Turkish border guards continue to shoot and kill Syrian refugees and asylum seekers trying to reach Turkey, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW). Syrian refugees are being killed, injured and abused at the border. HRW condemns the use of excessive force and asks Turkish authorities to stop pushing back asylum seekers at the border and to investigate the abuses.
Submitted by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,
Pretending Period is Over
The refugee crisis in Europe got more interesting this week.
Within hours of Brussels giving the green light on Merkel’s ill-advised deal with Turkey, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan sacked sacked Ahmet Davutoglu, the prime minister who negotiated the deal with German chancellor Angela Merkel.
For details see EU Approves Deal With Turkey (Then All Hell Breaks Loose).
Two journalists working for the Cumhuriyet newspaper in Turkey have been sentenced to five years in prison, in the first ever case of its kind in Europe. Can Dundar and Erdem Gul were convicted on charges of “revealing state secrets”. RT.com reports: The Turkish court has reportedly acquitted them on some of the charges, including that of “coup attempt,” according to the newspaper. The two had also faced life sentences for publishing their report which claims that Turkey has delivered weapons to terrorists in Syria.
Turkey's conversion into an all out despotic, banana republic is almost complete.
Recall that in November, violence erupted in the troubled nation in which president Erdogan is now actively seeking dictatorial powers after a prominent lawyer and foe of Erdogan, was assassinated on live TV. This occured just days before Erdogan arrests journalists who exposed Erdogan's weapons smuggling to extremist Syrian rebels, among whom was Cumhuriyet editor in chief Can Dundar.
Submitted by Emad Mostaque via GovernmentsAndMarkets.com,
“Erdogan once said that democracy, for him, is a bus ride … ‘once I get to my stop, I’m getting off’ ”
Jordan’s King Abdullah recalling a conversation with the Turkish President