Some three weeks after Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman publicly slammed the Turkish leadership, breaking the government’s policy of refraining from responding in kind to Turkey’s anti-Israel rhetoric, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan lashed out at Lieberman, saying he should be fired. In an interview on Al-Jazeera that aired Wednesday evening, Erdogan said, “Lieberman is Israel’s chief problem, and the Israelis should get rid of him. This is their problem, not ours. If Israel doesn’t fire him, their problems will get worse.” The prime minister’s comments came on the day Lieberman traveled to Greece, a trip that further illustrates a flowering relationship between Jerusalem and Athens that has blossomed as quickly as ties between Turkey and Israel have faded. At the end of December, during a speech to Israel’s ambassadors, Lieberman characterized Turkey’s demand for an apology over the Mavi Marmara incident as “beyond chutzpa,” and said both Erdogan and his Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu spread “lies” about Israel. Erdogan, however, did not suffice with attacking Lieberman in his interview, saying, “The Netanyahu government may be the worst or least fortunate in the history of Israel.” Erdogan also defended Hamas, saying it “is not a terrorist movement. They are people defending their land. It is a movement that entered the elections and won...[Israel] sees them as enemies of democracy.” Erdogan said he had told Quartet envoy Tony Blair that “peace will not come out of any negotiating table without Hamas.” In a related development, Lieberman met in Athens Thursday with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou and said that, in light of the enhanced relations between the two states, there should be improved cooperation between the countries, and with the Balkan states, in various international forums. He also said Israel expected Greek support in upgrading its relations with the EU – something opposed by a number of EU countries at this time because of the stalemate in the diplomatic process. In addition to strengthening its ties with Greece, the deterioration in Israel’s relations with Turkey has also led to better ties with other historic rivals of Turkey, such as Cyprus, Romania and Bulgaria.
II. EUOBSERVER - Turkey deplores Europe's "lack of vision"
Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Thursday (13 January) deplored EU leaders' "lack of vision" for blocking Ankara's EU accession talks and described EU visa-free deals for Western Balkan countries as "unacceptable discrimination... We expect more determination from the EU. We expect that Europe keeps its promises regarding a full membership of Turkey," Mr Davutoglu said during a joint press conference in Ankara with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, as quoted by AFP. The minister said the current stalemate in accession talks shows "a lack of vision on the part of the EU." The impasse is mainly due to Cyprus, an EU member split in half by Turkey in 1974. Germany and France are also opposed to Turkey's full membership, preferring a "privileged partnership" instead. On visas, the Turkish politician deemed "unacceptable" the fact that the Union has granted visa-free travel to Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Bosnia and Albania in the past two years, while Turkish citizens face "negative discrimination."
Israel and Greece agreed to set up a regional force to deal with natural disasters following a meeting between the foreign ministers of the two countries. Avigdor Lieberman arrived in Greece Wednesday on the first official visit by an Israeli foreign minister in 15 years. Greece said it would organize the regional force and has invited the Palestinian Authority and other countries in the region such as Turkey, Egypt and Jordan to join the effort, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported. The force comes on the heels of the Carmel Forest fire in northern Israel last December; Greece was among the countries to assist in quelling the blaze. Lieberman told his Greek counterpart Dimitris Droutsas on Wednesday that he “wishes Greece would help with Israel's dispute with its neighbors.” Asked about the comment, Lieberman told JTA, "I will not elaborate, but I will say that Israel is enjoying the good offices of Greece.” The ministers agreed that in two months the country's cabinets would hold a joint meeting to help set up joint joint committees in the areas of energy, environment and technology. They reportedly also discussed the Exclusive Economic Zone with Cyprus and how Greece can participate in the Leviathan natural gas reserve. Lieberman visited the Athens Jewish community and laid a wreath at the Jewish Holocaust memorial.
IV. STRAITSTIMES - Chinese general to head UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus
The United Nations on Thursday put a Chinese general in charge of the international peacekeeping force in Cyprus in a new sign of China's growing diplomatic importance. The part British-educated Major General Chao Liu, 51, takes over as force commander of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) from Rear Admiral Mario Sanchez Debernardi of Peru. Gen Liu is currently China's military attache in India and has had several top positions in the People's Liberation Army. He studied at the Shijiazhuang Military Command Academy and the London School of Economics, where he gained a Master of Arts. In 1993-94, Gen Liu was a military observer at the UN mission in Western Sahara. China already has the force commander with the UN Mission for the Referendum Western Sahara (MINURSO), Major General Zhao Jingmin. UNFICYP has more than 900 troops and police patrolling a buffer zone between the north and south of Cyprus, which has been divided since 1974.
