May 2023

Erdogan seen ‘balancing’ between China and the West in third term as Turkish president
By Laura Zhou: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to continue a balancing act between China and the West in his third five-year term, but observers say Beijing’s treatment of the Uygur minority in Xinjiang will remain a challenge for ties. Chinese President Xi Jinping congratulated Erdogan after he beat opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu – who had promised a West-leaning foreign policy – in a run-off election on Sunday.  “In recent years, the development of the China-Turkey strategic cooperative relationship has maintained momentum, and practical cooperation in various fields has made positive headway,” Xi said in the message, according to state news agency Xinhua.  Read More

Erdogan's election victory: a new era in Turkish foreign policy
By Kadir Üstün: President Erdogan's election victory represents a significant turning point in Türkiye's foreign policy. Thanks to this success, Erdogan will have the chance to solidify Türkiye's foreign policy gains in recent years. As an approved leader by the people, Erdogan is now in a strengthened position to shape Türkiye's national security strategy and foreign policy goals on the international stage. Türkiye will continuously feel the need for a dynamic foreign policy in the unpredictable environment created by global power balances and regional conflict areas. This situation makes predictable and strong leadership a prerequisite for success in international politics. Read More

Five key reasons that contributed to Erdogan's presidential win
TRT World: Recep Tayyip Erdogan's independent foreign policy, decades of political experience and domestic programmes gave him the edge over his challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who led a fragile opposition alliance.  The May 28 presidential race provided a great political moment for Turkish President and AK Party leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who once again finished first in the first-ever presidential run-off. Erdogan has not lost an election since 1994, when he was elected as the mayor of Istanbul metropolitan municipality. Today with his second-round victory of the presidential election he further cemented his political legacy. There are multiple reasons why Erdogan won against the six-party alliance’s presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the leftist Republican People’s Party (CHP), but here’s some of the significant ones that helped him take a decisive lead in both rounds of the elections. Read More

Erdogan’s Kashmir policy hailed
Via email: “On behalf of the people of Kashmir, we American citizens of Kashmiri origin offer you our sincerest congratulations on your re-election as the President of Republic of Turkiye. It is indeed a historic and momentous occasion for the Turkiye Justice and Development Party (AkParty) to win presidential election landslide of historic proportions, as well as to win the election for the Grand Assembly of Turkiye,” said Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai, Chairman, World Forum for Peace & Justice. Read More

President Erdoğan wins another Turkish election
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan cemented his place in Turkish politics as the longest-serving leader with a runoff victory on Sunday against Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. All of Türkiye and its democracy won, said Recep Tayyip Erdogan after he was reelected president in Sunday's runoff polls. "No one has lost today. All 85 million (people) have won...It is now time to unite and integrate around our national goals and national dreams, leaving aside all the debates and conflicts regarding the election period," he added. Erdogan's reelection was confirmed by Ahmet Yener, the chairman of the country's Supreme Election Council (YSK), on Sunday evening. Erdoğan clinched his 16th electoral win since he came to power with his Justice and Development Party (AK Party) in 2002 and remain Türkiye’s 12th president. Read More

Turkey celebrates 570th anniversary of conquest of Istanbul
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: Turkey commemorates the 570th anniversary of the conquest of Istanbul on May 29. Istanbul, a cosmopolitan city, was besieged 28 times throughout history before its  conquest in 1453 by Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II. In recognition of his victory, the 21-year-old ruler was thereafter known as Mehmed the Conqueror. In a prophecy about Istanbul's conquest by a Muslim ruler, the Prophet Muhammad said: "Istanbul will definitely be conquered. What a great commander is the commander who conquers it, what a great army that army is." The conquest ended the 1,058-year-old Byzantine Empire, brought the Middle Ages to a close and made Istanbul the proud new capital of the Ottoman Empire. Read More

Prophets of Doom: Kissinger and the ‘Intellectual’ Decline of the West in World
by Dr Ramzy Baroud: Kissinger is the quintessential US-western politician, who defined a whole era of realpolitik. Such notions as human rights, democracy and other moral considerations were rarely factors in his hawkish approach to politics throughout his stints as a Secretary of State, National Security Advisor, and other official or non-official political roles. For Kissinger, what ultimately matters is Western hegemony, particularly the sustaining of the current power paradigm of Western global dominance at any cost. Thus, Kissinger’s intellect is the outcome of real-life experiences related to his long expertise in US diplomacy, the Cold War and other conflicts involving mainly the US, Russia, China, the Middle East and a host of NATO members. Read More

