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Logical Lavrov: Russia-Turkey relations depend on cooperation on Syria


ITAR-TASS
Fri, 22 Jul 2016 14:41 UTC
Soldiers raising Turkish flag
© Valeriy Sharifulin/TASS
The development of relations between Russia and Turkey will depend on their cooperation on Syria and on whether Turkey will take steps against those who use this country's territory to finance terrorists in Syria, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday.

"We presented a lot of evidence that indicates that Turkey's territory is widely used to finance terrorists and redeploy gunmen to Syria," the minister told the Territory of Meanings on the Klyazma national educational youth forum. "Now that we have resumed our relations, it will be difficult to ignore the fact that our Turkish partners will have to answer these questions now, and not only answer, but also take steps, as they used their territory to support this fratricidal war."

He noted that Turkey's neighbors "realize that cooperation should be increasingly more based on trust and candor."

"All the more so because the situation in Syria has changed over the past few months, and conditions are being created for defeating terrorists and launching a genuine intra-Syrian dialogue," the minister said.

Comment: Lavrov states the obvious plainly and clearly.

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Monkey Wrench

Turkey to restructure military, eradicate 'separatist & terrorist' infiltrators


RT
Fri, 22 Jul 2016 14:26 UTC
erdogan
© Umit Bektas / ReutersGulenists.
A new coup attempt is still possible in Turkey because "separatists" and "terrorists" have potentially infiltrated the state structure, President Tayyip Erdogan has warned, claiming that the failings which led to the putsch mean a restructuring of the military is required.

The Turkish leader stressed that while the threat of another power takeover is a possibility, such an attempt would not be easy, as security forces and intelligence agencies "are more vigilant" following the failed coup.

After declaring a state of emergency late Wednesday, Erdogan in an interview with Reuters revealed that lapses in intelligence led to the previous attempt to seize control of the country.

"It is very clear that there were significant gaps and deficiencies in our intelligence, there is no point trying to hide it or deny it. I told it to the head of national intelligence," Erdogan told the new agency.


Comment: This doesn't necessarily contradict previous reports that Erdogan did have prior knowledge of the coup. That intelligence could have been foreign-sourced, in which case they found something Turkish intel missed.

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Cowboy Hat

Lavrov makes excellent points: West acts in the Middle East 'like a bull in a china shop'


ITAR-TASS
Fri, 22 Jul 2016 14:31 UTC
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov
© Alexandr Sherbak/TASS
The West's incompetent policy in the Middle East and North Africa has led to the current consequences in the region, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday.

"What is happening in the Middle East, North Africa is the direct result of a very incompetent and unprofessional attitude to the situation," Lavrov said.

"In their desire to keep their dominance, our Western partners acted like a bull in a china shop. In Iraq, an overthrow of the regime was announced under a false pretext," Lavrov said.

"Partners say: let's resolve the problem of Libya, Syria and Iraq, organize elections and eradicate terrorism. They say: first it is necessary to remove Assad [Syrian President Bashar Assad] and then we'll struggle against terrorism," Lavrov said.

"We say: Okay, we'll urgently organize elections in Syria and Assad will be removed by way of elections. And who will guarantee that Syria won't repeat the Libya scenario?" Lavrov noted.
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Stop

UN advisor Egeland: 48-hour local ceasefires to aid besieged zones

Tom Miles, Stephanie Nebehay
Reuters
Thu, 21 Jul 2016 02:54 UTC
Jan Egeland
© REUTERS/DENIS BALIBOUSESpecial Advisor UN Jan Egeland
The United Nations called on Thursday for Syria's warring sides to observe 48-hour local truces to let aid reach eastern Aleppo and other besieged zones where civilians may be starving. Jan Egeland, humanitarian advisor to U.N. Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura, said an escalation in fighting was stopping aid from getting through in many areas.

"A humanitarian truce could work in following manner: we get 72 hours notice to go and we get a pause in the fighting for 48 hours. That is what we need. That is what it takes to have a lifeline to places where people are at the brink of starvation.

"Eastern Aleppo has become such a place," he told reporters in Geneva, after chairing a weekly humanitarian task force meeting attended by diplomats from Russia, the United States, Iran, Saudi Arabia and other countries with influence in Syria. Egeland said Turkey's coup attempt last weekend had not had any noticeable effect on aid supplies going into Syria.

Around 200,000-300,000 people in rebel-held eastern Aleppo have been cut off since fighting cut the last supply route, the Castello Road, on July 7. "We need this lifeline to be re-established," Egeland said, adding that there were "a few weeks of supplies, not even a month" in the besieged zone.

Comment: No doubt civilians are in dire need of supplies. When it is proposed, there is often an interesting correlating factor in the timing and benefits of a ceasefire for the rebel factions. When truces happen, rebel relief is the impetus; civilian relief is more than not the motivational screen.

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Info

Turkey FM says U.S. proposes commission on Gulen's extradition

RFE/RL
Radio Free Europe
Fri, 22 Jul 2016 14:02 UTC
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
© Reuters
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu says Washington has proposed creating a commission to deal with the possible extradition of the U.S.-based cleric whom Ankara blames for last week's failed coup attempt.

