New Islamist Members Of European Fatwa Council Show Growing influence Of Turkish Muslim Brotherhood in EU.

New Islamist Turkish Members Of European Fatwa Council Show Growing influence Of Global Muslim Brotherhood in EU. (globalmbwatch).

Dutch journalist Carel Brendel has published an article analyzing some of the recent membership changes at the European Council for Fatwa and Research (ECFR). According to his report, two of the newly appointed Turkish members representing a strengthening of the alliance between the Global Muslim Brotherhood and the Turkish regime of Recep Tayyip Erdogan:

Ekrem Keles is a senior member of Diyanet, the Turkish Presidency of Religious Affairs that supervises mosques and abroad. According to Turkish media, he is chairman of the Supreme Council for Religious Affairs. The English site of the pro-Erdogan Tukse Daily newspaper Sabah said Keles is “deputy head” of Diyanet.

It appears from the list on the ECFR website Keles is now an official member of the European Council for Fatwa and Research (ECFR). In a 2010 list of ECFR members, there was no Turkish membership. The appointment of Keles means two things- the collaboration between the Erdogan regime and the Muslim Brotherhood has again become a little more intense. And more importantly, the long arm of Ankara interferes with the affairs of all Muslims in Europe.

In 2010 Mustafa Mullaoglu was already on the list, but as a German representative. He has a Turkish background. The German TV channel SWR called him in 2007, “a top official responsible for religious issues of Milli Gorus,” the Turkish version of the Muslim Brotherhood. At a meeting in Hamm, North Rhine-Westphalia, Mullaoglu praised the Ottoman Empire as the ideal form of government.


Meanwhile Mullaoglu moved to Austria where he is a Mufti for the the national umbrella Islamic group, the Islamische Glaubensgemeinschaft in Österreich (IGGIÖ). Earlier this year Mollaoglu received criticism because he ruled that the wearing of  the headscarf hHijab) for women is a religious commandment. 

Austrian State Minister Muna Duzdar called this position “an attack on freedom and the empowerment of women”. The IGGiÖ was often accused in the past of ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, but always put off the accusation as “conspiracy theories” . Yet critics always place the IGGÏO “in the atmosphere of the Muslim Brotherhood.” Curiously, the Austrian media have very little written about the IGGiÖ  mufti as a member of Qaradawi’s fatwa council. Read the full story here.

For more in depth info on the Global Muslim brotherhood working follow GlobalMBwatch.

Turkey - Statistical analysis on the 2017 referendum finds vote 'distortions' were large enough to reverse the result.

Turkey - Statistical analysis on the 2017 referendum finds vote 'distortions' were large enough to reverse the result.(arxiv.org).

With a majority of 'Yes' votes in the Constitutional Referendum of 2017, Turkey continues its transition from democracy to autocracy. 

By the will of the Turkish people, this referendum transferred practically all executive power to president Erdogan. 

However, the referendum was confronted with a substantial number of allegations of electoral misconducts and irregularities, ranging from state coercion of 'No' supporters to the controversial validity of unstamped ballots. 

In this note we report the results of an election forensic analysis of the 2017 referendum to clarify to what extent these voting irregularities were present and if they were able to influence the outcome of the referendum. 

We specifically apply novel statistical forensics tests to further identify the specific nature of electoral malpractices. In particular, we test whether the data contains fingerprints for ballot-stuffing (submission of multiple ballots per person during the vote) and voter rigging (coercion and intimidation of voters). 

Additionally, we perform tests to identify numerical anomalies in the election results. 

We find systematic and highly significant support for the presence of both, ballot-stuffing and voter rigging. 

In 6% of stations we find signs for ballot-stuffing with an error (probability of ballot-stuffing not happening) of 0.15% (3 sigma event). The influence of these vote distortions were large enough to tip the overall balance from 'No' to a majority of 'Yes' votes.

Video - Indonesian 'Jihadi brides' who lived in ISIS capital of Raqqa confess how life was.

Shocking!

Indonesian 'Jihadi brides' who lived in ISIS capital of Raqqa via Turkey confess what life was like in the Jihadi stronghold. pic.twitter.com/xUXmEpVu6j

— Ari Murad (@AriMurad_) June 15, 2017

U.S. Secret services wanted to pull protective detail for Erdogan after he gave order to attack demonstrators.

