NATO strong with Türkiye, Greece has no value in alliance

Türkiye, a NATO member for over 70 years, has complained of repeated provocative actions and rhetoric by Greece in the region in recent months.

President Erdogan says Greece's negative approach can't hurt Türkiye-NATO ties. (AA)

Greece's negative statements to NATO about Türkiye cannot harm ties between Ankara and the alliance, the Turkish president has said. "Greece's negative approach to NATO (about Ankara) does not weaken Türkiye-NATO relations," President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters after Friday prayers in Istanbul. Greece "has no value" in NATO, he said, adding the alliance is strong with Türkiye. Türkiye, a NATO member for over 70 years, has complained of repeated provocative actions and rhetoric by Greece in the region in recent months, saying such moves frustrate its good faith efforts for peace. NATO’s land command, LANDCOM, tweeted on Tuesday a post to mark Türkiye's 100th Victory Day, which commemorates the resounding defeat of the occupying Greek armies at the hands of Turks in the Battle of Dumlupinar in 1922. LANDCOM deleted it after Greece lodged a complaint with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. LANDCOM tweeted on Thursday a new post to congratulate Türkiye on the occasion of the Victory Day, saying: "We are thankful to have Türkiye as our host nation." READ MORE: Türkiye will continue to respond to Greece's 'impertinence': Akar

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan:

- Greece has no value for NATO
- There cannot be a NATO without Türkiye
- Strong NATO requires Türkiye, without Türkiye NATO is weak pic.twitter.com/I5QogPBDXg

— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) September 2, 2022

Since the beginning of 2022, Greek warplanes have violated Turkish airspace 256 times and harassed Turkish jets 158 times. Greek coast guard boats also violated Turkish territorial waters 33 times. Turkish jets engaged in NATO missions over the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean Seas on August 23 were harassed by a Russian-made S-300 air defence system stationed on the Greek island of Crete. Greek military officials have denied the Turkish account of the actions, which are described as “hostile” in the NATO Rules of Engagement. READ MORE: Erdogan: Greece challenged NATO, allies by intercepting Turkish jets [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvhvTKBPCok[/embed] 'Unacceptable' Later in the day, the Turkish National Defence Ministry issued a strongly worded statement over the deletion of the tweet. "It is unacceptable that NATO Allied Land Command (LANDCOM) removed the social media post celebrating Aug. 30 Victory Day and the Turkish Armed Forces Day...," the ministry said. It said the official name given to August 30 by Türkiye is "Victory Day and Turkish Armed Forces Day", adding: "This is the will of our nation and cannot be changed." The ministry said the deleting of the tweet upon the "unfounded request" of a country that does not hesitate to sabotage NATO missions by putting radar locks on Turkish fighter jets, "has greatly damaged NATO's corporate identity and prestige". "Whether Victory Day is written or not, the fact that we won victory in 1922 cannot be changed," it added. Source: TRTWorld and agencies

#NATO #strong #Türkiye #Greece #alliance https://www.globalcourant.com/nato-strong-with-turkiye-greece-has-no-value-in-alliance/?feed_id=19374&_unique_id=63124a52c3238

Lula lays groundwork for Brazil-Indonesia-DRC rainforest alliance

If elected, top Lula aide says, the frontrunner presidential candidate plans to focus on the global carbon market and ways to finance conservation and sustainable development in rainforest regions.

Rainforests of the Amazon, Borneo and Congo basins are threatened by excessive logging, which hurts biodiversity and releases greenhouse gases that accelerate climate crisis. (Edmar Barros / AP)

