Ankara, Turkey David Rosenberg / The Med – The Arab Spring has been tough on Turkey. Its good friend, Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, disappointed it with a violent crackdown on protestors. Relations with Iran have grown chillier, Ankara was forced to do an embarrassing about-face on the Libyan no-fly zone and Egypt’s Islamic leaders warned it against promoting the Turkish brand of Islam and democracy.

Back at home, economic growth is faltering and the country has been subject to withering criticism for allowing the courts to lock up so many journalists. The Kurds have grown restive.

But Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan can take some solace from the fact that in the Arab world his country is as popular as ever. A newly released poll finds that Arabs see Turkey as a champion of regional peace and role model for religion and democracy living side by side.

Conducted among 2,323 people in 16 Arab countries over the last three months of 2011 by the Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV), the survey found that 78 percent approved of Turkey and its policies.

“Clearly Turkey is very much admired and so it has a degree of regional leadership and the ability to pay that role,” Jonathan Levack, program officer for foreign policy program at TESEV, told The Media Line. “But it has to be careful because public opinion is volatile and the region is volatile. You can’t easily translate this popularity into political influence.”

The survey comes as the Middle East and North Africa undergo their biggest upheaval in decades. Domestically, the countries that have thrown off autocratic rule are now undergoing a wrenching debate over the role of Islam and democracy while the long-standing dominance of the U.S. is perceived by many as being in retreat, with a host of powers looking to fill the vacuum.

Turkey’s approval rating puts it way ahead of other contender’s for regional leadership, most notably Saudi Arabia (64 percent) and Iran (45 percent), while China – a potentially emerging regional power – achieved a favorable rating among 65 percent of the respondents. The U.S. garnered only a 33 percent approval rating.

Turkey scored highest in countries where the Arab Spring has ended the rule of dictators and politics is in flux. In Libya, Turkey had a 93 percent approval rating even though Ankara was late in joining the no-fly zone campaign that was instrumental in ousting Muammar Al-Qaddafi. Turkey had a 91 percent rating in Tunisia and 86 percent rating in Egypt.

But in Syria, where Erdogan has been at the forefront of efforts to force Al-Assad to step down, Turkey’s approval rating plummeted. From 93 percent in TESEV’s 2010 survey, it fell to 44 percent last year.

Moreover, 61 percent of the Arab world views Turkey as a model for their own countries, compared with 22 percent who said it was not, according to the poll. Among those who approve of Turkey as a model, 32 percent cited its democracy, 25 percent its thriving economy and 23 percent its Muslim identity.

But among those who say they do not admire the Turkish model, its biggest drawback was its insufficient Muslim identity and its ties to the West, which the disapprovers believed to be too close. Turkey is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, although its efforts to join the European Union have so far failed.

In fact, the Turkish model has started to look a little tarnished. More than 100 journalists are now imprisoned for what human rights groups say are unfounded charges of terrorism. The latest arrests prompted a public tussle between Erdogan and the American author Paul Auster, who announced last month that he would not visit Turkey due to the clampdown on freedom of speech.

Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund is forecasting just 0.4 percent economic growth for Turkey this year, down from 8.3 percent in 2011.

This was the third annual survey of Arab attitudes TESEV has conducted as Turkey has emerged from decades of regional non-involvement to become an increasingly important political and economic player.

“Throughout the three surveys, we found Turkey was welcomed as an actor in the region by the people of the region…. that favorable option is consistent, or structural. It hasn’t been affected by the Arab Spring or by Turkey’s stance toward Libya,” said Levack.

Turks who participated in a Doha Debates roundtable at Bogazici University in Istanbul last month were less convinced of their country’s model. By a margin of 59 percent to 41 percent they approved a resolution: “This House believes Turkey is a bad model for the new Arab states.”

Ece Temelkuran, a Turkish journalist, told the audience that her country’s experience could not be duplicated in the Arab world. “Turkey has been under a state for modernism and secularism for about 80 years, which has not been experienced anywhere in the Arab world in the same manner,” she said.

But she was also critical of Turkey’s democracy, saying it was responsible for jailing journalists and criticized the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) for substituting military dominance over politics with a new kind of authoritarianism.

Defending the model, Sinan Ulgen, director of the Center for Economic and Foreign Policy Studies (Edam), said Turkey’s political development is a work in progress, which makes it relevant to the Arab world and a more useful mentor than Europe or America.

