Posts published in “Day: July 18, 2016”

BEIJING — A liberal Chinese journal whose publisher and top editors were dismissed or demoted this week says it is fighting back with a lawsuit. On Tuesday, the Chinese National Academy of Arts, which is affiliated with the Ministry of Culture and oversees the monthly journal, Yanhuang Chunqiu, announced on the publication’s website that it was removing Du Daozheng, its founding publisher, because Mr. Du, 93, is “in his advanced years.” He will be replaced…

The writer is a former Pakistani diplomat. The dust is settling in Turkey with the Government in control of all areas by middy, but for a few inconsequential, isolated and declining pockets in districts of Istanbul, Ankara and elsewhere left, according the reports from Turkey.Moving ahead is as important as the failed coup by a military faction, if not more so, as are the implications for Turkey, the region and beyond. It is a sign…

The writer is a member of staff. WE aren’t Turkey, but we have a few things in common, especially the possibility of you-know-who staging a you-know-what. But in a week of wild chatter here, let’s take on a slightly different question: can he, even if he wanted to? To ask the question before Turkey would have been to be dismissed as delusional. It is an article of faith that if the boys want to, the…

None of the online commentators in or out of Turkey, or political analysts or indeed the Turkish government itself saw it coming; but the events of the night of 15/16 July in Turkey are going to have a profound and lasting effect, and not only in Turkey. At the time of writing the situation remains fluid and uncertain, but what does appear definite is that the attempted coup staged by a section of the military,…

TURKEY may have entered a turbulent and uncertain phase in its history, but until the events of this weekend there had appeared to be at least one certainty: the military had been returned to the barracks and the threat of a coup permanently eroded. The chaotic events of Friday evening, however, suggest that there are sizeable elements inside Turkey’s military that still do not accept the constitutional authority of a legitimately elected government and that…

The Erdogan government rounded up thousands of military personnel on Saturday who took part in a failed attempted coup, and efficiently re-establish control after a night of chaos and bloodshed that left 265 dead. This is not the first time military intervention has been witnessed in the politics of Turkey as they have staged several coups within the past 60 years.The Turkish Military used to be strictly secular until 2010 and have also released a…

The United States would consider an extradition request for the Pennsylvania-based cleric blamed for the attempted military coup in Turkey, Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday. In a televised speech, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the U.S. should extradite Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric who self-exiled from Turkey to the Poconos in 1999. Erdogan and the Turkish government say Gulen is behind the clashes that broke out Friday night when the military attempted…

The Obama administration appeared to be on a collision course with a key ally after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan demanded the extradition of an aging cleric living in the U.S. whom he accused of orchestrating Friday’s failed coup. Turkish government officials on Saturday said Turkey would view the U.S. as an enemy if the Obama administration doesn’t hand over Fethullah Gulen, a reclusive but influential Turkish cleric who has lived in self-imposed exile in…

The writer is a social scientist and political analyst. The Afghan leadership has again blamed Pakistan for instability and chaos in Afghanistan, with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani accusing Pakistan of not cooperating in the Afghan peace process. With each passing day the insecurity in Afghanistan is increasing. Kabul does not stop blaming Pakistan for supporting the Taliban and also does not do much to stabilise the state institutions. An objective analysis of the situation in…

Kazakh ambassador to Afghanistan Omertay Bitimov Friday said that central Asian countries are seriously concerned about what he termed the increase in Daesh and Taliban activity in Afghanistan – particularly in the country’s northern regions. He said insurgents, by gaining footholds in Afghanistan, are attempting to infiltrate central Asian countries in order to destabilize the region. With the rise in activities by Daesh and other militant groups in Afghanistan’s northern regions, countries such as Tajikistan,…