Geneva Resolution:Steering Committee loses two key members before its first meet

By Shamindra Ferdinando-August 23, 2017, 10:43 pm 

A high powered Cabinet-appointed committee, tasked with coordinating and monitoring the implementation of 2015 Geneva recommendations has lost two of its key members, Ravi Karunanayake and Dr Wijeyadasa Rajapakse, PC, even before its inaugural meeting.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe named a seven-member committee on June 19, 2017 to ensure the timely implementation of the Geneva Resolution co-sponsored by the government in Oct 2015.

The original eight member committee consisted of PM Wickremesinghe, Foreign Minister Ravi Karunanayake, Ports and Shipping Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe, Justice Minister Dr Wijeyadasa Rajapakse, PC, Development Assignment Minister Tilak Marapana, PC, State Defence Minister Ruwan Wijewardene and Deputy Minister of National Policies and Economic Affairs Dr Harsha de Silva.

Karunanayake gave up his portfolio on Aug. 10 in the wake damaging revelations against him that surfaced at the Presidential Commission of Inquiry probing the alleged Central Bank-Perpetual Treasuries bond scams, whereas Rajapakse was removed by President Sirisena on the UNP’s request after being accused of taking a line inimical to the ruling party.

Much to the surprise of those who had been engaged in the port-war national reconciliation process, the UNP left Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera out of the steering committee though he was instrumental in finalizing the Geneva Resolution. Karunanayake switched portfolios with Samaraweera in May this year before PM Wickremesinghe named the steering committee.

Well informed sources told The Island that the committee hadn’t met even once since its establishment two months ago. Sources said the UNP led committee had been empowered to implement Geneva recommendations within the two-year period (March 2017-March 2019) in accordance with a resolution co-sponsored by Sri Lanka in March 2017.

Prime Minister’s Office was to undertake secretarial work connected to the initiative.

Now that Marapana, who had been a member of the original committee received foreign affairs portfolio, the government could bring in another UNPer to the committee, sources said, adding that Rajapakse’s successor, too, would have to be accommodated.

Political sources said that former Justice Minister Rajapakse, in spite of being in the Geneva steering committee took a hostile approach towards the process. Less than a month after the formation of the committee, Rajapakse clashed with UN Special Rapporteur Ben Emmerson during a progress review meeting in Colombo. Emmerson is the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Sources said a committee consisting of Secretary to the Prime Minister, senior representative of the Secretary to the President, representative of the Attorney General and Secretaries to the ministries of defence, foreign affairs, justice and law and order were to assist the PM-led group. Since then veteran career diplomat Esala Weerakoon, secretary, foreign ministry and Karunasena Hettiarachchi , secretary defence had quit the officials’ committee with the latter securing a plum diplomatic post in Western Europe.

Sources said that Wickremesinghe, in his capacity as Prime Minister as well as Minister of National Policies and Economic Affairs obtained cabinet approval to appoint steering committee.

Sources said that with former AG Marapana taking over foreign affairs portfolio and unexpected change at the Justice Ministry, the government was likely to take stock of the situation. Perhaps one of the primary tasks would be to resolve the dispute over the draft of the proposed Counter-Terrorism Act of Sri Lanka in place of the now suspended Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).

A fresh look at the proposed law had been necessitated by the UN finding fault with the draft that was shown to Emmerson who called a joint Sri Lanka-UN effort to improve the draft before it being placed in parliament, they said.

Sources said in addition to the proposed Counter-Terrorism Act, the Geneva steering committee was tasked with addressing a spate of other recommendations, including Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Office of Missing Persons (OMPs) and far reaching security sector reforms.

Ministries are not lotteries

2017-08-23

After the resignation of Ravi Karunanayake as the Foreign Minister, the government has reverted the two lotteries boards, the National Lotteries Board and the Development Lotteries Board back to the Finance Ministry functioning under Minister Mangala Samaraweera.

The two lotteries boards had been under the Finance Ministry for a long time as two institutions earning revenue for the public coffers until the Cabinet reshuffle effected in last May, when they were transferred to the Foreign Affairs Ministry. This was widely discussed among the public then and Joint Opposition Parliamentarian Bandula Gunawardene had initiated legal action against the government’s inappropriate combination of subjects under the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

Why did the government bring the two lotteries boards under the purview of Foreign Ministry three months ago? And on what grounds has it now brought them back under the purview of the Finance Ministry?

Ravi Karunanayake had been the Finance Minister during the government appointed for the so-called Hundred Day Programme as well as in the government elected at the subsequent Parliamentary election on August 17, 2015 and the two lotteries boards had been functioning under his ministry throughout. With the change of ministries in May, Karunanayake was deprived of his favourite ministry and had to swap the portfolios with Mangala Samaraweera who had then been the Foreign Affairs Minister.

