clear: I was not deported, nor was I banned from the country. Upon arriving at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport, I was stopped and asked to await word from Ankara on whether I would be allowed to enter the country. After almost 20 hours, I decided to continue my vigil somewhere other than the airport’s immigration waiting area and took a flight to Chicago. Today, I am still awaiting word from Ankara. The government has given me no confirmation of the ban and no reason for denying my entry.

Already, I’m no longer the most recent victim. Last Wednesday, the government accused a Finnish writer living in eastern Van province of “spy activities” and deported her.

The boundaries of expression in Turkey appear to be shrinking by the day. A veteran journalist friend says he’s reminded of Iran in the early 1980s, when the still new Islamic regime strengthened its position with great purges of critics. Hmmm....“Withholding information is the essence of tyranny. Control of the flow of information is the tool of the dictatorship.” ― Bruce Coville. Read the full story here.

EU hopes to grant Turkey visa-free travel in migrant deal, but the U.K might Veto this 'madness'.

EU hopes to grant Turkey visa-free travel in migrant deal, but the U.K might Veto this 'madness'. (AA).

The European Union is set to give conditional approval on Wednesday for Turks to gain visa-free access to the Schengen zone, meeting a key demand by Ankara to keep a migrant crisis deal alive.
The European Commission, the executive arm of the 28-nation EU, will say Turkey must still meet further measures to access the passportless Schengen area without visas by June, sources told AFP on Tuesday.

Ankara has demanded that the visa requirement be scrapped in exchange for taking back migrants who land in Greece under a seal signed in March, but there are still widespread concerns among EU states, especially over human rights issues in Turkey.

"The Commission will put forward a plan to include Turkey in the list of countries exempted from visas," a European source told AFP, adding that "only 64 out of the 72 criteria are fulfilled" and that the offer, therefore, remains conditional.

Turkey has to meet a list of 72 criteria – ranging from biometric passports to respect for human rights – that were set when Brussels and Ankara first talked about 90-day visa-free travel to the Schengen area.

EU member states and the European Parliament must still approve the Turkey visa plan after it clears the Commission, which is by no means a foregone conclusion.

Germany and France have proposed an emergency brake or "snap back mechanism" under which it could halt visa-free travel if large numbers of Turks stay in the EU illegally or if there are a large number of asylum applications by Turks.

Even politicians in favor of EU membership, such as Home Secretary Theresa May,have signalled that further enlargement needs to be reconsidered for countries with "poor populations and serious problems with organised crime, corruption and sometimes even terrorism".

Ministers have emphasised that the UK has the right of veto over future prospective members, while insisting the talks with Turkey and other countries are unlikely to be rushed and, as such, the issue will not come to a head for a while.

Theresa May says UK may block Turkey & Balkans EU membership!

Last month, George Osborne said a Turkish agreement was "not on the cards any time soon" and insisted the UK would not allow any free movement deal with countries which weren't closely aligned in terms of size and prosperity . Hmmm.....Once again the U.K. can make the difference and stand for freedom.

German plot to keep EU army a SECRET till June 23 EXPOSED as plans drawn up in Berlin.

The blind leading the blind.

German plot to keep EU army a SECRET till June 23 EXPOSED as plans drawn up in Berlin. (Express).

Along with judicial, tax and immigration issues, a Euro-army has for long been one of the main irritants of anti-EU campaigners. 

The fact that Germany - the powerhouse of the project - is mooting one so close to the referendum on whether Britain stays or goes is seen as madness by politicians fighting to keep the UK within the group.

Now a white paper has been drawn up by Berlin. Media reports suggest that the Germans wanted to keep its proposals secret until after the June 23 plebiscite but it has now been leaked.

The paper outlines steps to "gradually co-ordinate Europe's patchwork of national militaries and launch permanent cooperation under common structures among the member states."

The initiatives proposed includes strengthening cyberwarfare abilities and relaxing Germany's self-imposed restrictions about deploying troops in peacetime within the country.  This was brought in after 1945 when Nazism was crushed and Germans turned away from militarism.

The draft proposal seeks to end the ban noting the "character and dynamic of current and future security-political threats."  This includes deep-rooted fears in Germany that it could suffer a Paris-style terror strike any time soon.

