Each day at just after midnight Eastern, a post like this one is created for contributors and readers of this site to upload news links and video links on the issues that concern this site. Most notably, Islam and its effects on Classical Civilization, and various forms of leftism from Soviet era communism, to postmodernism and all the flavours of galloping statism and totalitarianism such as Nazism and Fascism which are increasingly snuffing out the classical liberalism which created our near, miraculous civilization the West has been building since the time of Socrates.
This document was written around the time this site was created, for those who wish to understand what this site is about. And while our understanding of the world and events has grown since then, the basic ideas remain sound and true to the purpose.
So please post all links, thoughts and ideas that you feel will benefit the readers of this site to the comments under this post each day. And thank you all for your contributions.
This is the new Samizdat. We must use it while we can.
Protesters rally outside PA capitol
BREITBART – Pennsylvania’s Transgender Health Secretary Focusing on Gender Identity in Collection of Coronavirus Data
Gov. Tom Wolf’s (D) office this week announced that the state’s health department, under transgender Health Secretary Rachel Levine, is focusing on gender identity and sexual orientation or expression in the state’s collection of coronavirus data.
“Governor Tom Wolf today took another step in his commitment to fair treatment and inclusion of LGBTQ Pennsylvanians by announcing ways the community will be counted in COVID-19 data,” his office announced on Wednesday.
According to the announcement, the Department of Health “will be conducting extensive case histories investigations as part of contact tracing on those who test positive for the virus” as individual counties begin moving from the red phase to yellow. As a result, the department will work with Sara Alert, described as a “new data collection platform,” and has requested a “system modification to the platform to collect sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) data”:
The department has also requested from the eHealth Authority Board that the state’s six health information organizations work to capture sexual orientation and gender identity or expression data from electronic health records that can then be used by health care providers to report their COVID-19 data to the department.
The release also touts the Wolf administration’s commitment to working with organizations that are devoted to “non-discriminatory practices.”
The news comes as Levine, the nation’s first openly transgender health secretary, comes under fire over the department’s handling of nursing homes — particularly a March guidance that essentially instructed senior living facilities to accept patients who were diagnosed with the coronavirus.
That become even more evident this week after Levine lashed out at a reporter, who referred to him as “sir” multiple times during a press call.
“What’s the end game, sir?” KDKA Radio talk show host Marty Griffin asked Levine, who was born as “Richard.”
“Where do we get to the point where folks can be confident they can conduct business if they do it safely and there’s no time frame and there’s no window? Correct me if I’m wrong, sir — ma’am,” he continued, mistakenly referring to Levine’s biological gender.
Per the transcript:
GRIFFIN: How do you respond, doctor, to the conjecture that your response is jeopardizing the health and well being of seniors by moving them into nursing facilities even if they’re no longer COVID positive, sir?
LEVINE: So, please don’t misgender me.
GRIFFIN: I’m so sorry.
LEVINE: It’s really insulting.
GRIFFIN: I apologize. It’s not malicious. I apologize. I’m so sorry.
Griffin apologized on social media, contending that it was a mistake.
“I apologize. I apologized twice. I truly did. It was not intentional. It was not. I was not focused. I was doing six things at once,” he said.
Meanwhile, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro (D) announced that he is opening criminal investigations into several nursing homes, as coronavirus deaths in care facilities soar. All the while, Wolf’s administration is, perplexingly, placing a special emphasis on gender identity and sexual orientation or expression in the state’s collection of coronavirus data.
According to the state’s health department data, 12,677 nursing home or personal care facility residents have tested positive for the coronavirus, and 2,896 have died as a result.
Roughly 1.8 million Pennsylvanians have filed jobless claims since the start of the pandemic.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/05/15/pennsylvanias-transgender-health-secretary-focusing-on-gender-identity-in-collection-of-coronavirus-data/
’cause sexsquirrels are the REAL victims…
Manslaughter, negligence that rises to the level of mass murder of the elderly population?
Check your privilege! Shut-up!
