The entrance gate of the Swedish Consulate General on the Istanbul shopping street İstiklal looks as if the Bavarian fairytale king Ludwig II put it there: white with high battlements. The fairy-like fits, after all Sweden was always a promise in times when the Turks their own country was hell. After numerous military coups, it offered refuge. This story has not been forgotten, and almost every day people are still queuing in front of the consulate hoping for a visa....
The Turkish-Swedish merry-go-round of outrage is now spinning so fast that you can hardly keep up. On Saturday afternoon, a Koran burned in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm, and in the afternoon, opponents of NATO and sympathizers of the Kurdish liberation arms marched through the city center and ran over a photo of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's face. The demonstrators were carrying a doll of the Turkish president that they had hung by its feet ten days earlier. All...
from Alex Rühle, StockholmA Koran burned in Stockholm at noon, and a Swedish flag in Ankara in the evening. In the intervening hours, the hopes that the Swedish government would soon become a member of NATO must have gone up in smoke. And all because of a cynical political clown. source site
President Erdoğan wants an alliance with Syria and Russia. It would be a major political turnaround, an upgrade for dictator Assad - and dangerous for millions of Syrians who have fled to Turkey.from Christiane Schlotzer, MunichThe old houses have colorful facades and rickety balconies in the inner-city district of Istanbul where the Syrian journalist lives, who has not dared to go out into the streets for days. Actually, the young man should feel safe, after all this is Istanbul and...
Ein mutmaßlicher Deserteur der russischen Söldnertruppe Wagner ist über die Grenze nach Norwegen geflohen und sucht dort Asyl. Wie sein Anwalt am Montag mitteilte, floh der 26-jährige Andrej Medwedew Ende der vergangenen Woche in Nordnorwegen über die Grenze. Ein Polizeisprecher bestätigte, ein Mann sei in der Nacht zum Freitag wegen illegalen Grenzübertritts festgenommen worden und habe Asyl beantragt. Der Menschenrechtsorganisation Gulagu.net schilderte der 26-Jährige seine dramatische Flucht: „Als ich auf dem Eis (an der Grenze) war, hörte ich Hunde bellen...
Außenministerin Annalena Baerbock will die russische Führungsriege mit einem internationalen Sondergericht für den Angriffskrieg in der Ukraine zur Rechenschaft ziehen. Das Gericht außerhalb der Ukraine solle seine Rechtssprechung aus dem ukrainischen Strafrecht ableiten, machte die Grünen-Politikerin am Montag in einer Grundsatzrede an der Haager Akademie für Völkerrecht deutlich. Das Tribunal soll gegen die russische Führung ermitteln und sie vor Gericht stellen können. Sie habe mit ihrem ukrainischen Kollegen Dmytro Kuleba vergangene Woche beim Besuch in der Ostukraine darüber gesprochen, gemeinsam...
US-Präsident Joe Biden hat die vom russischen Präsidenten Wladimir Putin anlässlich des orthodoxen Weihnachtsfests angeordnete Feuerpause in der Ukraine als Versuch Moskaus kritisiert, sich eine Atempause zu verschaffen. Putin sei am 25. Dezember und Neujahr dazu bereit gewesen, „Krankenhäuser und Kindergärten und Kirchen zu bombardieren“, sagte Biden am Donnerstag in Washington. „Ich denke, er versucht gerade, sich etwas Luft zu verschaffen“, sagte Biden. Zuvor hatte bereits die Regierung in Kiew die am Donnerstag vom Kreml verkündete Waffenruhe als „reine Propaganda-Geste“...
comment by Tomas AvenariusThe separation of powers is a fine thing: no matter who governs, a president or a prime minister appointed by parliament, the balance of power in the country remains balanced. The constitutional checks and balances are taking effect, the rule of law works, the democratic transfer of power and civil rights remain guaranteed. It's different in Turkey. Judgments are being issued more and more frequently that cast doubt on the independence of the judiciary. In politically decisive...
Istanbul's Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu is threatened with another impeachment procedure. After a year-long investigation, the Turkish central government in Ankara claims that among the almost 44,000 employees of the city administration there are 1,668 people with ties to terrorist organizations. As mayor, Imamoğlu is responsible for this. The popular politician is considered a possible candidate for the presidency.Almost half a year before the presidential and parliamentary elections, he could now be relieved of his post. In this way, President Recep...
Five commanders of the Azovstal unit have been in Turkey since their release from Russian captivity. You are not allowed to leave the country. Five Ukrainian commanders who defended the Azov valley plant and civilians housed there in Mariupol and were released in a prisoner exchange will not be home at Christmas either. They are still in Turkey, which brokered exchanges between Ukraine and Russia in September. Serhii Volynskyi, Svyatoslav Palamar, Denys Prokopenko, Oleg Khomenko and Denys Shlega are under...
