Geopolitical News from the modern world

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Ottobre 2017 - page 23

Donbas militants preparing for protracted war – volunteer

in EUROPE/PRESS RELEASE/REGIONS by

After his latest trip to the Svitlodarska Duha bulge, a Ukrainian volunteer activist Yuriy Mysiahin reported that the terrorists did not intend to bring to an end the war in the east of Ukraine. According to Mysiahin, the enemy does not seem to take into account to recent debate on the imminent deployment in Donbas of UN peacekeepers. “The other side is preparing for a protracted war. All their advanced positions are being strengthened”, the volunteer wrote on Facebook. According to Mysiahin, a lot of timber and sand bags are being brought in to the enemy’s positions and dugouts, while some positions are “fortified” with concrete, and the trenches are being dug deeper. “I don’t recall the enemy strengthening their positions so thoroughly before, which means that they are wary of us and are preparing for our offensive. It will be hot this fall and winter”, the volunteer said.

Iran, Turkey look to enhance ties

in EUROPE/PRESS RELEASE/REGIONS by

Improving cooperation between Turkey and Iran would make a significant contribution to solving regional problems, Iran’s president said on Monday, on the eve of a visit by his counterpart. Hassan Rouhani made the remarks while receiving Turkish Chief of General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar at the presidential palace in Tehran. Stating that relations between the two countries in the areas of the economy and foreign policy are already healthy, he said, “We should also work to improve relations in the fields of the military and defense”. About the KRG referendum, Rouhani stated that the deterioration of geographical boundaries would harm regional security and stability. “Turkey and Iran, as two important and powerful countries of the region, will play an important role in the region’s stability and peace with improving cooperation” he said.

 

Turkey has shielded Europe from terrorism: PM

in EUROPE/PRESS RELEASE/REGIONS by

Turkey has paid the highest price for instability in the Middle East and has done its best to prevent it from spreading to Europe, the Turkish prime minister said on Monday. Binali Yildirim said Turkey was playing an important role in the region for establishing peace and blocking terrorist activities. “We are making a great sacrifice not to make our European friends pay that price”, he said, stressing that Turkey decreased the refugee influx to Europe through the Aegean Sea and land routes. “While we are waiting for these efforts to be recognized [by Europe], we are saddened when we hear reproachful statements, and when FETÖ members and PKK sympathizers are embraced”, he added.

Vucic on “double standards, hypocrisy”; calls urgent meeting

in EUROPE/PRESS RELEASE/REGIONS by

After the Catalan referendum and European Commission’s position that it was illegal, “it must be clear how difficult it is to safeguard Serbia’s independence”. President Aleksandar Vucic said this on Monday in Belgrade, responding to reporters’ questions during a news conference. “The question every citizen of Serbia has for the European Union today is: how come that in the case of Catalonia the referendum on independence is not valid, while in the case of Kosovo secession is allowed even without a referendum”, Vucic continued. “How did you proclaim the secession of Kosovo to be legal, even without a referendum, and how did 22 European Union countries legalize this secession, while destroying European law and the foundations of European law, on which the European policy and EU policy are based” Vucic asked. Tanjug is reporting that Vucic went on to “publicly ask” how he was supposed to explain European integration of Serbia to Serbian citizens now – “although, without a doubt, Serbia sees its future in the EU, because of the type of society we striving towards, as well as for the sake of a better economy, and for other reasons”. “So, how come Catalonia cannot, and Kosovo can – there will never be an answer on this given to the Serbs”, Vucic noted. “This is the best example of the double standards and hypocrisy of the world politics”, said Vucic.

Iran’s Zarif to visit Qatar amid Gulf crisis

in MIDLE EAST/PRESS RELEASE/REGIONS by

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will visit Qatar on Monday, officials said, for talks on relations between Tehran and Doha that have caused tensions in the Gulf. Zarif held talks with officials in Oman Monday before heading to Doha on his first visit to Qatar since Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt cut ties with Qatar in June. The four countries accuse Qatar of backing extremism and fostering ties with their Shiite rival Iran, charges that Doha denies. Oman, a tiny sultanate across the water from Iran, has traditionally had closer ties with Tehran than its neighbors and has maintained relations with Qatar throughout the crisis. Zarif’s talks in Muscat covered “energy, the economy and transit” and the potential “transfer of Iranian gas through the Sultanate of Oman to India”, according to the official Oman News Agency. Oman and Iran in 2014 agreed to build an underwater pipeline to pump Iranian gas to the Omani port city of Sohar.

