Radio România Internațional

Tag: Recep Erdogan

  • July 23, 2016 UPDATE

    July 23, 2016 UPDATE

    CONDEMNATION Murders like that in Munich must be punished promptly and with maximum severity — Romanian president Klaus Iohannis said after condemning the attack like most of the world leaders. The Romanian president added that the international community must step up efforts to prevent such incidents and take action when needed. Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos has voiced solidarity with the German people and expressed condolences for the victims’ families. According to him such violent acts, which are unfairly claiming or endangering human lives, are inadmissible. According to the Foreign Ministry in Bucharest no Romanians are among the victims of the attack. Romania’s diplomatic missions have opened up hotlines and are ready to offer support if need be. Romanians in southern Germany have been advised to remain extremely cautious while traveling through crowded places. They have also been recommended to observe the local authorities’ recommendations and get updates on the latest developments.




    SPEECH Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban believes as appropriate the setting up of a common EU army to strengthen people’s safety. Orban delivered a speech on Saturday at the 27th edition of the Summer University at the Tusnad Resort in central Romania. Orban declared himself confused by the latest string of attacks, which make the Europeans think their future might be at risk. Orban says that for the time being NATO is capable of assuring peace in the community area, but without a common army able to protect the EU’s eastern and southern borders, the community’s role, particularly after the Brexit, will be only one regional not global, while Europe’s Christian values are in danger.




    COMPASSION German chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday voiced compassion for the families of the victims of the shooting rampage in Munich, which left 9 dead and 27 wounded. Merkel said that security services are doing everything possible to protect the security and freedom of the German citizens. The Friday attack at a mall in Munich caused panic and blocked the city for several hours as over 200 police troops had been deployed to find the assailants, whom they presumed to be three. They eventually found an 18-year old German-Iranian who committed suicide after the rampage. According to police sources, the man, who had no previous criminal record and was suffering from depression, had no connection with the Islamic State. The attack in Munich is the third in Europe in the past 8 days, after that in France, which left 84 people dead and the last week’s attack in Germany, when an Afghan refugee wounded 5 people in a train.




    ATTACK At least 61 people were killed and over 200 others wounded in a double bomb attack in Kabul on Saturday, the Health Ministry in Afghanistan has announced. The Islamic State claimed the attack, one of the bloodiest in Afghanistan in the past months. Two IS fighters detonated explosive belts at peaceful rally of the Hazara minority in Kabul who were protesting over a new power line, saying its route bypasses provinces where many of them live.



  • July 19, 2016 UPDATE

    July 19, 2016 UPDATE

    CONDOLENCES President Klaus Iohannis on Tuesday conveyed a message of condolences to the family of the Romanian killed in the terror attack in Nice last week, saying that nothing could justify such an abomination. Prime Minister Ciolos has also expressed condolences saying that the mans wife and son have been admitted to hospitals in Nice, their condition being stable. The Foreign Ministry in Bucharest has expressed profound regrets for the death of the Romanian adding that at present, the representative of Romanias Consulate in Marseilles and the honorary consul in Nice are together with the affected family offering all needed support. A crisis cell in permanent connection with the French authorities has been set up at the Romanian Foreign Ministry. We recall that 84 people were killed and over 200 wounded, including four Romanian nationals, in the terror attack in Nice on July 14th.



    ATTACK The condition of two of the five victims of a young Afghan refugee, who attacked the passengers of a train in southern Germany on Tuesday with a knife and an axe, is severe, local police have announced. The assailant was shot dead by the police. ISIS claimed the attack on Tuesday saying the attacker was one its members. France Press points out that although more than one million refugees entered Germany last year the country has so far been spared by the Jihadis. If the attack is confirmed to have been masterminded by Jihadis, chancellor Angela Merkels generous asylum policy could spark off heated debates once again.