"German security policy has relevance — also for beyond our country. Germany is willing to join early, decisively and substantially as a driving force in international debates ... to take responsibility and assume leadership," the white paper says.

Moscow’s suspicions of such a move will be compounded by Juncker’s specific statement that forming such a body would make clear to Russia that the EU is “serious about upholding the value of the European Union”.

Juncker insisted the force would not be in competition with Nato, the 28-member alliance which includes most but not all EU countries and which the UK views as the bedrock of western defence cooperation.

“Rather a European army would bring an intensive cooperation in the development and the purchase of military equipment and bring substantial savings,” he added. Read the full story here.

RELATED! 

'Islamist' Sometimes NATO Ally Turkey wants to lead high-level NATO task force in 2021.

Islamist Jihadis 'Traveling on Fake Passports from Bulgaria'

Islamist Jihadis 'Traveling on Fake Passports from Bulgaria'. (Novinite).

A number of Bulgarian-made fake passports with Schengen visas were found in the belongings of jihadist fighters that had been operating in Southern Italy, a local daily says.

A jihadist cell made up mostly of Iraqis and Iranians intended on using the documents to cross into Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and Norway, Sole 24 ore reports citing Italian anti-terror officials.

Authorities intercepted a phone conversation between two jihadists arranging the details of the delivery of 4 fake passports produced in Bulgaria and worth EUR 300 each.

Investigators say in the call between Ali Awat Mahmod and Abdul Rahman Nauroz, the latter said two suspected Ansar Al Islam members were ready to take "7 doves" ("dove" is used as a synonym of "falsified documents").

After Russia now the Dutch FM warns no safety 'guarantees' for visitors to 'Islamist' Turkey.

 Erdogan in his younger years, dreaming of Conquest? 2008 Source here.

After Russia now the Dutch FM warns no safety 'guarantees' for visitors to 'Islamist' Turkey. (F24).

 Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders has warned the Netherlands cannot guarantee the safety of citizens travelling to Turkey if they have been critical of Turkish leaders.

The warning, made during a parliamentary debate on Tuesday, comes as the Dutch government is working to lift a travel ban on Dutch-Turkish journalist Ebru Umar who was briefly arrested over the weekend for tweeting comments critical of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

But asked Tuesday in the Dutch parliament if he could provide guarantees for Dutch or Dutch-Turkish citizens travelling to Turkey on holiday who may have criticised Erdogan on social media, he said "no".

"There are no guarantees," Koenders insisted. "We have just had a case showing exactly what can happen. That is why we are working on it. But I cannot give any guarantees."

He also delivered a sharp warning to Turkey that "if it wants to step closer to Europe, it must significantly improve its behaviour."

"Let's be honest. You can't treat the press and press freedom this way, if you want to be part of Europe."

Headline : Afraid of Turks.

On Monday, the daily De Telegraaf published a large front page cartoon entitled "The long arm of Erdogan" depicting an ape with the Turkish leader's face crushing a woman resembling Umar.

Trials in Turkey for insulting Erdogan have multiplied since his election to the presidency in August 2014, with nearly 2,000 such cases currently open.

(In Dutch the expression 'De Apen Rots' (Monkey Rock) means the rock of power, the political hierarchy.) Read the full story here.

Turkish 'Islamist' police disperse pro-secularism rally protesting suggested religious constitution.

Turkish 'Islamist' police disperse pro-secularism rally protesting suggested religious constitution. (RT).

Turkish police used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse a rally of people, who protested a call for the country to adopt a religious constitution.

The small crowd of some 100 people came to the parliament building in Ankara on Tuesday after its speaker Ismail Kahraman said the new Turkish constitution, which is currently being developed, should not have any references to secularism.

The group chanted the slogan "Turkey will remain secular" in support of one of the founding principles of modern Turkey.


The police broke up the gathering and prevented the protesters from speaking to the press, AFP reported. Some people were arrested.

A similar protest in the coastal city of Izmir, one of Turkey's most secular cities, ended with police intervention too.

The controversial suggestion was publicly rejected by some senior officials of the ruling AKP party. President Tayyip Erdogan defended secularism by saying that the Turkish state should “have an equal distance from all religious faiths” while the head of the constitutional committee said no plans were made to drop secularism out of the draft.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu reassured the Turkish people on Wednesday that the constitution would remain secular. Hmmm........Sure just testing the waters ? Read the full story here.

