Puppet MastersS


Target

Erdogan removes lawmakers' immunity, prosecutions to commence


RT
Tue, 07 Jun 2016 19:21 UTC
Erdogan in parliament
© www.telesurtv.net
Lawmakers in Turkey could now be subject to prosecution after a bill allowing criminal charges to be brought against legislators was signed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Earlier in May, the Turkish parliament approved the lifting of lawmakers' legal immunity in a secret ballot, allowing the bill to go directly to implementation, avoiding a referendum.

The new law which comes amid allegations of freedom of speech violations in Turkey, is apparently aimed at Turkish lawmakers who might be supportive of the Kurds and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), considered to be a terrorist organization by Erdogan's government. Members of Turkey's opposition, the anti-nationalist People's Democratic Party (HDP) might be among the new bill's targets.

"My people do not want legislators who back a separatist terror organization [the PKK] to sit in parliament," Erdogan said at the time of the parliamentary vote, calling the decision to move forward with the bill "historic."

Ankara's decision to strip MPs of legal immunity has raised concerns among the international community and the country's partners within the EU bloc. The EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Vice-President of the European Commission, Federica Mogherini, has criticized the move, while a German government spokesman has said "the situation will certainly be raised by the chancellor" during her meeting with the Turkish president. The US State Department said the law will have a "chilling effect" on democratic freedoms in Turkey.

Even though Turkish lawmakers had immunity before the newly-introduced measure, the authorities could still file "dossiers" against them, to be used in possible legal action after their departure from parliament. The vast majority (50 out of 59) of current HDP members in the parliament have had such "dossiers," according to Hurriyet Daily.

Comment: With 50 out of 59 HDP lawmakers, who back the Kurdistan Workers' Party, in jeopardy of prosecution, Erdogan can sweep out any adversarial members, effectively negating opposition to Kurdish genocide. This law will produce more than a 'chilling effect,' it will be a freeze out! From another perspective, there has been little the parliament has been able/willing to do to stem the tidal wave of Erdogan's irrational dictatorship and headlong march into fascism.

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Eiffel Tower

Token support: French Senate votes to lift Russian sanctions - will govt listen?


RT
Wed, 08 Jun 2016 18:51 UTC
french parliament
© Philippe Wojazer / Reuters
The French Senate has voted in favor of a resolution designed to lift EU-imposed sanctions slapped on Russia in 2014 over the crisis in eastern Ukraine and reunification with Crimea. The proposal calls for a "gradual relief" of restrictive measures imposed by the West.

The vast majority - 302 senators - voted for the move, with only 16 being against the lifting of anti-Russia sanctions. In all, 335 politicians were present at the meeting in the Luxembourg Palace.

The motion is non-binding, however.

The initiatives of deputies and senators, aimed at pressuring the government, have "no binding force because the renewal of the embargo is made in Brussels and requires unanimity of the 28 Member States," Le Figaro reported.
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MIB

Be afraid! Terrorism, terror, and planned attacks in South Africa...maybe


RT
Sat, 04 Jun 2016 14:42 UTC
South African police
© Nerrisa Korb / AFPA South African police car is parked 11 September 2001 in front of the United States embassy in Pretoria
The US government has information of a possible terrorist attack against American citizens, which a terrorist group plans to commit in South Africa, the US diplomatic mission in the country warned. The diplomats said people should keep away from shopping areas and malls in Johannesburg and Cape Town to stay on the safe side.

The tip comes "against the backdrop" of Islamic State call for global attacks against Americans during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, the statement said. Commenting on the US warning, South Africa's Foreign Ministry said that the country's security agencies are capable of protecting the people from terrorists.

"The state security agency and other security agencies in this country are very much capable of keeping South Africa safe. The security of this country is as good as it always has been," doplomatic spokesman Clayson Monyela said.

Comment: See also:

Empire on steroids: The expansion of U.S. secret wars in Africa

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Dollars

Delusional: U.S. wants to ban Russian import substitutions

Ollie Richardson (translator)
Fort Russ / Pravda
Wed, 08 Jun 2016 17:53 UTC
ruble
A letter from the US Committee on the investment measures of the WTO with questions about 13 Russian documents governing the import substitution in the field of automotive industry, engineering, and information technology (at the disposal of Life.Ru) said that the proposal of the Russian government may be contrary to "the Agreement on investment measures relating to the trade regime" (TRIMs). Compliance with this document is binding for all countries participating in the World Trade Organization.

