Solsticewitch13's BOS

http://www.stonegateinstitute.org/2782/mahmoud-abbas-hypocrite

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At the beginning of the New Year, as reported in the daily newspaper Haber Türk (Turkish News) of January 6, 2012, E.D., a 25-year old man in the northwestern Turkish city of Bolu, took his 11-year old "wife," Z.Ç., to the hospital because she suffered pain. The news story identified the couple only by their initials. The doctor diagnosed the girl as eight months pregnant by her "husband." Whether the girl was in a condition to consent to sexual relations is obviously questionable. One would more probably assume she was raped by the 25-year old.

Marriage to an 11-year old girl is illegal in Turkey, but such cases are a constant in the country's life.

The doctor called for the girl to be kept in the hospital for in-patient care, but her "spouse" refused, and the couple returned to their village, Alpagut, near Bolu. The hospital released them after the girl signed a document declaring her wish to leave the facility.

Two days afterward, the governor of Bolu province stated that he had spoken with health authorities who assured him the girl must have been older than 11, given her bone structure.

E.D. and Z.Ç. told the doctor they had been married by an imam. Their neighbors had warned them that if they went to a city and disclosed this fact, they would face legal trouble.

In 1926, the Turkish Republic, founded three years before, adopted a legal code based on that of Switzerland. Civil marriage was introduced and "Islamic marriages" performed by an imam were reduced in status. Articles 230/5-6 of the Turkish Criminal Code prohibit a religious marriage ceremony unless a civil, state-recognized, official marriage has previously been contracted. The law is clear and precise, as follows:

(Article 230/5) Anyone who holds a religious marriage ceremony without a civil marriage shall be sentenced to imprisonment for a term of from two to six months. However, if a civil marriage is carried out, any public legal proceedings, sentences and other consequences thereof shall be cancelled.

(Article 230/6) Anyone who performs a religious marriage ceremony without seeking a document verifying that a marriage contract has been concluded in accordance with the law shall be sentenced to imprisonment for a period of two to six months."

Nevertheless, "imam marriages" without civil registration still take place frequently in Turkey.

Turkish laws forbidding such abuses appear to have no force. Further, the minds of ordinary people are trapped in medieval beliefs. The "husband" in the case of 11-year old Z.Ç. believed all was in order because the relationship had been approved by an imam.

These "traditions," including "marriage" to barely-pubescent girls, exist not only in Turkey but among Muslim immigrants in Germany. The girls are typically subjected to brutal rape. In May 2010, judicial authorities in Osnabrück, Lower Saxony, caused a scandal when the court delivered a suspended sentence to a Muslim man who had kidnapped and raped an 11-year old girl. The court justified its opinion on the grounds that such "marriages" are allegedly established in Islamic "tradition." Such an attitude by the German government is insulting to Muslims who refuse to countenance such pathologies.

In 2002, a similar case transpired in Turkey. A 13-year old girl came to school with a baby in her arms. The girl belonged to a formerly-nomadic clan that had settled on the Aegean seacoast, and in which girls were married habitually before their 14^th birthday – at the latest. Thirty men were called before the criminal court, but the village was viewed as representing an isolated case. That year, the Islamist "Justice and Development Party" (AKP) of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan won its first national election, and Erdoğan commenced his first term as prime minister.

Turkish feminists warn that under the three AKP administrations, long-controversial patriarchal habits have once again become the norm. Men make the rules, and women stay at home, with no opportunities for personal fulfillment in education or employment.

The situation of Turkish women is inconsistent, across the country. In the same article where Haber Türk reported on the case of Z.Ç. and E.D., the news portal stated that in Diyarbakır, a major city in southeastern Turkey, 415 girls aged 11 to 17 gave birth in the first 10 months of 2011. Of the new mothers, one was 11, one was 12, four were 13, 13 were 14, 44 were 15, 115 were 16, and 237 were 17 years old.

Women in the rural eastern region must fight to survive, facing problems absent in big cities like Istanbul. This may not be unexpected in a country like Turkey. But religious and cultural habits make the lives of women worse. Human rights groups like Amnesty International denounce violence against women, social tolerance of such crimes, and the failure of male offenders to be punished effectively. According to the Turkish group Women for Women's Rights, 40 percent of all women in eastern Turkey undergo forced marriage. Publicity campaigns and initiatives to raise public consciousness try to focus attention on these injustices, but have yet to produce significant success in expunging them.

Domestic violence is increasing in Turkey, where a woman is murdered by a family member about once every other day. Women may turn to the police but rarely are protected adequately. At the end of 2010, a woman was killed by her ex-husband in the presence of police officers.