“If Truth and Precedent Represent Your True Concern, Your Statement Is Entirely False” – Flynn Attorney Sidney Powell SCHOOLS Barack Obama on Rule of Law
There are rumblings that former members of his FBI (e.g. FBI General Counsel James Baker) have flipped and are working with US Attorney John Durham.
Obama’s Deep State henchmen who set up General Flynn and the crooked politicians and media hacks who supported them are terrified.
More information on Obamagate is expected to drop in the coming days.
TRENDING: WTH? Will This Be Mandatory?- General Perna Announces Plans for Health Dept and Defense Dept. to Deliver Coronavirus Vaccine
An audio of former President Barack Obama, whose Administration spied on the Trump team and Administration, was released by deep state reporter Michael Isikoff at Yahoo News on Friday night.
In the “call” which appears totally set up, Obama says he is concerned about “the rule of law.”
Obama also accused Flynn of committing “perjury!”
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/05/truth-precedent-represent-true-concern-statement-entirely-false-flynn-attorney-sidney-powell-schools-barack-obama-rule-law/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=the-gateway-pundit&utm_campaign=dailypm&utm_content=daily
China Tracked 640,000 Virus Cases
May 15, 2020
Daniel Greenfield
The coronavirus pandemic has left two lingering questions.
1. How bad was China’s outbreak?
2. How early was the virus in America?
A number of states have turned up evidence that the virus was actually here quite early. One answer may be that the PRC covered up the full scale of the outbreak. More evidence of that has leaked from China’s own virus tracker.
https://www.frontpagemag.com/point/2020/05/china-tracked-640000-virus-cases-daniel-greenfield/
Anti-Muslim bigotry displayed by some Indians abroad costs them their jobs
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/south-asia/anti-muslim-bigotry-displayed-by-some-indians-abroad-costs-them-their-jobs
“Some Indians living abroad have lost their jobs in recent weeks for displaying anti-Muslim bigotry on their social media accounts.
Last week in Canada, a man named Ravi Hooda was sacked from his job at a real estate firm and removed from his role at a local school council in Bolton, Ontario.
This was prompted by his crude opposition to a decision by the mayor of Brampton in Ontario to give mosques permission to broadcast the evening call to prayer over speakers every day during Ramadan.
The mayor’s move was welcomed as worshippers have been unable to gather at mosques because of pandemic-related restrictions.
Mr Hooda, however, questioned the decision on Twitter, saying: “What’s next? Separate lanes for camel & goat riders, allowing slaughter of animals at home in the name of sacrifice, by law requiring all women to cover themselves from head to toe in tents to appease the piece (sic) fools for votes.”
The incident was preceded by the sacking of about 10 Indians, including some this month, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kuwait. Their anti-Muslim posts were brought to the attention of their employers by social media users, including some from the Arab world.
This led the country’s ambassador to the UAE, Mr Pavan Kapoor, to step in and tweet on April 20, warning Indian expatriates in the UAE against indulging in such behaviour.
A day earlier, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also tweeted to say that Covid-19 “does not see race, religion, colour, caste, creed, language or borders before striking”.
He added: “Our response and conduct thereafter should attach primacy to unity and brotherhood.”
While the firings have given rise to discussions, they have failed to curtail Islamophobia online in India, said Mr Pratik Sinha, founder of Alt News, a fact-checking website.
Alt News has debunked several videos and images in recent weeks that were maliciously propagated to suggest Muslims were deliberately spreading coronavirus.
“People in India continue to operate along the same lines, he told The Straits Times.
“In India the polity is such that even senior politicians have tweeted out stuff that is hateful or discriminatory in nature. I don’t see how the hate being propagated is going to reduce until the politics of the country changes,” he added.
Anti-Muslim bigotry saw a surge in India after a Tablighi Jamaat meeting emerged as one of the country’s coronavirus hot spots in March. Thousands had attended the gathering of the Muslim missionary movement.
Some media commentaries sought to blame the entire Muslim community for the pandemic in India.
Major social media players in the country have, meanwhile, tried to contain the problem by deleting posts and deactivating accounts for exhibiting hatred.