Henry Kissinger and the crimes of American imperialism
By Patrick Martin: Kissinger was directly in charge of US foreign policy, as national security adviser and then secretary of state, from 1969 to 1976, a critical period of worldwide revolutionary upsurge of the working class and oppressed peoples. In every country where American imperialism intervened, either with military force or political subversion or propping up bloodstained dictatorships, he played a sinister role. At least one million people died in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia during the period of Kissinger’s direction of American policy, most of them killed by US bombs, incinerated by US napalm, or poisoned by US chemicals like Agent Orange. Many were simply massacred by American troops even as Nixon and Kissinger voiced the usual lies about America defending “freedom” and “democracy” against Communism. Read More

Henry Kissinger, War Criminal—Still at Large at 100
Greg Grandin writes in the Nation on May 15, 2023: We now know a great deal about the crimes he committed while in office, from helping Nixon derail the Paris Peace Talks and prolong the Vietnam War to green-lighting the invasion of Cambodia and Pinochet’s coup in Chile. But we know little about his four decades with Kissinger Associates. Read More

Iran-UAE dispute over three islands administered by Iran but claimed by UAE
By Syed Zafar Mehdi: Despite the wave of diplomacy sweeping the region with the rapprochement between Iran and some of its neighboring countries, the dark clouds of a long-running territorial dispute between Tehran and Abu Dhabi over three Persian Gulf islands continue to hover overhead. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani in a strongly-worded statement Saturday, a day after the Arab League summit in the Saudi city of Jeddah, decried the joint communique issued at the summit, referring to "accusations and false claims" in it. Although he stopped short of mentioning the three strategic islands of Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb, and Abu Musa located in the Strait of Hormuz, the hint was clear enough. The three islands have been administered by Iran since 1971, eight years before the Iranian Revolution, but are claimed by the United Arab Emirates as part of its territory. Read More

Pakistan's economic crisis faces default risk
By Aamir Latif: Escalating political uncertainty, a balance of payment crisis, severely depleted foreign reserves, and increasingly grim prospects of external financing: Pakistan is presumably sitting on an economic powder keg. The country has been engulfed by unrest since former Prime Minister Imran Khan was arrested earlier this month. Arrests, court cases, and the future of Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party dominate the daily news cycle, but beneath it all lurk persistent fears of a default, an eventuality with repercussions that would be felt far beyond the political realm. Reports from local and international organizations warn that Pakistan’s economy is on the brink. Ratings agency Moody’s downgraded the country’s credit rating in February, while more recently it said Pakistan could default as soon as June if it fails to secure an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout. Read More

Unveiling the threat within: the FETÖ menace
By Selçuk Türkyılmaz: The presence of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) within the state for almost the last 15 years is seen as a major problem. It had become essential to take a step towards neutralizing the elements striving to take control over the state from within, and eliminate the problem. FETÖ was built from the very beginning as a non-nationalistic organization. The 1990s need to be analyzed well to see this. Alongside similar groups, FETÖ had proven in Gulf War I that it would serve as an effective tool for U.S. imperialism’s regional and global operations. It later went beyond being a project. Read More

China, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey boycott G20 meeting held by India in disputed Kashmir
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: India’s presidency of the G20 group of leading nations has become mired in controversy after China and Saudi Arabia boycotted a meeting staged in Kashmir, the first such gathering since India unilaterally brought Kashmir under direct control in August 2019, according to the Guardian. In 2019 the Indian government stripped the disputed Muslim-majority region of semi-autonomy and split it into two federal territories in an attempt to integrate it fully into India.China has made it clear that it will not attend any meetings in disputed Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said, “China firmly opposes holding any form of G20 meetings on disputed territory.” Read More

India’s aim to have G20 meeting in Kashmir is to legitimize its illegal occupation: Dr. Fai
Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai, Secretary General, Washington-based World Kashmir Awareness Forum says India is holding the third G20 working group meeting on tourism today in disputed territory of Kashmir. “Such a meeting is in contravention of more than 16 substantive resolutions of the United Nations Security Council. These resolutions which were agreed upon by both India and Pakistan remain still unfulfilled. By holding G20 meeting in Kashmir, India would like to give an impression of normalcy and the presence of G20 countries in Kashmir will unintentionally provide the seal of approval to reckless and thoughtless decision of Modi Administration.” Read More

