Headlines:
- KRG Oil Exports to Turkey Resume after Pipeline Theft
- Turkey Sends Back All Syrian Refugees Waiting in Edirne to Sneak into EU
- Erdogan, Merkel say Syrian Transition could include Assad
KRG Oil Exports to Turkey Resume after Pipeline Theft
The Kurdistan Region Government’s (KRG) Ministry of Oil and Natural Resources announced on Saturday that exporting of crude oil from the Kurdistan region to Turkey’s Ceyhan port via pipeline resumed late Friday.
The flow of oil to the Turkish port was halted on September 25 following theft from the pipeline in Turkey.
The thieves struck the pipeline near Urfa on the first day of the Eid holiday.
“Persistent theft from the Iraq-Turkey crude oil pipeline in the southeast of Turkey continues to damage the welfare of the people of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq at a critical time for their security and stability,” read an announcement by the oil ministry.
Revenue from crude oil exports through the pipeline to Ceyhan is the Kurdistan region’s main means of survival. Without such revenue, salaries of Peshmerga, the security forces and other key government workers cannot be fulfilled, said the ministry. [Source: Rudaw]
Democratic and pragmatic politics leave no rules for politicians, and produce much contradiction. Turkish Republic’s nationalist and non-patriotic view of the Kurdish state was always against an independent Kurdish state. But when the subject is benefits, no rules remains.
Turkey Sends Back All Syrian Refugees Waiting in Edirne to Sneak into EU
Hundreds of Syrian refugees arrived 10 days ago in the province of Edirne, which borders Greece and Bulgaria, and had been camping out in the Sarayici district, hoping for an opportunity to sneak into Europe. The Turkish government refused to allow the refugees to continue, explaining that crossing permits could only be issued if the European Union countries agreed to take them.
Four hundred refugees returned to Istanbul late on Wednesday, leaving about 500 waiting in Edirne. On Thursday, Turkish authorities loaded the remaining refugees onto buses and sent them back to various provinces across Turkey.
“Don’t go to Europe. When did they become brothers and sisters to Muslims? Have they ever helped us? On the contrary, they have occupied our country,” preached Syrian citizen Ilyas Ahmet during the sacrifice feast prayers. [Source: BGN News]
Hijrah of the Ummah continues but, no Nejashis could be found until now. Or even more the armies of the Muslim countries remain idle while their brothers and sisters wait in line to enter into safe ground rather than offering them their lands and safe shelters.
Erdogan, Merkel say Syrian Transition could include Assad
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and German Chancellor Angela Merkel separately said on Thursday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad could have a role in transition of power in Syria.
Erdogan, who is a fierce critic of Assad, suggested for the first time that the Syrian president could have a role to play in a future political transition
“The process could possibly be without Assad, or the transitional process could be with him,” Erdogan told reporters after Eid prayers in Istanbul, when asked about a possible solution to Syria’s four-year civil war.
But “nobody envisages a future with Assad in Syria,” Erdogan added, saying it was “impossible for them (Syrians) to accept a dictator who has led to the deaths of up to 350,000 people.”
Erdogan’s remarks, which came a day after he held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, an ally of Assad, mark a shift from the Turkish leader’s previous insistence that the Syrian leader relinquish power.
Turkey backed Assad’s regime until the outbreak of the civil war in 2011, after which it switched its support to rebels fighting to overthrow him.
Erdogan’s remarks chimed with a comment earlier by German Chancellor Angela Merkel after a summit on the refugee crisis fuelled by the Syrian war.
“We have to speak with many actors, this includes Assad, but others as well,” Merkel said.
“Not only with the United States of America, Russia, but with important regional partners, Iran, and Sunni countries such as Saudi Arabia,” Merkel added.
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said last week the U.S. was prepared to “negotiate” with Assad on the conditions and timing of his exit.
Kerry urged Russia to persuade Assad to enter talks.
British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond also has made similar comments. [Source: Al Arabiya]
Erdogan’s discrepancies never end. Even Assad is more coherent than him. At least he did not change until the war begun. But Erdogan has changed his opinions several times revealing his intentions and interests with the West exposing the crocodile tears he shed for the Syrian victims and their crisis.