Turkey has become such a thorny issue, that its prospects of joining the EU are receding.

Turkey has become such a thorny issue, that its prospects of joining the EU are receding. (BBC).

                              EU referendum: Will Turkey's EU hopes affect UK vote?

The question of whether Turkey and six Balkan countries will join the European Union and, if so, what it will mean for the UK has become a live issue in the EU referendum campaign.

Campaigners wanting to leave the EU say such a further enlargement could result in a migration "free-for-all" and pose a "serious and direct threat" to UK public services. Is there any truth in this?

Nothing will happen for at least three years, because European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker imposed a five-year moratorium on enlargement in 2014.

Seasoned EU-watchers say Montenegro and Serbia are, to coin a phrase, at the front of the queue, while there are major hurdles to overcome with Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo and Macedonia.

As for Turkey, the challenges it faces in meeting the membership criteria are so big, and it has become such a thorny issue, that its prospects are receding.

In short, yes. Turkey has a customs union with the EU, but its troubled relations with the Republic of Cyprus have always been a unique stumbling block - a situation exacerbated by Cyprus' own admission to the EU in 2004.

Turkey would also be the first country with a majority Muslim population to join the EU, in itself a major development.

Some see a future advantage for Europe if many young Turkish workers fill jobs, as ageing populations cause the labour force to shrink.

But the migrant crisis, caused by the five-year civil war in Syria, has fueled doubts among those EU politicians who, in principle, have always been in favor of letting Turkey in.

More than two million Syrian refugees have fled to Turkey, a country which already had a population of nearly 76 million.

EU leaders are desperate to uphold free movement rules, enshrining the right of any EU national to live and work elsewhere in the union. They are nervous that admitting a country of Turkey's size could make this untenable.

Under a recent agreement with Turkey to curb the migrant influx to Greece, the EU undertook to "re-energise" the stalled accession talks.

But there are major concerns about Turkish human rights violations, including curbs on the media and rule of law - all key issues when judging a country's fitness to join the EU.

At the same time, economic hardship, Islamist terror and the migrant crisis have fuelled a nationalist backlash in much of Europe, often expressed as hostility to Islam.

Even politicians in favour of EU membership, such as Home Secretary Theresa May, have signalled that further enlargement needs to be reconsidered for countries with "poor populations and serious problems with organised crime, corruption and sometimes even terrorism".

Ministers have emphasised that the UK has the right of veto over future prospective members, while insisting the talks with Turkey and other countries are unlikely to be rushed and, as such, the issue will not come to a head for a while.

Last month, George Osborne said a Turkish agreement was "not on the cards any time soon" and insisted the UK would not allow any free movement deal with countries which weren't closely aligned in terms of size and prosperity.

Hmmm......Thank God for Churchill, 'we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender'.Read the full story here.

Related:

  Theresa May says UK may block Turkey & Balkans EU membership!

Visa liberalization for 'Islamist' Turkey only when all prerequisites are met, says EU Commission.

Visa liberalization for 'Islamist' Turkey only when all prerequisites are met, says EU Commission.(Cyprusmail).

VISA liberalisation will be granted to Turkey only when all 72 legislative prerequisites are fulfilled, including Ankara’s Cyprus-related obligations, European Commission Chief Spokesperson Margaritis Schinas said on Tuesday.

Speaking at the daily briefing in Brussels, and clarifying reported “ambiguity” during the past few days, Schinas said the European Commission would examine the situation, in accordance with the College of Commissioners schedule, but has no intention to make any “discounts”.

An EC source, speaking exclusively to CNA, later explained that “there is absolutely no possible way for Turkey to legislate, ignoring the Cyprus related obligations” and pointed out that all these issues were absolutely clear since yesterday, when the visa liberalisation report came out.

Moreover, another European Commission spokesperson Maja Kocijancic said during the same briefing that the visit of Pierre Moscovici, European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, to Turkey had nothing to do with the opening of Chapter 33 on the budget and economic policy, the preparation of which is already done and is still up to date.

The spokesperson pointed out that the schedule which has been decided is to convene an intergovernmental conference in June, during the last days of the Dutch Presidency and open the chapter there.