India has a range of hate speech laws, including Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code that penalises “promotion of enmity between different groups on grounds of religion”.
But the law is not a solution, said Mr Sinha. “Like any other piece of legislation, it will be used selectively.”
Cases have been filed against several individuals in recent weeks for anti-Muslim bigotry, including a hospital in Uttar Pradesh that asked Muslims last month to prove they were not infected with coronavirus before giving them treatment.
Growing international condemnation of the Islamophobia displayed online by some Indians also seems to have led the government to crack down on such content.
On April 28, it asked Twitter to pull down more than 100 objectionable tweets. An analysis of these tweets by The Wire, an Indian news portal, showed about 60 per cent of them “could be described by some as Islamophobic while a smaller chunk could be viewed as Islamist, anti-Hindu and anti-BJP”.”
Iran Deplores ‘Rampant Racism’ against Afro-Americans under Trump
https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2020/05/14/2265811/iran-deplores-rampant-racism-against-afro-americans-under-trump
“he Iranian Foreign Ministry said the Washington government has failed “disastrously” to address the COVID-19 crisis across the US, particularity in dense black populated areas, due to “rampant racism and class inequality in the age of Trump.”…”
Serbia Eager to Boost Ties with Iran
https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2020/05/15/2266319/serbia-eager-to-boost-ties-with-iran
“Serbia’s Minister of Labor, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs Zoran Djordjevic voiced the European country’s willingness to enhance relations with Iran…”
INSTEX Transactions Unsatisfactory: Iranian Deputy FM
https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2020/05/15/2266507/instex-transactions-unsatisfactory-iranian-deputy-fm
“Iran’s deputy foreign minister for economic diplomacy expressed dissatisfaction with the volume of transactions that Tehran has been able to carry via a financial mechanism the EU has devised for trade with the Islamic Republic, known as INSTEX…”
Algeria Plans Fuel Price Rise, Sees Economy Contracting 2.6% in 2020
https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2285991/algeria-plans-fuel-price-rise-sees-economy-contracting-26-2020
“OPEC member Algeria will raise the price of gasoline and diesel to reduce its consumption and imports as the economy comes under pressure due to a sharp fall in energy revenue, according to a revised 2020 budget plan drawn up by the cabinet and seen by Reuters.
The new plan, which follows a 2020 budget that was already approved late last year, must now be approved by parliament.
Financial pressure will cause the economy to contract 2.6% this year after growing 0.8% in 2019, according to the cabinet document, which outlines a comprehensive review of the country’s financial policies after the drop in energy earnings.
The cabinet did not mention the new coronavirus in the document, but the global pandemic has added to a tumble in oil prices, forcing the government to cut spending and investment planned for this year in several sectors including hydrocarbons.
The North African country has reported about 530 deaths related to the virus so far.
Under the new measures outlined by the cabinet, the budget will be based on an oil price of $30 a barrel, down from $50 in the previously approved plan.
In a bid to find new funding sources for the oil-reliant economy, the government plans also to impose taxes on some imported goods.
But Algeria, which is trying to diversify its economy away from oil and gas, may exempt some businesses from taxes and customs duties to help boost its non-energy sectors and attracting foreign investors.
State finances, already reduced by a fall in oil prices since 2014, have been hit hard this year by the collapse of the energy market as a result of the global pandemic.
That forced the government to change its previous plans for this year by mainly reducing public spending by 50% and delaying scheduled investments in sectors including oil and gas.
Under the new plan, the price of regular gasoline, premium gasoline and unleaded gasoline will go up by 5.7% per liter, while the cost for diesel will rise by 15.5%.
Domestic fuel prices are very low by international standards as they are subsidized by the government. Overall subsidy spending, which includes also basic foodstuffs, medicine and housing, among others, account for 8.4% of the gross domestic product.
The planned price rise is also aimed at countering smuggling to neighboring countries where fuel costs are much higher and easing financial pressure.
