Sorry to Remind You, but Golda Meir Was Right - Part III of IV

by Burak Bekdil • August 29, 2014 at 5:00 am

So in the EU-candidate Turkey, a pianist should be punished for his re-tweets, but a pop-singer should be congratulated for her first-class racist hate-speech. This is contagious.

No reporter present at Mr. Ihsanoglu's campaign launch speech thought about asking him if his commitment to the "Palestinian cause" included any affirmation of the Hamas Charter, in particular a section that says, "…The stones and trees will say, 'O Muslims, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.'"

Turkey is also the country where a few years earlier, a group of school teachers (yes, school teachers!) gathered in a demonstration to commemorate Hitler.

Renowned Turkish pianist Fazil Say (right) was sentenced to 10-months in prison (suspended) for re-tweeting quotes attributed to the 12th century Persian polymath Omar Khayyam.

Part II of this mini-series ended with a colorful quote from the Turkish Kurdish pop star, Yıldız Tilbe, whose tweets wished God to "bless Hitler," and predicted that, "It will be Muslims again who will bring the end of Jews." Perhaps Ms. Tilbe thinks (or hopes) Hitler was Muslim.

No doubt, thanks to her tweets, she has the talent to rise even higher in the hall of fame. Such tweets are absolutely normal in a country where the Islamists' occasional after-Friday-prayers slogan, "Now I understand Hitler," has always won hearts and minds. It is also the country where, a few years earlier, even a union of school teachers (yes, school teachers!) gathered in a demonstration "to commemorate Hitler."

But we all know Turkey well enough to guess that the Hitler-fetish is not a reflection of any possible feeling of admiration for the 20^th century's greatest psycho. Instead, it is a childish expression of the oriental thinking that adores "the enemy of my enemy."

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North Korea Continues to Develop Ballistic Missiles

by Debalina Ghoshal • August 29, 2014 at 4:00 am

Despite Chapter VII of the UN Charter and UNSC Resolutions, it seems that North Korea will continue developing its missiles -- and eventually weaponize them with nuclear warheads.

"North Korea's ballistic and nuclear threat is very much a near-term threat. ... Steady progression in their program is not harmless." — Victor Cha, Centre for Strategic and International Studies.

On March 26, 2014, North Korea reportedly test-fired medium-range ballistic Rodong missiles -- capable of reaching Japan and U.S. military bases in the Asia-Pacific region.

Since February, South Korean officials claim that North Korea has confirmed at least 90 test-firings, among which ten were ballistic missiles.

A model of the North Korean Unha-9 long-range rocket on display at a floral exhibition in Pyongyang. (Image source: Steve Herman/VOA News/Wikimedia Commons)

Recent missile tests by North Korea indicate that North Korea has been vehemently violating its United Nations Security Council [UNSC] resolutions -- again.

The UNSC's Resolution 2094, adopted in 2013, was intended to "significantly impede[s] North Korea's ability to develop further its illicit nuclear and ballistic missile programs, as well as its proliferation activities," according to Susan E. Rice, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

Further, the Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1718 in 2006, under Chapter VII, Article 41 of the UN Charter, prohibiting North Korea from any nuclear or missile testing.

The Resolution also requires North Korea to suspend all activities related to development of ballistic missiles, and calls for North Korea to rejoin the Non-Proliferation Treaty and thereby abide by IAEA safeguard norms.

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