On Wednesday the first Vice-President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans will inform the College of Commissioners about his joint trip to Gaziantep, together with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Council President Donald Tusk.


On Tuesday, the issue of the agreement with Turkey was also on the agenda of a working lunch of the European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker with the President of the Council and the President of the European Parliament. (CNA)

ISIS allegedly Transported Oil from Syria’s Oil Field to 'Sometimes U.S. & NATO ally' Turkey: Report.

ISIS allegedly Transported Oil from Syria’s Oil Field to 'Sometimes U.S. & NATO ally' Turkey: Report.  (Alwaght).

ISIS terrorist group has reportedly transported oil from Syria's Jabisah oil field to Turkey via its stronghold, Raqqa.

Recently liberated from ISIS, Jabisah oil field and facility, located near the town of Shaddadi in northern Hasaka province, was a major source of funding for the extremist group.

RT Arabic cited  people living near the oil field as saying that the terrorists had been transporting oil from the facility first to their de facto capital Raqqa and then to Turkey.

Ghazi Hussein, a resident of Hasakah province, who witnessed the terrorists having Jabisah under their control, told RT ISIS terrorists were transferring oil to their stronghold in Raqqa and then to neighboring Turkey through the Tell Abyad checkpoint on the Turkish-Syrian border.

“Then they sold it [oil] to Turkey in exchange for dollars and weapons,” Hussein said, adding that Syrian historical artefacts were also smuggled to Turkey.

“All the tankers were from Iraq. They were filled with Syrian oil. The oil was taken to Raqqa and then to Turkey,” another resident of Hasakah province, Amir Al Hajj, told RT Arabic.

The jihadists used hundreds of oil tankers they obtained after capturing the Iraqi city of Mosul to transport the illegal oil, the locals say.

One of the largest oil fields in Syria, Jabisah is capable of producing 2.2 million cubic meters of gas and 80,000 barrels of crude oil a day.

Late in 2015, the Russian military released a batch of evidence, including satellite images of columns of oil tanker trucks moving into Turkey from the areas controlled by the ISIS in Syria.

Theresa May says UK may block Turkey & Balkans EU membership!

Theresa May says UK may block Turkey & Balkans EU membership! (ConservativesHome).

It is time to question some of the traditional British assumptions about our engagement with the EU.  Do we stop the EU going in the wrong direction by shouting on the sidelines, or by leading and making the case for taking Europe in a better direction?  

And do we really still think it is in our interests to support automatically and unconditionally the EU’s further expansion?  

The states now negotiating to join the EU include Albania, Serbia and Turkey – countries with poor populations and serious problems with organised crime, corruption, and sometimes even terrorism.  

We have to ask ourselves, is it really right that the EU should just continue to expand, conferring upon all new member states all the rights of membership?  

Do we really think now is the time to contemplate a land border between the EU and countries like Iran, Iraq and Syria?  Having agreed the end of the European principle of “ever closer union”, it is time to question the principle of ever wider expansion. Hmmm..........Make your choice gentlemen ...Them or Us. Full speech can be read here

Insulting remarks against academics within limits of free speech, Erdogan says.

Insulting remarks against academics within limits of free speech, Erdogan says. (TurkishMinute).

Erdogan, calling academics "immoral, vile, disgusting", said it was freedom of expression in his court plea.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan who used apparently heavily insulting words targeting academics who signed a peace declaration earlier this year said in his plea made to the court that his remarks were within limits of the freedom of speech, according to a story in the Cumhuriyet daily on Monday.

Erdoğan’s plea was made to the court by one of his lawyers, Hüseyin Aydın, after retired Professor Baskın Oran filed a TL10,000 compensation last month against the president for non-pecuniary damages due to his remarks targeting the academics in four separate speeches.

In one speech back then, Erdoğan accused the academics of being a fifth column of foreign power destined to undermine Turkey’s national security. He also used many apparently insulting words for the academics such as “immoral, vile, disgusting, ignorant and traitor.”

In his plea, Erdoğan cited examples from the rulings of the Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights concerning freedom of expression and freedom of thought.

The president said freedom of expression also applies to aggressive, shocking and disturbing ideas and information for the state or a part of the society and it is impossible to be a democratic society without freedom of expression.

