TALLINN: Turkey’s EU affairs minister accused Germany of trying to use the EU as a “tool” in its festering row while German lawmakers arrived in Turkey on Friday to visit soldiers stationed in the central Turkish province of Konya.
Minister Omer Celik welcomed the diplomatic rebuff offered by a number of the bloc’s foreign ministers to German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s call for Turkey’s EU membership talks to be terminated.
The EU has voiced major concerns about Turkey’s crackdown in the wake of last year’s failed coup, with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker warning that Ankara was “withdrawing from Europe by giant steps.”
Relations between Berlin and Ankara have have deteriorated since last year’s failed coup tried to overthrow President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the subsequent crackdown.
During an election debate on Sunday Merkel said she would ask the EU to end Turkey’s accession talks.
Celik said Germany risked tarnishing the EU’s reputation by dragging it into a row between individual countries.
“Those who are at the moment coming up with fresh arguments (against Turkey joining) are actually trying to use the EU in order to tackle bilateral problems,” Celik told reporters at a gathering of EU foreign ministers in Tallinn.
“The EU should not be used as a tool to counter the bilateral problems of any of the countries.”
Merkel’s remarks on Sunday drew a furious response from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who compared them to “Nazism.”
But a number of EU ministers urged a more measured response than Merkel suggested, warning against rushing into hasty action against Turkey, which is an important member of NATO and a key partner for Europe in tackling the migrant crisis.
Celik said the ministers’ caution showed there was no “environment” to stop the negotiations, which have made only slow progress since they began in 2005.
Relations between Ankara and Berlin deteriorated sharply after the coup attempt, which was followed by the crackdown in Turkey during which over 50,000 people have been arrested, including German citizens.
Angry rhetoric has flown in both directions and Erdogan has called on ethnic Turks in Germany not to vote for Merkel’s party in national elections later this month.
Celik said it was time to move on from the recriminations.
“I can tell you we are definitely uncomfortable in terms of the arguments put forward by German politicians. They cannot spend a day without having some kind of remarks to our president and politicians,” he said.
“I think this is a vicious cycle that we need to break and we should definitely focus on the future.”
German lawmakers visit Turkey
While relations remain tense between the NATO allies, German lawmakers arrived in Turkey to visit soldiers stationed in the central Turkish province of Konya.
Some 20-30 German troops have remained at Konya as part of an Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACs) mission, part of the US-led coalition’s campaign against the Daesh group in neighboring Syria and Iraq.
The delegation had initially been due to come to Turkey in July for the routine visit, but the trip was blocked by Ankara.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg then intervened and the visit was organized by the alliance, rather than Germany.
NATO’s deputy secretary-general, Rose Gottemoeller, is leading the delegation including seven German MPs from different parties, according to the Bundestag.
“We expressly welcome the fact that this visit could take place,” Germany foreign ministry spokesman Martin Schaefer said.
“A visit is a visit. It is already good... We will see how things continue,” he said, adding that these types of visits organized within the NATO framework could not constitute “a lasting and sustainable political solution.”
The row over MPs’ access to German troops on Turkish soil boiled over in June when Berlin pulled out 260 troops from Incirlik base in southern Turkey and relocated them to Jordan, after Ankara repeatedly thwarted lawmakers’ efforts to visit.
Turkey accuses Germany of using EU as ‘tool’ in row
Turkey accuses Germany of using EU as ‘tool’ in row
Jordan’s King Abdullah, Indonesian president discuss defense cooperation, regional developments
- Indonesia and Jordan signed memorandums of understanding in agriculture, education and religious affairs
- King Abdullah highlighted Indonesia’s vital role in promoting international stability and peace
LONDON: King Abdullah II of Jordan and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto attended a signing ceremony for a defense cooperation agreement and three memorandums of understanding in Amman.
King Abdullah received Subianto on Monday at Al-Husseiniya Palace during the Indonesian leader’s first visit to Jordan since assuming office in March 2024.