V. EMG - Spain will not recognize Kosovo
Spanish Foreign Minister Trinidad Jimenez assured Wednesday in Madrid Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic that her country will stick to its decision not to recognize Kosovo's independence. In a meeting with Jeremic, Jimenez also expressed support for dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, according to Spanish news agency EFE. The talk focused on the situation in Kosovo, bilateral relations - which the two ministers agreed were excellent - and Serbia's integration in the European Union, the Spanish Foreign Ministry said. The Spanish minister thanked Jeremic on Serbia's constructive attitude regarding dialogue with Pristina, which they agreed should start as soon as possible. The Spanish government holds that Kosovo's 2008 unilateral declaration of independence violated international law and Serbia's territorial integrity. Nevertheless, Spain supports Belgrade's efforts to arrive at a solution through dialogue with Pristina, after the UN's International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion last July that Kosovo's move did not violate international law. Minister Jimenez pointed out that the opinion is not binding and does not alter Spain's stance on the issue, reads the statement. Spain would change its stance only if the two sides came to an agreement, or if the UN Security Council recalled its Resolution 1244 passed in 1999, which declares that Kosovo is a part of Serbia. Spain also pledged support to Serbia in the EU accession process, adds the statement.
VI. RIANOVOSTI - Russian parliament approves New START
The State Duma, the lower house of Russia's parliament, on Friday adopted the bill on the ratification of a new strategic arms reduction deal with the United States on the second reading, setting its terms for approving the pact. The amendments, developed by the State Duma foreign relations committee, spell out grounds for Russia's withdrawal from the treaty and the president's obligation to adopt a program for the development of Russia's strategic nuclear forces. The draft law was adopted by a 349-57 vote with two abstentions. The new treaty, replacing the START 1 that expired in December 2009, was signed in Prague last April by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and U.S. President Barack Obama. The document slashes the Russian and U.S. nuclear arsenals to a maximum of 1,550 nuclear warheads, down from the current ceiling of 2,200. Grounds for withdrawal include violation of the new START treaty by the United States, the unilateral deployment by the United States of missile defense systems that endanger Russia's national security, and the adoption of strategic non-nuclear weapon systems by the United States without approval by a bilateral Russian-U.S. commission. The amendments also specify the prerogatives of Russia's executive and legislative branches of government in the treaty's implementation and provide for further negotiations on other types of weapons, in particular missile defense systems. The U.S. Senate ratified the new arms deal with Russia on December 22, but added several amendments to the resolution on ratification, including a demand to build up U.S. global missile defenses. The new agreement will come into force after ratification by both houses of the Russian parliament, the State Duma and the Federation Council. The lower house is expected to adopt the draft law in the third and final reading on January 25. The upper house could hold its ratification vote as soon as it returns to session on January 26.
VII. CHRISTIANPOST - Martyrdom and Acquiescence
“Iran Targets Christians with a Wave of Arrests,” “Egyptian Copts Mark Christmas Cautiously,” and “Anti-Christian Crimes Downplayed,” were all Friday headlines that set the tone for weekend coverage of bad news. Google some words like “Christian Martyrs” and scroll down from early Christian accounts to the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. You will find claims that hundreds of millions of Christians died for their faith in the twentieth century and that several hundred thousand still do each year of the still new twenty-first century. I’ve often questioned the methodology, definition, or mathematics of the tabulators, but when all is done and said, it’s in place to say: “No matter. Even a single death for this cause is one too many.” The stories are played because there is such terrible news daily, but Chicago Sun-Times columnist Steve Huntley also wrote that these “crimes”--and they are that--are “downplayed.” There is no reason to disagree with his reporting of the crimes, but it is in place to ask what is at issue in the charge that they are “downplayed.” A reader has to ask who is doing the downplaying, for which readership, and for what reason. Huntley has a mission; look him up and you will see that he is regularly pursuing those he regards as soft on Islam. His charges begin: American media talk too much about Islamophobia, but not enough about “the bloody persecution of Christians in parts of the Muslim world.” That the persecution goes on is unquestionably true. Whether it receives too little media space or time is harder to assess. Huntley continues his mission: merely report an Islamist threat, he complains, and you will be subjected to charges of bigotry. But most pressing on Huntley’s mind is the fact that too much of “Islamist terrorism,” backed by “radical theology,” bad clerics and bad governments is “enabled” also by “too much silence, or worse, acquiescence in the Muslim world.” I think that all these charges by Huntley are grounded, but columns like his prompt further questions which need to be faced. What is to be the end result of such pleading for “playing up” the stories and their meanings? Should America undertake armed intervention in the “top 10 countries that are most dangerous for Christians to practice their religion in?” (Eight of these are Muslim, according to some assessments). First, America is deeply involved already. Second, should Americans find more ways to protect endangered Christians in Muslim societies? Yes. Exactly how that is to be done is hard to say. Will whatever “we” do be better received if we play up instead of merely play or certainly downplay the crimes? The history of hysteria in wartime suggests that the loss of perspective is costly, and it often issues in atrocity or blunderbuss actions. We obviously need accurate reporting and mature interpretation, and the media at their best can promote both. On a different track we note that many reports chide Christians in America for “downplaying” or at least for not being sufficiently agitated and counter-aggressive when their brothers and sisters in those eight Islamic nations suffer. In my sightings, I do see and agree that many of them do not put as high a priority on playing up and calling for responses to Islamic (or other) persecutions of Christians. One hears fewer reports of Christian identification with Christian sufferers as Christian than, say, of Jewish identification with and support for beleaguered Jews in distant lands. Yet Christians are urged first to be “working for the good of all” and then, especially, for “those of the family of faith.” The two objects of their concern are not mutually exclusive.