U.S. Secret services wanted to pull protective detail for Erdogan after he gave order to attack demonstrators. HT: Washingtonhatti.

The Americans were aware that Erdogan gave the attack order during the incident. The US protocol and protection team, who were very upset about the incident, decided to pull protective detail from Erdogan.

After President Erdogan came to the residence by car and seemingly ordered the attack on the protesters, the American security forces informed the Embassy officials that they are going pull their protection. According to unnamed sources, this created a situation where President Erdogan would not have a protective Secret Service detail going to the airport.

The Embassy, according to our sources, managed to keep the US Secret Service Protection by pointing out that especially following the events, “Erdogan might become a target.”

US Secret Service did not comment WHatti‘s email request. Read the full story here.

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.

Jihadists Who Decapitated Priests In Syria Got Help From Turkey’s Intelligence Organization.

Jihadists who decapitated priests in Syria got help from Turkey’s intelligence. (Stockholmcf.org).
By Abdullah Bozkurt.

Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MİT) had willingly and deliberately helped known Jihadists of Russian nationals who decapitated Aleppo’s Greek Orthodox Bishop Boulos Yaziji and Syriac Orthodox Bishop Yohanna Ibrahim in 2013.

They were caught in Turkey after a video emerged in June 2013 but they received lesser sentences on charges other than a murder of these priests when the Turkish intelligence and the Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ intervened into the case. These bloody Jihadists are set to be free next month in Turkey.

Their name are Magomed Abdurakhmanov (AKA Abu Banat who was born on Nov.24, 1974 in Dagestan, a federal republic of Russia in the Northern Caucasus) and Ahmad Ramazanov (born on March 12, 1986 in Grozny, the capital city of the Chechen Republic, Russia).

They are believed to be part of Jihadist group that decapitated prominent priests after their abduction in Syria. Abdurakhmanov personally beheaded one and helped decapitate the other based on seized murder weapon, forensic examination, his own testimony that corroborated by his accomplice. The shocking part is that these murderer were recruited by the MİT, provided with arms and logistical support while fighting against Bashar al-Assad regime.

On June 28, 2013, the murder footages of Aleppo’s Greek Orthodox Bishop Boulos Yaziji (also listed as Yazigi or Yazıcı), the Syriac Orthodox diocese of Aleppo Bishop Yohanna Ibrahim, and a third priest were emerged in Turkish media. Yaziji went into Syria on April 22, 2013 to meet Bishop Yohanna and they were kidnapped by unknown gunmen in the village of Kafr Dael, about 10 km from Aleppo.

It turned out the priests were kept prisoners by a Jihadist group called Katibat al-Muhajireen (Jaysh al-Muhajireen wa’l-Ansar), designated as terrorist group by the US and Canada. When the horrible pictures of decapitation emerged in June 2013, Konya police units identified Abdurakhmanov as the man who appeared in the picture. Read the full story here.

U.S. Judge Wants To Know If Iran or Turkey Paying Lawyers In Reza Zarrab Iran Sanctions Case.

Reza Zarrab Arrested for Conspiring to Evade U.S. Sanctions Against Iran, Money Laundering ---close ally of Erdogan https://t.co/VHt39ObWPE

— ilhan tanir (@WashingtonPoint) March 21, 2016

U.S. Judge Wants To Know If Iran or Turkey Paying Lawyers In Reza Zarrab Iran Sanctions Case.(rferl).

A U.S. judge said he wants to know whether Iran employs any lawyers for a wealthy Turkish-Iranian gold trader accused of helping Tehran evade U.S. sanctions.

In an order on Mary 1, Manhattan District Judge Richard Berman said he planned to ask at a hearing on May 2 whether former New York Mayor and Trump adviser Rudolph Giuliani or any other lawyer for trader Reza Zarrab had been hired by Iran or Turkey.

The hearing will focus on whether conflicts of interest bar Giuliani and former U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey from representing Zarrab. The trader has pleaded not guilty to U.S. charges that he directed a conspiracy to launder money through U.S. banks on behalf of Iran's government in violation of U.S. sanctions.