Former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's aides are reaching out to Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to form a united front of countries with the most tropical rainforest at this year's UN climate talks if the leftist wins a new term. The United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP27, will be held in November in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. Lula is the frontrunner in opinion polls ahead of Brazil's October election. Lula's idea is to build an alliance –– which could later be expanded –– to push for resolutions to help developing countries preserve their forests and pressure rich countries into contributing to the cost, a top Lula aide said on Wednesday. Aloizio Mercadante, who is in charge of Lula's campaign programme, said the policy team is especially focused on the details of a global carbon market and ways to finance conservation and sustainable development in rainforest regions. "The proposal is to set up a strategic alliance to address the issue of funding at the COP in Egypt," Mercadante told the Reuters news agency. Campaigning in Manaus on Wednesday, Lula pledged to step up Brazilian conservation of the Amazon rainforest, by bolstering the environmental protection agency Ibama and increased enforcement, possibly with the help of the military, and Brazil will again have a loud voice in UN climate talks if he is elected. "We want a stronger United Nations with greater decision-making power, especially on the climate issue, because otherwise we will keep making speeches and no one will comply," Lula said. Alliance to protect biodiversity Under Brazil's far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who relaxed environmental protection, deforestation has surged along with illegal logging and gold mining in the Amazon, arousing international criticism of his government. The rainforests of the Amazon, Borneo and Congo basins are threatened by excessive logging, which hurts biodiversity and releases greenhouse gases that accelerate climate change. By uniting, the three countries can lead the charge to pressure rich countries for help with the cost of keeping the forests standing, Mercadante said. Mercadante said it is essential to speed up the implementation of a global carbon market, which was approved at last year's COP in Glasgow but has still not been fully defined. Lula's Workers Party has set up a working group to prepare for the UN climate talks in November, including proposals for a global market trading carbon offsets, Mercadante said. He said Lula's advisors have made initial contacts with the governments of Indonesia and DRC. A meeting with an advisor to DRC's president should be scheduled in the next few weeks. Tosi Mpanu-Mpanu, the DRC's chief climate change negotiator, said the proposal, while not new, made perfect sense. "Joining their voices together would bring more weight in front of Western nations willing to provide resources for the protection of their forests," he told Reuters. Difference in political dynamics In 2012, the three countries had begun initial talks to win more clout in international talks aimed at giving true value to their forest resources. The initiative did not get much traction due to political differences in Indonesia. Mpanu-Mpanu said deforestation has a different dynamic in the three countries.  In Brazil and Indonesia it is mostly driven by aggressive agro-industry policies, such as cattle ranching and palm oil production, while in the DRC it is mostly driven by poverty, with extensive slash and burn agriculture practices and energy needs, he said. The Indonesian embassy did not reply to a request for comment. Mercadante said the proposed alliance could eventually include other nations with significant tropical forests, such as Brazil's neighbours in South America and other developing nations in Africa and Asia. The proposal marks a stark contrast with Bolsonaro, who has bristled at foreign conservation efforts in the Amazon and moth-balled a billion-dollar Amazon Fund backed by Norway and Germany after taking issue with the organisations involved. Source: Reuters

#Lula #lays #groundwork #BrazilIndonesiaDRC #rainforest #alliance https://www.globalcourant.com/lula-lays-groundwork-for-brazil-indonesia-drc-rainforest-alliance/?feed_id=18506&_unique_id=6310024cd33c3

Grand Alliance to Have Coordination Committee to Ensure it Does Not Meet NDA's Fate

A coordination committee, which the JD(U) kept pressing for while in the BJP-led NDA, may be set up to ensure smooth functioning of the Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) that now rules Bihar upon the entry of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. There were indications to this effect on Friday evening when MLAs of the CPI(ML), the fourth largest constituent of the Grand Alliance, called on the Chief Minister, the JD(U)’s de facto leader, at his residence.

The chief minister was strongly in favour of a coordination committee and we felt the same. No ally is likely to have any objection. It may, therefore, come up in due course, CPI(ML) MLA Sandeep Saurav told PTI. The Grand Alliance at present comprises seven parties JD(U), RJD, Congress, CPI(ML), CPI, CPI(M) and HAM which together have more than 160 MLAs in the 243-strong assembly.

Notably, while the JD(U) and the BJP were still in an acrimonious tie-up, many leaders of the former had stressed the need for a coordination committee which was in place during Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s time with George Fernandes as its convenor. JD(U) leaders were of the view that the absence of such a committee left different constituents with no platform to voice their divergent opinions before each other and hence they ended up doing so in the media, leading to deterioration in relations.

Though the BJP seems firmly in saddle with a brute majority in the Lok Sabha, the NDA is in tatters, with most of its prominent constituents including TDP, Shiv Sena and Siromani Akali Dal, now out of the coalition. Moreover, the need for such a committee is likely to grow stronger as the Grand Alliance, at present limited to Bihar, may evolve into a formation with wider appeal across several other states. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has expressed his intention to work for a united opposition to take on the BJP’s hegemony.

To this end, the chief minister is also expected to visit New Delhi next week, shortly after the expansion of his cabinet. In the national capital, Kumar is likely to meet top opposition leaders, including Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi, said sources close to him. Meanwhile, Saurav also said that the CPI(ML)’s state committee meeting is scheduled here on Saturday which will be attended, among others, by secretary general Dipankar Bhattacharya.

Bhattacharya had earlier this week indicated that the party might not join the new government, preferring to support it from outside, though he had pitched for a common minimum programme. Saurav said that Bhattacharya may call on the chief minister to discuss a further plan of action with regard to building an anti-BJP front.

Besides the 12-MLA-strong CPI(ML), CPI and CPI(M) which have two MLAs each, have decided to extend outside support to the government.

Read the Latest News and Breaking News here

Source https://www.globalcourant.com/grand-alliance-to-have-coordination-committee-to-ensure-it-does-not-meet-ndas-fate/?feed_id=10230&_unique_id=62f72c739619d