“The Arab people in terms of their cultural affinity have an association with Turkey. They relate to what’s going on in Turkey,” he told the Doha Debates audience. “They relate to what’s going on in Turkish society. And I think the best way to prove this argument is just to tell you that the wild success of the Turkish soap operas across the Arab world.”

View full post on Diplomacy Stories

Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – The United States on Monday confirmed issuance of visa to ailing Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh for a limited time to undergo medical treatment but refused to divulge time-period for which the visa is issued.

“We have issued a visa for Ali Abdullah Saleh,” said Victoria Nuland, the State Department spokesperson, adding, “It is strictly for medical treatment, and our expectation is that he will leave the United States when his medical treatment is complete.”

Asked to comment on the time period for which this visa is issued, Nuland said, “He’s got a visa for the period that he anticipated the medical treatment would last. If the treatment goes on longer and he needs to apply for an extension, he would do that with Homeland Security.”

Yemeni political players are expecting to utilize President Saleh’s absence to move the country “on a concrete transition plan to a more democratic Yemen,” said Nuland, adding, “We do believe that Saleh’s absence from Yemen at this critical juncture might, in fact, facilitate that dialogue and facilitate the transition process.”

Agreeing that, “it might be helpful to the transition process that he’s out of the country now,” Nuland reiterated, “It (the visa application) was not approved for political purposes. It was approved for medical treatment. The timing, we think, is fortuitous, however, and we hope that the Yemenis will use the time well.”

View full post on Diplomacy Stories

Yangon, Myanmar (IRIN) – Karen leaders are cautiously optimistic about the possibility of peace after more than 60 years of fighting Burmese security forces as they prepare for meetings with the government on 10 January.

A Karen “peace committee” — formed in November — has arranged a two-day meeting in the state’s Pa Ang District for what is hoped will lead to a permanent end to the armed conflict that began in 1949 and has left the civilian population devastated by decades of instability.

“The talks are the very first step in negotiations for a ceasefire,” Karen National Union (KNU) vice-president Saw David Thakabaw told IRIN.

“We have to begin with a ceasefire and then proceed to negotiations, with political dialogue taking place later.”

The Karen, a largely Christian community in eastern and southern Myanmar, have effectively been at war with Myanmar’s central government since the country gained independence from the UK.

Federal system

The KNU seeks a genuine federal system giving Myanmar’s individual ethnic states greater autonomy.

In 2011, the KNU joined an umbrella alliance of ethnic parties and groups – including the Mon, Shan, Karenni, Chin, and Kachin people – to form the United Nationalities Federal Council in an effort to bring unified strength to the negotiating table.

“It’s been very difficult in the past. We’ve met five times already with the successive regimes in power and now it will be the sixth time. We hope this time will be different because of the changes in the geo-political situation,” said Saw David Thakabaw.

The news comes as Myanmar’s nominally civilian government appears more open to international dialogue following the visit of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last November and UK foreign minister William Hague in January.

“We think now is an ideal time to open talks to reform the political problems during the negotiations,” explained KNU general-secretary Zipporah Sein. “But we will not sign a ceasefire for peace unless there is a guarantee that it will lead to political dialogue and long-lasting peace.

“One of the main problems is the security for the civilian population because many of them are still living in IDP [internally displaced persons] areas and they cannot go back to their villages.

“Despite the talks, the Burmese are still sending supplies and troops into the area and we are afraid that they will use their military power against us again,” said Zipporah Sein.

According to the Thai Burmese Border Consortium (TBBC) , an umbrella group of NGOs working along the border to supply aid to 10 refugee camps – at least 112,000 people were forced to leave their homes in southeast Myanmar between August 2010 and July 2011.

These rates are the highest in a decade, underlining the escalation in fighting since the 2010 elections .

And while many of the displaced have returned home, others have moved to refugee camps; about 20,000 live in makeshift camps inside Karen state, the TBBC reported.

Cultural issues

“The education of the Karen and other ethnic groups has been destroyed over the years so we need the right to an education for our next generation, especially to learn our culture, our history and our language,” said Saw Mort, spokesperson for the Karen Student Network Group.

Karen Women’s Organization spokesperson Knaw Paw stressed the need for women’s issues to be addressed in the peace process but said that initially, what was most important was basic human rights for civilians caught up in the conflict.

