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Home arrow newsitems arrow French Foreign Minister Juppé:Convince Russia on Humanitarian Acces in Syria without NATO.Nor Turks?

French Foreign Minister Juppé:Convince Russia on Humanitarian Acces in Syria without NATO.Nor Turks?

Written by ACM
Wednesday, 15 February 2012
20120215_16.57.49_400

*Strasbourg/EU Parliament/Angelo Marcopolo/-  We are currently trying  to convince our Russian friends with a Plan for Humanitarian Access in Syria, thanks to Humanitarian Corridors' protection, but apparently leaving NATO out of that equation, (as "EuroFora" had earlier questioned also other French President Sarkozy's close sources), revealed in substance French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé, speaking to Journalists including "EuroFoa" in EU Parliament in Strasbourg at the eve of important Votes tomorrow, Thursday, here by MEPs, due to be followed by more UNO steps asap.


- In particular, "we are working, inside UNO's SC., in order to see if Russia could finally accept mainly to accentuate or adopt Measures relayed to the Humanitarian situation, given the  humanitarian desaster which is on the road at Homs and/or elsewhere. F.ex. Humanitarian Corridors could be, eventually, set up, in the framework of a Peace-keeping mission of the UNO and of the Arab Ligue", Juppé pointed out precisely when "EuroFora" approached the spot where he evoked his forthcoming meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Serguei Lavrov.


 - "I am already working wery well with the Russians elsewhere in the World, f.ex. at Darfur (south Sudan), told "EuroFora" earlier UNO's unde-Secretary General responsible for international Peace-keeping operations, Alain Le Roy, who had also a particularly useful experience as former Head Expert for the preparation of the Historic Heads of State/Government Summit for the creation of the "Union for the Mediterranean", organized by President Sarkozy in 2008 at the "Grand Palais" in Paris, at the eve of the 7 - 12/2008 French EU Chairmanship.


In fact, it's mainly the implication of NATO which appears as a kind of "Red line" for Russia (and probably also China), in such kind of International operations, while it seems, on the contrary, more open to discussions for UN-sponsored a.o. International Peace-keeping operations, particularly when they focus on urgent Humanitarian issues, (f.ex. as Presidents Medvedev and Sarkozy  had reportedly discussed on August 2008 about the conflict between Georgia's central Government and its breakaway regions).

20120216_12.15.16_400


Thus, a joint Draft Resolution on Syria, tabled together by most EU Parliament's Groups for vote on Thursday noon, urgently calls UNO and other Humanitarian Organizations to evaluate Humanitarian needs in violent conflict-stricken zones, where it asks "an immediate Ceasefire" in order to evacuate victims, and for "Free and full Access to the Humanitarian staff entrusted with the duty to provide vital material and services to Civilians seriously affected by Violence, while EU commits itself to boost its Humanitarian assistance, in order to save Lives, namely by Medical products, Food, Water and elementary domestic tools, etc., due to be managed by a "Humanitarian Working Group" among the "Friends of Syria".                     

                                                                     
But, concerning Syria, the obviously disturbing point for all involved is the fact that the most Militarist State in that Asian-Middle Eastern neighborhood, Turkey, is notorious for its various Military Threats and/or Invasions/Occupations, from the Aegean Sea, vis a vis Greece, threatened by "Causa Bellis", in addition to the former Armenian and/or Kurdish regions, up to the semi-Occupied island of Cyprus, EU Member, followed by Turkish Army's more and more frequent, Deadly Invasions at the autonomous Kurdish Region of Iraq, past threats even against Syria,  etc., where its borders are full of Tragic Histories including the Armenian Genocide, the oppression of Kurds, the Ottoman-Turk Empire's military invasions and occupations of almost all Arab Countries (except Morocco, which succesfuly resisted to the Ottoman-Turkish Army), where it destroyed the Historic former Arab Civilisation, degrading all the area, whose Peoples had to fight many hard struggles, helped by a part of Europe, in order to succeed to liberate themselvess from any such remnant of of unforgetable Past Atrocities and underdevelopment.