In the complaint to the WTO, the US asked to confirm or dispel these fears. As a reminder, on January 28th, 2015, the government of the Russian Federation approved "the plan of priority measures for the sustainable economic development and social stability in the country". An important part of the document was to support import substitution and the export of a wide range of manufactured goods, including high-tech.

According to the Americans, "Article 2 of the document, "National treatment and quantitative restrictions" indicates that the participating countries can apply measures aimed at granting preferential treatment to local goods in relation to goods imported, to introduce restrictions on the purchase of imports associated with the volume and value of exported goods and goods of local origin".

Therefore, the partner of the "Zamoskvorechye" legal office, Dmitry Shevchenko, announced possible claims made by the US. In fact, Americans believe "that many of the provisions of the Russian government's anti-crisis plan is related to state procurement and goes beyond the scope of TRIMs".

Comment: Looks like the U.S. is getting desperate. Sanctions didn't work. Trying to provoke Russia into a war with Ukraine didn't work. Russia continues to lead in Syria, avoiding a quagmire. The U.S. really looks like it will stop at nothing to destroy Russia.

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Arrow Down

Erdogan says 'hypocritical' German MPs of Turkish origin have tainted blood, Merkel says he's incomprehensible


RT
Wed, 08 Jun 2016 17:37 UTC
merkel
© Fabrizio Bensch / Reuters
German chancellor has denounced Turkish government rants against Germany's position on the Armenian genocide, calling the Turkish leader's comments "incomprehensible" after he claimed that "hypocritical" German MPs of Turkish origin had "tainted" blood.

"The lawmakers in Germany's lower house of parliament are freely elected without exception and the accusations and statements which have been made by the Turkish side are incomprehensible," Merkel told a news conference on Tuesday. "It was clear with the passing of the resolution that there is a difference of views between the majority of the Bundestag and the Turkish side."

On Tuesday Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu warned that Ankara might suspend the EU-refugee deal if it was not granted a visa-free travel to Europe, urging the German government to come forward and say it did not support the Bundestag's position on the issue.

Comment: Merkel arguably isn't the brightest bulb in the EU (then again, most of its leaders are dim, to say the least). But if they are being somehow coerced into the ridiculous refugee deal with Turkey, is this latest move a 'sideways' attempt to get Turkey to be the one who backs out? Maybe that's expecting a bit too much from Ms. Merkel.

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Cheesecake

Have your cake, eat it too: Turkey seeks normalized relations with Russia, but continues its destructive policies, support for Daesh

Ulson Gunnar
New Eastern Outlook
Wed, 08 Jun 2016 16:03 UTC
Erdogan
Every schoolchild knows that in order to make up one must first offer a sincere apology. They must also be perceived as sincerely regretting whatever offense it was they committed, and show interest in not repeating such an offense or compounding it with similarly antisocial behavior. If such a notion is easily understood by a schoolchild, how come the President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan appears not to know this?

To answer this question, one must read the narrative provided by the Washington-London establishment. Articles like the BBC's "Can Russia and Turkey heal rift?" provides useful insight.
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Георгиевская ленточка

Finland would rather be friends with Russia than members of NATO, says President Sauli Niinistö


Fort Russ
Tue, 07 Jun 2016 14:57 UTC
Vladimir Putin with Sauli Niinistö
Vladimir Putin, president of Russian Federation with Sauli Niinistö, president of Finland
Original article on Sputnik France, translated from French by Tom Winter

After the warning from Moscow that Russia will respond with military and technical measures at its northern borders if Sweden decides to join the Atlantic Alliance, Finland, for its part, rejected the idea of joining NATO.

Commenting on a report by an international group of experts on the possible integration of Finland to NATO, President Sauli Niinistö was against any membership, reports Finnish media YLE . "We do not need to change the current policy," said M. Niinisto in an interview with YLE media.

Nevertheless, as every country has the right to decide for itself according to its national interests what form of security is best for the state, the president said it was probably just to ask the people, by means of a referendum.