“Algeria, like other hydrocarbon exporting countries, faces a large budget and balance of payments deficit,” the cabinet said in the document, in which the government also stressed the need to reduce trade deficits.
Algeria had hoped to cut the balance of payments deficit to $8.5 billion this year, from $16.6 billion in 2019. However, the latest official figures showed the trade deficit widened by 80% in the first two months of 2020 after a 28.17% fall in energy earnings.
New taxes planned for this year are due to be imposed mainly on car imports after the government decided to lift a ban on purchases from abroad.
But authorities will encourage domestic production by removing the value-added tax for imported and locally manufactured raw materials intended for car assembly plants as well as electronic and electrical industries.
Startups, or small businesses, will also benefit from a tax exemption for three years, a measure that coincides with a government plan to remove a rule imposing a minority stake for foreign investors in projects involving the non-energy sector.”
Turkish Pilots, Others, to Stand Trial over Ghosn Escape
https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2286016/turkish-pilots-others-stand-trial-over-ghosn-escape
“A court in Istanbul on Friday accepted an indictment against four pilots, an airline company official and two flight attendants accused of helping former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn escape from Japan to Lebanon via Turkey, and set a trial date for July 3…”
UN: UAE sent mercenaries to help Haftar in Libya
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200515-un-uae-sent-mercenaries-to-help-haftar-in-libya/
“A group of Western mercenaries linked with companies based in the United Arab Emirates has been revealed to have been briefly deployed to Libya to fight alongside the rival Libyan National Army (LNA) forces, according to a confidential report by the United Nations accessed by Bloomberg.
The team of around 20 mercenaries, led by a South African national named Steve Lodge, arrived in Libya in late June 2019 as part of a “well funded private military company operation” in support of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar’s campaign to conquer the country from the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA).
Only a few days after their arrival, however, they suddenly pulled out of the country and left the country to travel to Malta aboard two boats. The UN report stated that it did not know the reason for their withdrawal, but the investigators were not convinced with the claim by the team’s lawyers that they were simply on a trip to provide oil and gas services.
The team is associated with the private military companies of Lancaster 6 DMCC and Opus Capital Asset Limited FZE, both based and registered in the UAE. Although it is not known which government or entity hired them and deployed them to Libya, their presence in the Emirates and the fact that Haftar is supported by Russia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE has provided some clues.
The UN report, which has not been shared publicly, also detailed that the companies Opus and Lancaster 6 has directed and financed an operation to provide the LNA with aircraft such as drones and helicopters and cyber capabilities. This was reportedly done indirectly through a complex network of cover companies…”
Turkish football player confesses to killing son in hospital
https://english.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2020/5/14/turkish-football-player-confesses-to-killing-son-in-hospital
“Turkish authorities have arrested a former top-tier football player who confessed to killing his 5-year-old son while the boy was being treated in a hospital on suspicion of a Covid-19 infection.
Cevher Toktas, 32, handed himself over to police and confessed to having smothered his son, Kasim, with a pillow on May 4, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
The boy’s death was initially not believed to be suspicious, although he tested negative for Covid-19. His body has been exhumed for an autopsy as part of the investigation, Anadolu reported.
HaberTurk television reported that Toktas, who currently plays with amateur league team Bursa Yildirimspor, told police that he tried to suffocate his son because he did not love him, and turned himself in to police 11 days later because he felt remorse.
The boy was admitted to the children’s hospital in the northwestern province of Bursa with a cough and high fever on April 23 — an official Turkish public holiday celebrating children — and placed in isolation along with his father.
Soon after, Toktas said, he smothered the boy and called for help, saying Kasim had taken a turn for the worse. The 5-year-old was rushed to the hospital’s intensive care unit, where he died two hours later.
No trial date has been set yet.
Between 2007 and 2009, Toktas played for the Hacettepe soccer team…”
Afghanistan arrests regional Islamic State leader
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/9/369397/World/International/Afghanistan-arrests-regional-Islamic-State-leader.aspx
“Afghan security forces arrested three senior South Asia Islamic State members including the group’s regional leader, the government said on Monday.
