Fifty five Congressmen have urged US President Barack Obama ''to impress upon Turkey that a solution to the Cyprus problem cannot be reached without its full and constructive cooperation, both in the process and in the outcome of the negotiations for a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation, and without the withdrawal of its military forces from Cyprus.'' In a letter to Obama, dated 5 October, the 55 Congressmen welcome the commitment demonstrated by the President of the Republic of Cyprus Demetris Christofias and the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community Mehmet Ali Talat who have been engaged in direct negotiations since September 2008 with the aim of reunifying the island. ''Only a well-prepared and mutually agreed settlement based on the universal principles of international law and human rights, the relevant resolutions of the United Nations Security Council, and the principles on which the European Union is founded would guarantee a just, viable and lasting solution,'' they stress. They also reiterate their support for the reunification of the island and its people in a bi-communal and bi-zonal federation with a single sovereignty, single international personality and single citizenship, with its independence and territorial integrity safeguarded, and comprising two politically equal communities as described in the relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions, adding that ''such a solution for Cyprus would respect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all Cypriots.'' They also note that a solution to the Cyprus problem must come from the Cypriots themselves and serve first and foremost their interests, which can be achieved if the Cypriots retain ownership of the process which should not be subjected to strict timeframes or arbitration. ''Ultimately however, the key to a successful outcome of the negotiating process and reunification of the island remains with Ankara. Turkey must give the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community the necessary freedom to negotiate a solution within the established framework and facilitate that solution with the removal of its troops from Cyprus,'' they conclude.
With a new wave of anti-Israel sentiment in Turkey, and a furious response in Israel, the once-booming tourism trade between the countries is already feeling the effects. "I can't sell a Turkish Air ticket going via Istanbul," Mark Feldman, CEO of Zion Tours, told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday. Istanbul is a common stop-over point on the way to many other destinations. "Nobody, but nobody, wishes to fly there... packages are very cheap, the airline is a good airline... [but] people are voting with their feet," Feldman said. Relations with Turkey have recently been strained, due to Turkey's withdrawal from an international military exercise involving Israel, a series of verbal assaults from Turkish leaders, and the premiere of a new television series portraying IDF soldiers as murderers. The first episode of the series aired in Turkey on Tuesday evening and depicted IDF soldiers in the West Bank killing a baby and a young girl, and lining up Palestinians to be shot before a firing squad. Turkey is generally the second most popular destination for Israeli tourists, ranking only after the United States. More than half a million Israelis visited Turkey last year. Tourists from Israel ranked 10th in the number of entries to Turkey and made up 2.49 percent of all tourists to the country, Ynet reported in 2008. Israel and Turkey have, until recently, enjoyed close relations, and strong military and economic ties, but these have recently been deteriorating. Tourism from Israel to Turkey took a sharp drop at beginning of 2009, due to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's vocal objections to Operation Cast Lead. According to Time magazine's Web site, tourism has dropped 47% since the beginning of this year, compared to the same period last year. Exports to Turkey have dropped by 40% in that time. "I'm very close to telling my office not to sell it [tours to Turkey] at all... [I ask myself], is it safe to fly? Would I recommend going to Istanbul?... Should I let my clients go?"