Given the fact that Erdoğan has filed around 2,000 cases against individuals on charges of insulting president since he was elected to presidency in August 2014, many found his reference to freedom of expression contradictory with the fact that he took so many legal action against people simply because of their critical views about Erdoğan.

Video - Donald Tusk: "No One has the right to lecture Turkey, What you should to do'.

Quote starts at 1,27.

Dutch columnist arrested in 'Islamist Dictatorship' Turkey because of Erdogan critical tweets.

Last sentence:
'They whisper i will remain in Custody'

Dutch columnist arrested in 'Islamist' Turkey because of Erdogan critical tweets. (HLN). [GoogleTranslated].

UPDATE!

@umarebru Has been released, but can not leave #Turkey, more updates to come. https://t.co/vvgIR1GoCo

— MFS - The Other News (@MFS001) April 24, 2016

@umarebru well we will See ! enjoy the Last Hours i called the Police because of your Tweets Nobody can say Sommehing about our flag and pr

— Enfal (@jitemdiaspora) April 23, 2016

"Ebru Umar, the Dutch columnist of Turkish descent, has been arrested by Turkish police in her house in Kusadasi. She said that herself on Twitter, and later confirmed that to The Post Online by phone.

"It is now clear to me that I have been arrested because of several tweets about president Erdogan", she said to the site. The department of foreign affairs says it knows about the case. The embassy in Ankara has been notified and is working on it.

Umar wrote a critical piece last week in Metro about the call of the Turkish consulate to notify them about Dutch insults to president Erdogan.

She remarked: 'Against any Turkish Dutchman who supports the call by the consulate and wants to play NSBer by telling the Dutch in the Netherlands what to say about Erdogan - the most megalomaniacal dictator the Turkish republic has known since its establishment in 1923 - I'd like to say the following: go fuck yourself!'

Yesterday evening she wrote on Twitter : 'there is now a stool pigeon tel line so go ahead', I'm tired and hot i'm going to bed.

luistert gekkies. er is een erdogankliklijn leef je uit. Ik ga slapen. zit in Turkije he? warm en moe. HIER! Satire! https://t.co/e2gObqpbwM

— Ebru Umar (@umarebru) April 23, 2016

MP Raymond Knops (CDA) nearly immediately responded on Twitter. He wants clarification from Foreign Minister Bert Koenders as fast as possible. MP for the VDD Hans ten Broeke has asked question to parliament"

I AM NOT FREE. I MUST GO WITH THE POLICE TO THE HOSPITAL

— Ebru Umar (@umarebru) April 23, 2016

"I am now behind a locked gate at the police station," Umar tells Metro. "I had to go to the police. At first I had to go to the hospital. That has to prove that you are not mistreated. But apparently there entered something into effect, because I have not been to the hospital. I can at this time really just not thinking clearly. "

" I have been clear by now that I've taken because some tweets about the Turkish President Erdogan, "let the columnist. clearing Dutch politicians seek clarification about the arrest.

Twitter politicians react fiercely, and they call for action. "Keep your Islamofascist paws off our @umarebru  Erdogan, '' Geert Wilders writes (PVV).

CDA MP Raymond Knops wants clarification from Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Minister Bert Koenders of Foreign Affairs He tweets:." Timmermans, Tusk and Merkel visit Turkey, Turkey arrested NL journalist @umarebru at the same time. Want asap explanation MP Rutte / Koenders. 

" Also ask for the Netherlands party for clarification in Rutte and Koenders and calls for" action now "." Come in action @MinPres. Now!

Turkey has approached the Dutch Ambassador in Ankara on statements about the Turkish President Erdogan on social media in the Netherlands. This happened yesterday during the conversation in which the Netherlands objected to the call of the Turkish consulate to report insulting remarks about the Turkish president.

The Turkish authorities pointed to cartoons about President Erdogan on Dutch Facebook page and on Twitter, that would be offensive. Ambassador Van Rij replied that statements on social media in the Netherlands are covered by freedom of expression. Hmmm.....Odds are Great she is the first victim of Erdogan's 'whistle blower' telephone line.