Sauli Niinistö also said that Helsinki and Stockholm were to make that decision separately. "We have no automatic reciprocal link on this where, if one country decides to join the Alliance, the other must immediately do the same (...) Each country is responsible for its decision on NATO," said President Niinisto.
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Chess

Is there about to be a soft coup d'etat in Saudi Arabia?

Catherine Shakdam
New Eastern Outlook
Tue, 07 Jun 2016 13:26 UTC
Mohammed bin Salman
If Saudi Arabia still appears an island of political stability amid raging waters - at least to the naked eye, the kingdom has been plagued by great many turmoil; not least of all Yemen's war, and the ever growing ambition of its Crown Prince: Mohammed bin Salman, son to King Salman al-Saud.

Never since the death of King Abdullah in 2015 has the kingdom faced such political fluidity. By that I mean that Saudi Arabia went from playing second, third, and fourth fiddle to world powers, to politically, and economically imprinting onto others. Following decades of what I would describe as political submission, Riyadh suddenly reinvented itself a wannabe superpower - its ambition set alight by al-Saud new royal generation.

It is likely King Abdullah's reign will be remembered for the calm it guaranteed, while King Salman's spell on the throne will rhyme with violence, bloodshed and a shuffling of the kingdom's once deep state. But is King Salman actually sitting on that throne?

If sources close to Riyadh palaces are to be trusted King Salman, one of al-Saud's last princes of old, suffers from dementia, or Alzheimer - both degenerative mental diseases. And while the court so far at least, has been able to keep a lid on such development - mental lapses do not exactly scream political stability, or confidence, al-Saud Royals could be running out of road to walk on ...

Actually, it is rather Prince Mohammad bin Salman, whose window of royal opportunity could be closing.

Comment: See also:

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Crusader

Empire on steroids: The expansion of U.S. secret wars in Africa

Justin Yun
Chimes
Tue, 10 May 2016 00:00 UTC
US wars Africa
© wikimedia.orgIncreased interventions on the continent threatens democracy and public accountability.
The secret expansion of U.S. military bases and special operations in Africa has initiated a new and lightweight style of warfare and welcomes the next phase of American military imperialism. Unlike the highly publicized U.S. military "pivot to Asia," the proliferation of drones, special ops, mercenary spies, classified bases, proxy fighters and cyber warfare constitute what the journalist Nick Turse calls a "new light-footprint Obama doctrine" that "seems to be making war an ever more attractive and seemingly easy option."

A New Style of Fighting

On any day, elite U.S. forces conduct covert missions in an estimated 70 to 90 countries. According to Turse, special forces have been sent to an unprecedented 147 countries — 75 percent of the world's nations last year alone. This is a 145 percent increase from the rate of operations conducted under the Bush administration.

Wars conventionally fought by large infantry forces and full-scale invasions of foreign countries have made way for a new style of fighting — one that has become increasingly dependent on special forces, drones and private defense contractors. Because of the confidential nature of special ops, the Pentagon can essentially keep foreign military involvement secret from the American public. The U.S. has always had troops in Africa since the Cold War but the rate of its expansion dangerously indicates a lack of public accountability.
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Cow Skull

UN removes Saudis from child-killers list so US can continue to sell weapons to Riyadh


Sputnik
Tue, 07 Jun 2016 22:42 UTC
Saudi child killers
© REUTERS/ Khaled Abdullah
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon retreated from the bold position of including Saudi-led forces in Yemen on its list of systematic violators of child rights following a lobbying effort by the US, and Saudis.

The UN announced plans to amend last week's "blacklist" of children's rights-offending regimes, removing the Saudi-led coalition currently attacking Yemen, amidst intense lobbying by the United States and strident objection from Riyadh.

The UN's Annual Report on Children and Armed Conflict (CAAC) included the Saudi-led coalition's military campaign against the Houthi political opposition faction in Yemen on its list of systematic violators, citing the coalition's indiscriminate airstrikes that have been documented as consistently killing children.

On Monday, UN Secretary General Ban Kim Moon "accepted a proposal by Saudi Arabia that the United Nations and the Saudi-led coalition review jointly the cases and numbers cited in the text" before officially including the kingdom on its list of children's rights violators in the near future.

Comment: If this sort of news doesn't raise your ire (and blood pressure), nothing will.




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