Giuliani and Mukasey say they were hired to try to negotiate a political resolution of his case between the United States and Turkey.

The attorneys have discussed Zarrab's case with U.S. authorities and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has accused U.S. authorities of having "ulterior motives" in bringing the charges.

In an affidavit last month, Giuliani said authorities in both countries were "receptive" to a diplomatic deal.

Way more information on the Iranian Lifeline By Obama's BFF Erdogan can be read on WashingtonPoint his account, recomended reading if you want the truth.

Iranian Reza Zarrab on his yacht w celebrity singer wife.Police members who uncoverd his coruption ring sent to jail pic.twitter.com/sMv1JiDJPz

— ilhan tanir (@WashingtonPoint) July 22, 2014

Is Erdogan’s War on Syrian Kurds Becoming a War on the United States?

Is Erdogan’s War on Syrian Kurds Becoming a War on the United States? (TheNation).

President Erdogan seems to believe he can bully Trump into abandoning his allies in the fight against ISIS.

The Trump administration was unusually subdued this week after the Turkish air force launched a bombing campaign against facilities of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in northern Syria.

The State Department said it “asked” Turkey to stop killing US allies in the fight against ISIL (ISIS, or the Islamic State). The Pentagon complained that Turkey not only hit its allies but failed to coordinate with the US Air Force, which is flying in the area. In essence, Turkey acted as a hostile power against the US war effort. In the aftermath, a fierce firefight has broken out at the Syrian-Turkish border between YPG forces and Turkish army units operating in northern Syria.

Washington has been deeply frustrated by Turkey’s unwillingness to devote significant resources to rolling up ISIL. Erdogan’s priority has been attempting to destroy the PKK, and attacking what he sees as its Syrian Kurdish allies. Ankara fears that for the sake of defeating al-Baghdadi in Raqqa, the United States is helping to create an autonomous Syrian Kurdistan, which in turn may act as a model for Turkish Kurds, some 20 percent of the population of Turkey. In fact, separatist sentiments are not very widespread among Turkish Kurds, though economic discontent over government neglect of the hardscrabble southeast is. Erdogan has displaced some 350,000 Kurds with his current campaign, however, and is polarizing his country on several fronts at once.

The United States cannot hope to retain credibility as a battlefield ally of YPG fighters risking all to take on ISIL if it cannot even protect them from a NATO member like Turkey. Erdogan appears to believe that he can bully Trump into abandoning the Syrian Kurds as allies. It remains to be seen if he has calculated correctly. Read the full story here.

London terror suspect was on 'Peaceful' Gaza flotilla ship Mavi Marmara in 2010.

London terror suspect was on 'Peaceful' Gaza flotilla ship Mavi Marmara in 2010. (I24news).

Investigators told Reuters that they did not think that Ali's participation in the flotilla was linked to the incident on Thursday.

In May 2010 nine Turkish citizens were killed after Israeli commandos raided the Mavi Marmara, part of a flotilla that was attempting to reach Gaza.

An Israeli inquiry found that the soldiers opened fire after the activists aboard the ship attempted to attack them with knives and metal rods.

Ten Israeli commandos were injured in the incident.The man arrested carrying knives close to the parliament in London on Thursday, was on board a Gaza flotilla ship raided by Israeli soldiers in 2010, the Reuters news agency reports.

The man, named by sources to the agency as 27-year-old Khalid Omar Ali, is being held in custody on suspicion of terrorism offences and possession of an offensive weapon.

British police said that he was being monitored by security services, and was arrested as part of a security operation. According to Reuters, a man identified as "Ali" features on an activist's website in 2010.

In a video he says that he was also on the ship Strofades IV which was boarded by Greek commandos after a hostage situation developed after a disagreement with the vessel's captain."Ali" also reportedly discussed his aim to join the Road to Hope convoy which aimed to deliver aid to Gaza via Egypt in 2010. Hmmmm.....let me guess he traveled often to Turkey? 


 Flashback: 

"Peaceful Mavi Marmara victim to donate compensation to Hamas, Islamic Jihad.

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.