However, in a bizarre turn of event the two lotteries boards were brought under the Foreign Ministry under Karunanayake and now that he was forced to resign from the Cabinet they are again under the Finance Ministry. Therefore it is vividly clear that in spite of government ministers waxing eloquent justifying the inappropriate combination of two Lotteries Boards with the subjects of Foreign Affairs Ministry, they had done so as Karunanayake or the leaders of the government had wanted them always under him.

However, in a bizarre turn of event the two lotteries boards were brought under the Foreign Ministry under Karunanayake and now that he was forced to resign from the Cabinet they are again under the Finance Ministry

The government seems to have totally forgotten its promise given to the nation during the last Presidential election to appoint a relatively small Cabinet on a scientific basis. On the one hand the number of Cabinet ministers envisaged under those promises was 30, but it has risen to 47 now with the latest inclusion of Tilak Marapana at the Cabinet reshuffle in May with a new portfolio called Development Assignment. How can they justify, under the concept of scientific allocation of portfolios and subjects to the ministers, the appointment of State ministers, a portfolio introduced in Sri Lanka by the former President Ranasinghe Premadasa in 1989, apart from the appointment of deputy ministers? Through the latest cabinet reshuffle, Fisheries Minister Mahinda Amaraweera has also been assigned with another State Minister portfolio, the State Minister of Mahaweli Development.

On the other hand the subject combination of ministries has sometimes been ludicrous. The best case in point was the see-sawing of the two lotteries boards between the Finance Ministry and the Foreign Affairs Ministry. Another interesting combination of subjects, among others, is Higher Education and Highways.

It is comprehensible that ministers or officials might have a special interest in certain ministries or subjects on the basis of their familiarity with or knowledge on those ministries or subjects. However, subjects should not be changed haphazardly from one ministry to another just because a minister or a leader of the government liked to do so. It is also a well known fact that many ministers prefer ministries handling massive amounts of money or/and huge man power capacities which can be puffed up with their supporters. However, governments giving into these whims of ministers or officials would inevitably end up in large-scale corruption. 

Rajapaksas Roam Free Not Because Of Sacked Rajapakshe

Mahinda Rajapaksa and Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe | File Photo

AUGUST 24, 2017

Investigations into the more sensitive cases are being delayed not due to inefficiencies of the Attorney General’s Department nor with the interference of sacked Justice Minster Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe but due to the more efficient CID teams being inundated with too many investigations, sources within the CID told Colombo Telegraph.

“The CID is inundated with investigations after the change of the Rajapaksa regime. Most efficient units within the CID are naturally given sensitive investigations sources within the CID reveal. This has resulted in delays in concluding some of the important cases such as the murder of Lasantha Wickrematunge, Rugby player Wasim Thajudeen and missing person Prageeth Eknaligoda, the sources say.

Important breakthrough’s made thus far are being delayed due to the lack of personnel within the CID sources say.

The investigation into Journalist Keith Noyahr abduction and assault is another which is being held in abeyance, the CID sources further said.

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Is president Maithri double faced or double based ? Confirmation on 31 st August -SLFP proposals muddle up new constitution !

(Lanka-e-News - 24.Aug.2017, 11.45AM)   ‘I am becoming the president not to trim  the presidential powers but to completely abolish the executive presidential powers within 100 days . I shall not go even to the presidential palace.’ This was the announcement made loudly and proudly by the  common presidential candidate in December 2014 during his election rallies. The president  even at the  funeral ceremony of late most Ven. Maduluwawe Thera vowed before the  latter’s  remains in public  to abolish the executive presidency.

Now , the time has arrived  to decide whether the same president who made such solemn promises to the public is in fact playing a dubious role and double acting to the detriment of the entire country ? The final date to decide this is  31 st August .

This is because when the steering  committee that  was appointed by  the constitution  formulation  board of the entire parliament pertaining to  the new constitution met 22nd informed all the political parties that 31 st of August  is the final date before which the final proposals of the parties shall be forwarded.

It is noteworthy , only the SLFP has still not forwarded its party proposals pertaining to  the constitution . The president in regard to this delay said  , he has no personal involvement in respect of  the new constitution proposals  , and it is the committee appointed for that which prepares those, and Nimal Siripala De Silva is its  head . Anyway , the SLFP committee which met yesterday , has at last finalized the draft proposals .

However , this draft’s  content is most rudely shocking ! What it says is , the executive presidency shall not be abolished !! and though as a matter of policy it was agreed there shall be a devolution of power,  there are no proposals to make that a reality.  The most ludicrous and worst part ? In 1978 when Late JR Jayawardena was introducing the executive presidency in 1978 , it was the SLFP which staged protests vehemently under the Pettah Bodhi tree against it . Besides , it was the SLFP which loudly announced that if they come to power they would definitely abolish the executive presidency while also including that as a policy in all their election manifestos in the past.  Yet unbelievably  it is the same SLFP which is confirming wittingly or unwittingly they cannot be believed by  now saying the executive presidency shall be continued .

