The European Union Times |
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Posted: 23 Sep 2015 01:53 AM PDT
 Wiadomości, a popular television news program in Poland, claims Turkey is behind the mass migration of illegal immigrants into Europe. Faced with social and economic problems created by the presence of more than two million Syrian refugees in the country, Turkey planned and financed the mass migration, according to the Wiadomości website. Turkey is “supplying (the migrants) with the necessary means for… the long journey toward the dream of Europe,” Thomas Otłowski writes. The president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, used the “tragic death of a little Alyan… as a pretext for cynical statements about how the West (the European Union) is responsible for ‘the transformation of the Mediterranean into a graveyard’ of refugees,” Wiadomości claims. The corporate media has used a photo of the drowned Syrian child Alyan washed up on a beach near the Aegean resort town Bodrum to highlight the refugee crisis and call for humanitarian aid. In addition to “cleaning” refugee camps in Turkey, Wiadomości claims the government has turned a blind eye to “the activities of organized gangs of smugglers” who assist the effort to move thousands of migrants by sea to the Greek islands of Lesbos, Kos and Samos where they then travel to Europe. The relationship between Turkey and Greece has remained hostile since Greece won its independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1821. EU Works with Ankara to Keep Migrants in Turkey European leaders are currently working with Turkey in “a behind-the-scenes push” to improve conditions for the 2.2 million Syrian refugees living in Turkey, Politico reported on Sunday. The issue will be addressed during an emergency meeting of EU bureaucrats on Wednesday. French President François Hollande said after meeting with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi last week Europe must “work with Turkey” to ensure the refugees “can stay there, find a job, and wait for the situation in Syria to improve.” Western leaders have increasingly called for direct military intervention in Syria to “improve” conditions. Turkey has long called for military intervention. On Friday German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier went to Ankara to discuss the crisis with Erdoğan. Steinmeier said the purpose of his unscheduled trip was to prevent further “chaos” along Europe’s borders as thousands of undocumented immigrants attempt to reach Germany and other European nations offering assistance and social benefits. Earlier this month the EU said it is preparing a “substantial” aid package for Turkey. Jean Asselborn, the foreign minister of Luxembourg, told his Turkish counterpart, Feridun Sinirlioglu, it is the EU’s “responsibility” to “financially support a country which is confronted with a problem, involving huge costs.” “It’s not that we want to buy Turkey off for blocking the route to those who want to come to Europe,” Asselborn said. “It’s about providing support on the one hand, and, on the other hand, avoiding the anarchy we’re seeing at borders where asylum seekers are entering,” he said. Source           |
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Posted: 23 Sep 2015 01:47 AM PDT
 Ben Carson: If American Muslims become “infidels and heretics…I would then be quite willing to support them.”Carson made the comments in an interview with Fox News on Monday, a day after he said Muslims are not suitable to become president, arguing that Islam is inconsistent with the US constitution. “You know, what we have to do is, we have to recognize that this is America, and we have a Constitution,” Carson told Fox News’s Sean Hannity, a conservative American host, known for his anti-Islamic commentaries. “We do not put people at the leadership of our country whose faith might interfere with carrying them out the duties of the Constitution,” said Carson, a retired neurosurgeon. “Now, if someone has a Muslim background and they’re willing to reject those tenets and to accept the way of life that we have and clearly will swear to place our Constitution above their religion, then, of course, they will be considered infidels and heretics, but at least I would then be quite willing to support them,” he added. White House condemnation The White House condemned Carson’s remarks against Muslims and Islam. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on Monday Carson’s comments are “entirely inconsistent with the Constitution” and the First Amendment of the US constitution. Earnest said voters would punish Republican candidates if they continue to “countenance offensive views all in pursuit of political support.” Frontrunner Republican presidential candidate said on Monday that many people in the United States share Carson’s skepticism toward Muslims. Trump told Fox News that Islam struggles with extremist ideology. “You know, Ben was saying there are difficulties,” he said. “And I think everybody knows what those difficulties are. People want to be politically correct, but there have been difficulties. And a lot of people agree with Ben.” Source     |