Indonesia and Jordan agreed to collaborate on defense and signed memorandums of understanding in agriculture, education and religious affairs.
King Abdullah highlighted Indonesia’s vital role in promoting international stability and peace, Petra news agency reported.
The two leaders condemned Israeli violations of the sanctity of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and attempts to divide the site temporally and spatially. King Abdullah said Jordan will continue its religious and historical role in safeguarding Muslim and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem. He said the war in Gaza and developments in Syria and Lebanon are causing regional instability, Petra added.
Subianto reaffirmed his country’s solidarity with Jordan in defending Palestinian rights and said that Jakarta supports the establishment of a Palestinian state.
The two leaders addressed ways to stop the Israeli war on Gaza, reinstate the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, resume the entry of humanitarian aid and support Palestinians remaining in the coastal enclave.
Subianto said that Jordan and Indonesia have been longtime friends, highlighting his country’s eagerness to continue collaboration with Amman, Petra reported.
Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, the king’s office director Alaa Batayneh, Jordan’s Ambassador to Indonesia Sidqi Omoush, and Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad, the king’s chief adviser for religious and cultural affairs, attended the meeting.
Syrian president, Lebanese PM discuss border demarcation weeks after ceasefire
- Lebanese and Syrian leaders agreed to cooperate in the economic field and agreed on creating a ministerial committee to follow up with issues of common interest
CAIRO: Syrian leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa and visiting Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam discussed land and sea border demarcation and security coordination on Monday, weeks after the two countries agreed on a ceasefire that ended cross-border clashes.
“This visit will open a new page in the course of relations between the two countries on the basis of mutual respect and restoration of trust and good neighborliness,” Salam said in a statement released by his office.
The mountainous frontier has been a flashpoint in the months since militants toppled Syria’s Bashar Assad, an ally of Tehran and Iran-backed Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, and installed their own institutions and army.
The latest round of clashes was in March when Syrian troops exchanged fire with Lebanese soldiers and armed groups in northeast Lebanon. Syria accused Hezbollah of crossing into Syrian territory and kidnapping and killing three members of Syria’s army.
Hezbollah, however, denied any involvement. A Lebanese security source told Reuters the three Syrian soldiers had crossed into Lebanon first and were killed by armed members of a tribe who feared their town was under attack.
The two countries’ delegations also discussed the fate of missing and detained Lebanese people in Syria, an issue that came under the spotlight after the toppling of Assad, which led to the opening of prisons and the discovery of collective graves in Syria.
Lebanon says more than 700 Lebanese were detained in Syrian prisons due to the Syrian influence in Lebanon during the Lebanese civil war from 1975 to 1990.
For much of the Assad family’s five decades in power, Syria held significant influence over Lebanon, maintaining a military presence there for 29 years until 2005 despite widespread opposition from many Lebanese.
The Lebanese and Syrian leaders also agreed to cooperate in the economic field and agreed on creating a ministerial committee to follow up with issues of common interest, the Lebanese prime minister’s office said.
Germany pledges 125m euros for Sudan on eve of aid meet
- Funds will go toward helping international and local aid organizations to “bring urgently needed food and medicine to people in need” in Sudan, Baerbock said
BERLIN: Germany will provide 125 million euros ($142 million) in humanitarian aid for Sudan, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Monday, on the eve of an international conference on the situation in the war-torn country.
The funds will go toward helping international and local aid organizations to “bring urgently needed food and medicine to people in need” in Sudan and the wider region, Baerbock said in a statement.
Paramilitaries in Sudan known as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been at war with the army since April 2023.
The conflict has essentially divided Sudan in two, with the army holding sway in the north and east, while the RSF controls most of Darfur and parts of the south.
The war has killed tens of thousands, uprooted more than 13 million and created what the International Rescue Committee has described as “the biggest humanitarian crisis ever recorded.”
An international conference on the situation in Sudan will take place in London on Tuesday, co-hosted by Britain, Germany, France, the EU and the African Union, the German foreign ministry said.
The Sudanese army and the RSF militia were both unwilling to come to the table, according to the ministry.