Total Indirect Death Toll in the U.S. ‘War on Terror’ is 4.5 Million
By Bharat Dogra: When the Brown University (USA) based Costs of War project had estimated the direct deaths resulting from violence (actual fighting, bombing etc.) caused by the USA’s post 9/11 ‘War on Terror’ at about 920,000 (a little less than a million, or 0.9 million) then many people were shocked by this. Now, in mid-May, this project has also released its estimates of the indirect deaths caused in the War on Terror. These indirectly caused deaths have been estimated at 3.6 to 3.7 million. If these are added to the direct deaths caused earlier, the total number of deaths in the War on Terror goes up to 4.5 million to 4.6 million. So the total number of deaths is about 5 times the number of direct deaths. Read More

On Indian Lynching Data
by Abu Siddik: Writer Anand Ranganathan hints that in a country of 1.42 billion people, a few hundred lynching incidents should not be taken seriously. It is quite natural for a land with a huge population dividend to lynch some Muslims and Dalits in the name of cow protection or beef eating or cattle trading. These lynching incidents, the author seems to stress, are “fringe” happenings. So why are so many hullabaloos? Two websites, opindia.com and swarajyamag.com, through their many articles, are arguing in line with Anand Ranganathan. This line of thought exposes the bizarreness of their mob mentality. A single lynching incident can slay the spirit of a democratic nation. It is a “horrendous crime”, as said by the apex court of India. Here the numbers are not factors. Only a single mob lynching incident can tarnish the image of a nation. Read More

De-dollarization: What Happens if the Dollar Loses Reserve Status?
By Ian Bezek: One of the more intriguing financial trends of 2023 has been the de-dollarization movement. This is an effort by a growing number of countries to reduce the role of the U.S. dollar in international trade. Countries like India, China, Brazil and Malaysia, among others, are seeking to set up trade channels using currencies other than the dollar. With so much of the world economy reshaping itself in the post-pandemic landscape, is the reserve status of the U.S. dollar going to be the next domino to fall? To answer that, it's important to understand how the dollar got to its current status and why some folks wish to change it. Read More

China expands de-dollarization push as global central banks use record amount of yuan
MSN.COM: The yuan's use in currency swaps surged to a record amount in the first quarter. That's as central banks want to move away from the dollar, and deal with domestic difficulties. China has actively been entering into non-dollar agreements to raise the yuan's global standing. The use of Chinese yuan in foreign-exchange swaps underwent the second-largest quarterly surge at the end of March, as more countries transacted in the currency, Bloomberg reports. In the first quarter, swap line balances accounted for 109 billion yuan, or 20 billion more than the previous quarter, according to cited data from the People's Bank of China. That's equivalent to $15.6 billion. Read More

How BRICS & 41 Nations Might Soon Halt US Dollar Dominance
By Sahana Kiran: The entire globe has been observing the collective efforts of the BRICS nations to undermine the dominance of the US dollar. The de-dollarization initiative initiated by Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa [BRICS] has gained traction as numerous other countries express their support for this endeavor. The alliance hopes to establish a new global BRICS currency in the near future. According to reports, a significant number of countries, including Saudi Arabia, Iran, Argentina, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Egypt, Bahrain, Indonesia, two undisclosed nations from East Africa, and one from West Africa, have expressed their interest in joining BRICS’ de-dollarization efforts, as well as adopting a new BRICS currency. Read More

Over 65 U.S. Congressmen expressed concerns about human rights violations in Pakistan
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: Over 65 Members of the United States Congress expressed concerns about the current situation in Pakistan and urged State Secretary Anthony Blinken to pressurize the Pakistani government to improve the human rights situation in the country. The letter said: "As proponents of a strong US-Pakistan relationship, we write to express our concerns about the current situation in Pakistan and urge you to use all diplomatic tools at your disposal to pressure the Government of Pakistan towards a greater commitment to democracy, human rights, and the rule of law." Read More

Russia – Islamic World economic conference opens in Kazan, Tatarstan
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: An international economic summit to enhance cooperation in trade, economy, science and technology and promote social and cultural ties between Russia and the Islamic world opened in Kazan, the capital of the Russian Republic of Tatarstan, on Thursday. The 14th International Economic Summit: Russia-Islamic World: Kazan Forum 2023 also aims to expand Islamic finance and the halal industry in Russia and create new markets and economic opportunities for investors from the member countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Read More

Turkey to hold presidential runoff on May 28, election authority announces
Turkish Media reports: Turkey will hold a second-round runoff on May 28 to elect the president after no candidate won an outright majority in Sunday's poll, the head of the nation’s election authority announced on Monday. Erdoğan gained 49.51 percent of votes and Kılıçdaroğlu 44.85 percent of votes in May 14 election. Read More

