Turkey warns Berlin 'step up military involvement in Syria or prepare to receive more refugees!'

Turkey warns Berlin 'step up military involvement in Syria or prepare to receive more refugees!'  (DS).

Germany must step up its involvement in Syria if it wants to stem the flow of refugees into Europe, Turkey's deputy prime minister Mehmet Simsek in remarks to German daily Die Welt Saturday.

"If Germany and others want to stop the influx of refugees, they must stop the bombings by Syrian and Russian forces against the Syrian opposition," Simsek said, speaking days after 10 German tourists were killed in a suicide attack in Turkey.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will host Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu for talks next Friday, with discussions to center on the Istanbul attack and the flow of migrants to Europe.

"The origin of terror in Syria is the chaos on the ground, which was caused by the Syrian regime's refusal to authorize democratic reform and the existence of an opposition," Simsek said.

Regarding the fight against the ISIS group, which has been blamed for the Istanbul attack, Simsek said: "No one can pretend we aren't doing anything."

Turkey has often been criticized by its Western allies for not doing enough to combat ISIS extremists who have seized swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq.

"Daesh represents for us the greatest danger," the deputy prime minister said, using another name to refer to ISIS. Read the full story here.

Turkish PM: "Germany must attack #Syria to avoid refugees" https://t.co/ZGJaJWJ38x #ISUS #Turkey pic.twitter.com/6juBd6o93l

— Al-Masdar News (@TheArabSource) January 16, 2016

Rhine town Rheinberg cancels Carnival parade following Cologne assaults

Rhine town Rheinberg cancels Carnival parade following Cologne assaults. (SP).

The western German town of Rheinberg has canceled next week’s carnival procession to one of its suburbs due to heightened risks of assaults by refugees, the Rheinberg municipal office said on Monday.

Jonny Strey, head of the department for security and order: In addition to the traffic and possibly rowdy spectators there's also a refugee camp with 500 inhabitants considered to be a "danger point" Strey said.  He confirmed a report of the "Rheinische Post".

People in the refugee camp would know no carnival and possibly bring "wrong" behavior, Strey said. 4500 German to meet up to 500 foreigners, "which is also not yet been there," he said. "Since [the carnival organizer] OKK, given the short time available until the Monday before Lent, was not able to create an appropriate safety concept, it has withdrawn its application for approval of a Rose Monday procession in Orsoy," the Rheinberg clerk’s office said in a press release.

The city maintained that "there has not been a rejection of the Rose procession through the city of Rheinberg on Monday."

"Due to the current events in the context of immigrants, in particular the events in Cologne and other major cities, interference cannot be ruled out in particular by intoxicated persons in the vicinity of the central housing unit," the clerk’s office added. Hmmm.........To strike terror in German hearts was the goal at NY Eve ....it worked.