French foreign minister: Turkey and France have a ‘verbal cease-fire’

Jean-Yves Le Drian told a French TV station there is still a long way to go to improve Turkey-France relations, mentioning Syria, Libya and the eastern Mediterranean. The French and Turkish presidents had a cordial meeting earlier this week.

France’s top diplomat said there is a “verbal cease-fire” between France and Turkey in an interview with French television Friday. He added that there is still work to be done to bridge the divide between the two countries on regional issues following a meeting between their heads of state.

“There is some sort of verbal cease-fire,” Jean-Yves Le Drian told BFM TV. “The verbal cease-fire doesn’t mean action, and we’re waiting for actions to be taken from Turkey on sensitive issues, be it in the eastern Mediterranean, and especially in Libya and Syria.”

Le Drian was addressing a longstanding feud between Turkey and France, as the two states disagree on a host of issues. In the eastern Mediterranean, Turkey wants to drill for energy in waters claimed by Greece and Cyprus, and France backs the latter two in the dispute. In Libya, Turkey supported the Government of National Accord in the civil war that ended last year, while France was more supportive of the Libyan National Army rebels. France has since reopened its embassy and established relations with Libya’s unity government. France is also critical of Turkey’s actions in Syria, where Ankara supports Syrian rebel forces against Kurdish forces.

The row has led to several escalations between the two countries in the past year. In June 2020, France accused the Turkish navy of harassing a French warship in the Mediterranean Sea. In October, French President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused French President Emmanuel Macron of Islamophobia. The war of words related to comments Macron made about extremism following the murder of a French teacher who showed an image of the Prophet Muhammad in his classroom. In November, France banned the Turkish ultranationalist Gray Wolves organization.

Relations may be improving. Erdogan and Macron met at the NATO summit on Monday in what Macron described as a “peaceful atmosphere.” The two discussed the situations in Libya and Syria, as well as Macron’s views on Islam, according to the Turkish state’s Anadolu Agency.

Le Drian said France will work with Turkey on the Libya issue, mentioning the preponderance of militias in the country. He also noted both “conflicting” and “shared interests” in Syria. Le Drian added that the eastern Mediterranean dispute remains a “question.” It is up to Erdogan on whether the softer rhetoric between the two countries will lead to solving any issues, the French foreign minister said.

“All this awaits us,” said Le Drian. “We will see if President Erdogan has changed more than in words.”

Tezele lui Orban – o ocazie de a opri sovietizarea UE

Premierul Ungariei a expus șapte teze cu care se va prezenta la Conferința pentru Viitorul Europei, o serie de dezbateri și discuții organizate în întreaga UE începând cu anul trecut.

Încă de la început, discursul rostit, sâmbătă, de Viktor Orban contrastează cu pozițiile oficiale ale UE. Pe site-ul oficial al UE se arată că ”Uniunea Europeana este creată cu scopul de a pune capăt războaielor sângeroase dintre vecini, care au culminat cu Al Doilea Război Mondial.

Over 270 Migrants Rescued And Detained in Libya, UN Says

Over 270 Europe-bound migrants were rescued by a commercial ship near Libya’s Mediterranean shores and handed over to the Libyan coast guard who sent them to detention centers, the U.N. migration and refugee agencies said.

The migrants were rescued in international waters on Monday by the Vos Triton, sailing under the flag of Gibraltar, said the International Organization for Migration and the UNHCR in a joint statement Wednesday evening.

US Defense Department approves replenishment of Israel’s Iron Dome system

The Secretary of Defense announced during a Thursday congressional session that the request for military assistance has been approved and the US will transfer the requested amount over to Israel.

The United States has pledged to replenish and reinforce Israel’s Iron Dome system following the most recent escalation between Israel and allied terror groups in the Gaza Strip, which culminated with over 4,300 rockets being shot into Israeli territory.

Taliban Enter Key Cities in Afghanistan’s North After Swift Offensive

The setbacks come at a harrowing moment for Afghanistan, just as American and international troops are set to leave the country in coming weeks.

The Taliban entered two provincial capitals in northern Afghanistan Sunday, local officials said, the culmination of an insurgent offensive that has overrun dozens of rural districts and forced the surrender and capture of hundreds of government forces and their military equipment in recent weeks.

NATO exit risks Afghan ‘security vacuum’: Abdullah Abdullah

The Afghanistan government’s top peace negotiator has voiced concern that the withdrawal of NATO forces from Afghanistan could cause a “security vacuum, an increased level of fighting and perhaps a slower pace of negotiations,” saying the solution “has to be through negotiations, not through battle.”

World Refugee Day: about 6.5 million Afghans are refugees across globe

Afghanistan’s Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation (MoRR) says that an estimated 6.5 million Afghans are living as migrants or asylum seekers in about 70 countries.

Addressing a press conference on the occasion of World Refugee Day (June 20), Abdul Basit Ansari, a spokesman for the MoRR, said that Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey host the largest number of Afghan refugees.

“Currently, about 6.5 Afghans are living as migrants in more than 70 countries, and that most of them have migrated to Pakistan, Iran, and Turkey,” Ansari said.

He added that more than four million Afghans, have been forced to flee their homes due to ongoing clashes across the country.

Meanwhile, at an event organized by the Afghan government and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to mark World Refugee Day, President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, reaffirmed the government’s strong commitment to enabling voluntary repatriation in safety and dignity, and sustainable reintegration of Afghan refugees.

“They are an integral part of Afghanistan and without them, the Afghan nation is incomplete”, Ghani said.

The UNHCR in a statement stated that Afghans constitute the world’s largest protracted refugee situation around the globe, with millions displaced at different time intervals.

According to the statement 2020 recorded about 132,700 Afghan refugees, though an overall reduction in numbers in 2020, Afghans still remain the third-largest population displaced across borders with a total of about 2.6 million refugees.

More than 85 percent of Afghan refugees are hosted in Iran and Pakistan, the statement noted.

“Afghan refugees and diaspora abroad have accumulated a wealth of human capital, skills, and assets with which they can play an important role in the nation-building, and reconstruction and development of Afghanistan,” President Ghani said.

Speaking on the occasion of World Refugee Day, Caroline Van Buren, UNHCR’s Representative in Afghanistan commended Government’s efforts in including returnees and displaced Afghans in the national priority programs particularly health, education, and livelihood sectors.

“Inclusion and addressing the vulnerabilities of returnees displaced population through coordinated and comprehensive area-based humanitarian and development investments to build the resilient communities is at the heart of our (government and UNHCR’s) strategies in Afghanistan,” she said.