Therefore, only grave Amnesia or gross Naivety might  close some's eyes to Energy-Poor Turkey's real motives if Ankara was let to intervene militarily inside Syria, closer to Iraq's oil/gas, betraying with a delayed U-turn Ankara's EU bid long time supporteur Assad son (who was doing Publicity for Turkey's impopular EU bid even in Paris, even on 2008), and to whom the Turkish regime owes the ousting of former Kurdish rebels' leader Ocalan, back on 1999, from his initial Bekaa valley hidding and training area, provoking an unprepared Odyssey in Italy, Russia, Greece and Kenya, etc. until he as kidnaped at Nairobi...


A fortiori when Turkish agents' trustworthiness is worse than Doubtful, considering also the fact that the mysterious  "disappearance" of an important Syrian dissident against Assad's regime, while he was staying in a Refugee Camp set up in controversial conditions (See CoE's recent criticism, already published earlier by "EuroFora") at the Western/North borders between Syria and Turkey, (the Eastern/North borders being tightly closed by Ankara's Army because of Turkish fears of Kurdish refugees' penetration), was finally proven to be a mere .. hi-jacking by Turkish agents, who betrayed their victim by kidnaping him and giving hi^m as prisoner back to the Assad regime, as a recent judicial investigation found out, confirming rumours.


Added in such a Past and Current, obviously Unreliable, unstable, constantly changing and zig-zaging  Turkish opportunism, the recent addition of a 2 Days visit to Turkey by NATO's Secretary General Anders Rasmussen, as well as Ankara's decision to host more NATO Radars (for a future anti-Balistic system sponsored by the USA), from which data the Turkish Government wants to exclude most of its neighbours, including EU Member Cyprus and NATO Strategic Partner Israel, etc., all this naturally does not facilitate the credibility of promisses that NATO would stay aside from Syria...

map_cyprus_lebanon_syria__turkey_iraq_etc_400


Thus, not only Russia, but even China and others might raise critical questions if they see that, instead of using mainly Neutral EU Member Country Cyprus (where German and French army and Navy have already logistic and Naval basis under a UNOs-sponsored International Mandate, since 2006's Lebanon borders and coasts' crisis), in addition to Lebanon (a pluralistic country with well known links both to the West and Eastwards), on the contrary, an EU-led coalition might commit the error to let NATO-Member counry Turkey, with its notoriously aggressive Military, and its controversial, Oppressive and Expansionist Past, intervene, in one way or another, by force inside the territory of a  neighboring country as Syria.

At the same time, the notorious, still on-going and even aggravating recently (according to various organizations, MEPs, etc) systematic oppression by the Turkish regime against political a.o. dissidents, with a growing number of even elected MPs, Mayors, etc. as well as Journalists, etc. jailed without any judgement, and/or for obviously disproportionate or ridiculous pretexts, can't really give Ankara the image of an "Angel" who would be sincerely devoted into simply defending Human Rights, unless if anyone might like to break a World Record of "Tragi-Comic" blindness...  Nor could Turkey be credible, after zig-zaguing hypocritically between years of exceptionaly close links to Mr. Assad's regime (as also recently with former Colonel Khadafi's regime) before, suddenly, changing camp at the last minute, for unclear yet, opportunistic motivations.


The tragic confusion provoked, f.ex. recently after it was proved that suspicions that Turkish Security Service agents had kidnapped an important Syrian political Dissident from a Reefugee Camp, and betrayed him by delivering him as prisoner to Mr. Assad's regime, were, indeed, true, (Comp. a previous, relevant "EuroFora'"s NewsReport on CoE's Reports about Refugee Camps' problems in Turkey) can't be erased simply by the arrest of those agents, without even searching to find and punish anyone among those who were the real instigators, and for whom they did that Dirty job...   