Putin expects trade with Turkmenistan to recover shortly

in ASIA/PRESS RELEASE/REGIONS by

The amount of trade between Russia and Turkmenistan may recover shortly, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at Russian-Turkmen talks in an expanded format on Monday. Putin said the countries put much emphasis on trade-economic cooperation. “Unfortunately, last year our trade saw a certain decline for different reasons, I think first of all for objective reasons – currency exchange rate fluctuations, unfavorable world situation and some other factors”, the president said. “But we have every possibility to overcome this tendency, I hope this will happen shortly”, Putin said. He reiterated that Moscow and Ashgabat have created a system of cooperation mechanisms in different sectors, and the key role in this belongs to the intergovernmental commission. Besides, the president said, the program of economic cooperation until 2018 is aimed at improving the structure of trade. It includes 80 events and projects. “The implementation of this document will help expand investment cooperation, which in my opinion is very important”, the president said. The activity of the Russian Export Center is aimed at assisting in joint foreign economic programs. According to Putin, the Eximbank of Russia and the Agency for Export Credit and Investment Insurance that make part of this center have supported 16 projects with $182 million.

DPRK Will Win Victory in Final Battle with U.S.: Rodong Sinmun

in ASIA/FAR EAST/PRESS RELEASE/REGIONS by

The service personnel and people of the DPRK will give full play to the pent-up wrath and fury and biggest power to annihilate the U.S. imperialists and achieve the historic cause of national reunification without fail, says Rodong Sinmun Monday in an article. Everyone believes that the DPRK is sure to win victory in the all-out death-defying struggle against the U.S. The DPRK has the single-minded unity more powerful than nuclear weapons, the most powerful striking means developed by itself and the Juche-oriented war methods beyond imagination. The DPRK has already been in full readiness. All striking means are on the alert. All our service persons and people have turned out in the retaliatory war of justice. Once the Korean-style striking battle prepared for centuries for a final battle with brigandish U.S. imperialists starts, this will be the most dreadful and horrible retaliatory war, and continue till there is no one left to sign a surrender document to cry out and till the U.S. imperialists are removed from this planet.

He talks of war with US, but North Korea’s top diplomat Ri Yong-ho has a ‘great sense of humour’

in ASIA/FAR EAST/PRESS RELEASE/REGIONS by

During the recent United Nations General Assembly meeting, he emerged as the fire-breathing mouthpiece of North Korea’s inflammatory government. Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho mocked Donald Trump as “President Evil” and offered up sound bites about detonating nuclear bombs over the Pacific and shooting down US planes. But here’s a little secret about Ri: beneath the bluster, he has a reputation as a soft-spoken, self-deprecating diplomat whom US officials have for years deemed one of the most accessible representatives of his government. Gary Samore, a former US diplomat and non-proliferation specialist now at Harvard’s Belfer Centre for Science and International Affairs, said: “He was put in that job for the purpose of being the negotiator. His speciality is negotiating with Americans”,  he add: “He is not one of these guys who acts like a caricature of a communist apparatchik. He has a great sense of humour. He is very creative in coming up with wording acceptable to both sides”. Samore described Ri’s as “excellent, superb, idiomatic”.

As UN sanctions bite, North Korean workers leave Chinese border hub

in ASIA/FAR EAST/PRESS RELEASE/REGIONS by

North Korean workers have begun to leave the Chinese border city of Dandong, after the latest round of sanctions seeking to restrict Pyongyang’s ability to earn foreign currency income, local businesses and traders say. Almost 100,000 overseas workers, based mostly in China and Russia, funnel some 500 million dollar in wages a year to help finance the North Korean regime, the US government says. Dandong, a city of 800,000 along the Yalu River, which defines the border with North Korea. Thousands of workers, most of them women, are also employed by Chinese-owned garment and electronics factories in Dandong, with a significant share of their wages going straight to the North Korean state. In a statement on Thursday, China’s Ministry of Commerce ordered the implementation of the new sanctions across the country within 120 days. The sanctions allow workers to serve out existing contracts. Businesspeople in Dandong, through which most of trade between the two countries flows, said contracts could not be renewed and new visas were not being approved. The sanctions have come as a rude jolt to Dandong businesses and traders who had long rolled with North Korea’s unpredictability but believed their neighbour’s economic reliance on China would keep its belligerence in check.

Buhari arrives Borno, celebrates indipendence nigerian troops fighting Boko Haram

in AFRICA/PRESS RELEASE/REGIONS by

President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday travelled to Borno to celebrate the Independence Anniversary with soldiers fighting Boko Haram. The president was received at an Air Force base by service chiefs and the Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima. While addressing the frontline personnel, the president expressed the nation’s gratitude for the sacrifices being made by members of the Armed Forces. He added that without their efforts, the relative peace being enjoyed by Nigerians would not have been possible. The trip is believed to have been made after the televised Independence Day broadcast by the president wherein he highlighted the achievements of his administration and the challenges being faced. He asked members of the three arms of the military to return the gesture by being steadfast and loyal.

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