“Death is an ever-present reality in large parts of Sudan,” Baerbock said, calling the conflict “the greatest humanitarian catastrophe of our time.”
“Entire regions have been destroyed, hundreds of thousands of families have been forced to flee, millions of people are starving, and women and children are being subjected to the most horrific sexual violence,” she said.
“The focus in London will therefore be on working with our African partners to identify options for unrestricted humanitarian access, protection of the civilian population and a political solution to this bloody conflict.”
Baerbock said the Gulf states would be among those represented at the meeting, calling on them to “use their influence... to establish humanitarian corridors.”
“Only joint international pressure will finally persuade the parties to the conflict to come to the negotiating table,” she added.
Turkiye to begin restoration work on dome of Hagia Sophia
- The dome will first be covered to protect it during the repair process
- Existing lead cover will then be removed for the restoration and reinforcement project to continue
ISTANBUL: Turkiye is set to begin restoration and reinforcement work on the dome of the Hagia Sophia, in one of the biggest repair projects carried out on the 1,486-year-old structure, experts said on Monday.
Hagia Sophia was the largest cathedral in the world for 900 years until its capture by Ottoman Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror in 1453, after which it was one of Islam’s most exalted mosques for nearly 500 years.
The building was converted to a museum by Turkiye’s secular republic more than 70 years ago but turned back into a mosque by President Tayyip Erdogan in 2020.
The process will be difficult and will “open an important page in the book of Hagia Sophia,” said Asnu Bilban Yalcin, a Byzantine art historian, adding that restoration of other parts of the structure has been under way for 10 years.
“It is truly a structure full of surprises because sometimes things develop in a way we do not expect. That is, you design and plan it, but when you open it, things may develop differently,” she told Reuters outside the Hagia Sophia.
The dome will first be covered to protect it during the repair process, said Ahmet Gulec, a cultural property conservation and repair expert, adding that the existing lead cover will then be removed for the restoration and reinforcement project to continue.
The reinforcement project will focus on weak structural points determined during simulations of a large earthquake, in a country criss-crossed by fault lines.
The real structural problems will become more apparent when the lead cover is lifted, said Hasan Firat Diker, a professor of architecture at the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Vakif University.
The Hagia Sophia is expected remain open to worshippers and visitors during the restoration process, which makes the repair process more difficult, said Gulec, the cultural property conservation and repair expert.
The experts did not specify a date for the completion of the restoration of the dome, given potential setbacks due to weather conditions and unforeseen additional works.
Thousands remain displaced in Jenin as Israeli military campaign continues for 84th day
- 6,000 people remain displaced within Jenin city, while 3,200 have sought refuge in the dormitories of the Arab American University
- Discussions with the Palestinian Authority are ongoing to provide mobile homes for displaced residents
LONDON: Israeli forces have continued operations in Jenin and its refugee camp for the 84th day, with homes being bulldozed and burned while some have been converted into military positions.
On Monday morning, Israeli forces detained two Palestinians from the village of Yamoun, located west of Jenin, after storming the town and conducting raids on homes, WAFA news agency reported.
Israeli forces deployed infantry units around Al-Amal Hospital and Al-Rabi Building on Al-Mahta Street, near the Jenin refugee camp, conducting raids in the area, WAFA added.
Jenin Governor Kamal Abu Al-Rub said 21,000 people remain displaced as a result of the Israeli military campaign, with 6,000 residents sheltering within Jenin city. At the same time, 3,200 people sought refuge in the dormitories of the Arab American University, and 4,181 individuals found shelter in Burqin village. Abu Al-Rub said discussions with the Palestinian Authority are ongoing to provide mobile homes for the displaced residents in Jenin.
Over the weekend, Israeli forces sent reinforcements and armored vehicles into Jenin and its refugee camp, including D10 bulldozers and infantry. Israeli forces conduct military training near the Jalameh checkpoint, north of Jenin, and occasionally fire live ammunition toward the deserted Jenin camp, WAFA reported.