                                         
As for those old, but declining, lobbies who might still attempt to push towards some ancient draft plans for controversial, Unsafe and Too Expensive Oil/Gas Pipelines through Turkey, they could obviously commit a gross Blunder to eventually transfert that even to Syria, since it's enough to just have a look at a Map, in order to realize that EU's interest naturally is to have a Friendly regime in Syria in order to be able to organize DIRECT (and, therefore, Shorter, Faster, Cheaper and Safer) Transports of Oil/Gas resources from Iraq, Iran, etc., via European Ships through the Mediterranean Sea to EU-based Sea and River Ports, without being threatened to be blocked and/or blackmaled by the interference of any other Foreign State. So that it would be a blatant Blunder if anyone might be so blind as to eventually subordinate that to the risk of ...Turkey's notorious "Vetoes",  (See relevant previous "EuroFora"'s NewsReports, with several such practical suggestions, etc.).

***

(NDLR : "DraftNews", as already sent earlier to "EuroFora"s Subrscribers/Donors. A more accurate and complete Final Version is due asap).

***
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 politkovskaya_gongadze_adali_400

Hu Jia's prize brings SAKHAROV's wife to "EuroFora" on murders of Journalists Politkofskaya, Gongadze and Adali :

- Elena Bonner : "All Journalists' murders must be fully investigated", without Double Standards.                                                                                    

During a special Mega-Event to celebrate 20 Years of SAKHAROV Prize for "Freedom of Thought", attributed in 2008 by EU Parliament to jailed Chinese Cyber-Dissident Hu JIA, the move was reinforced by strongly criticizing the persisting impunity in three cases of Journalists' Murders, such as POLITKOVSKAYA in Russia, GONGADZE in Ukraine, and ADALI in Turkish-occupied part of Cyprus.

Any bureaucratic doubt about whether Cyber-dissidents like Hu JIA might have, or not, a right to be protected as all Journalists must be, particularly when they take risks to search, find and publish original and critical News on issues of general interest to the society, could not resist to the emotion provoked by the message of his Wife, Zeng JINYAN spectacularly transmitted at a big screen in EU Parliament's hemicycle :

- "The most important and most interesting thing he did was to ... say the Truth :.. to write about the phenomena he observed... He never stopped Publishing.. on websites, so that the Public could learn about the reality .. and understand it.  In my view, this has been his greatest contribution", stressed the young wife of the jailed man, eager to cite also the cases of other critical journalists who faced various kinds of "harassment".

 - "Welcoming all those who have suffered for defending Human Rights", EU Parliament's President, German MEP Hans Gert POETTERING, who had invited to Strasbourg all former Sakharov prize-winners from various Countries throughout the World, said that "China needs Europe, and Europe needs China : A great nation" with which "we want to have a good relationship", "association and ..friendship". "But we are never going to stop our fight for Human Rights, and No Government can expect this from us".

    - "It's impossible  to achieve goals of Peace, if Human Rights are left out. In fact, Peace and Human Rights are intrinsequaly linked", added POETTERING.

    It's in this spirit that MEPs adopted, on Thursday, a Resolution denouncing that "the criminal
investigation and trial following the murder of (a) Journalist ...raises serious concerns with regard to transparency and respect for the rule of law", when a "brutal killing has not yet been fully investigated and solved in a satisfactory way".

    The text refered to dissident Journalist "Anna POLITOVSKAYA", a critic of Tchechen conflict, killed some years ago in Moscow, where Russian Authorities have found, arrested and are currently judging two executants, while also searching to arrest also a 3rd one, allegedly escaped in Belgium. But they have not yet found the instigators.

     Similar texts were adopted recently also on dissident Ukranian Journalist Georgiy GONGADZE's murder, for which Ukranian Authorities have at least found, arrested and condemned 2 executants to 12 and 13 Years of jail, but not yet the instigators. For that purpose, they recently accepted an International Experts team to participate to the investigations.     

But, it's only for the Murder of dissident Turkish Cypriot Journalist ADALI, in the occupied territories of Cyprus, that Turkey has NOT yet found ANYONE responsible, and even claimed recently inside CoE that it would be "impossible" to do so !    

