Amnesty, HRW, PEN, Article 19 urge Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe to re-open monitoring of Turkey.

Amnesty, HRW, PEN, Article 19 urge Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe to re-open monitoring of Turkey.  (HRW).

Re: Addressing the serious deterioration of human rights in Turkey

Dear Assembly Member,

We are writing, ahead of the spring session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), to call on you to support the recommendation included in the report of the Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee) to reopen the monitoring procedure on the situation in Turkey until the grave concerns raised by the Rapporteurs are duly addressed by the Government of Turkey.

We believe that a decision by PACE to reopen the monitoring procedure would send a strong message to Turkey and indicate a commitment to holding the government and president accountable for their repeated failure to respect their obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights and as a member of the Council of Europe.

Only a decision to reopen full monitoring of the situation in Turkey would acknowledge the grave human rights violations documented in the country in recent years, including the severe restrictions on freedom of expression, association and assembly, the practice of torture and ill-treatment in detention, arbitrary detentions, prosecutions, dismissals, confiscation of passports and property, and continued violence and serious abuses in South East Turkey. It would allow for greater scrutiny by members of the Parliamentary Assembly and create a more appropriate forum to debate the actions the Turkish authorities should take to address the Assembly’s concerns. It would provide a recognition by the Assembly of the rapid deterioration since July 2016 of the functioning of democratic institutions and backsliding on human rights and the rule of law in the country.

Turkey is under a state of emergency imposed after a failed coup last July, allowing President Erdoğan to head the cabinet and rule the country by decree, with weakened parliamentary and judicial oversight.

Independent mainstream media in Turkey have been all but silenced, with over 160 media outlets and publishing houses closed down since July 2016, and around 150 journalists and media workers currently jailed pending trial. Over 100,000 civil servants have been summarily dismissed or suspended without due process and over 47,000 people have been jailed pending trial. They face charges of involvement in the coup plot and of association either with the Fethullah Gülen movement, branded a terrorist organization by the government, or with Kurdish political activism that the government considers is linked to the armed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Among those jailed are the two leaders of the opposition Peoples’ Democracy Party (HDP) and 12 other members of parliament from the party.

Read the full story here.

The number of jailed journalists in Turkey has reached to 235, more than combined numbers for the rest of the world.

The number of jailed journalists in Turkey has reached to 235, more than combined numbers for the rest of the world. (Stockholmcf).

Islamweb.net Issued Fatwa On Hacking Anti-Islam Websites: “It Is A Legitimate And Blessed Act”

Islamweb.net Issued Fatwa On Hacking Anti-Islam Websites: “It Is A Legitimate And Blessed Act” HT :Memri.

Salam alaikum wa rahmatAllah wa barakatuhu, As I often google islamic pictures for my Blog I often see anti-islamic websites, but yesterday I came to a website (http://thereligionofpeace.com/-the politically incorrect truth about islam one really messed up religion) and it is by far the worst and most slanderous website about Islam and Rasul Allah, sal Allahu alayhi wa salam, that I have ever seen. I got very angry about those lies on that website and sent that link to fellow Muslims and asked if they know someone who can bring it down. I do not know if what I did was ok or maybe haram, but what shocked me even more and made me even more angry was, that only one sister also became upset. All the others reacted relaxed and unconcerned, they did not care and said things like "Allah is the Best Planner" and one should be patient. 

On May 22, 2012, Islamweb.net posted Fatwa No. 179907, in response to the question, “I am against hacking and stealing private information from people, but would it be Islamically allowed to hack a website and stop it from spreading lies about Islam, or did I commit a sin and have to repent? Is it okay for a Muslim to not get upset, angry or displeased in any way when seeing such tremendous slander, and is it wrong from my side to become angry and upset?”

The answer given was: “As regards [to] destroying the existing sites on the Internet that are attacking Islam, defaming it, and inventing slanders and lies against it, then this is something required, and it is a legitimate and blessed act.”

Video - Reformist Egyptian Journalist Islam Behery: Al-Azhar Considers Me More Dangerous than ISIS.

Turkey: Emergency Decrees Facilitate Torture! Human rights watch reports.

Turkey: Emergency Decrees Facilitate Torture! Human rights watch reports.  (HRW).