Western media pivots after Erdoğan's election success
Daily Sabah: Barely hours after it began to become clear Turkey’s much-anticipated and internationally scrutinized presidential elections would stretch into a runoff, Western media outlets backpedaled in their biased rhetoric toward incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan whose polling success in the first round has been broadly described as a “surprise.” Read More

President Erdoğan gets 49.5% votes 
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: Contrary to the mainstream Western media predictions, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan dominated the polls in presidential elections on Sunday, according to unofficial results.  With 98.7 percent votes counted, Erdoğan had 49.5% of the vote, according to Anadolu News Agency. His closest competitor Kemal Kilicdaroglu got 45 percent votes. Erdogan has a lead of two million voters over his rival. Since Erdogan has not secured 50% votes, a runoff vote may be held on May 28. Erdogan hopes to secure more than 50% votes in the final count. Read More

People’s Alliance gains majority in Turkish parliament
Hürriyet Daily News: The unofficial results of the parliamentary election on May 14 showed that the People’s Alliance - formed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), the New Welfare Party (YRP) and the Great Union Party (BBP) - garnered the most lawmakers in the parliament. Read More

US diplomat Khalilzad calls for resignation of Pakistan Army Chief to resolve political crisis
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: At the height of political unrest in Pakistan, Zalmi Khalilzad, the former US representative for Afghanistan peace affairs, has said that stability will not return to this country without the resignation of General Munir Asim, the Chief of Staff of the Pakistani Army. This came in a series of Twitter messages Khalilzad wrote on May 12. Khalilzad  said that although the decision of the Islamabad court on the temporary release of Imran Khan can prevent a disaster in Pakistan, without the resignation of Munir Asim and the holding of elections at a certain time, the economic, political and security crisis in this country will be worse. Read More

Emperor Mohammad Babar Azam
By Syed Rifaquat Ali: If India's indomitable batsman Virat Kohli is 'King', Pakistan's Mohammad Babar Azam is cricket's Emperor. Babar has overtaken Virat Kohli in many ways in a short time. While Virat Kohli has scored 5000 runs in International matches in 114 innings, Babar scored the same number of runs in 99 innings. Read More

Attacks on Pakistan Military, a sacred cow
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali:  Once unthinkable, the scenes of violent protest that broke out across Pakistan on Tuesday after the arrest of the former prime minister, Imran Khan, seemed to cross a line against defying the army that has rarely been breached in Pakistan’s turbulent history, the New York Times said adding: “Since the country’s founding 75 years ago, the military has kept a steady hold on the country’s politics and foreign policy, carrying out three successful coups and ruling the country directly for several decades. Even under civilian governments, military leaders have kept an iron — if cloaked — grip on power, ushering in politicians they favored and pushing out those who stepped out of line. Few dared any open defiance.” Read More

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor will be extended to Afghanistan
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: The foreign ministers of Afghanistan, China and Pakistan have reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen trilateral cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and jointly extend the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to Afghanistan. Following the trilateral dialogue, the three sides issued a joint statement, expressing their determination to leverage Afghanistan’s potential as a hub for regional connectivity. During the meeting, the three foreign ministers emphasized the significance of ongoing projects such as CASA-1000, TAPI, and Trans-Afghan Railways, highlighting their potential to boost regional connectivity and promote economic development and prosperity in the region. Read More

China says Kashmir issue should be resolved as per UN resolutions
By Abdus-Sattar Ghazali: China said on Saturday that the Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan was left over from history and should be resolved as per the UN resolutions while avoiding any unilateral action. This came in a joint statement issued after talks between the visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. The China-Pakistan joint statement also comes after India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar last week rebuked Pakistan, saying that the neighboring country should answer when they will 'vacate the illegally occupied territories of Jammu and Kashmir'. Read More

US Muslim mayor seeks answers after ‘humiliating’ watchlist leads to White House rejection
Yeni Safak: Longtime mayor of Prospect Park, New Jersey says 'there needs to be transparency' over FBI's secretive watchlist. Mohamed Khairullah was mere minutes away from arriving at the White House for an Eid al-Fitr reception when he received a call. Khairullah, the longtime Muslim mayor of Prospect Park, New Jersey, was informed that despite being invited to the gathering hosted by President Joe Biden, reminded to confirm his attendance and driving nearly four hours from his home state, he would not be allowed to attend Monday’s ceremony. He was given no reason for the abrupt rejection by either the White House or the Secret Service, which is in charge of security at the executive mansion. Read More

