Replicating US State Department practice, China's Foreign Ministery issues a report on "The State of Democracy in the United States: 2022"

Replicating US State Department practice, China's Foreign Ministery issues a report on "The State of Democracy in the United States: 2022"

    Monday, March 20, 2023   No comments

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a report entitled "The State of Democracy in the United States: 2022" on Monday. The report collects a multitude of facts, media comments and expert opinions to present a complete and real picture of American democracy over the year.

The full text of The State of Democracy in the United States report is published by Chinese FM and many Chinese media outlet. A PDF version is linked below.

New opinion polls show that the opposition candidate for the Turkish presidency, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, is ahead of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan by more than 10 percentage points ahead of the May 14 elections

New opinion polls show that the opposition candidate for the Turkish presidency, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, is ahead of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan by more than 10 percentage points ahead of the May 14 elections

    Tuesday, March 14, 2023   No comments

Opinion polls show that the opposition bloc, which is called the Nation Alliance, leads the parliamentary race, by at least six points, from the Justice and Development Party, led by current President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his allies.

New opinion polls show that opposition candidate for the Turkish presidency, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, is leading President Recep Tayyip Erdogan by more than 10 percentage points ahead of the May 14 elections.

Opinion polls published by Reuters show that the opposition bloc, called the Nation Alliance, leads the presidential race, by at least six points, over Erdogan's Justice and Development Party and its allies.

An opinion poll published by Aksoy Research, conducted on March 8, showed that Kilicdaroglu is leading against Erdogan by 55.6% and 44.4%, respectively.

It showed that the main opposition bloc received 44.1% of the vote, and the Peoples' Democratic Party 10.3%. As for the Justice and Development Party and its nationalist allies from the National Movement Party, they got 38.2%.

A poll conducted by Alf Research from March 6 to 7 showed that Kilicdaroglu's rate was 55.1%, and Erdogan's 44.9%. The Republican People's Party, led by Davutoğlu, was the most popular with 31.8%, while the Justice and Development Party came next with 31%.

The poll showed that the main opposition bloc got 43.5% of the vote, while the Peoples' Democratic Party got 11.3%. Likewise, the Justice and Development Party and the Nationalist Movement Party together received 37.5% support.

Piar Research showed Kilicdaroglu winning with 57.1%, while Erdogan was behind with 42.9%.

ORC research showed Kilicdaroglu ahead with 56.8% and Erdogan with 43.2%, according to a poll conducted March 4-6, before the official announcement of Davutoglu as the opposition candidate.

There is no doubt that the earthquakes had an impact on the popularity of the Justice and Development Party, as it appeared in a survey conducted by the "Metropoll" company, that 34.4% of people blamed the government for the losses during the earthquake, while 26.9% blamed the contractors, and the municipalities third, 15.4%.

The Turkish opposition alliance chooses Kilicdaroglu as its candidate in the presidential elections against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan

The Turkish opposition alliance chooses Kilicdaroglu as its candidate in the presidential elections against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan

    Monday, March 06, 2023   No comments

The Turkish opposition alliance announced today, Monday, that Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the Republican People's Party, will be its joint candidate against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the upcoming elections scheduled for May 14.

"As a result of our meetings, we decided that Kemal Kilicdaroglu would be our candidate for the presidency," Temel Karamullah Oglu, head of the opposition Felicity Party, said after a meeting of six opposition party leaders.

Midhat Sancar, co-chair of Turkey's pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), said on Monday the party could support main opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu in the May 14 presidential election after "clear and frank talks".

“Our clear expectation is a transition to a strong democracy. If we can agree on basic principles, we may support him in the presidential elections.”

The opposition alliance of six parties in Turkey announced the selection of Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the Republican People's Party, as a joint candidate to run in the upcoming elections against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The six-party table announced by the opposition in Turkey "The six-party opposition party announced Kemal Kilicdaroglu as a consensus candidate for the presidency."

In turn, the six-party opposition table in Turkey announced that "the mayors of Istanbul and Ankara will be appointed as vice-presidents of the republic." Noting that Davutoğlu will be its joint candidate in front of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the upcoming elections scheduled for May 14.

For his part, the co-chair of the Peoples' Democratic Party in Turkey, Kamal Kilicdaroglu, blessed his candidacy for the presidency, commenting: "We are waiting for him at our party headquarters."

The talk about the Turkish elections comes at a time when Turkey is still suffering from the worst humanitarian disaster in the country's modern history, due to the repercussions of the earthquakes that struck 10 provinces in southern Turkey on February 6.