An Israeli Foreign Ministry official rebuked Turkey’s acting ambassador on Thursday over a Turkish television series that, among other things, appears to depict an Israeli soldier murdering a Palestinian child. Naor Gilon, deputy director for the Foreign Ministry’s Western Europe desk, said he had told the Turkish envoy, Ceylan Ozen, that the television series was “incitement” that could set off attacks against Jews visiting Turkey. Mr. Gilon met Mr. Ozen at the ministry’s headquarters in Jerusalem amid increasing tensions between Turkey and Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel later talked about his own concerns about the series and what it said about bilateral relations. “We are disappointed by the incitement on Turkish television, and we are not very happy by the trends we are seeing in Turkey of late,” he said at a news conference with the visiting Spanish prime minister, José Luis RodrÃguez Zapatero. Turkey’s ties with Israel have deteriorated since Israel’s offensive last winter against Islamic militants in Gaza, which killed about 1,400 Palestinians. Turkey, a Muslim country, canceled a military exercise in which Israeli pilots were to have participated. It had been scheduled to begin last Monday. Clips of the television program, screened by Turkey’s state-owned TRT television, show soldiers in what appear to be Israeli combat fatigues committing acts of murder and violent repression against Palestinians under their control. Israel captured the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
The U.S. says it's disappointed by a U.N. Human Rights Council vote to send a Gaza war crimes report to the Security Council. The resolution, which passed 25-6, could set up the international prosecution of Israelis and Palestinians accused of war crimes. The U.S. and five European countries opposed the resolution. Israel and the U.S. have called the nearly 600-page report "flawed," and warned that it could jeopardize Mideast peace prospects. The report concluded Israel used disproportionate force, deliberately targeted civilians, used Palestinians as human shields and destroyed civilian infrastructure during the January conflict that left 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis dead. It also accused Palestinian groups of deliberately targeting civilians in Southern Israel. Israel's foreign minister warns that endorsing the report could set a dangerous precedent for soldiers in Afghanistan and Chechnya.
Serbian foreign minister called on the United Nations member states to abstain from recognizing Kosovo until UN court hearings on the legitimacy of Kosovo's declaration of independence are completed. Serbia brought the case to the UN's Hague-based International Court of Justice for an advisory opinion on Kosovo's unilaterally declared independence. The hearings will begin on December 1 and will involve the five permanent Security Council members - Russia and China on Serbia's side and the United States, Britain and France supporting Kosovo. Other countries have filed written statements on the case. "Our common duty is to provide unbiased hearings of this issue in the court. It is necessary that the International Court procedures are observed unreservedly and must not be undermined by political pressure such as further cases of Kosovo's independence recognition," Vuk Jeremic told a session of the UN Security Council on Thursday. A total of 62 countries, including major Western powers, have recognized the independence of Serbia's ethnic-Albanian-dominated province, which was declared in February 2008. The rest of the world, including Russia, China and India, considers Kosovo to be part of Serbia. Kosovo, Serbia's historic heartland, was administered by the United Nations after the Kosovo war and the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. Last week Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Jeremic at a meeting in Moscow that Russia would support Serbia's case in UN court hearings on the legitimacy of Kosovo's declaration of independence. In August 2008, Russia recognized Georgia's breakaway republics Abkhazia and South Ossetia following a brief war with the ex-Soviet Caucasus state triggered by its offensive against Ossetia. The move was seen by many as influenced by Western nations' recognition of Kosovo.
A NATO-style rapid reaction force set up by Russia and four former Soviet republics staged war games on Friday, the new unit designed to cement Moscow's hold over allies in Central Asia and the Caucasus. Dressed in combat fatigues, the leaders of Russia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan looked on as the newly formed force carried out an exercise to destroy insurgents who had taken control of a chemical plant. Russia is building up the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), a military alliance among former Soviet republics, as a counter-weight to NATO. The organisation commits members to defending each other in the event of attack. Five of the CSTO members agreed to create the rapid reaction force in February; the units should be comparable to NATO structures. Officials said 7,000 troops and 90 aircraft took part in the "Interaction-2009" drills which covered an area of 1,600 square kilometres at the Matybulak firing range in southern Kazakhstan.
International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) is coordinating the delivery of hygiene kits that will assist over 3,000 survivors of Typhoons Ketsana and Parma, which struck the Philippines in late September. The subsequent floods and mudslides killed hundreds and an estimated 2.5 million people are either homeless or in need of emergency aid. This latest effort by IOCC is part of its response to a series of natural disasters – multiple typhoons, earthquakes and a tsunami – that recently hit Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. Whole communities have been destroyed with thousands killed or injured and millions left homeless in the wake of the destruction. IOCC is also working through the Orthodox Church in the hard-hit province of Rizal to deliver emergency supplies to victims. IOCC has provided enough food, clothing and medicines to assist nearly 500 survivors through the relief efforts of the Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Church in Manila.