Most political analysts view this as a knot of Maithripala nursing  the hope it will not be untied, because if he is honestly to abolish the executive presidency as promised by him at the presidential elections , he cannot have one stance as leader of the SLFP  while allowing the party  to take another stance. Moreover , since  those who come before the media including S.B. , to  make loud announcements and pronouncements against the abolition of the executive presidency are direct lackeys and lickspittles of Maithripala Sirisena,   these views are those of the president , and they are  his ventriloquist dummies, the political analysts pinpoint. 

No matter what , the crucial time has now arrived for  Maithripala to end his double role and play acting , and display his true colors. This is because the proposals prepared by the SLFP committee led by Nimal Siripala De Silva has been sent to the president again  for his final ratification.

Now the president has the opportunity to prove his credibility by rejecting the proposals against abolition of executive presidency ,  and standing by the solemn promises he made to the masses as common presidential candidate , and on which manifesto he won. Or , by accepting the proposals of the Nimal Siripala  committee and demonstrate  that Committee is  in fact his own arm, and the  promises he made that he would abolish the executive presidency are false and fake. 

Under  the circumstances , by 31 st August the people can know definitely whether  Sirisena  is  a double role villain   or hero   ?
The final proposal made  on 31 st August will be discussed on 6th and 7 th September  , with a view to prepare the final draft  of the new constitution .

Chandra Pradeep   

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by     (2017-08-24 06:27:59)

Corruption cases to be revisited by new Justice Minister, says Rajitha

• Rajitha says Wijeyadasa may return after rehabilitation
• Removal is a UNP matter, SLFP will not comment says Dayasiri
• Gayantha says Rajapakshe failed to take corrective action as promised leading to hisdismissal, breached collective responsibility of Cabinet

By Chathuri Dissanayake-Thursday, 24 August 2017

Cases filed against bigwigs of the previous regime may be refiled under fresh charges with the appointment of the new Justice Minister, Cabinet Co-spokesperson Rajitha Senaratne said yesterday.

Pointing out shortcomings in some of the cases that have already been filed, Senaratne said that some of the cases may be refiled under different laws.

“There is a problem such as this. The Avant Garde case is likely to be filed again under a weapons ordinance, which is currently under the Money Laundering Act because that can be given bail. Once the new Justice Minister is appointed we can hold a proper inquiry. We will be able to find out who influenced the case when we have the inquiry,” he said.

“Any case can be revisited. So we will push for this.”

Former Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, who was forced to resign from his portfolio yesterday, may be able to make a Marapana-style comeback if he was “rehabilitated”, Senaratne said.

“The current Foreign Minister also had to resign earlier over the same case – the Avant Garde case. Now he has been rehabilitated. When time goes, if he rehabilitates we can reconsider reinstating him,” Senaratne said.

However, he said that the Government will not make any changes in the cadre of the institutions responsible for carrying out these investigations.

Cabinet Co-spokesperson Gayantha Karunathilaka stressed that the Justice Minister was dismissed for breaching the collective responsibility of Cabinet. Rajapakshe openly criticised the decision of the Government to lease the Hambantota Port to a Chinese party.

“The party’s working committee discussed this with him and after discussions with the Chairman of the party, Rajapakshe promised to take corrective action. The decision to remove him is because he failed to carry out this promise,” he said.

“We consider this mistake a breach committed by a Minister not an individual,” Karunathilaka stated.

However, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party distanced itself from the dismissal, saying that it was an internal matter of the party.

“This is a problem within their party. The UNP party leadership has decided to take action so we will not interfere in the matter. Further, the UNP is a partner in the Coalition Government so the SLFP decided not to get involved,” said Cabinet Co-spokesperson Dayasiri Jayasekara.

When asked if his party would take action against Minister Susil Premajayantha, who has also publicly criticised a number of Cabinet decisions, Jayasekara said that such a discussion had not happened in the party yet.

“We will discuss this in the future and the President can decide later,” he said.

Rajitha received Rs. 10 M from President's Fund: Anura Kumara

2017-08-24

Chief Opposition Whip Anura Kumara Dissanayake yesterday claimed that Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne had been granted Rs.10 million from the President’s Fund for the operation he underwent in Singapore while the common man needed to go through a long procedure and needed documentary proof to obtain even Rs.175,000 from the fund.