Istanbul – Turkish police have tortured and otherwise ill-treated individuals in their custody after emergency decrees removed crucial safeguards in the wake of a failed coup attempt in July, 2016, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.

The 43-page report, “A Blank Check: Turkey’s Post-Coup Suspension of Safeguards Against Torture,” documents how the weakening of safeguards through decrees adopted under the state of emergency has negatively affected police detention conditions and the rights of detainees.

It details 13 cases of alleged abuse, including stress positions, sleep deprivation, severe beatings, sexual abuse, and rape threats, since the coup attempt.


“By removing safeguards against torture, the Turkish government effectively wrote a blank check to law enforcement agencies to torture and mistreat detainees as they like,” said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia. Read the full report here. Download report PDF 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.

German Police Confirm Protecting TV Host After Satire About Erdogan.

German Police Confirm Protecting TV Host After Satire About Erdogan. (Sputnik).

German ZDF broadcaster's TV host Jan Bohmermann has been provided with police protection after reading a satirical poem about the Turkish president during Neo Magazin Royalе program, a Cologne police spokesman confirmed on Wednesday. On Monday, Erdogan filed a lawsuit against the TV host with the prosecutor of the German city of Mainz.

"We cannot disclose any details out of professional considerations, but it is true, a police car keeps watch near his home. Now we are assessing the whole context of the situation in contact with the secret services, clarifying the details," Christoph Gilles told RIA Novosti.

Gilles did not confirm whether Bohmermann had been actually receiving threats.

Erdogan has filed a criminal complaint against the satirist in a case that has prompted a debate in Germany over freedom of speech.

German prosecutors are investigating whether he broke a law against insulting foreign leaders.

Public broadcaster ZDF announced earlier on Tuesday that his weekly satire programme would not go ahead this week because of the "vast amount of media reporting and the resulting focus on the programme and its presenter".

It was not immediately clear if a concrete threat had been made against Boehmermann but Cologne police told German media: "When you can't rule something out then you have to do something."

Bild website reported that the satirist and his family were apparently facing a threat from supporters of the Turkish president. No request for protection measures had come from the comic but were a result of risk analysis, reports said.

Hannelore Kraft, state premier of North-Rhine Westphalia where the satirist lives, tweeted that freedom of satire was part of German democracy: "This should not be put in doubt. Certainly not through external political pressure."

Mrs Merkel emphasised on Tuesday that the deal with Turkey bore no relation to the legal action facing Jan Boehmermann. "Freedom of the press, opinion and science apply and are completely separate from that," she insisted.

The German chancellor had been expected to visit Turkey in the coming days, to open facilities built for refugees with EU funding. However, her spokesman made clear on Monday that there were no immediate plans for a trip. Hmmmm......Now Germany has it's own Rushdie for insulting the 'Caliph'.

@WashingtonPoint @MFS001 When Erdogan publicly humiliated Israel's former president Peres pic.twitter.com/c55QT170BT

— Eli Tabori (@etabori) April 13, 2016

Activists in #Germany mocking #Erdogan with a poster placed close to embassy of #Turkey in #Berlin https://t.co/69qFDZHUTY

— Capulcu TurkKick (@TurkKick) April 13, 2016

Pod cast: Political correctness may destroy Western civilization.

Political correctness may destroy Western civilization. (INN).

Islam is subtly invadeding the unsuspecting West with the intention to conquer its civilization and replace it by Islam and sharia law.

Jay Shapiro claims that the West refuses to recognize that it is in a war of survival against Islam.

Video - Egyptian-German Scholar Dr. Hamed Abdel-Samad Analyzes "the Birth Defect of Islam"

Video - Egyptian-German Scholar Dr. Hamed Abdel-Samad Analyzes "the Birth Defect of Islam" (MEMRI).

Egyptian-German researcher Dr. Hamed Abdel-Samad published a series of lectures and interviews on his YouTube account under the title “The Box of Islam,” in which he encouraged thinking “out of the box” when analyzing the Islamic religion. In the first two episodes of the series, Dr. Abdel-Samad addressed the early beginnings of Islam, contending that contrary to what is claimed by many liberal researchers of Islam, one must not draw a distinction between Islamic heritage, on the one hand, and the Prophet Muhammad and the Quran. These lectures were posted on the Internet on June 9 and 10, 2015.