Update: 

#Dutch #Turks celebrating on facebook that journalist @umarebru is arrested in #Turkey. https://t.co/jIoOPqspYF

— MFS - The Other News (@MFS001) April 24, 2016

According to German-TR lawyer & politician @Memet_Kilic TurkishConsulate in EN whistle blower line, violates int law https://t.co/zJniGIiffy

— MFS - The Other News (@MFS001) April 24, 2016

Ebru Umar is a Dutch columnist reportedly just detained in #Turkey. Tweep comments: "Hope they hand her over to #IS" pic.twitter.com/bfLM38Wq15

— IrmakYenisehirlioglu (@Irmak_Ye) April 23, 2016

Video - Qatari Educational Software on Islamic Conquests in Europe

Animated videos posted on the Internet teach children about Islamic conquests in Europe. The videos were produced as educational software for "Boys and Girls," the children's section of the Qatari government-owned Internet portal Islamweb.net.

A large number of the portal's educational videos were posted on various YouTube accounts. One video discusses the conquest of Al-Andalus, which was "in order to spread the light of Islam." "This is how Islam entered Al-Andalus, where it built a great civilization," an animated character says. Another video describes the conquest of Belgrade, "the fortified city that was the pride of Europe." The videos were posted on the Internet in February 2016.

EU 'sold out European security to Turkey' over refugee deal: Hungarian PM Viktor Orban

EU 'sold out to Turkey' over refugee deal: Hungarian PM Viktor Orban. (AA).

The European Union has "sold out to Turkey" in its handling of the refugee crisis and the consequences are "impossible to predict," Hungary's prime minister warned in an interview published Saturday. Viktor Orban launched the salvo in an interview with the German weekly Wirtschaftswoche as German Chancellor Angela Merkel and top EU leaders head to Turkey to boost a migrant deportation deal that has been slow to get off the ground.

With the deal clinched by Brussels and Ankara, largely driven by Merkel, "we have sold out to Turkey. Such a thing is never good," said Orban, who has erected a barbed-wire fence to keep migrants and refugees from crossing into his country.

"The security of the European Union cannot be in the hands of a power outside the EU."

Under the month-old accord, migrants who travel to the Greek islands and whose asylum claims are rejected are being returned to Turkey in return for billions in EU aid.

The EU also promised to resettle one Syrian refugee for every Syrian taken back by Turkey, to grant visa-free travel to Turks within the border-free Schengen Zone and to reassess Ankara's stalled EU membership bid.

Turkey has also demanded an additional three billion euros by 2018 towards hosting migrants on its territory and warned that the deal could fall through if the EU does not allow visa-free travel for Turkish citizens by June.

"We, the members of the EU, have already paid three billion to Turkey, soon we must pay three billion more. Impossible to predict where that will end," said Orban, who had himself supported the deal.

"I supported the Turkish strategy only on the condition that there is also a system of protection on our own borders" in the EU, he said.

Brussels has made a "mistake", he said, by focusing on redistributing the refugees rather than protecting its borders.

Head of Crimea calls Mejilis of Crimean Tatar people semi-criminal clannish structure

Mejilis leader of Crimean Tatar Dzhemilev on the Left of Erdogan

Head of Crimea calls Mejilis of Crimean Tatar people semi-criminal clannish structure. (Tass).

The Mejilis of Crimean Tatar people was a semi-criminal clannish structure, which tried to destroy peace in Crimea, for years, Sergey Aksyonov, the head of Crimea, told TASS on Friday.

"The Mejilis has never been a ‘democratic institution’ as Mr. [John] Kirby [the US State Department spokesman - TASS] has called it. It has always been, including the years of Ukraine’s annexation of Crimea, a very closed, clannish and semi-criminal structure, which serviced political and commercial interests of a narrow circle of individuals," Aksyonov said in response to the US State Department’s calls to life a ban on the Mejilis activities on the peninsula.

"It is not by accident that this ‘democratic institution’ stubbornly refused to get officially registered demonstrably violating the law, including Ukrainian laws. The Mejilis tried to destroy peace and inter-ethnic accord in Crimea for almost 25 years," Aksyonov said.

He described as lies the allegations of Mejilis representatives that they defended the interests of Crimean Tatars. "All their words about protecting the rights of the Crimean Tatar people are the same brazen lie as the words of US officials about the protection of democracy," Aksyonov added. Read the full story here.