Commenting on Sweden's permission to burn the Qur'an, Turkish FM, Cavusoglu, says, Hate crimes are not freedom of expression

Commenting on Sweden's permission to burn the Qur'an, Turkish FM, Cavusoglu, says, Hate crimes are not freedom of expression

    Monday, January 23, 2023   No comments

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu will denounce the Swedish authorities' permission for the leader of the far-right Danish "hard line" party, Rasmus Paludan, to burn a copy of the Holy Qur'an in the capital, Stockholm, and stressed that such crimes do not fall within the framework of freedom of expression.

Çavuşoğlu said that they "do not allow the burning of books of other religions, but when it comes to the Holy Qur'an and hostility to Islam, they immediately invoke freedom of thought and expression."

The Turkish minister stressed that hate and racism crimes do not fall within the framework of freedom of thought and expression, whether according to Swedish laws or decisions of the Council of Europe or the European Court of Human Rights.

He pointed out that Turkey was quick to take the necessary steps as soon as it learned that the Swedish authorities had allowed the extremist in Al-Wadan to burn a copy of the Noble Qur’an in front of the Ankara embassy building in Stockholm.

Davutoglu indicated that the Turkish Foreign Ministry summoned the Swedish ambassador to Ankara to the ministry's headquarters and issued the necessary warnings to him, explaining that the Turkish ambassador to Stockholm, Yonat Janzel, spoke directly with the Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Bilstrom in this regard.

He expressed his hope that the Swedish authorities would take the necessary measures at the last minute and prevent this racist and hate crime from happening, which would cause outrage in the entire world.

After the event, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stressed that Sweden should no longer wait for Ankara to take any step within the framework of accepting its accession to NATO, in light of the burning of the Holy Quran in Stockholm.

Erdogan added, "You want to support terrorist organizations, and you support those who are hostile to Islam, and you want us to support your joining NATO... This will not happen at all."

And the Turkish president added, "We say clearly... Sweden is no longer waiting for any support from us for its accession to NATO... We say clearly that no one has the right to insult our sacred values."

Last Saturday, the Swedish-Danish extremist Ramsos Paludan carried out what he promised to burn a copy of the Holy Qur’an in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm, amid great police protection and a large media presence.

Jordan: popular protests are escalating, civil disobedience is approaching, and security forces are mobilizing and arresting 44 people

Jordan: popular protests are escalating, civil disobedience is approaching, and security forces are mobilizing and arresting 44 people

    Saturday, December 17, 2022   No comments

Security authorities in Jordan have arrested 44 people who participated in the riots that erupted during protests over the rise in fuel prices in the kingdom, Jordan's Public Security Directorate announced in a statement published Saturday.

The Directorate said in its statement that it “dealt with riots in a number of regions of the Kingdom, and 44 people who participated in these acts were arrested in various regions,” explaining that “they will be referred to the competent authorities in addition to those who were arrested in the previous days,” without adding anything. details.

The Security Directorate added that it had "intensified its security deployment in the kingdom's governorates to ensure the enforcement of the rule of law and the preservation of citizens' security." At the same time, however, it indicated "a significant decline in the number and unity of riots from Thursday, especially in the southern governorates."

Since the beginning of this month, governorates in southern Jordan have witnessed mostly peaceful strikes, in protest against the rise in fuel prices, starting with truck drivers who were sometimes joined by taxi and public bus drivers.

Markets and shops were closed on Wednesday in Maan and Karak (about 114 km south of Amman) and Madaba Governorate (35 km south of Amman) in solidarity with this movement.

On Friday, the Public Security Directorate announced the death of Colonel Abdul Razzaq al-Dalabeh in southern Jordan, with a gunshot wound to the head while he was dealing with “riots,” during which an officer and a non-commissioned officer were wounded by gunshots, according to the directorate.

In its statement on Saturday, the Public Security Directorate indicated that the riots “were carried out by a group of vandals and outlaws in the Husseiniya area in Ma’an Governorate” (about 218 km south of Amman).

And she emphasized that “the investigations into the martyrdom of Colonel Al-Dalabeh are continuing, and will not stop until the perpetrator is arrested and handed over to the hands of justice so that he receives deterrent punishment, and we will not hesitate to protect lives, honor and property.”

On Friday, Jordan's King Abdullah II condemned the killing of the colonel, stressing that "we will not rest until the criminal receives his punishment before justice for his heinous crime."