800,000 people participate in Grozny rally in support of Kadyrov against cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.

800,000 people participate in Grozny rally in support of Chechen strongman Kadyrov against cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. (Asiaplus).

A huge crowd turned out in Grozny, the capital of Russia’s Chechen Republic yesterday for a demonstration against caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.

Some media sources report that the rally drew 800,000 people.

Many demonstrators held uniform signs featuring a crimson heart with "Muhammad" written in Arabic and the words "We Love Our Prophet" in Chechen, Russian, and English.  Young boys wore baseball caps that also said "Muhammad" in Arabic.  Red balloons sailed into the sky near the huge Grozny mosque.

Speaking at the rally, Chechnya President Ramzan Kadyrov said, “This is a protest against those who try to insult the religious feelings of Muslims all over the world. This is a protest against those who deliberately incite a worldwide fire of religious and ethnic hatred.”

Kadyrov said "Europe has not drawn the right lessons" from the Paris attacks.  “Instead of condemning those who opened fire, and those who with their cartoon were the reason for that, the French authorities organized a street show with slogans in support of the permissiveness that led to the bloodshed.”

“It was attended by presidents, prime ministers, and royals," he said, referring to rallies in France.“This gives us a legal right to say that it is the Western powers and intelligence services that may stand behind the incident with the cartoons, interested in triggering a new wave of ISIL recruits of thousands of deceived young people from around the world,” Kadyrov said.

Other leaders reportedly echoed Kadyrov in speeches to the demonstrators.

“We must tell the whole world: We love the Prophet Muhammad and will not allow anyone to offend the religious sensitivities of Muslims," the Grand Mufti of Russia, Ravil Gainutdin, told the crowd in remarks broadcast live on state TV.

Gainutdin also criticized terrorist attacks carried out by Islamist militants.

Non-Muslim clerics also took part in the rally, and one speaker led a chant of “Muhammad and Jesus!”

“The entire Russian Orthodox Church condemns people who make caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad," said Bishop Varlaam, the regional head of the Russian Orthodox Church.  We...say 'no' to the evil that the West is trying to sow between our religions.”

We will recall that rallies in France drew more than 3 million people on January 11 in a demonstration of solidarity with the victims of the attack on the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo and support for freedom of speech.

Charlie Hebdo reportedly had a history of publishing controversial cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad that angered Muslim leaders in France, the Middle East and other parts of the world.  The magazine for years received threats from social media users because depictions of the prophet are forbidden in Islam.

The preparation of actions in support of Kadyrov in Grozny became known back on January 18, when Igor Kalyapin, the head of the non-profit organization (NPO) "Committee to Prevent Torture" (CPT), informed about it with reference to a resident of Grozny.

"On Friday, Grozny will host a rally in support of Kadyrov. Unfortunately, I'll have to go, otherwise, a dismissal..." Igor Kalyapin quoted a Chechen resident on his page in the Facebook, adding today that teachers and senior pupils were also ordered to appear at the Kadyrov's support rally on January 22.

Video - 'Moderates 101' - TV Host Clashes with Egyptian Atheist Live on the Air: We Don't Want Infidels Here

Video - The case against the Prophet

In his latest book, The Case against Mohammed, Hamed Abdel-Samad presents a fierce assessment of the influence of Mohammed. He portrays the Prophet as an ambivalent personality, with the negatives outweighing the positives. In our DW Interview, Abdel-Samad – himself the son of an Imam – describes why he no longer believes that Islam can be reformed. For more go to http://www.dw.com/en/top-stories/s-9097

Erdogan to international media: Mind your own elections.

Erdogan to international media: Mind your own elections. (TZ).

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has brushed off criticism from international media organizations about an alarming deterioration in media freedom in Turkey ahead of Sunday's parliamentary election, telling them to focus on elections in their own countries.

“What's that to you?” Erdoğan asked as he spoke to reporters in İstanbul on Saturday. “Mind elections in your own countries.”