“The people in the camps listen to the radio and they know about what’s happening in the capital but I think the majority of them are still struggling with their hardships and just trying to carry on with their lives and survive,” Knaw Paw says.

ss/ds/mw

– Provided by Integrated Regional Information Networks.

View full post on Diplomacy Stories

Sanaa, Yemen (AHN) – Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh is seeking entry to the U.S. for medical treatment but Washington is reviewing his travel request, according to a senior U.S. official.

Saleh, who has relinquished his post to Vice President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi in a transition ahead of elections in February, relayed his request to the U.S. embassy in Sanaa.

The anonymous U.S. official said the request may be granted on condition that the visit will be for medical treatment only.

Saleh’s U.S. travel request comes as 13 people were killed by Yemeni security forces during a protest march on Saturday. The protesters were demanding the prosecution of Saleh for handing power to Hadi.

In June, Saleh has undergone treatment in Saudi Arabia for wounds he suffered during an explosion at his presidential palace.

View full post on Diplomacy Stories

Washington, DC, United States (AHN) – Republican Senator and former presidential candidate John McCain on Monday criticized the policies of visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and President Barack Obama for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq.

In a statement issued on the eve of the joint press conference by al-Maliki and Obama, McCain said, “The meeting between President Obama and Prime Minister Maliki today cannot obscure the fact that both men have failed in their responsibilities with regard to our shared security interests.”

Citing the domestic political factors as driving forces behind the withdrawal of American forces, Sen. McCain said, “The sacrifices of both our peoples in a long and costly war, the continued needs of Iraq’s Security Forces, and the enduring U.S. interest in a stable and democratic Iraq all demanded a continued presence of U.S. troops beyond this year.”

The dampening statement was in sharp contrast to optimism expressed by both Obama and al-Maliki. Obama said at a joint press conference, “The Prime Minister and I are reaffirming our common vision of a long-term partnership between our nations,” adding, “Simply put, we are building a comprehensive partnership.”

Calling the emerging successful, inclusive, democratic Iraq as a model for the entire region, the President stressed that the U.S. had “an enormous investment of blood and treasure in Iraq,” reiterating that, “It’s well understood both in Iraq and here in the United States that our commitment to Iraq’s success is going to be enduring.”

Asked about his 2002 statement that invading Iraq would be a “dumb war,” Obama said history would judge the decision to invade.

On the region’s sanguinary oppression in Syria, Obama said he, along with al-Maliki, agreed that the Assad regime’s repression of its people is a problem. Al-Maliki, speaking through an interpreter said, “We honor the aspirations of the Syrian people. But I cannot have — I do not have the right to ask a president to abdicate.”

Answering a question about the U.S. drone lost in Iran, Obama, in a first acknowledgment that the drone was in Iranian hands, said, “As has already been indicated, we have asked for it back. We’ll see how the Iranians respond.”

Without getting drawn into divulging further details, Obama told journalists, “With respect to the drone inside of Iran, I’m not going to comment on intelligence matters that are classified.”

Earlier, a statement by al-Maliki’s office noted that he was accompanied by Minister of Transport Hadi Farhan al-Amiri, Minister of Trade Khairallah Babiker, Minister of Culture and Defense Agency Saadoun al-Dulaimi, national security adviser Faleh al-Fayad, and the President of the National Investment Commission Sami Raouf al-Araji, in addition to the chairman of the consultant firm Thamer Abbas Ghadban and media adviser to the prime minister, Ali Hadi al-Moussawi.

In a very unusual development, al-Maliki was later escorted by both the President Obama and Vice-President Joe Biden to a wreath-laying at Arlington, VA.

View full post on Diplomacy Stories

Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – The U.S. Central Command launched another investigation into an apparent attack by NATO helicopters on a border checkpoint that Pakistani officials are claiming killed dozens of soldiers.

Announcing the investigation into the incident near the Salala Checkpoint, Khas Kunar Province, Afghanistan, in the vicinity of the Pakistan border on Nov. 25, the commander of U.S. Central Command, Gen. James N. Mattis, appointed Brig. Gen. Stephen Clark from Headquarters Air Force Special Operations Command at Hurlburt Field, Fla., as the Investigating Officer.

Directing the investigating officer to provide an initial report by December 23, 2011, General Mattis noted the investigation would be “CENTCOM-led with the support, cooperation and involvement of a NATO element on the investigation team.”