He drew the attention of parliament to the fact that private pharmacies and laboratories were mushrooming near government hospitals even though the health minister was claiming that medicines were being provided at government hospitals free of charge. "If these services are being provided free of charge to the public at government hospitals, why are private pharmacies and laboratories mushrooming near government hospitals? If the local health service is so good why did the health minister travel to Singapore for treatment? He should have had his operation done at the National Hospital isn't it?" he asked.

Moving an adjournment motion on the need to provide relief to people affected by the drought, Mr. Dissanayake said people in drought hit areas should be provided with a health service allowance as they were facing great difficulty in finding money for their health services.

"These people have lost their sources of income due to the prevailing drought. Most of these people are suffering from kidney diseases and need money to get medicine," he said.

MP Dissanayake also blamed Minister Senaratne for leasing out the Modara Fisheries Harbour for an amount less than the official estimate given by the State while also claiming that he was avoiding investigations being carried out against him by the Bribery Commission.

"The Bribery Commission has summoned him on two occasions to appear before it to inquire into the harbour tender but the minister had not gone there. Instead he influenced the President to remove the Director General of the Bribery Commission," Mr. Dissanayake alleged. (Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera)

Indictments on former District Court Judge over corruption charges

 

Lakmal Sooriyagoda-Thursday, August 24, 2017 

The Colombo High Court served indictments on former Moratuwa and Kesbewa District Court Judge Ranjan Somasinghe over a corruption case, today.

This is for the unlawful acquisition of assets estimated at Rs. 2.4 million. 

When the case came up before High Court Judge Piyasena Ranasinghe, the former District Court Judge was ordered to be released on a one million rupees surety bail.

The case was fixed for trial on November 29 and the first and second witnesses were noticed to appear on next trial date.

The Director General of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption had filed this indictment in the Colombo High Court against the former Moratuwa - Kesbewa District Court Judge.

In his indictment, the Director General of the Bribery Commission alleged that Somasinghe had committed the offence in between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2008. 
President's Counsel Srinath Perera appeared for the accused.

Kurunegala police threaten environmentalist

Aug 24, 2017

A team from Kurunegala police, led by a SI, has gone to the house of a member of the Environment and Nature Study Centre and threatened him, says the Centre. The incident on the night of the 22nd was experienced by Sanjeewa Kulatilake and his family members.

The SI had demanded Kulatilake handed over to police a stock of posters that raise awareness on environmental issues. The Centre has written to the president, IGP and the Human Rights Commission about this incident.

Its members have come under threat from various groups for having appeared for environment interests. Its coordinator Dr. Ravindra Kariyawasam says they will continue their duty despite any threat. Previously, members of the Centre came under threat during an observation tour of Jiffy company that pollutes the environment surrounding Deduru Oya, and also during their interventions to protect Rilagala Yaya.

Kandy Expressway – A series of political blunders

 Thursday, 24 August 2017

The Kandy Expressway, also known as the Northern Expressway and the Central Expressway (name keeps on changing), was first proposed in the early 1990s, taking a route over the Kelani River’s northern flood plain and was challenged over environmental issues; accused of building a dam disturbing rain water flow, thereby creating floods. RDA was unable to meet the accusations and the proposal had to be abandoned.

Kandy Expressway – A series of political blunders.docx by Thavam on Scribd

Journalist David Sheen faces lawsuit from Israeli general Israel Ziv

A retired Israeli general with a history of threatening reporters is suing an independent journalist for defamation, after the journalist included him on a list of leading racists in Israel.

Charlotte Silver-23 August 2017

While the journalist asserts his right to state his opinion, Israel’s laws don’t always land on the side of a free press.

At the beginning of this year, David Sheen authored what has become his annual list published by The Electronic Intifada of “Israel’s racist ringleaders.”

The list, published this year on 3 January, cites 10 Israelis in positions of power and influence who have expressed or acted on deep antipathy towards migrants and refugees from African states.

Journalist David Sheen faces lawsuit from Israeli general Israel Ziv.docx by Thavam on Scribd

letter_from_kahn.pdf by Thavam on Scribd

ANALYSIS: Turkey seeks Iran 'alliance' against Kurds as US pull wanes

Turkey has announced a new alliance with Iran to counter Kurd ambitions. But cooperation is short term and could change, say analysts

Hulusi Akar, left, and Mohammad Hossein Bagheri in Ankara earlier this month (Reuters)

Suraj Sharma-Thursday 24 August 2017

ISTANBUL, Turkey – The symbolism was huge, as was the message that followed: The highest level talks in almost 40 years between Turkish and Iranian military commanders, then an announcement by Turkey's president of a new "alliance".

After Hulusi Akar and Mohammad Hossein Bagheri met last week, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has traded barbs with the Iranian leadership over "sectarian" meddling abroad, suggested the time was right for military cooperation.