Erdoğan's remarks came just a day after dozens of editors from world's leading media organizations wrote to Erdoğan expressing "profound concern" regarding the deteriorating conditions for press freedom in Turkey on the eve of the Nov. 1 vote.

The president claimed that the international media organizations act under orders from what he called a “supreme mind” to attack him and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) that he founded.

“You read statements made by some international media organizations against me and a certain party upon orders from a supreme mind. These are very meaningful,” Erdoğan said. Hmmmm........Obama's BFF. Read the full story here.

'Advanced Islamist Dictatorship' Turkey is the state with most requests for content blocks on Twitter.

'Advanced Islamist Dictatorship' Turkey is the state with most requests for content blocks on Twitter. (HD).

A report that was prepared by academics of TOBB University has revealed that Turkey, as a country, requested the most content-blocks from social media website Twitter in 2015.

The report, named Basın Özgürlüğü Raporu (Press Freedom Report), shows the number of requests to block certain content that were sent to Twitter by the Turkish state since 2012. Having sent seven requests in 2012 and nine in 2013, the courts and state institutions in Turkey dramatically increased requests with 663 in 2014 and 718 in the first 6 months of 2015, making Turkey the state with the most requests of content blocks on Twitter.

The Press Freedom Report that was published by the Ankara-based Freedom Research Association (FRA) was prepared by two TOBB members of staff, Dr. Burak Bilgehan and Dr. Başak Yavcan.

The report also mentioned that a total of 392 journalists were sued for insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan over the past year. The report says that certain articles under the anti-terror law and the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) have been used as the basis for pressuring journalists. Read the full story here.

Turkish Whistle blower: "Erdogan's planning coup will rule as Supreme Commander, shall take over Turkish government"

Turkish Whistle blower: "Erdogan's planning coup will rule as Supreme Commander, shall take over Turkish government" (Bugun).

Having made it no secret his intention to transform Turkey so he can wield absolute authority with no checks and balances, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has allegedly begun the final push to implement a “palace coup” and wrest control of the Turkish government from its parliament.

“Erdoğan is playing his final hand to bring about the palace coup he has been planning for a long time. His plans have been swiftly put into action,” wrote government whistleblower and Twitter phenomenon Fuat Avni Wednesday morning.

Fuat Avni has been a thorn in the side of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Justice and Development Party (AK Party) for the past two years, having correctly revealed many of their top secret plans.

“The National Intelligence Agency (MİT) law and other similar legislation have already prepared the foundation. He’s establishing a state within a state. The armed force he needs for the coup, he plans to draw from his own special forces and the police,” said Avni.

Critics have often accused the AK Party of politicizing the police force through selective examinations, ideological appointments and purges.

Fuat Avni points out that alternative institutions have been molded so as to support such a palace coup, most notably the intelligence, security and judicial apparatuses. “Cliques bound to Erdoğan's inner circle have already been established within the National Intelligence Agency (MİT), the police and the judiciary.”

“Having tried every other method to realize a palace coup, Erdoğan's current agenda is no longer to be made executive president, but rather Supreme Commander,” Avni added.

Avni said that Erdoğan has dismissed warnings from his inner circle that the Turkish military – which has always played a major role in civilian politics, even enacting multiple coups – might object to an AK Party takeover. “Up till now they have always gotten whatever they wanted. That era is over. Now it's our turn,” Erdoğan allegedly told the skeptics among his advisors.

“They no longer care if various institutions, including the military, object to the palace coup. The plans are going to proceed regardless of their objections,” added Avni.

“The government and the ministries have all been completely dissolved. All plans, all governance, already comes from his inner circle... Erdoğan sees himself as the state. If the president can get his base to accept this new structure, then the palace coup will be announced,” he wrote.

“Ready to pick fights with every institution of the state and declare himself Supreme Commander, Erdoğan seems to have lost his mind,” added Avni, claiming that the few reasonable people who have tried to caution the president have only enraged him further.

“Erdoğan is dragging the country to disaster on his way out. All but two or three people around him see the looming disaster, but they are too terrified to make a peep.” Hmmmm........Well perhaps the EU Cowards will organize his coronation. Read the full story here.

Cowardly Withheld EU report raps Turkey on rights, media, justice.