Emir of Qatar reprimands Muslim Brotherhood's leaders in Doha for their 'failures' in Egypt.

Emir of Qatar reprimands Muslim Brotherhood's leaders in Doha for their 'failures' in Egypt.(Albawaba).


Doha - Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani met, on Wednesday, with a delegation of the Muslim Brotherhood leaders in Doha to review the group’s activities in Egypt, according to Al Manar Palestinian newspaper.

The meeting was attended by head of the Qatari Intelligence Agency and the Emir’s adviser who is responsible for communication with the Brotherhood.

Qatari sources said that the Emir has criticized the Brotherhood for their frequent failures in Egypt, threatening to stop financing the group unless they escalated their operations. The source revealed that Qatar finances terrorist cells in Egypt, mostly from the Brotherhood, and that Tamim was not satisfied with the group’s recent operations.

They pointed out that the Brotherhood cells in Libya and Sudan can no longer smuggle neither weapons nor ammunition into Egyptian territory, due to the strict security measures imposed by the Egyptian army on the borders with the two countries.

They added that Qatar cooperates with regional allies in attracting terrorist elements from the gangs of the Nusra Front, affiliated to Al-Qaeda, and the so-called Islamic State (IS) group, so as to send them to the Egyptian territory.

The Egyptian judiciary has banned the Brotherhood and ordered the freezing of the group's assets in September 2013, following the overthrow of former president Mohamed Morsi on 3 July 2013.

Video - 18,000 Syrian Children Victim Of Organ Harvesting via 'hellhole' Turkey.

More on child organ traffic here.

Video - 18,000 #Syrian Children Victim Of #OrganHarvesting via 'hellhole' #Turkey. https://t.co/mIvDGGazeD pic.twitter.com/qyLDTNQwhO

— MFS - The Other News (@MFS001) April 22, 2017

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).

'All Islamist roads lead to Turkey'! St. Petersburg Metro Blast Suspect Received Money From Terrorist Group in Turkey.

'All Islamist roads lead to Turkey'! St. Petersburg Metro Blast Suspect Received Money From Terrorist Group in Turkey. (SP).

The man suspected of detonating a bomb on the St. Petersburg metro earlier this month had received money from an "international terrorist group" in Turkey, Russian investigators said on Thursday. Judge on the case ruled that the suspect received money from a terrorist group participant in Turkey for the preparation of the terrorist act.

During the hearing, Akram Azimov, the elder brother of suspected organizer of the terrorist act in the St. Petersburg metro Abror Azimov, denied any involvement in the subway blast, a Sputnik correspondent reported from Moscow's Basmanny Court on Thursday.

An investigator in the court said Thursday that Akram testified against his brother Abror.

"During the questioning as a suspect, Azimov said that he and his brother performed actions that contributed to the explosion," the investigator said.

Despite the suspect's plea, Moscow's Basmanny Court authorized the arrest of Akram Azimov.

The Russian Investigative Committee subsequently said that Akram Azimov called by phone suicide bomber Akbarzhon Jalilov and transferred him money received in Turkey from a member of an international terrorist group.

"The investigation provided information that Azimov contacted Jalilov and transferred money to him.

He received this money for preparation of the terrorist act in Turkey from an active member of an international terrorist organization. Azimov also was engaged in forging documents so that members of this organization could freely move across Russia," Judge Elena Lenskaya's ruling on Azimov's arrest said. Hmmm....Anyone keeping track how many times Islamic terrorist actions lead to Turkey? Read the full story here.

'Turkey’s Intel Agency MİT Helped Jihadists Kidnap Foreigners In Syria.': Stockholm Center of Freedom.

'Turkey’s Intel Agency MİT Helped Jihadists Kidnap Foreigners In Syria.': Stockholm Center of Freedom. (Stockholmcf).

A Turkish al-Qaeda militant who had been involved in kidnapping for a ransom to raise revenue for the radical armed group was saved by the government of Turkey’s autocratic President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan who hushed up the probe, thwarted the trial hearings and eventually secured the release of all suspects from prison.