In a statement on Friday, the notables and sons of Ma’an mourned Colonel Al-Dalabeh, stressing their “rejection and denunciation of any act outside the law.”

In its statement on Saturday, the Directorate called on "everyone to adhere to and stay away from riot sites and not to participate in them," expressing "thanks to all the citizens who cooperated with the Directorate and gathered around its men in rejection of the attacks and out of concern for the homeland."

Jordan is witnessing difficult economic conditions, which were exacerbated by foreign debts that exceeded fifty billion dollars and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Governorates in southern Jordan have recently witnessed mostly peaceful strikes, in protest against the rise in fuel prices, which started with truck drivers a few days ago, leading to the closure of markets and shops, last Wednesday, in Ma’an, Karak and Madaba governorate, in solidarity with the protests.

Likewise, some other areas witnessed road closures with burning tires, in addition to quarrels between security forces and protesters, but they ended peacefully.

Currently, fuel prices in Jordan are nearly double what they were last year, especially diesel, which is the main fuel for trucks and buses, and kerosene, which is the main heating fuel for the poor.

A liter of "90 octane" gasoline is sold for 920 fils (about one and a half dollars), and "95 octane" for 1170 fils (1.6 dollars). As for a liter of diesel or diesel, it costs 895 fils (1.3 dollars), and kerosene costs 860 fils (1.2 dollars).

Jordan suffers from difficult economic conditions, which were exacerbated by the Corona pandemic, so the unemployment rate rose in 2021 to about 25%, according to official figures, while it rose among the youth category to 50%.

The poverty rate rose to 24%, and the public debt exceeded $47 billion, or more than 106% of the GDP.

The Jordanian government offered some solutions, including increasing shipping fees and distributing sums of money to the most affected families, but it seems that they were not sufficiently satisfactory to the protesters.

Gulf rulers signal their fears of similar protests in their countries by signaling to thier people to support the rulers of Jordan

Unlike their unconditional support to the violent protests in Iran, the Saudi rulers and their media platforms are expressing solidarity with the rulers of Jordan instead of supporting the legitimate demands of the protesters.

Gulf platforms interacted with the rapid events in Jordan, and street strikes and protests against the rise in fuel prices. Gulf activists wished Jordan safety, saying: Cool and peace, Jordan.

Saudi tweeters interacted with the incident of the killing of Jordanian Colonel Abd al-Razzaq al-Dalabeh in Ma'an Governorate at the hands of outlaws, and expressed their grief, and called on Jordanians to preserve their country and their monarchy, and to stand up to what they described as saboteurs, the same description used by the official Jordanian public security statement.

The mayor of Istanbul was imprisoned for two years and 7 months for "insulting officials"

The mayor of Istanbul was imprisoned for two years and 7 months for "insulting officials"

    Wednesday, December 14, 2022   No comments

On Wednesday, a Turkish court sentenced the mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, to more than two years in prison on charges of insulting members of the Supreme Electoral Commission, which effectively prevents him from practicing politics.

Turkish media said that the judiciary sentenced Oglu to two years and 7 months in prison for insulting members of the Supreme Electoral Commission.

And imposed a political ban on him for insulting public officials, in a ruling that is expected to be appealed.

Ekrem Imamoglu, a popular rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was prosecuted from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) for a speech he gave in 2019 in which he said those who canceled Istanbul's local elections at the time were "foolish".

It should be noted that the maximum penalty for this charge is four years imprisonment.

For his part, Oglu's lawyer confirmed that he would appeal the ruling, which means that he will remain in the position of mayor, but he is now excluded from the presidential elections scheduled for next year.

The case dates back to a statement issued by Imamoglu, after he defeated the candidate of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Islamist party in the controversial 2019 municipal elections.

Persons sentenced to less than four years' imprisonment are rarely sent to prison in Turkey.

"This is an unfortunate approach to democracy and the rule of law," his lawyer, Kemal Polat, told AFP.

Imamoglu (52 years old) defeated Erdogan's party in March 2019, by winning the mayoralty of Istanbul, which was led by the ruling Justice and Development Party for 25 years.

The government canceled Imamoglu's election, but he returned and won by a large margin in the run-off elections after about three months.

A few months later, Ekrem Imamoglu considered those who canceled his election victory "stupid," echoing a phrase that Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu had used against him a few hours earlier.

This description exposed the mayor of Istanbul to prosecution for "insulting" members of the Supreme Electoral Council.