Cowardly Withheld EU report raps Turkey on rights, media, justice. (TZ).

A European Commission report on Turkey, held back until after next Sunday's election to avoid antagonising President Tayyip Erdoğan, accuses Ankara of backsliding on the rule of law, freedom of expression and judicial independence.

A copy of the draft annual progress report on Turkey's EU candidacy, seen by Reuters, also cites a severe deterioration in the security situation and an increasing politicisation of the state administration as Erdoğan's AK Party, in power for the last 13 years, tightens its grip.

The EU executive, which is urgently trying to secure Erdoğan's help to stem flows of Syrian refugees and other migrants from Turkey to Europe, insisted it had not delayed the report for political reasons.


It also said it was up to Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker to decide when the progress reports on candidate countries, usually released in October, are approved and published.

In the forensic language of the Commission's department for enlargement negotiations, the draft describes an overall drift towards more authoritarian governance in Turkey.

"The outgoing government has made efforts to reinvigorate the EU accession process," it says. "However, this commitment was offset by the adoption of key legislation in the area of the rule of law, freedom of expression and freedom of assembly that ran against European standards."

"The situation has been backsliding since 2014," it said. "The independence of the judiciary and the separation of powers have been considerably undermined and judges and prosecutors have been under strong political pressure."

Juncker told the European Parliament on Tuesday that, despite human rights concerns, "whether we like it or not, we have to work with Turkey". Hmmm.....In other words 'we are cowards when it comes to Human rights and freedom of speech, bending over for an Islamist dictator'. Read the full story here.

World decries Ankara’s seizure of critical media, says election now suspect

World decries Ankara’s seizure of critical media, says election now suspect.(Bugun).

The largest group in the European Parliament, the European People's Party (Christian Democrats) was quick to condemn the move.

“This attack just five days before the election is a major attack against democracy and shows that the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) is willing to sacrifice all democratic principles to secure a parliamentary majority,” noted Renate Sommer, the Christian Democrats’ shadow rapporteur on Turkey, in a written statement released Tuesday.

“Any talk of free and fair elections under these conditions is pointless,” she added.

On Monday, less than a week before the Nov. 1 snap election, Ankara ordered the seizure of Koza İpek Holding, which owns several media properties critical of the government. Hmmm.....The World...especially the EU will do nothing, tthe EU is a toothless dog all bark....no bite....Erdogan knows this. Read the full story here.

'Advanced Islamist dictatorship' Turkey - Police raid offices of critical media group days before election. Live Updates

'Advanced Islamist dictatorship' Turkey - Police raid offices of critical media group days before election. (TD).


Turkish riot police stormed the headquarters of critical media outlets in İstanbul shortly after dawn on Wednesday, with journalists from the paper making fruitless efforts to prevent them from entering into the building.

"Dear viewers, do not be surprised if you see police in our studio in the upcoming minutes," an anchor from Bugün TV, which is one of the seized media outlets, said as he narrated the drama unfolding outside the media company.

Hundreds of people, most of them journalists from media outlets affiliated with Koza İpek Holding, thronged outside the headquarters of the company to protest the seizure of the media companies by the Turkish government.

Mahmut Tanal, a lawmaker from the Republican People's Party (CHP), tried to negotiate with police chiefs, but the riot police proceeded to enter the building, where four media outlets are operating. Police routinely used pepper spray and frequent brawls erupted as they occupied the building.

A reporter from the newspaper tweeted his bloody hands to show how he was injured while resisting police who tried to occupy his office.

Another editor, Fatih Akalan, cried at the police outside the building in futile attempts to protest the takeover. A number of reporters just stood outside with tears in their eyes, watching a newspaper or a TV station they had worked at for years being taken over by the riot police.

The takeover of the management of Koza İpek Holding's 22 companies, including critical TV stations Bugün TV, Kanaltürk and two newspapers, comes just days before Turkey is set to have a repeat parliamentary election on Nov. 1. The move has intensified concerns about the deteriorating state of freedom of speech and of the media in Turkey. Hmmm......welcome to Erdoganistan loved by the EU Parliamentarians and his BFF Obama. I hope this make Turkish voters realize what is at stake is their freedom.Read and see the full story here.