It was yet another swift about-face by big players in the Middle East, and one which could have huge implications for the region.

So why now, and how far can such an alliance go? 

At the moment we have an agreement to cooperate against the PKK and its offshoots. This is perfectly in line with developments

- Huseyin Bagci, Ankara professor

Huseyin Bagci, a professor of international relations at Ankara's Middle East Technical University, told MEE that the developing relationship was based on countering the "Kurdish threat" across the region.

"At the moment we have an agreement to cooperate against the PKK and its offshoots. This is perfectly in line with developments, especially in Syria and Iraq. It is difficult to say where it will lead to in the future," he said.

Hakki Uygur, the deputy director at the IRAM think tank which focuses on Iran studies, concurred, saying there was now a growing synergy between the two country's foreign policies.

"What we have now is a very short-term and very specific alliance to combat the PKK, YPG and to an extent the issue of the referendum in northern Iraq," he said.

"The potential for expanding this alliance is strong though, when regional developments, including the Gulf crisis, is considered."

Erdogan meets Iran's Mohammad Baqeri in Ankara (Reuters)

The Kurdish question

Ankara is alarmed by developments in northern Syria and the gains being made by the Syrian-Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its armed wing the YPG, especially the possibility of creating a corridor along the Turkish border by linking cantons under its control.  

Turkey views the PYD and YPG as an extension of the PKK, which it has fought for more than 30 years and lists as a terrorist group along with the US and EU.

Concerns have reached such levels that Ibrahim Karagul, a writer known to closely reflect the view from the president's palace, wrote in the pro-government Yeni Safak newspaper that Ankara should consider letting the past go and start cooperating with the Bashar al-Assad government in Damascus to tackle the Syrian Kurdish threat. 

The ongoing US military support for the YPG, with scant regard for its old ally's most existential concern, has the Ankara government questioning the value of its alliance with Washington, and by association Nato.

Turkey and Iran never identify the other as an enemy

- Huseyin Bagci, Ankara professor

Turkey has also found some success in its efforts to bring a measure of calm to war-torn Syria by working with the Russians and Iranians.

The fallout from Syria's Idlib province right on the Turkish border also has Ankara concerned. The US wants the province cleared of the now al-Qaeda-dominated rebel forces and is in talks with both Russia and Turkey.

According to Bagci, Turkey indicated a change in its Syria policy after Binali Yildirim became prime minister. And, he said, it is a consequence of that policy change and the Astana process to bring peace to Syria which has led to more proactive engagement with Iran.

"Turkey and Iran never identify the other as an enemy. It is always the word rival instead of enemy that is used. Territorial integrity has become a keyword for both countries whether it is Iraq or Syria, and is drawing them even closer together," said Bagci.   

The most recent tensions started coming to a boil after the Massoud Barzani-dominated Kurdistan Regional Government in neighbouring northern Iraq announced an independence referendum for late September.

Jim Mattis meets Massoud Barzani in Erbil (Reuters)

Barzani, the least worst option

The Barzani clan is the least repulsive of Kurdish political movements for Erdogan and his government.

The vast trade ties and Islamist conservative nature of Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) mean a relationship has developed between the two sides, evidenced in the relatively less stinging rebukes from Ankara since the referendum was announced.

However, it does not mean Turkey is enamoured in the slightest by even the thought of an independent Kurdish state, considering the potential impact on its own sizeable Kurdish population.

Here, too, like in northern Syria, Ankara holds a grudge against the US. The only intervention thus far has been a telephone call by the US secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, to Barzani.

Ankara has only resorted to that option after the US started supporting the YPG.

- Hakki Uygur, IRAM think tank

Barzani brushed off that conversation in a recent statement saying all he had promised Tillerson in regard to the planned referendum was to communicate more intensively with the central government in Baghdad.

James Mattis, the US defence secretary, also met Barzani on 22 August as part of a regional tour in which he also visited Ankara.

For Iran, Barzani's KDP represents a bigger Kurdish threat. It was Barzani's father, Mustafa, who headed the armed wing of the short-lived Kurdish Mahabad Republic of 1946 in current day Iran's territory.

Tehran is none too fond of the KDP-dominated KRG's close ties with the US in present day Iraq either.

"There is nothing Turkey and Iran can do about this referendum. It is in Barzani's hands," said Bagci. "What are Iran and Turkey going to do. Declare war?" 

Erdogan, who also had an audience with the visiting Iranian chief of staff, Mohammed Hossein Bagheri, on 21 August said Tehran and Ankara were discussing joint military operations in northern Iraq and along their own borders against the PKK and its Iranian affiliate PJAK.

This would represent a soft starting point to increased military cooperation in the future. In the past, Iran and Turkey have had limited coordination, if not cooperation, in anti-PKK and PJAK operations.

