Headlines:
- Russia Fires Warning Shot at Turkish Fishing Boat in Aegean
- Iran Ready to Help Resolve Turkey-Russia Tensions: First VP
- Organised Crime Moves in on Migrant Smuggling Trade in Turkey
- Threats, Harassment, Vandalism at Mosques Reach Record High
- ‘Trump is Right!’ Police Say Parts of Britain are No-Go Areas Due to Radicalisation
- Islamic State Oil is going to Assad, some to Turkey, US Official says
Russia Fires Warning Shot at Turkish Fishing Boat in Aegean
Russia says one of its warships fired warning shots at a Turkish fishing vessel in the Aegean Sea to avoid a collision.
A Russian defense ministry statement said the Turkish vessel approached to 600m (1,800ft) before turning away in response to Russian small arms fire.
The Turkish military attaché in Moscow has been summoned to the foreign ministry over the incident.
“Despite numerous attempts by the crew of the Smedley, the crew of the Turkish fishing boat did not make radio contact and did not respond to visual signals by semaphore or warning flares,” the ministry said in a statement.
To prevent a collision, “small arms were fired in the direction of the Turkish vessel from a range that is not lethal”.
The ministry said that “immediately after that the Turkish vessel drastically changed course” and passed within half a kilometer of the Smetlivy, still making no contact with the Russian crew.
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu warned on Friday that Ankara’s patience with Russia was “not unlimited”, and accused Moscow of using “every opportunity” to punish Turkey for the downing of the plane. [Source: BBC]
Muslim lands no longer belongs to themselves without the Khilafah and Muslims do not have any sovereignty over their own territorial waters. This is another strong reason to reestablish the second Khilafah Rashidah.
Iran Ready to Help Resolve Turkey-Russia Tensions: First VP
Iran’s First Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri says the recent escalation of tensions between Moscow and Ankara over Turkey’s downing of a Russian jet is worrisome, expressing Tehran’s readiness to help settle the dispute.
Moscow and Ankara have been locked in a war of words since November 24, when Turkey downed the Russian Su-24 fighter jet over Syria, claiming that it had entered Turkish airspace, an accusation strongly rejected by Moscow.
The Turkish president said his country does not welcome the escalation of tensions in the region and calls for dialog to clear misunderstandings.
Erdogan added that Tehran-Ankara relations should not be affected by foreign influences and said the two sides should foil attempts to cause religious discord as soon as possible.
In response to Erdogan’s remarks, Jahangiri said the Iranian administration does not impose any restrictions on media, adding that even the administration is itself criticized in the media.
He added that Iranian officials have never made any comment against the Turkish government.
“However, your authorities have expressed many negative and incorrect statements against the Islamic Republic of Iran, the government and sanctities of the Iranian people,” the Iranian vice president added. [Source: Press TV]
Both Russian and Turkish governments want to repair the weakened relationship. United States see this situation as opportunity to increase Iran’s role in the Middle East, and encourages Iran to take action.
Organised Crime Moves in on Migrant Smuggling Trade in Turkey
In the weeks since Turkey signed a preliminary agreement with the EU to help manage the flow of irregular migrants, the gangs that carry out most, if not all, of the smuggling in Turkey have found themselves, for the first time, under sustained pressure from the police.
Nearly 800 people have been arrested and 450 convicted, said Himmet Uygun, who heads migration policies for the province of Izmir.
While the immediate impact has been obvious in places such as Cesme, it has barely dented the daily flow of migrants to Greece: almost 40,000 arrived in the first 10 days of December alone. After an initial dip, the number of people landing on Greek beaches has returned to last month’s highs.
Instead, interviews with nearly a dozen people involved in smuggling reveal a process of rapid adaptation that shows the resilience of the lucrative trade and how difficult it will be for Turkey to clamp down fully.
The Doctor, as he is known in smuggling circles, is wanted by Europol, according to two western diplomats, and runs one of the largest smuggling groups out of Turkey. That evening, he was planning on moving at least 15 boatloads of refugees but only succeeded in sending four.