The operative’s name is Orhan Yaşar, 43 year old (DOB: July 11, 1974) from the the Suruç district of Turkey’s southeastern province Şanlıurfa on Turkish Syrian border. He was involved in the scheme of kidnapping and later the release of Turkish photo-journalist Bünyamin Aygün of Milliyet daily from his captives in al-Qaeda affiliated armed group in Syria. Yaşar had been probed as part of the confidential investigation file No. 2012/1361 which was launched by the Office of the Public Prosecutor in the Eastern province Van in 2012.

Yaşar was detained in a sweeping al-Qaeda operation on January 14, 2014 and formally arrested few days later. He and other suspects in the case were indicted on July 2014. But Yaşar was released pending a trial on the first hearing in the case by Van No.3 High Criminal Court on August 6, 2014. 

The release of Yaşar did not make a sense at all given the fact one of the wiretap evidence in the case file revealed how he and his al-Qaeda cell leader was tipped off about the ongoing probe and planning to flee Turkey before police detained them on January 2014. Most likely the MİT learned about the police investigation file and passed that info to al-Qaeda suspects. As soon as the prosecutor was alerted by the investigators that suspects were made aware of the probe, he ordered their detention before they could have escaped the country.

There are five wiretap recordings in the investigation file that revealed how Yaşar involved in abduction of foreign nationals by al-Qaeda affiliated Jihadist groups in Syria.

The case file includes a wiretap recording that shows Yaşar was discussing the kidnapped Turkish photo-journalist Bünyamin Aygün, and Spanish correspondent Javier Espinosa and Spanish freelance photographer Ricardo Garcia Vilanova. Aygün was kidnapped on Nov.26, 2013 while Spanish journalists were kidnapped on Sept.16, 2013. Yaşar was urging his contact to locate these journalists, and ask for a ransom money from their families. “Without taking any [ransom] money, do not release him [Aygün],” Yaşar was recorded as saying according to the investigation file submitted to the court.

All three journalists were eventually released from captivity but there was no mention of any ransom money was paid in exchange of their freedom. When asked about that, Aygün simply said he had no knowledge of such transaction. The interesting part of his kidnapping is that Turkish media reported that MİT teams helped secure his release and took him back to Turkey.

The controversial charity group International Humanitarian Relief (IHH), accused by Russia at the UN Security Council for smuggling arms to rebels in Syria, was also involved in negotiations for Aygün’s release. In other words, while MİT had been helping Jihadists to organize kidnapping, ransom demanding and even killing hostages, it was also brokering the release of hostages to save the day and appear as a hero at the same time.

If the MİT was helping Jihadist groups to arm, fund and resupply themselves as the evidence in the prosecutor’s confidential file suggests, it should not come as a surprise that these hostages were easily picked up from the hands of Jihadist groups. Read the full story here.

PACE: "Turkey reintroducing the death penalty ‘incompatible’ with Council of Europe membership."

PACE: "Turkey reintroducing the death penalty ‘incompatible’ with Council of Europe membership."(PACE).

“President Erdogan is reported to be considering a referendum on the issue of bringing back the death penalty in Turkey,” said Yves Cruchten (Luxembourg, SOC), General Rapporteur on abolition of the death penalty for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

“I would like to recall that that no executions are currently carried out in the 47 member states of the Council of Europe. Rejection of capital punishment is a basic principle of our organisation,” he pointed out.

“PACE has helped turn Europe into a death penalty free continent, by making a moratorium on executions and a commitment to abolition a condition for accession. The Assembly will not accept any backsliding on this. 

President Erdogan should be under no illusion: reintroducing the death penalty would be simply incompatible with Turkey’s continued membership of the Council of Europe.”

Full statement on Turkey's Referendum by CoE Assembly: "The legal framework was inadequate for the holding of a genuinely democratic process."

Full statement on Turkey's Referendum by CoE Assembly: "The legal framework was inadequate for the holding of a genuinely democratic process.". (CoE).

The 16 April constitutional referendum in Turkey was contested on an unlevel playing field, and the two sides in the campaign did not have equal opportunities, the international observers concluded in a statement released today. While the technical aspects of the process were well administered, voters were not provided with impartial information about key aspects of the reform, and limitations on fundamental freedoms had a negative effect, the statement says.