Iranian Kurdish fighters pose a growing threat to Tehran (AFP)

Breaking points aplenty

The US is unlikely to be pleased to see Turkey, with Nato's second largest army, working with a regime it considers its sworn enemy.

The first visit by an Iranian chief of staff since the revolution in 1979 is not the only sign of growing ties between Tehran and Ankara despite the huge symbolism attached to it.

A major energy deal between a Turkish, Iranian and Russian firm was announced on 15 August.  

Tehran and Ankara, in recent years, seem to have agreed on a policy of permitting regional bickering but refraining from any domestic criticism, said Uygur.

The Turkish government kept silent in the face of the brutal crushing of the 2009 pro-democracy protests in Iran. Tehran was one of the first governments to voice support for Erdogan's government as a coup attempt was underway last July.

Yet, Erdogan has on two public occasions within the past six months strongly attacked Tehran for engaging in what he termed "Persian nationalism" in the region and of resorting to sectarian policies to forward its expansionist ambitions.

Tehran in turn warned Ankara that its patience was not infinite in the face of such accusations.

The referendum in northern Iraq might be what brings Ankara and Tehran urgently together at the moment, but it is also Iraq that could put an end to any alliance between the two.

Ankara has a long and meaningful relationship with Nato and is not looking for an excuse to end it

- Hakki Uygur, IRAM think tank

Ankara is dismayed to see the growing influence Iran has exerted over Iraq through its Shia connection and irregular military involvement. Barzani's regional government, despite its Kurdishness, is Sunni.

It represents one of the few meaningful avenues left through which Turkey can maintain influence in Iraq.

The ideal situation for Ankara would be if either Tehran or Washington steps in to thwart the referendum process, allowing Turkey to maintain cordial ties with Barzani and its connection to Iraq.

The depth of the US-Turkish alliance is such that while Washington will watch Turkey's flirting with Iran with concern, it is unlikely to do so with trepidation for the moment.

Washington still holds the trump card. Ending its military support for the YPG would have a grateful Turkey fully back in its camp, irrespective of other issues affecting the relationship.

"An alliance with Iran is Turkey's plan B and plan C," said Uygur. "Ankara has only resorted to that option after the US started supporting the YPG. 

"If that were to change Turkey would go back to its alignment with Nato policies in both Iraq and Syria.

"Ankara has a long and meaningful relationship with Nato and is not looking for an excuse to end it."

Russia readies for huge military exercises as tensions with west simmer

Display of power involving up to 100,000 people in Belarus, Kaliningrad and Russia itself comes against backdrop of strained relations with west
‘We know how to live next to Russia’: Lithuania builds border fence with Kaliningrad


Vladimir Putin at a Russian Navy Day parade In St Petersburg in July. Photograph: Tass/Barcroft Images

Ewen MacAskill Defence correspondent-Thursday 24 August 2017 

Russia is preparing to mount what could be one of its biggest military exercises since the cold war, a display of power that will be watched warily by Nato against a backdrop of east-west tensions.

Western officials and analysts estimate up to 100,000 military personnel and logistical support could participate in the Zapad (West) 17 exercise, which will take place next month in Belarus, Kaliningrad and Russia itself. Moscow puts the number significantly lower.

The exercise, to be held from 14-20 September, comes against a backdrop of strained relations between Russia and the US. Congress recently imposed a fresh round of sanctions on Moscow in response to allegations of interference in the 2016 US election.

The first of the Russian troops are scheduled to arrive in Belarus in mid-August.
Moscow has portrayed Zapad 17 as a regular exercise, held every four years, planned long ago and not a reaction to the latest round of sanctions.

Nato headquarters in Brussels said it had no plans to respond to the manoeuvres by deploying more troops along the Russian border.

A Nato official said: “Nato will closely monitor exercise Zapad 17 but we are not planning any large exercises during Zapad 17. Our exercises are planned long in advance and are not related to the Russian exercise.”

The US vice-president, Mike Pence, discussed Zapad 17 during a visit to Estonia in July and raised the possibility of deploying the US Patriot missile defence systemin the country. The US may deploy extra troops to eastern Europe during the course of the exercise and delay the planned rotation of others.

The commander of US Army Europe, Lt Gen Ben Hodges, told a press conference in Hungary in July: “Everybody that lives close to the western military district is a little bit worried because they hear about the size of the exercise.”

The Russian armed forces have undergone rapid modernisation over the last decade and Zapad offers them a chance to train en masse.

Moscow blames growing west-east tensions on the expansion of Nato eastwards and in recent years the deployment of more Nato forces in countries bordering Russia. Nato says the increased deployments are in response to the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2013.