De-dollarization is no longer a matter of if, but when
by Frank Giustra: De-dollarization now looks inevitable and threatens to become a national security concern, according to International Crisis Group co-chair Frank Giustra. In commentary published in Responsible Statecraft, Frank Giustra said the idea that the dollar could lose its dominance was unthinkable in most of the developed world until the U.S. and its allies froze Russiaﾒs currency reserves and shut it out from the SWIFT system after Moscow launched its war on Ukraine. That set off growing resistance to the dollar, Giustra said, with a number of countries installing non-dollar trade agreements while a BRICS plan for its own currency has re-emerged. Read More

Khader Adnan, who yearned to live free, dies in Israeli prison
by Tamara Nassar: Khader Adnan died after 86 days of refusing food in protest of his detention by Israel. The news early Tuesday prompted outpourings of anger and grief among Palestinians who see him as an icon of courageous and steadfast resistance to Israeli oppression. Adnan is the first Palestinian to die during a hunger strike in almost 40 years. His death brings to 237 the number of Palestinian prisoners who have died in Israeli custody since 1967. Read More

Winners and Losers in Sudan: On Proxy Wars and Superpower Rivalries in the Global South
by Dr Ramzy Baroud: The world is changing. In fact, it has been undergoing seismic change that long preceded the Russian-Ukraine war, and the recent US-Chinese tensions  in the Taiwan Strait. In fact, the US debacle in Iraq and the Middle East, and the humiliating retreat from Afghanistan were only signs of the decline in US power. Leading US neoconservative strategists have once argued in “Rebuilding America’s Defenses: Strategies, Forces, and Resources For a New Century” that aggressive intervention policies were meant to keep emerging great powers, like China, out of areas designated as US geopolitical domains. They sought to “preserve and extend (US) position of global leadership (through) maintaining the preeminence of U.S. military forces.” They failed, and the future seems to head in a different direction than what the likes of Dick Cheney, John Bolton, Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz had hoped for. Instead, a whole new world order is emerging, one that is hardly centered round US-western priorities alone. Read More

The Human Rights Situation in the Indian Subcontinent
by Pon Chandran: Addressing the 36th session of UNHRC, Pon Chandran, Joint Secretary, People's Union for Civil Liberties - Tamil Nadu, said the denial of Environmental justice, social, cultural and economic justice and self determination of various nationalities, as enshrined in the UN Human Rights Charter, have led to the denial of human rights and human dignity. Similarly denial of civil rights by the State tantamount to denial of inalienable human rights. Hence the need for the urgent intervention of the international community invoking the principle of Right to Protect. Read More

China wants to be a different kind of great power than the US
By Razan Shawamreh: New document points to Beijing's vision for 'benign hegemony', in contrast to Washington's 'abusive' version. China's foreign ministry recently published a report titled "US Hegemony and Its Perils". The 4,000-word document outlines what it calls "facts" that the international community should know about the "perils" of US foreign policy around the world. In a disparaging indictment, the Chinese report, the first of its kind in detailing the case against its global rival, consists of five parts that criticise American hegemony in the political, military, economic, technological and cultural spheres. This document holds both global and regional significance, indicating the future direction of Chinese strategies and priorities in the Middle East. Read More

Pakistan must reiterate its principle stand during SCO meet: Dr. Mir
 Washington, DC: Chairman, Kashmir Diaspora Coalition (KDC), Dr. Ghulam N. Mir has welcomed the remarks made by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the foreign minister of Pakistan, when he articulated the Pakistan’s policy towards Kashmir not only in the regional platforms but also at international fora. Foreign minister was representing the sentiments of the people of Indian occupied Kashmir when he said, ‘India must end its gross human rights violations in IIOJK; reverse its unilateral and illegal actions of 5 August 2019 including demographic changes; repeal draconian laws; allow UN-mandated investigations into cases of extrajudicial killings and; implement relevant UN Security Council resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir.’ Foreign minister added that ‘I want to remind our Kashmiri brothers and sisters that Pakistan will never sit back and watch silently while Kashmiris continue to suffer Indian atrocities.’ Read More

Pakistan can't afford middle ground between US, China, says Pakistani Minister
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali:  Pakistani Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar has suggested that Pakistan must stop maintaining a "middle ground" between China and the United States. This came in her leaked internal memo she titled "Pakistan's difficult choices." The document, among a trove of US secrets, leaked online through the Discord messaging platform, provide a rare glimpse into the private calculations by key emerging powers, including India, Brazil, Pakistan and Egypt, as they attempt to straddle allegiances Read More
 

 

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HEADLINES

 The Journal of America Team:

 Editor in chief:
Abdus Sattar Ghazali

Senior Editor:
Prof. Arthur Scott

Special Correspondent
Maryam Turab