Sahibe Kara, director of a women's shelter in Istanbul, protects 10 women. According to her, domestic violence and sexual abuse are the main motives for women seeking assistance. A study by the state Ministry of Family and Social Policy admitted that 41 percent of all women in Turkey experience domestic violence. The recorded number of family murders has also risen in an alarming manner: from 66 in 2002 to 933 in 2009.

Meanwhile, employment of women is decreasing. Only about 27 percent of Turkish women have jobs. The economist Nur Ger recently declared that a five percent increase in women's employment would lift 15 percent of poor families above the poverty line. But the AKP government shows no interest in improving female participation in the workforce.

Instead, Islamist politicians and other figures have begun a debate favoring polygamy, while downplaying the problem of "marriage" by underage girls with an imam's blessing. Notwithstanding the image of patriarchal tyranny as a rural problem, Turkish society appears ready to once again tolerate polygamous relationships. Only 10 years ago, such a development was impossible to imagine.

As a further example of the degeneration of morals under Islamist influence, a new Turkish television series, "Fatmagülün sucu ne?" ("What Was Fatmagül's Crime?") has become the most successful feature among Turkish viewers. On September 16, 2010, it included depiction of a rape. The broadcast caused a national outcry, but the four-minute rape incident was televised repeatedly.

Sahibe Kara shows the women in her care the television series "Güldünya." Güldünya Tören was slain by her two brothers in 2004 after she bore an illegitimate child – a so-called "honor" murder – in southeastern Turkey. According to BBC News, she was shot once and survived, but was then shot dead by a relative who was granted entry to the hospital where she was being treated. That series brought about the establishment of an emergency police telephone hotline for women. "Güldünya" features a police task force that rescues women who use the hotline. In many scenes, neighbors or relatives call the police to help the threatened women. That series had an important educational impact. Still, Sahibe Kara worries that most women have no idea where they may go after being attacked.

"Güldünya" was cancelled after 10 episodes, in 2009, because its audience ratings were too low. In Turkey, the majority seems to side with male perpetrators rather than with female victims.

Related Topics: Veli Sirin

The New Hypocriritcal Stance of of Mahmoud Abbas

by Khaled Abu Toameh
January 25, 2012 at 4:45 am

http://www.stonegateinstitute.org/2777/russia-old-new-cold-war

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The Palestinian Authority has expressed outrage over the arrest of Hamas officials in the West Bank by the Israel Defense Forces -- even though the Palestinian Authority itself has also been arresting Hamas supporters in the West Bank.

The Palestinian Authority claims that the Israeli arrests are aimed at sabotaging the "reconciliation" process between Fatah and Hamas. But the truth is that the Israeli clampdown on Hamas in the West Bank is first and foremost designed to help Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.

The Palestinian Authority is fighting Hamas in the West Bank because it fears that the Islamist movement is working to undermine Abbas and Fayyad. Israel is fighting Hamas to prevent terror attacks and stop the movement from toppling the Palestinian Authority.

Abbas alone cannot fight Hamas; he needs Israel's help -- and gets it. He knows that without the Israeli security crackdown on Hamas in the West Bank, his regime would not be able to remain in power for one day.

Still, this has not stopped the Palestinian Authority from endorsing a hypocritical stance by condemning the arrests of Hamas figures and urging the international community to intervene with Israel to secure their release. Instead of condemning Israel, the Palestinian Authority should be thanking the IDF for making an effort to prevent Hamas from seizing control over the West Bank.

In the past two months, Palestinian security forces have arrested more than 70 Palestinians on suspicion of membership in Hamas. Dozens of others have been summoned for interrogation by various branches of the Palestinian security forces.

According to Hamas sources, thousands of Palestinians have been arrested by Palestinian security forces in the West Bank over the past four years. At least two detainees have died as a result of torture in Palestinian prisons.

The Palestinian Authority has also fired thousands of school teachers and government employees suspected of being affiliated with Hamas and other opposition groups.

The Palestinian Authority has, in addition, closed several institutions in the West Bank, such as charities and media offices funded by Hamas, for the same reason. This effort was undertaken as part of Abbas's efforts to undermine the Hamas infrastructure in the West Bank: Palestinian Authority officials believe that these institutions were being used as a cover for terror activities.

All this has been going on despite the talk about "reconciliation" between Hamas and Fatah -- the ruling party in the West Bank.