Speaking on July 22, Cavusoglu said Turkey was ready to take part in a commission on the extradition of the exiled founder of a transnational social and religious movement, Fethullah Gulen.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused the 75-year-old Gulen of masterminding the July 15 coup plot.
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Rocket

Russian troops in far east carry out electronic launches of Iskander-M missiles


ITAR-TASS
Fri, 22 Jul 2016 13:48 UTC
Russian Iskander-M missile
© Dmitry Rogulin/TASSRussian Iskander-M missile
Missile troops of the Eastern Military District from the Primorsky Territory, Russia's Far East, have carried out the first electronic launches from the Iskander-M tactical ballistic missile systems in a tactical exercise at the Kapustin Yar range in the Astrakhan region, southern Russia, the Eastern Military District spokesman Colonel Alexander Gordeyev told TASS on Friday.

"The electronic launches of missiles were carried out on different targets at a distance of up to 500 kilometers."

The drills involve some 150 troops and some 50 units of armaments and military equipment.
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Cell Phone

Police tap US lab to 3D-print murder victim's fingers to crack phone


RT
Fri, 22 Jul 2016 13:18 UTC
Phone fingerprint id
© Edgar Su / Reuters
Scientists at a 3D-printing lab in Michigan are trying to help authorities unlock a murder victim's phone by creating replicas of the dead man's fingers. It could become the first time such technology has been used in an active police investigation.

Police trying to solve a case asked a 3D-printing lab at Michigan State University specializing in biometric identifiers such as "facial recognition programs, fingerprint scanners and tattoo matching" to reproduce fingers of a murdered man, Fusion reports. With the replicas, police are hoping to unlock the victim's phone - something that they believe will bring them closer to finding the murderer.

On Thursday, Fusion's Rose Eveleth reported that police approached the lab of Anil Jain, a professor at Michigan State University, last month. Eager to help with the case, Jain and his PhD student Sunpreet Arora agreed to reproduce the murderer's fingers and 3D-printed all ten of them.

"We don't know which finger the suspect used," Arora told Eveleth. "We think it's going to be the thumb or index finger - that's what most people use - but we have all 10."
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Whistle

Whistleblower: Saudi deputy crown prince played major role in Turkey coup


Fars News Agency
Thu, 21 Jul 2016 13:17 UTC
Mohammed Bin Salman Al Saud
Saudi whistle-blower Mujtahid, who is believed to be a member of or have a well-connected source in the royal family, disclosed that Saudi Deputy Crown Prince and Defense Minister Mohammad bin Salman has played a bigger role than earlier thought in the recent military coup in Turkey.

Bin Salman has taken control of MBC and al-Arabiya news channels and created a joint media operations room between al-Arabiya and the Arabic section of Skynews to pave the ground for the Turkey coup, Mujtahid wrote on his twitter page.

Bin Salman also had a collaborator, Mohammad bin Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, he added.

Bin Zayed informed Bin Salman that he had relations with Pennsylvania-based opposition figure, Fethullah Gulen, accused by the Turkish government of involvement in botched coup in the country, and has coordinated with him to overthrow Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government and convinced Bin Salman that the coup will certainly succeed, Mujtahid wrote.

According to Mujtahid, Gulen received over $200mln from the UAE to launch the coup, he added.

Comment: Since the inception of the Safari Club in the 70s, Saudi intelligence has pretty much been an arm of the CIA. Not much has changed in 40 years, so this leak is at least plausible. Of possible relevance:

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Syringe

Ban the whole world: Doping found in retests of 45 athletes from several states in London and Beijing Games


Sputnik
Fri, 22 Jul 2016 12:51 UTC
Blood testing athletes
© Sputnik/ Ruslan Krivobok
As many as 45 athletes taking part in the Beijing and London Olympics representing eight and nine countries, respectively, tested positive in reanalysis of samples, the International Olympic Committee said Friday.

Banned substances were found in samples of 45 athletes taking part in Beijing and London Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee said Friday following reanalysis.

"The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced today that reanalysis of the second wave of samples from Beijing 2008 and London 2012 has resulted in Provisional Adverse Analytical Findings (PAAFs) of 30 athletes from Beijing and Adverse Analytical Findings (AAFs) of 15 athletes from London," the IOC said in a statement.

According to the committee, the results bring the total number of athletes who tested positive to 98. The re-testing will continue.

"The new reanalysis once again shows the commitment of the IOC in the fight against doping," IOC head Thomas Bach said.
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Info

Kremlin: Russia unaware of reported airstrikes on US-used base in Syria


ITAR-TASS
Fri, 22 Jul 2016 12:40 UTC
Russian troops
© Russian Defence Ministry's Press and Information Department/TASS
The consultations on Syria between Russia, the US and the UN due to be held in Geneva next week are the result of a recent meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin and US Secretary of State John Kerry, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.

"Of course, including thanks to this," he said when asked whether the Geneva consultations can be seen as the result of talks between Putin and Kerry.

"In Moscow, the two sides discussed the need to intensify efforts, the need to accelerate the pace of peace-making efforts, so this is indeed happening," the Kremlin spokesman said.
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