These astonishing differences exist despite the fact that ECHR condemned alike Ukraine and Turkey with 2 Judgements on the same year : 2005, for the murders of  Journalists GONGADZE and ADALI, strong critics of Corruption in Ukraine, and of Ankara's policies on mass-influx of Turkish Settlers in the Occupied Territories of Cyprus, respectively.    

Regarless of that, CoE's Committee of Ministers, who is entrusted with the duty to supervise execution of ECHR's judgements, has just asked Ukraine's Government to reply to further questions on Gongadze's murder before March 2009, while Turkey, curiously, got a longer postponement for answering questions on Adali's murder, until June...   

A comparison of these cases, raises serious questions about Double Standards :

------------------------

On TRANSPARENCY :
--------------------------
    On Gongadze's murder, CoE's body speaks even about the participation of
"an INTERNATIONAL group of Experts" in the Investigation, (f.ex. of "Tape Recordings"), accepted by Ukraine.
    On the contrary, on Adali's murder, CoE is obliged to repeatedly ask (for a 2nd
time) Turkey whether, at least, it informed the victims' Family, or not...
------------------------------
- On EFFICIENCY :
-----------------------
On Gongadze's murder, CoE formally "recalls that the Committee (of Ministers) ..URGED the Ukranian authorities.. to TAKE ALL NECESSARY INVESTIGATIVE STEPS TO ACHIEVE CONCRETE and VISIBLE RESULTS in the INVESTIGATION, aimed at the Identification of the INSTIGATORS and Organisers of the Murder", and "STRONGLY INVITED the Ukranian Authorities to provide information on the PROGRESS IN THE INVESTIGATION", before MARCH 2009.

But, on Adali's murder, on the contrary, CoE's body merely .. "took note" of the "arguments presented by" Cyprus, which denounce the absence of any proof of new "investigation" by Turkey. Following Turkey's own suggestion (!), it simply "noted" that there is "no limitation period" for "any new element" to "lead potentialy (sic !) to a Re-Opening of the Investigation". Without saying who might find any such "new" fact, since Turkey stoped searching... It also POSTPONED the issue until .. JUNE  !
-----------------------
 - On the PUNISHMENT OF THOSE RESPONSIBLE :
----------------------
 -  On Gongadze's murder case, Ukranian Authorities already arrested and condemned, at least 2 suspects, to 12 and 13 Years of jail. And on Politkovskaya's murder at least 2 suspects are judged, and a 3rd one "wanted".

On the contrary, on Adali's murder case, the Turkish authorities simply claim that "it had not been possible to obtain new .. information .. on the basis of which criminal charges could be brought against ANY person" !...

Moreover,  a LETTER sent by Turkey ...2 Years after CoE's 2006 call to re-investigate anew Adali's murder case, is totally EMPTY of Facts ! As Cypus' Delegation denounced earlier, Turkey's Letter ONLY CLAIMS that a "New Investigation" was made without any result, but does NOT even cite ANY FACT to prove it :

F.ex.,on the crucial issue of the "MOTIVATIONS" behind Adali's murder, noted by ECHR, Turkey MERELY CLAIMS that "all allegations  were investigated; without result", but OMITS ANY FACT TO PROVE IT !..(It doesn't even remind which were these "allegations").. .

+ On ECHR's astonishment that the Turkish Occupation regime didn't produce any "BALLISTIC REPORT" on the Shots which murdered Adali, Turkey again repeats, 12 years later, that, still, even until now, "it  was not possible to obtain the BalisticReport"...

- As for the astonishing absence of key-WITNESSES' Testimonies, denounced by ECHR, Turkey agains repeats various pretexts avoiding to reveal anything, (Fex. that a person "left" the Occupied Territories  "on 2002", or that another witness was heard, but without revealing nothing of what he said, etc).