Russia has not said how many troops will participate in Zapad 17 but the Russian ambassador to Nato, Aleksander Grushko, said it was not envisioned that any of the manoeuvres would involve more than 13,000 troops, the limit at which Russia – under an international agreement – would be obliged to allow military from other countries to observe the exercise.

Russia could, theoretically, divide the exercise into separate parts in order to keep below the 13,000 limit. Western analysts said the last Zapad exercise in 2013 involved an estimated 70,000 military and support personnel, even though Russia informed Nato in the run-up it would not exceed 13,000.
Igor Sutyagin, co-author of Russia’s New Ground Forces, to be officially published on 20 September, said: “Unfortunately, you can’t trust what the Russians say.” He said: “One hundred thousand is probably exaggerated but 18,000 is absolutely realistic.”

He did not envisage an attack on the Baltic states, given they are members of Nato. “Well, there are easier ways to commit suicide,” he said. But Putin is a master at doing the unexpected, he said, and Russia could take action elsewhere, such as taking more land in Georgia.

In a joint paper published in May, Col Tomasz Kowalik, a former special assistant to the chairman of Nato’s military committee and a director at the Polish ministry of national defence, and Dominik Jankowski, a senior official at the Polish ministry of foreign affairs, wrote that Russia had ordered 4,000 railcars to transport its troops to Belarus and estimated that could amount to 30,000 military personnel.

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Adding in troops already in place in Belarus and the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad as well as troops arriving by air, it might be the largest Russian exercise since 1991.

Nato said its biggest exercise this year, Trident Javelin 17, running from 8-17 November, would involve only 3,000 troops. Trident Javelin 17 is to prepare for next year’s bigger exercise, Trident Juncture 2018, which will involve an estimated 35,000 troops.

The Nato official added: “We have increased our military presence in the eastern part of the alliance in response to Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea and its military buildup in the region. We have four multinational Nato battle-groups in place in the Baltic states and Poland, a concrete reminder that an attack on one ally is an an attack on all. However, Nato’s force posture is not in reaction to Zapad 17.”


During the cold war, Zapad was the biggest training exercise of the Soviet Union and involved an estimated 100,000 to 150,000 personnel. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, it was resurrected in 1999 and has been held every four years since.

China demands U.S. immediately withdraw N. Korea sanctions, warns they will damage ties

 The U.S. imposed new North Korea-related sanctions on Aug. 22, targeting Chinese, as well as Russian, firms and individuals for supporting Pyongyang's weapons programs. (Reuters)

By Simon Denyer August 23 at 9:10 PM

BEIJING — China demanded Wednesday that the United States immediately withdraw new sanctions on companies and individuals trading with North Korea, saying that such punitive measures will damage Sino-U.S. ties.

The Treasury Department imposed sanctions Tuesday on 10 companies and six people from China and Russia that it said had conducted business with North Korea in ways that advanced the country’s missile and nuclear weapons program.

But China’s Foreign Ministry said its government had fully implemented U.N. Security Council resolutions on North Korea and would punish anyone caught violating the Security Council sanctions under Chinese law.

It added that it opposed sanctions outside the framework of the Security Council.

“China especially opposes any country conducting ‘long-arm jurisdiction’ over Chinese entities and individuals,” spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a routine news conference. “Measures taken by the United States are not helpful in solving the problem and unhelpful to mutual trust and cooperation. We ask the United States to stop the relevant wrong practices immediately.”

North Korea’s nuclear threat

Despite China’s professed opposition to unilateral sanctions, however, it has not hesitated to punish countries through trade if they refuse to do Beijing’s bidding.

China is engaged in a major blockade of South Korean companies because it opposes the deployment of a U.S. missile defense system, known as Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), in South Korea.

[Why China is so mad about THAAD]

Among the sanctioned Chinese companies is Dandong Zhicheng Metallic Material, also known as Dandong Chengtai, one of the largest importers of North Korean coal, while its main shareholder also was individually targeted.

In a related complaint the Justice Department filed Tuesday, the U.S. government is seeking $4 million from the company, accusing it of importing North Korean coal and sending an array of products — cellphones, luxury items, rubber and sugar — to North Korea.

In August, the Security Council agreed to a total ban on coal imports from North Korea; in the past, a limited trade had been allowed, provided the coal was not purchased from a sanctioned North Korean company and was proven to befor “livelihood purposes.”

In practice, though, experts say, that loophole was exploited to facilitate a trade that generated $1 billion a year for North Korea.

Kim Jong Un has tested nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles at an unprecedented rate since he came into power. Yet, the country is under some of the toughest sanctions ever. This is how the regime is able to funnel billions of dollars into its nuclear program. (Video: Jason Aldag/Photo: Linda Davidson/The Washington Post)

In a June report by the Washington-based research group C4ADS, Dandong Zhicheng was cited among those Chinese companies that are pivotal to North Korea’s ability to circumvent international sanctions and buy illicit goods. The report said targeting those companies could cause North Korea’s entire overseas network to collapse.

