Today’s Zaman: “Greece supports Turkey's EU membership”

By Vestnik Kavkaza

The New York Times writes today about a Turkish initiative to provide shelter for refugees in an article called “Turkey Opens Biggest Refugee Camp for 35,000 From Kobani”. Turkey opened its biggest refugee camp on Sunday to house 35,000 people fleeing fighting between Kurdish forces and Islamist militants in Syria's Kobani. Located in the southeastern border town of Suruc, the tent city has two hospitals, seven medical clinics and enough classrooms for 10,000 children. Turkey has some 24 camps housing 265,000 Syrian refugees with another set to open in Mardin next month. More than 200,000 people have been killed and millions displaced in the Syrian civil war since March 2011. Islamic State militants attacked Kobani more than four months ago. The Kurds, who have secured effective self-rule in northern parts of Syria, now control around 90 percent of Kobani. 

Another article in the NYT is about an Iranian hero. “Iranian Lawmakers Honor Guard Commander Over IS Victories” runs the article. 208 parliamentarians issued a statement on Sunday thanking Major-General Ghasem Soleimani for his role in establishing security in the region. Soleimani, commander of the guard's powerful and secretive al-Quds Force, has achieved legendary status for his work in Iraq in particular. He is credited with helping the Iraqi military forces and allied Shiite and Kurdish militias win some of their first major victories against the Islamic State group. Iran openly admits that senior commanders like Soleimani are acting in an advisory role battling Sunni militants in both Iraq and Syria. 

The British newspaper the Daily Mail today published an article called “Turkey orders Facebook to block pages which ‘insult’ the Prophet Mohammed – and says the whole site will be banned if it does not obey” 

The country's state-run news agency confirmed that a court in Ankara issued the order yesterday, following a request by a prosecutor. The decision comes just days after another court ruling banned access in Turkey to web pages featuring the controversial cover of the French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo depicting the Prophet Mohammed.
Facebook have yet to comment on the ruling, but earlier this month Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company would not censor content published in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attacks. The proposed law, debated by a parliamentary commission, would allow ministers to order access to be restricted to any website deemed to threaten lives, public order or people's rights and freedoms by committing a crime.

Another British newspaper the Financial Times writes today about Berezovsky in its article called “Former oligarch died owing UK £46m, court told” Berezovsky had once made billions by taking control of former Soviet assets in the 1990s and fled to England from Russia in 2001 after falling out with Russian president Vladimir Putin. In the years leading up to his death he appeared to enjoy the trappings of wealth living in mansions and being surrounded by bodyguards. However, in 2012 Berezovsky lost a $6.5bn lawsuit against Roman Abramovich, the Russian owner of Chelsea football club, and had to pay £35m of legal costs to Mr Abramovich, as well as his own legal costs estimated at about £50m. Berezovsky’s estate has been the subject of court hearings and litigation since he died in March 2013.

The Turkish newspaper Today’s Zaman is writing about a new chapter in relations between Turkey and Greece in its article "Greece’s Syriza starts afresh with Turkey".  The success of a left-wing party like Syriza means a positive change for the Turkish minority in Western Thrace as well. Tsipras' party is known for its moderate approach towards the Turkish minority and three members of the Turkish minority community in Western Thrace have been elected to the Greek parliament under Syriza. Another positive expectation is that of no change in Greece's support for Turkey's EU membership. In the first comments on the strong win for the leftist Syriza party in the elections, Turkey said on Monday that it respects the choice of the Greek people and that it was ready to work with any party that comes to power, especially on the Cyprus problem and tensions in the Aegean. "Everybody should show respect. We certainly respect the decision of the Greek people. We are ready to work with any government elected to power," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu told reporters at a joint news conference with his counterpart after talks in Ankara. The foreign minister said Turkey wants to restart reunification talks in Cyprus and hydrocarbon exploration in the eastern Mediterranean in a manner that protects the rights of Turkish Cypriots. The two neighbors have also been holding talks on how to resolve their disputes regarding their territorial rights in the Aegean.