He shows a picture of a 232-metre ship for which he has made a $1.5m cash down payment. He plans to use it to move migrants, nearly 400 at a time, from Mersin, on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast, in a four- or five-day voyage to a point off Italy, where fishermen will take the refugees the final few kilometres.
A boat importer in Istanbul ran into similar difficulties. His import licence allowed him to bring in Chinese-made craft and sell them for as much as $10,000 each.
For three months, his business thrived until two well-dressed Turkish men in a black luxury car visited his home in late October, placed a handgun on his dining table and told him to stop his business.
He did, later learning from his smuggler friends that the Turkish mafia was becoming the largest source for boats. [Source: Financial Times]
Since there is no real authority over Muslim lands, the mafia takes the place of governments. Where governments do not provide security and justice, people seek other ways to protect themselves or take their rights.
Threats, Harassment, Vandalism at Mosques Reach Record High
Gunshots fired into a mosque in Connecticut. Armed men protesting the “Islamization of America” outside Islamic centers in Texas. Death threats called in to mosques in Florida, Maryland and Virginia. Anecdotal evidence suggests 2015, a year bookended by murderous attacks carried out in the name of Islam, has been one of the most intensely anti-Muslim periods in American history. A new study shared with CNN puts statistical heft behind that suspicion. Through December 8, American mosques and Islamic centers have been the victims of vandalism, harassment and anti-Muslim bigotry at least 63 times this year, the Council on American-Islamic Relations says in the study. That’s the highest number since the Muslim civil rights group began keeping track in 2009 and a threefold increase over last year. The previous high was 53 incidents in 2010, during the controversy over the “ground zero mosque” near the site of the 9/11 attack in New York. But many of those incidents concerned bias at zoning hearings for new mosques. This year’s hostilities have a sharper edge. This November alone saw 17 anti-Muslim incidents at mosques, with the vehemence rising after terrorists aligned with the Islamic State killed 130 people in Paris. Death threats and vandalism appear to be spiking again since December 3, when a Muslim couple killed 14 people and injured 21 more in San Bernardino, California. (There was little increase in incidents after one of the first prominent terrorists attacks of the year, against the magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris on January 7.) CAIR provided the data after CNN asked about the recent rise in reported anti-Muslim hate crimes. Neither the FBI nor CAIR have yet tallied the total number for 2015. But the data on mosques provides an early statistical look at how bad this year has been for American Muslims. Typically, hate crimes against people — including Muslims — are twice as high as crimes against property, such as mosques, according to the FBI’s annual reports, leading many observers to predict that 2015 will witness the most anti-Muslim incidents since the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Hate incidents against American Muslims unabated; political rhetoric not helping. Corey Saylor, a CAIR spokesman, compiled the study based on media accounts and reports from the group’s regional chapters. He cautioned that the data is preliminary; the real number of incidents at mosques is likely higher. According to the Justice Department, hate crimes are often dramatically under-reported. [Source: CNN]
The adverse reaction towards Muslims has more to do with the US media feeding Americans a daily diet of Islamophobia than the actions of a few misguided Muslims. It is a well-known fact that white American supremacists kill more Americans than domestic Muslims involved in violence. Yet the media chooses to ignore such statistics and is determined to skew the picture to instigate hatred amongst the host population and Muslims living in America.