“On referendum day there were no major problems, except in some regions, however we can only regret the absence of civil society observers in polling stations,” said Cezar Florin Preda, Head of the delegation from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. “In general, the referendum did not live up to Council of Europe standards. The legal framework was inadequate for the holding of a genuinely democratic process.”

“The referendum took place in a political environment in which fundamental freedoms essential to a genuinely democratic process were curtailed under the state of emergency, and the two sides did not have equal opportunities to make their case to the voters,” said Tana de Zulueta, Head of the ODIHR limited election observation mission. “Our monitoring showed the ‘Yes’ campaign dominated the media coverage and this, along with restrictions on the media, the arrests of journalists and the closure of media outlets, reduced voters’ access to a plurality of views.”

Although the Supreme Board of Elections (SBE) adopted regulations and instructions to address some aspects of the process, the legal framework, which is focused on elections, remained inadequate for the holding of a genuinely democratic referendum, the observers said. Provincial governors used state-of-emergency powers to further restrict the freedom of assembly and expression.

“A state of emergency should never be used to undermine the rule of law,” Preda said.

The legal framework for the referendum neither sufficiently provides for impartial coverage nor guarantees eligible political parties equal access to public media, and gives preference to the ruling party and the president in the allocation of free airtime, while the SBE’s authority to sanction for biased coverage was repealed, the statement says.

The law limits full participation in the referendum to eligible political parties and does not regulate the involvement of other stakeholders, the statement says. Further, the SBE decided that civil society organisations and professional associations were not permitted to hold campaign events.

“The campaign framework was restrictive and the campaign imbalanced due to the active involvement of several leading national officials, as well as many local public officials, in the ‘Yes’ campaign,” de Zulueta said. “We observed the misuse of state resources, as well as the obstruction of ‘No’ campaign events. The campaign rhetoric was tarnished by some senior officials equating ‘No’ supporters with terrorist sympathizers, and in numerous cases ‘No’ supporters faced police interventions and violent scuffles at their events.”

Referendum day proceeded in an orderly and efficient manner in the limited number of polling stations visited by international observers. In some cases, access for ODIHR observers during the opening and voting in polling stations was either denied or limited. Police presence was widely reported both in and outside polling station and, in some cases, police were checking voters’ identification documents before granting access to the polls. The SBE issued instructions late in the day that significantly changed the ballot validity criteria, undermining an important safeguard and contradicting the law.

For further information contact:

Thomas Rymer, ODIHR, +90 535 891 9998 or +48 609 522 266, thomas.rymer@odihr.pl

Nathalie Bargellini, PACE, +90 544 781 49 74 or +33 6 65 40 32 82, nathalie.bargellini@coe.int
 

Turkey - 'Islamist' Pres Erdogan is preparing to pray in the Hagia Sophia on Good Friday.

Turkey - 'Islamist' Pres Erdogan is preparing to pray in the Hagia Sophia on Good Friday. (AN).

The Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan is preparing to go to pray next Friday April 14 in Saint Sophia in Constantinople, the church declared a museum by the father of Republican Turkey Kemal Ataturk in 1934.

Erdogan will not be alone: ​​He will be accompanied by representatives of his party AKP (Muslim extraction) and religious leaders in Istanbul.

According to the Christian calendar next Friday is Good Friday and the event will take place just two days before the April 16 referendum strongly backed by Erdogan in Turkey to establish an absolutist Presidency of Neottoman and Islamic extraction.

Thus Erdogan, nicknamed the "new sultan" for his political extremism, will seek to channel Muslim faithful in favor of a Yes ( "Evet") vote. According to the Muslim calendar the month to April (Nisan) is the month of the birth of Mohammed.

The news is carried in pro-government newspapers, presenting the latest book by Turk historian Mustafa Armagan - titled "The Saint Sophia intrigue" (Aya Sofia Entrikalari).

In doing so they seek to create and prepare the climate for the prayer, as the will of the Turkish president. The book argues that the decree signed by Kemal Ataturk in 1934 which turned the Hagia Sophia from mosque into a museum, is not authentic.

According to Armagan, the Kemal Ataturk signature on the decree is false. Therefore the act has no legal value and therefore Santa Sofia can in fact be used as a mosque, as was the case after the Turkish conquest of Constantinople in 1453.

