Headlines:
Turkey Deports Hundreds of Syrian Refugees to War-Torn Idlib Province
- Boris Johnson New UK Prime Minister
- Imran Khan Visits the US
Turkey Deports Hundreds of Syrian Refugees to War-Torn Idlib Province
The Middle East Eye has reported that the Turkish authorities have deported roughly 1,000 Syrians to Syria’s Idlib province since last week, in a new effort to stem the flow of Syrians into Turkey. The police also detained more than 5,000 Syrian refugees in Istanbul whose residency permits are registered in other parts of the country. Footage has been circulated on social media showing refugees put in plastic handcuffs and being transported to relocation centres. “We continue to deport irregular refugees who illegally arrived in Turkey,” the Istanbul governor’s office said in a statement on Monday following the criticism raised by activists on social media. Activists on social media have said that the Turkish authorities have been forcing refugees to sign “voluntary deportation papers”, fearful of international legal repercussions for sending the displaced to war-torn Idlib.
Boris Johnson New UK Prime Minister
Boris Johnson was announced the new leader of the victor of the Conservative party election on Tuesday 23 July. The UK has had a flurry of elections in the past 5 years as Europe and the subsequent Brexit vote continues to tear the country apart. The former London mayor won the votes of 92,153 members of the ruling party, while his rival, Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt won 46,656. In his victory speech, the 55-year-old said his campaign message had been to “deliver Brexit, unite the country and defeat [opposition Labour leader] Jeremy Corbyn – and that is what we are going to do.” Brexit has now made two prime ministers leave office before their terms were up and it’s likely Johnson will be the third victim. Johnson vowed to negotiate a new Brexit divorce deal with the European Union before the scheduled October 31 deadline, even though Brussels insists it will not reopen negotiations. He has said he would ramp up preparations for a no deal to try to force the EU’s negotiators to make changes to the accord. The only deal on the table has been rejected three times by the British parliament and many legislators – including pro-EU rebels in the Conservative Party who have vowed to block Johnson from trying to take Britain out of the EU without a deal.
Imran Khan Visits the US
After being snubbed by the US governemnt when arriving at Washington, when no one representing the US governemnt even bothered to meet Pakistan prime minister at the airport. Imran Khan thanked US President Donald Trump for hosting him at the White House with “gracious hospitality” and assured his American counterpart that Pakistan “will do everything within its power” to facilitate the process aimed at ending Afghanistan’s nearly 18-year war. Kashmir was also discussed with Trump commenting he was asked by India to intermediate on the issue. Imran Khan didn’t move an inch when Trump’s claimed he could win the war in Afghanistan in as little time as a week. The only thing stopping him from doing so, is that he doesn’t want to kill 10 million people and/or wipe Afghanistan off the face of the earth. It remains to be seen what comes from this meeting, but what is clear is that it was the US, not Pakistan making the demands.