The investigating team would also include “input and participation from the International Security Assistance Force,” in addition to the representation from “the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the Government of Pakistan.”

Earlier in the day, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little acknowledged the investigation by the International Security Assistance Force saying, “ISAF did as you would expect — assign an initial assessment team to look into the incident.”

Little, added about the CENTCOM review saying, “I think you can expect the investigation to look at the full range of factors that contributed to this tragedy and it will be broad, expansive and thorough.”

Little confirmed that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta had not yet directly contacted any Pakistani official but reassured, “The secretary has been monitoring these events very closely with military leadership in Afghanistan and here in the United States.”

“The Pakistani government knows our position,” Little said, “and that is that we do regret the loss of life in this incident and we are investigating it.”

On the fallout on the ongoing cooperation for war on terror, Jay Carney, the White House spokesman said, “There are challenges to this relationship, and we’ve discussed them here this year. This is obviously a significant issue that we take seriously, and that’s why we, through CENTCOM, will be investigating to find out exactly what happened.”

Expressing condolences for the “families of those who lost their lives, and to the Pakistani people overall, for this tragedy,” Carney said, “We continue to believe that it will be in not just the United States’ interest, but Pakistan’s interest, to work with us cooperatively on our shared goals.”

“Don’t forget that Pakistan and the Pakistani people have been primary victims of terrorism and terrorists, and that we work with them and that cooperative relationship has borne fruit for the United States and for our national security interests,” Carney stressed.

Over the weekend, the Pakistan army in a statement claimed 24 people were killed and 13 were injured. Islamabad immediately closed the NATO supply routes into Afghanistan.

View full post on Diplomacy Stories

Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – The United States is reaching out to Indian member states especially Gujarat but Washington still has no visa policy for its chief minister according to one of the top U.S. diplomats.

Addressing journalists at a special briefing at the State Department, Robert Blake, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs said, “We recently have begun an effort to try to enhance state-to-state ties between our two countries – Special Representative Rita Jo Lewis recently made a trip to India with that in mind – because we believe there are quite significant opportunities for individual American states to do more with their Indian counterparts.”

Citing “great importance to working more closely with the states,” Secretary Blake said, “There’s quite a lot of dynamism at the state level in India, so we want to just try to capture that, and again, encourage those state-to-state and city-to-city links.”

Secretary Blake projected more U.S. involvement with the Indian states saying, “You’ll see more of that in our relations over the next several years.”

Asked to comment on frequent trips by American businesses to Gujarat, termed a business-friendly state while denying U.S. visa to the chief minister of the state, Secretary Blake denied there were any changes in the U.S. position on the visa application of Narendra Modi, the Gujarat Chief Minister saying, “No, there are no new developments on that.”

The U.S., however, looked forward to investing in Gujarat said Blake, saying, “Gujarat itself remains a very important place for American investment.”

“I think it’s shown itself to be a very welcoming environment for American business to flourish,” said Blake, adding, “We’ll continue to promote investment, encourage investment into that state.”

Assistant Secretary Blake returned from a trip to the Maldives as head of the U.S. observer delegation to the 17th Summit of the SAARC which has eight member nations and nine observers.

The U.S. has enjoyed observer nation status since 2007 in SAARC, which groups Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

View full post on Diplomacy Stories

Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – U.S. President Barack Obama is scheduled to meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel prior to engaging in official agenda of G20 Summit in Cannes, France on Thursday according to the White House officials.

Addressing journalists Ben Rhodes, the deputy national security advisor for strategic communications announced that President Obama would have two bilateral meetings, “first with President Sarkozy of France, and then with Chancellor Merkel of Germany.”

Citing them as “important meetings for him (President Obama) to have consultations with these leaders before the G20 commences,” Rhodes said the president would also meet the same day, “L20, the international labor leaders who will be in Cannes as a part of the G20 program.”

Although the Obama Administration officials did not announce any bilateral meeting with Chinese leadership, the focus beyond the Eurozone crisis would be on the Chinese currency.

Joining Rhodes at the White House briefing on Monday, Lael Brainard, the Treasury Department’s under secretary for international affairs told journalists, “In China and other surplus emerging-market economies, allowing exchange rates to appreciate to reflect market forces is the most powerful near-term tool to accelerate the shift to domestic consumption, while countering inflationary pressures.”