Watch last seconds of @BugunTV broadcast as police storm main control room, shutting it. @pressfreedom @MajaEUspox pic.twitter.com/rQ1fKGU2Sh

— Mustafa Edib Yılmaz (@MustafaEdib) October 28, 2015

#Turkey slammed over police violence against journalists https://t.co/TFQaOWqxDV via @CommissionerHR pic.twitter.com/dFiuNP1Bxe

— Stefano Montanari (@StefMontanari) October 28, 2015

This guy stranglehold by one police & held back by another is a veteran court reporter @kamilmaman who knows the law pic.twitter.com/mfygwjaTPA

— Abdullah Bozkurt (@abdbozkurt) October 28, 2015

@TurkJourno @abdbozkurt Why? He knows the #EU is a toothless dog, all barks no bite.

— MFS - The Other News (@MFS001) October 28, 2015

#Turkey: Koza İpek asks trustees to leave premises on the ground that their names are not in Trade Registry, a requirement in the law

— Abdullah Bozkurt (@abdbozkurt) October 28, 2015

Not only disturbing that media are closed in #Turkey but threats expressed by frm advisor Erdogan indicate depth https://t.co/15CILBfkdl

— Marietje Schaake (@MarietjeSchaake) October 28, 2015

The trustees were not published in official Trade Registry. That makes their presence illegal in Koza media offices https://t.co/INkp9ME3xz

— Abdullah Bozkurt (@abdbozkurt) October 28, 2015

VIDEO: Turkish police raid TV station ahead of election #Turkey - @GrasswireNow pic.twitter.com/jWYAAwZgIu

— Conflict News (@Conflicts) October 28, 2015

#Turkey police use tear gas, water cannon to take control of media company headquarters. https://t.co/SlLgV4FBpW pic.twitter.com/dIMlmnmtKi

— Jim Roberts (@nycjim) October 28, 2015

#Turkey: Lawmaker @erenerdemnet says internal polling showed AKP at 37%, making @RT_Erdogan go crazy https://t.co/rNFWVMK3Py

— Abdullah Bozkurt (@abdbozkurt) October 28, 2015

Police blocked roads but tens of thousands continue pouring near Koza İpek media offices in Istanbul, journo says https://t.co/wK5KUzv2Ak

— Abdullah Bozkurt (@abdbozkurt) October 28, 2015

This is how Erdoğan's police detain an ISIL suspects (L) and a journalist (R). RT @csagir2015 pic.twitter.com/3tyPYQJU9j

— Turkey Media Review (@TurkeyReview) October 28, 2015

More photos from journalists, media members, during police raid on critical İpek Media HQ, in İstanbul, this morning pic.twitter.com/xxKIkkyfQH

— Celil (@csagir2015) October 28, 2015

#Turkey's top-notch court reporter @kamilmaman taken under custody with police brutality as pictured https://t.co/LvYvwZUjzn

— Abdullah Bozkurt (@abdbozkurt) October 28, 2015

Head of #Turkish Bar Assosication: This is an open intervention in republican regime, people's response will be harsh #susmayız

— TurkJourno (@TurkJourno) October 28, 2015

@emredemirfr @abdbozkurt Empty worthless words in the wind the #EU fears Erdo and crawls before him.

— MFS - The Other News (@MFS001) October 28, 2015

This is the best interpretation of what's going on in Turkey today. @pressfreedom @JHahnEU @OSCE @cnni @RSF_RWB pic.twitter.com/guUWIWY49g

— Celil (@csagir2015) October 28, 2015

Reporter Threatened by Belgian gov for Asking Turkish Pres. About Jailed VICE News Journalist.

Reporter Threatened  by Belgian  gov  for Asking in Belgium Turkish Pres. About Jailed VICE News Journalist. (Vice).

A Belgian television network was threatened by the government after a reporter asked the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a question about Mohammed Ismael Rasool, the VICE News journalist who has now been imprisoned in Turkey for seven weeks.

The incident, all caught on camera, caused a storm in Belgium and prompted the European Federation of Journalists to report the Belgian government to the European Council for "intimidation."