Dandong Zhicheng alone accounted for 9.2 percent of North Korea’s total exports to China last year, according to documentation that C4ADS reviewed. Almost all — 97 percent — of this was North Korean coal, totaling about $250 million annually.

[Kim Jong Un’s rockets are getting an important boost — from China]

The company’s website says it has several interests, including metals, chemicals, rubber, furniture, computing equipment, office supplies, clothing and toys. It says it does a “small amount of business” in North Korean border trade.

Chi Yupeng, the company’s main shareholder, won an award from the Dandong city government as a leading entrepreneur in 2005, another award for his “remarkable contribution to enterprise” in 2008 and a third for “starting a foreign trade enterprise” in 2009.

Two other Chinese companies, Dandong Tianfu Trade and Jinhou International Holdings, were sanctioned for their part in the coal trade. Together, the three companies imported nearly $500 million worth of North Korean coal between 2013 and 2016, the Treasury Department said.

Dandong Rich Earth Trading was sanctioned for buying vanadium ore from a company connected to North Korea’s atomic energy agency, while Mingzheng International Trading was accused of facilitating dollar transactions on behalf of North Korea’s proliferation network. The companies either declined to comment, hung up or did not pick up the phone when contacted by The Washington Post. The Dandong city government declined to comment.

The Global Times, a nationalist tabloid, argued that the United States could face retaliation if it continued to impose sanctions considered a “serious violation of international law” and “certainly unacceptable” to China.

“As far as we are concerned, Washington wants to use such unilateral sanctions to smear China and Russia’s international image on issues regarding sanctioning North Korea, painting China and Russia as the destroyers of U.N. sanctions,” it wrote.

[China bans North Korean iron, lead, coal imports as part of U.N. sanctions]

Chen Weihua, deputy editor of the U.S. edition of China Daily, argued that the U.S. decision would undermine cooperation between Washington and Beijing.

“The U.S. has long believed that sanctions are a silver bullet,” he wrote in a column. “But its past track records have shown that the majority of sanctions not only failed but caused humanitarian disasters in other countries.”

There is little doubt, he added, that such secondary sanctions will have little or no effect in persuading North Korea to change course.

Chen also wrote that the Obama administration’s decision to help topple Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi after he abandoned his nuclear weapons program — and his subsequent death at the hands of a mob in 2011 — had damaged the U.S. government’s credibility.

Beijing is not averse to using economic pressure to get its way: It significantly cut salmon imports from Norway for years after imprisoned democracy activist Liu Xiabo was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, has encouraged consumer boycotts of Japan, and punished countries for hosting the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader.

Nevertheless, Lu Chao, a Korean Peninsula expert at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, said Washington’s decision to impose unilateral sanctions on China was inappropriate, unacceptable and “very domineering.”

“China is strictly implementing the U.N. resolution. Though we can’t 100 percent exclude the possibility of individuals having underground deals violating the Ministry of Commerce’s regulations, the United States being so far away doesn’t have a proper reason to take sanction measures unilaterally,” he said. “They should inform the Chinese government and let the latter deal with it.”

China accounts for about 90 percent of North Korean trade but announced this month that it was suspending imports of iron ore, iron, lead, coal and seafood products from North Korea, to comply with U.N. sanctions.

China’s imports from North Korea fell to $880 million in the first six months of the year, down 13 percent from a year earlier, official figures show. But Chinese exports rose 29 percent, to $1.67 billion, in the first six months of the year, increasing total trade between the two countries by 10 percent.

China is reluctant to do anything that might destabilize North Korea, a long-standing ally. It says U.S. hostility toward Pyongyang forced the regime to develop its nuclear program, and it urges dialogue to reduce tensions.

[Dodging blame, China urges U.S. to stop hurling threats at North Korea]

Yang Xiyu, a North Korea expert at the China Institute of International Studies in Beijing, called the U.S. move counterproductive and said Washington should have worked more closely with Beijing.

“I think this shows the frustration from the U.S. toward Beijing, that China won’t play as the U.S. wanted,” he said, arguing that it would do nothing to dissuade North Korea from pursuing nuclear weapons. “It’s a superfluous measure that may only worsen the Sino-U.S. relationship and destroy the foundation of trust for cooperation between the two countries.”

Cheng Xiaohe, a North Korea expert at Renmin University of China in Beijing, said the U.S. government did not have factual evidence that these companies were violating sanctions.
“The Chinese government will not sit by and do nothing if the sanctions are implemented without strong evidence,” he said.

Shirley Feng and Luna Lin contributed to this report.