‘Trump is Right!’ Police Say Parts of Britain are No-Go Areas Due to Radicalisation
Serving officers in terrorist hotspots including London and Birmingham said that forces are becoming increasingly nervy over the rising threat of Islamic State (ISIS) inspired attacks, with some telling staff not to wear their uniforms in their own patrol cars. One officer in London said the firebrand presidential hopeful was “pointing out something plainly obvious” whilst another in Lancashire said the police have to ask local Muslim leaders for PERMISSION before sending patrols into their communities. Their shocking testimonies are in stark contrast to the official responses from politicians and the Metropolitan Police, who have rounded on Mr Trump’s controversial claims. The Republican frontrunner provoked fury across the globe on Monday when he said that all Muslims should be banned from entering America to combat terrorism. During a tub thumping speech to party activists he also took a swipe at Britain, saying: “We have places in London and other places that are so radicalised that police are afraid for their own lives.” His comments were widely derided by British politicians including David Cameron, who called them “divisive, unhelpful and quite simply wrong”. The Metropolitan Police also issued a withering statement saying Mr Trump “could not be more wrong” whilst London Mayor Boris Johnson said his claims were “utter nonsense”. But they have been fatally undermined by members of the rank and file, who have said that fear of Islamist extremism within Britain’s police is widespread despite the protestations of the authorities. One serving officer in west London said: “Islamification has and is occurring. You have to have extra vigilance in certain parts when you are working.” Speaking to Breitbart he added: “When I was a teenage lad in Burnley there were no go white areas. This is the case still nationally, including London where you have to have extra vigilance in certain parts when you are working.” Another officer with Lancashire police said that officers have to “contact local community leaders to get their permission” before they are allowed to patrol in Muslim areas of Preston. And a policeman posted in Yorkshire said police top brass were so afraid of potential terrorist attacks he had been ordered not to wear police uniform in his own patrol car. Meanwhile in an interview last year Tom Winsor, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary, warned that there are “cities in the Midlands where the police never go” because local communities refuse to engage with law enforcement. [Source: Express UK]
Clearly, Trump’s remarks strike a chord across the West. This is not surprising as the West has been engaged in the clash of civilizations for several decades, and its hostility towards Islam is increasing as Western governments struggle to curb the growing Islamic revival in the Muslim world. Terrorism is an excuse used by the West to encourage Muslims to fight an intra-civilizational war i.e. between secular fundamentalists supported by the West and the Muslim masses.
Islamic State Oil is going to Assad, some to Turkey, US Official says
Islamic State militants have made more than $500 million trading oil with significant volumes sold to the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and some finding its way to Turkey, a senior US Treasury official said on Thursday. The United States, France, Britain and Russia have vowed to defeat Islamic State, which uses an extreme interpretation of Islam to justify attacks and brutality in large parts of Syria and Iraq that it controls. A US-led coalition is bombing the hardline Sunni group, as is Assad’s only big-power supporter Russia, in an attempt to kill its leaders and cripple the oil wells which the group uses to finance its rule and attacks abroad. In one of the most detailed public explanations of Islamic State’s oil trade, US Treasury Department official Adam Szubin said militants were selling as much as $40 million a month of oil at the installations which was then spirited on trucks across the battlelines of the Syrian civil war and sometimes further. “ISIL is selling a great deal of oil to the Assad regime,” Szubin, acting under secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence with the Treasury, told an audience at Chatham House in London. “The two are trying to slaughter each other and they are still engaged in millions and millions of dollars of trade,” Szubin said of Assad’s government and Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. The “far greater amount” of Islamic State oil ends up under Assad’s control while some is consumed internally in Islamic State-controlled areas. Some ends up in Kurdish regions and some in Turkey, he said. “Some is coming across the border into Turkey,” Szubin said when asked for details on the money trail. “Our sense is that ISIL is taking its profits basically at the wellhead and so while you do have ISIL oil ending up in a variety of different places that’s not really the pressure we want when it comes to stemming the flow of funding – it really comes down to taking down their infrastructure,” he said. Szubin said it was unclear whether the $40 million a month estimate could be multiplied over a year. But in remarks prepared for delivery, he said Islamic State had made more than $500 million from the oil trade, but did not give a more specific time period. In an attempt to cut militants’ links to the global financial system, Szubin said the United States had worked with Iraq to close down dozens of bank branches in Islamic State-held territories. Szubin said militants had looted up to $1 billion from bank vaults in Syria and Iraq, but he said Islamic State’s oil trade was the main target. [Source: Reuters]
Szubin exposes the evil nexuses of Assad, Erdogan and Baghdadi all working to ensure that American interests in the region are protected.