A video published at the weekend by the RTBF station — for which Rasool also worked while in Turkey and Iraq — shows a reporter shouting a question in the direction of Erdogan as he walks towards his car. "Mr. Erdogan — why is Mohammed Rasool still in prison in Turkey?" she says, as the Turkish leader looks over before disappearing into his vehicle.

A voiceover on the RTBF video explains that the encounter followed a press conference during an official visit to Belgium by Erdogan earlier this month, at which journalists had not been permitted to ask questions.

Immediately afterward, a Turkish embassy official reprimands a representative of Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel for having let the journalist ask the question.

The Belgian government representative then tells RTBF, which is still filming, that it is not allowed to film and that she will complain to the director of the station.

Michel's communications director Frédéric Cauderlier then takes the journalists aside and threatens them, telling them that if the footage is aired, "we have a grave situation" and that there will be "consequences."

François Mazure, the host-editor of the Belgian television show 7 à la Une, which published the video, said although there was a typical "love/hate relationship" between the press and the government in Belgium, the station had been surprised by how the government had reacted.

"The tone of the Belgian government spokesperson this time was really harsh," Mazure said. "The prime minister reprimanded his spokesperson, because our video got massive attention in Belgium. We had 400,000 views — which is huge for a small country like Belgium."

Michel later told a Belgian news agency he had told off Cauderlier for using "unacceptable words" towards RTBF. Hmmm...........Freedom of the press in the EU not so much when their 'Un official' new Gas provider comes visiting. If they honestly think that Iran and Turkey are more reliable partners than Russia as Gas providers for Europe they have another thing coming.

Related: Platform to strengthen the protection of journalism and journalists' safety.

The press service of the Belgian Prime Minister threatens journalist

#Turkey ranked 80 out of 102 in the rule of law in global ratings according to @TheWJP pic.twitter.com/ddIafudVdR

— Abdullah Bozkurt (@abdbozkurt) October 17, 2015

If you air this we'll have a serious problem!

This thing better not be aired!

US urges #Turkey to uphold due process in journalist case. #FreeRasool https://t.co/1Wev3IZT1C

— Lucy Kafanov (@LucyKafanov) October 17, 2015

Tarek Fatah: "Why this socialist will vote for Harper"

Link to this video of Tarek Fatah giving testimony on radical Islam HERE.

Tarek Fatah: "Why this socialist will vote for Harper" HT :TorontoStar.

For the past 50 years, my inner socialist has been my moral compass. It has guided me in politics and in my writing.

From the first time I voted in Pakistan’s only truly free election in 1970, to the 2011 Canadian election, I have always backed the left.

I am drawn to Justin Trudeau’s Liberal plan in this election to invest in the country and to have the courage to admit the government will run deficits for three years.

I support Tom Mulcair’s NDP plan of offering working parents subsidized, $15-a-day daycare, as well as targeting a federal minimum wage of $15-per-hour.

But this Monday, my tradition will be broken.
It’s not because I have drifted away from my social-democratic ideals or principles.


It’s because many Muslims like me, who are on the left in Canada, have been betrayed by our political leaders who have embraced Islamists to woo the so-called Muslim vote bank in urban centres.

For me, the only Canadian politician who has raised the alarm about Islamism in Canada and abroad, and the danger it poses to our future, is Conservative Leader Stephen Harper.

So even if some of the crops he wants to plant would not be my choices, I am glad he at least wants to insure the farm and the family survive.

Trudeau and Mulcair have dismissed the idea there is any threat to Canada from ISIS or Islamism.

Meanwhile anti-Islamist Muslims like me have been insulted as “Uncle Toms,” at the receiving end of unspeakable vitriol.

And it does not end there.

Today the Liberals and NDP not only say “fighting ISIS is not our problem,” they passionately defend the most vulgar manifestation of medieval misogyny, the niqab.

It’s as if Lady Liberty in Eugene Delacroix’s famous 1830 painting is no longer bare-breasted, but wearing the niqab.


Nearly 200 years later, Canada’s left is not merely betraying Lady Liberty, but the principle of equality itself.  Hmmm.....HEAR ! HEAR ! Read the full story here.

Related: Canada - Truth about Justin Trudeau and the Liberals !! الليبراليين حقيقة حول - Video Dailymotion http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x384xvz