Brainard urged emerging economies including China, “to shift to domestic consumption-led growth, rather than relying on an outdated growth model based on net exports to advanced economies where demand is likely to be weak for some time.”

“The exchange rate plays the most powerful potential near-term role as a lever in helping that shift,” added Brainard.

On the question of dealing with the Wall Street fiasco, Brainard said, “With regard to discussions about getting the financial sector to bear their fair share of the burden, we’re very much in sync with Europe on their goal of ensuring both that the financial sector — large financial institutions — bear their fair share of the burden, but also that they’re discouraged from taking the kind of risky behavior that led to the crisis.”

Elaborating Brainard said, “The President has also put forward a financial crisis responsibility fee that would be directed at the largest financial institutions that really impose the greatest costs on the economy.”

Calling these proposals as “pretty well designed to both deter the kind of risky behavior that led to the crisis, and to ensure that these large financial institutions and not retail investors bear their fair share of the burden,” Brainard said, “We put forward the fee because we think it’s more important to put the burden on the largest financial institutions rather than shifting it to retail investors.”

On the domestic political situation accompanying President Obama on his G20 trip, Carney last week acknowledged “gridlock” with Republican leaders as the lawmakers dragged their feed on Obama’s ambitious $447 billion jobs bill, and slow progress at a bipartisan congressional committee shouldering the responsibility to cut at least $1.2 trillion in additional spending.

Sounding a positive note, Carney, however added, “The president’s message to the Europeans and broadly to all the members of the G20 is that we need to work individually as countries and collectively together to ensure that we sustain and continue the global economic recovery and to put our people broadly speaking back to work.”

View full post on Diplomacy Stories

Washington, DC, United States (AHN) – Dozens of U.S.-based Indians from the Telangana region of the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh gathered in Washington, DC, on Saturday, staging a solidarity demonstration with the “Sakala Janula Samme” – a civil disobedience movement that has swept all of Telangana over the last 32 days.

Speaking at the demonstration, Ravi Mayreddy, a spokesperson for the mobilization, said, “We demand that Indian government to respect and abide by its own declaration of Dec. 9th, 2009, and form the new Telangana state.”

Like the 40 million people of Telangana who have undertaken the all-peoples’ civil disobedience, the Telangana NRIs demanded in a strong voice that the Indian government immediately initiate the process of creating the Telangana state. Organizers cited “the right of the citizenry to form a separate State is granted under Articles 2 and 3 of the Indian constitution.”

Based on reports from the region, the organizers highlighted that for over a month the entire government machinery in the 10 districts that constitute Telangana have come to a complete standstill.

“All government offices, secondary schools, colleges, universities, mines and factories, urban and rural bus services, government hospitals and medical clinics have all ground to a halt. Teachers and engineers, lawyers and doctors, workers and managers, and even the police are voluntarily participating in this mass general strike,” the organizers said in a statement.

View full post on Diplomacy Stories

Mogadishu, Somalia (AHN) – The transitional federal government said it had never supported the series of hearings that United States Representative Peter T. King, Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security Peter King convened in March.

According to the a statement of Somali prime minister on Sunday, Mr. King has recently published in his website that Somali Government supports Peter King’s hearings,

“The Prime Minister of Somalia, Dr Abdiweli Mohamed Ali was surprised to learn that U.S. Rep. Peter T. King (R-NY) publicized that the Somali Government assured him of their full support and cooperation in his hearings” the statement said.

Somali Government has condemned Peter King’s controversial and extreme views and under no circumstances would support or cooperate with him in this issue.

Mr. Ali said that “Somali Government will never support Peter King’s series of investigations focusing exclusively on Islam. Our Government will not support or cooperate with someone who is controversial and had partisan views.

“We, the Government of Somalia can only support for non-partisan views and any crime should be looked as individual and anyone committing crime has no place in our society and should face fair and objective trial without discriminating a segment of the societys” Ali added.

“Somali Government is in the frontline of terrorism, and will do everything to stop terrorism in its soil and around the globe, however, under no circumstance we support individuals that are clearly discriminating and labeling Muslims as terrorists”

Somali government asked U.S. Rep. Peter T. King (R-NY) to remove the statement on his website claiming that Somali Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali joins in supporting the hearings. This is a total fabrication, Somalia says.

View full post on Diplomacy Stories