Hagia Sophia it was built in 537 by Emperor Justinian and dedicated to God's Wisdom. To justify his remarks, the Turkish historian reports that the Kemal Aturk  signature on the 1934 Decree is unlike any other signature penned by the Father of Republic in prori acts.

Various sources are cited in the book which claims, according to the author, that the transformation of Hagia Sophia into a museum, was the result of pressure from various Western international forces, headed by the then US Ambassador Joseph Grew.

Mustafa Armagan also notes the news that Kemal Ataturk had visited St. Sophia in 1935, three months after its proclamation as a museum, was not reported in any Turkish newspaper of the period, but only by the Greek language journal, Apogevmatini, published on February 7, 1935, in Istanbul. The author recalls, in that same period, the strong reaction of the Egyptian newspaper "El Risale ", strongly opposed to the transformation of Hagia Sophia into a museum.


In this way the pre-referendum climate is becoming increasingly tense and polarized. On the other hand, the climate has been fostered and created by Erdogan himself with his recent statements against the Kemalist period, when he proclaimed: "That period, which began in 1923, is about to end. And that's that". And that is, woe to the vanquished.  Hmmm.......Erdogan is pushing for a new 'Holy war' between Christianity and Islam.

I Criticized Terror group Hamas and My Life in 'Islamist' Turkey Became a Nightmare.

I Criticized Terror group Hamas and My Life in 'Islamist' Turkey Became a Nightmare. (MEForum).by Burak Bekdil

My greatest sin was to argue: "The fact that there are no Israeli casualties does not mean Hamas does not want to kill; it just means Hamas, for the moment, cannot kill."

It was a beautiful, sunny day in December 2006 when I met Shimon Peres at his Tel Aviv office. At one point in our conversation, he began to talk about how things were beginning to go wrong in Turkey. He said: "Do not forget ... when holiness begins, reason ends." I knew he was right.

In 2006, the then Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was widely viewed as a Muslim democrat, a pro-EU reformist, a pro-business liberal; or, at worst, a postmodern Islamist — not just an Islamist.

In reality, I argued in my Hurriyet column, he was just another Islamist zig-zagging between his ideological and pragmatic selves. He was successfully deceiving much of the Western world.

Less than a decade later, having consolidated his power using a blend of nationalist, Sunni-Islamist rhetoric, populist sound bites and nods to Ottoman grandeur, he has been labelled "arguably the most virulent anti-Israel leader in the world." Read my story here.

Germany opens investigation into Turkish “Diyanet” accused of spying on Erdogan opponents in 35 countries.

Source quote here.

Germany opens investigation into Turkish “Diyanet” accused of spying on Erdogan opponents in 35 countries.(Independent).

Germany has opened an investigation into a Turkish religious organisation accused of spying on behalf of the government over an attempted coup against Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Prosecutors are reportedly probing Halife Keskin, who heads the foreign relations department of Turkey’s “Diyanet” state religious authority, over allegations imams were asked to gather information on supporters of an exiled cleric.

Investigators have a document appearing to show Keskin personally instructing Turkish missions around the world to spy on alleged members of Fethullah Gulen’s “Hizmet” movement, German media reported.

​Diyanet asked Turkish consulates in 35 countries including Australia, Nigeria, Mauritania and Mongolia to gather information about Gulen supporters, according to leaked documents.

German, Austrian and Swiss authorities have all launched investigations into whether Turkey is conducting illegal espionage on their soil.

Documents made public by an Austrian politician this week alleged that Turkish embassies on four continents had submitted reports on alleged Gulen supporters after receiving a request from Ankara in September.

“There is clearly a global network of informants,” Greens MP Peter Pilz said. 

“We cannot say exactly how long it took to build up this network. I assume that it happened in a matter of years.”

Countries routinely post intelligence officers in their embassies, and European authorities have not said in what ways the alleged Turkish activity went beyond acceptable levels of information-gathering by a foreign power.Read the full story here.

Turkish religious foundation head: Religion of ISIS is religion taught in our theology schools. ISIS are trying to put Islam into practice.

— Ankaralı Jan (@06JAnk) June 23, 2016