    CONFERENCE On Wednesday and Thursday Romanian Defence Minister Mihnea Motoc will be attending a meeting of the defence ministers from the countries partners in the global US-led anti-ISIL Daesh coalition. According to a Defence Ministry communique, high on the talks agenda is the stage and prospects of the campaign against the terror threats posed by the Islamic State, affecting security in the Middle East and North Africa and implicitly international security and prosperity. The conference of the coalitions defence ministers will be held on Wednesday, while Thursday will see the joint proceedings of foreign ministers and defence ministers from the participant countries.



    DEATH PENALTY Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he will approve any decision of the countrys Parliament as regards the death penalty. He has also said that a decision regarding the reintroduction of the death penalty, abolished in 2004, cannot be delayed and that the Government is to discuss the matter with the opposition parties. In its turn, the EU has warned that the reintroduction of the death penalty will block Ankaras path towards accession. On the other hand, Washington has called on Ankara not to go too far in its attempt to bring to justice the people guilty of the failed coup. On Tuesday, 15 thousand employees in the countrys education system were sacked shortly after the sacking of several hundred employees of the Prime Ministers office for alleged participation in the coup attempt. Also on Tuesday, the field authority in Turkey cancelled the broadcast licence of several radio and TV stations, which supported the coup conspirators. Almost eight thousand military and magistrates have been arrested so far and around nine thousand policemen, gendarmes and public servants have been dismissed following the recent coup in Turkey.



  • July 18, 2016 UPDATE

    July 18, 2016 UPDATE

    CLEANSING Turkish security forces on Monday continued the “cleansing” operation ordered by president Recep Tayyp Erdogan following Friday night’s attempted coup. After a faction of the army failed to take over power, Erdogan launched a cleansing campaign among the army and the judiciary, which has been met with concern by the international community. Almost 9,000 interior ministry staffers, mostly police and gendarmes, have been sacked. Earlier, around 6,000 people had been arrested, most of whom military, as well as 3,000 magistrates, including judges and prosecutors, who are suspected of involvement in the coup. Also on Monday Prime Minister Binali Yildirim decided that the annual holiday of more than three million public servants all over Turkey be suspended until further notice. According to the latest toll, at least 290 people have been killed in the coup, while more than 1,400 have been wounded.



    MEETING The EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and the EU foreign ministers on Monday called on Turkey to refrain from possible general repression in the wake of the failed coup. Mogherinin said the rule of law must be protected in the interest of the country. A meeting of the EU External Affairs Council was held in Brussels on Monday to discuss the failed military coup in Turkey, the attacks in France and the UK’s leaving the European Union. Talks also looked at the Union’s global strategy in respect of China. EU foreign ministers held an informal meeting with the US state secretary John Kerry. Romania was represented in Brussels by its Foreign Minister, Lazar Comanescu.



    SEARCH French and Romanian authorities are still looking for a Romanian national reported missing after the terrorist attack in Nice last week. His wife, who was also missing, was found in a hospital in serious, but stable condition. Their minor son, who was also wounded, is in a hospital in Nice. Two other Romanians, husband and wife sustained injuries in the attack. A third day of national mourning was observed in France on Monday. The perpetrator of the attack was a 31-year-old Franco-Tunisian man who, investigators say, minutely planned his Bastille Day attack. This is the third terrorist attack taking place in France after January 2015, when 17 people died, and November last year, when 130 people were killed, both times in Paris.



    DRILL 1,000 Romanian military and another 1,000 from Bulgaria, Canada, Greece, Poland, the US, Turkey and Ukraine are taking part in the biggest multinational exercise held this year by the Romanian Naval Forces. Called Sea Shied 16, the drill is being carried out between the 18th and the 22nd of July in Romania’s territorial waters and the Black Sea international waters. The 2,000 troops will conduct joint training and apply NATO standard operational procedures to fight sea, underwater and aerial threats. In another move, the Romanian Naval Forces are taking part in an exercise held and coordinated by the United States Naval Forces Europe and the Ukrainian Naval Forces which takes place starting Monday until the end of the month in the Black Sea and on Ukrainian territory. Participating in this exercise are military from NATO states such as Bulgaria, Germany, Lithuania, Britain, Poland, Romania, the US and Turkey, and the signatory countries of the Partnership for Peace, namely the Republic of Moldova and Georgia.