But when Israel last week arrested Abdel Aziz Dweik, speaker of the Hamas-dominated Palestinian Legislative Council, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was the first to condemn the move and call for his immediate release.

Moreover, Abbas instructed his chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat, to present an official request to Israel to release Dweik and 20 other senior Hamas officials held in Israeli prisons.

At the same time that Erekat was submitting the request to Israeli envoy Issac Molcho, Abbas's security forces were rounding up university students in Ramallah, Nablus and Hebron for allegedly being affiliated with Hamas.

While those arrested by israel are permitted to see a lawyer and family members, detainees in Palestinian prisons often complain about torture and most are denied the right to consult with an attorney.

Why does the Western media keep reinforcing these double-standards instead of exposing them? Their collusion in concealing the truth only plays into the hands of the dictators and extremists.

Related Topics: Khaled Abu Toameh

Russia's Old New Cold War

by Anna Mahjar-Barducci
January 25, 2012 at 4:00 am

http://www.stonegateinstitute.org/2783/un-pushes-for-cyprus-deal-before-mid-year

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Russia has vowed to block any military intervention in Syria. The last warning came from Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov who, during a press conference in Moscow, repeated that Russia will veto any attempt to obtain UN approval for deploying military measures against Syria. He added that, "If some people intend to use force at any cost… they must do it on their own initiative and confronting themselves with their own conscience. But they will never obtain the authorization of the UN Security Council."

Of course, as it is fully expected that if Syrian President Bashar Assad is overthrown, the Muslim Brotherhood will take over Syria, Russia's determination to protect him should probably be welcomed.

Syria has been a longstanding ally of Russia, going back to earlier that the Assad family seized power. In the 1970s, Moscow signed a military agreement with Damascus that included facilities for Russian navy and air force but which also effectively made Syria one of the best clients for the purchase of Russian weaponry: jet fighters, different types of missiles and light weapons. This trade continued even after the supposed end of the cold war. At present, 90% of Syrian weaponry is of Russian origin.

Russia's stance on Syria, however, cannot be explained merely in terms of commercial convenience. Geopolitical considerations and the acquisition of positions of strength are what are inspiring today's policies in Russia.. The word "democratization" is not in Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's lexicon, and could partially explain the negative attitude Russia is having over the Arab revolutions, probably out of concern that revoution could be infectious. Russian analyst Alexander Golts recently considered that Putin "is convinced that any popular protest in any part of the world, and especially in the Middle East and Russia, is inspired by the White House and sponsored by the State Department." But Putin's rivalry with the United States preceded the "Arab Spring," and is also doubtless a factor. So Russia flexes its muscles and weaves a large network of strategic agreements with all those countries that are against American interests; Syria happens to be one of them.

Internationalization of the Conflict to Prevent International Interference

Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, meanwhile, is taking advantage of the Russian backing to gain more time against the demonstrators. As the Lebanese newspaper An-Nahar put it, Syria is relying on the internationalization of the conflict to prevent international interference. The Lebanese newspaper mentions that Assad is skillfully playing Syria's "Russian card" to form a barrier against any military intervention that might oppose his regime. An-Nahar further explains that Russia is playing the role of the international repelling-barrier, whereas Iran -– which Russia is also supporting against U.S. sanctions -- is playing the regional repelling-barrier. Iran is trying to threaten Gulf countries not to take measures against Syria. In support of Assad, Russia has dispatched its naval task force in the Syrian port of Tartus to show that any international intervention will transform Syria into a new Afghanistan. Another Lebanese newspaper, As-Safir ,mentions that the presence of the Russian fleet is the final assertion that Syria has become the epicenter over the division of powers: Russia standing with Syria and Iran against the US and its Western allies. In other words, the Syrian crisis represents the start -- or middle -- of a new cold war.

Putin is also seeking reelection to the Russian presidency in March; according to Russian analyst Alexander Golts, Putin will try to show in the next months that Russia is a superpower that can compete with the U.S., and that he is the man to revive nationalistic and hegemonic ambitions. Further, Golts says that the closer to the March election, the more Putin will try to produce evidence to indicate U.S. involvement in the demonstrations against him in Russia. A key point of Putin's presidential campaign agenda is to raise anti-American feelings in the country to prevent the West from interfering in his reelection. As Golts said, "Russia will be locking the United States in a fight over Syria […] only to prevent its alleged involvement in the Russian domestic affairs on the eve of the presidential vote."

Related Topics: Anna Mahjar-Barducci

UN Pushes for Cyprus Deal Before Mid-Year
And more from the Turkish Press

by AK Group
January 25, 2012 at 3:00 am