Turkey obviously "FAILS TO MEET THE CRITICISM made BY THE COURT" for lack of any efficient Investigation in Adali's case, concluded Cyprus' Government.
---------------------------------------------
Replying to our Question which COMPARED these 3 outstanding cases of "JOURNALISTS MURDERS", Adali, Gongadze and Politkovskaya, in order to avoid "Double Standards" by asking from Ukraine and Russia more than what is asked EU candidate Turkey, many European personalities were critical /

They criticised Ankara's recent claim at the CoE to stop investigating, because it would be "impossible to find anyone" responsible for the 5 bullet shots which killed Kutlu ADALI in front of his Family Home, contrary to the other two Journalists' murders, where Ukraine and Russia at least arrested the executants, searching now for the instigators :
----------------------------------

imag0103_400

    - "Where was that ? In Turkish Occupied Cyprus ? WITHOUT ANY DOUBT : Any murder of Journalist should be investigated in full ! All these Murders must be investigated !", replied the famous SAKHAROV's wife, Elena BONNER to our question on Adali's case, compared to Gongadze and Politofskaya.

    Elena Bonner spoke us EXCLUSIVELY shortly after being honored by the President
of EU Parliament on the occasion of 20 Years of her husband's SAKHAROV Prize.

    A strong personality, Sakharov's wife even had to struggle against an anonymous EU staffer who, astonishingly, tried to stop her speaking when h heard our question on "Turkey" (!) : - "Please, let me translate, she continues
speaking, don't stop us !", had to cry Sakharov's daughter, (a Journalist
herself), who was translating her mothers' reply, (obliged to speak louder to
make her voice heard despite the harassment).. (= + Audio Proof !)

    Earlier, Elena Bonner also fustigated "Double Standards" at another case, on
Western countries' attitude vis a vis Kosovo and the Kurds : -F.ex. "You have
recognized a few 400.000 Kosovars as an "independent" country, but you still
deny that to 30 millions of Kurds in Turkey !", she denounced.
-----------------------------
    - "This (ADALI's murder) is an issue which should be pursued by the Committee
for Human Rights. That's why we have one, and it's its duty to examine cases of
Journalists' murders as the one you referred to. You should bring the case in
front of that Committee", suggested in reply to our question on Adali, EU
Parliament's President, German MEP Hans Gert POETTERING.

    - "It's impossible  to achieve goals of PEACE, if HUMAN RIGHTS are left out :
in fact, Peace and Human Rights are intrinsequaly linked", added POETTERING.
--------------------------------------
    + "For us (European/International Federation of Journalists) it's clear :
Whenever a Journalist is Murdered, the Investigation should continue until
those Responsible are found !", replied earlier to another question on ADALI
EFJ/IFJ's Secretary General, Aidan WHITE.

    Speaking as a matter of General Principle, White asked us for "concrete data"
on the execution of ECHR's judgement on Adali case, in order to "look at it in
depth" and "make a formal statement", in comparison with the other Murdered
Journalist case, also pending at CoE's  Ministers for completing its execution,
on Ukranian Gongadze.
----------------------------------------------------
     From EU Rapporteur on Human Rights, vice-President of EU Parliament Liberties' Committee, MEP Giusto CATANIA, we were told that, since there is an ECHR judgement in both Adali and Gongadge's cases, "Turkey must naturally execute the judgement and make a full and efficient investigation, until those responsible for the Journalist's murder are found and punished".

    Even if "we (Catania's "EuroLeft" Group) support Turkey's EU perspectives, this does not mean that Ankara should not behave properly. On the contrary, it means that they have to meet tough conditions, particularly on Human Rights", was added on the occasion of Adali's murder case.

    Moreover, "since you raise the issue of Mr. Adali's muder as a part of a Series of Journalist's murders, including fex. Gongadze, Politkovskaya, ao., tthen we (EU) could also act together with CoE's Commissioner on Human Rights, Thomas HAMMARBERG, it was suggested.

    - "We (EU) must step up efforts against the problem of IMPUNITY : Real Peace cannot exist without Justice",  stressed also this week at EU Parliament in Strasbourg, French Minister on Human Rights, Mrs Rama YADE.
------------------------
                     

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