The militant group’s head of South Asia, Abu Omar Khorasani, was arrested in Kabul alongside the group’s spy chief and public relations officer, the General Directorate of National Security (NDS) and Interior Ministry said in a statement.
“NDS will continue its comprehensive and targeted operations to hunt down senior leaders of regional terrorist groups and destroy the joint hubs of these terrorist networks,” the statement said.
South Asia Islamic State is mainly focused on a small presence in Afghanistan, largely in the north, though it has waged high profile attacks further south in the capital.
Afghan security forces arrested eight members of a network grouping Islamic State and Haqqani militants responsible for bloody attacks in the capital including on Sikh worshippers, the country’s security agency said last Wednesday.
The ongoing violence underscored the challenges to securing lasting peace in Afghanistan even after the United States signed a troop withdrawal agreement with the militant Taliban in February.
The Taliban, which says it opposes the Islamic State and has fought the group, has since held off on large-scale attacks on foreign forces or in major centres, though it has continued attacking Afghan security forces throughout the provinces.
On Monday, there were four roadside blasts in the capital which wounded four civilians, including a child, according to Kabul’s police. No group immediately claimed responsibility.
Clashes in eastern Laghman province between security forces and the Taliban killed six security force members and wounded five, according to Haroon Yousufzai, a local military spokesman. The ministry of defence said the Taliban also suffered heavy casualties.
The Afghan government and foreign powers including the United States have been calling on the group to reduce violence, saying it is hindering progress on moving towards formal peace talks.”
Islamist militants kill five soldiers in Nigeria’s northeast
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/10/369396/World/Africa/Islamist-militants-kill-five-soldiers-in-Nigerias-.aspx
“Islamist militants have killed five soldiers in an attack on a military outpost in restive northeast Nigeria, army sources said Thursday.
Fighters from the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) in several trucks opened fire on troops at a checkpoint outside the town of Mainok in Borno state on Wednesday, they said.
“We lost five soldiers in the surprise attack on the checkpoint,” a military officer, who did not want to be named, told AFP.
Troops from the town intercepted the militants, leading to a gunfight in which “some of the terrorists” were killed and two vehicles fitted with machine guns were recovered, he said.
Another military source said the five soldiers manning the checkpoint were “outgunned” by the insurgents.
The jihadists were said to have taken three military vehicles away.
The army said late Wednesday its troops killed nine “Boko Haram terrorists” in an ambush, outside Mainok.
Spokesman Sagir Musa said two soldiers were “slightly wounded” in the encounter, without mentioning any fatalities from troops.
Mainok, which lies along the 120-kilometre (75-mile) highway linking Maiduguri and Damaturu, the capital of neighbouring Yobe state, is an ISWAP stronghold.
The area has seen an upsurge in abductions of civilians, prompting increased military deployments to confront the insurgents.
ISWAP which split from Boko Haram in 2016, has intensified attacks against the military since the middle of 2018.
In January, 22 soldiers were killed in three separate ISWAP attacks in the area, according to military sources.
The decade-long jihadist conflict has killed 36,000 people and displaced around two million from their homes in northeast Nigeria.
The violence has spread to neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, prompting a regional military coalition to fight the insurgents.”
Moody’s puts Pakistan under watch
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2221707/2-moodys-puts-pakistan-watch/
“Moody’s Investors Service – one of top three global credit rating agencies – has put Pakistan under watch for possible downgrade of its long-term local and foreign credit ratings, suspecting that Islamabad may default on debt repayments to “private sector creditors” due to economic mess under the coronavirus pandemic.
“Moody’s has placed the government of Pakistan’s local and foreign currency long-term issuer and senior unsecured B3 rating under review for downgrade,” the US-based rating agency announced on Thursday.
“Consistent with Moody’s approach globally, the review period will allow the rating agency to assess whether Pakistan … would likely entail default on private sector debt,” it said. The rating agency, however, did not mention the duration of the review period, as to how long it would monitor Islamabad’s debt repayment activities and when it would announce its final decision regarding downgrade.
Moody’s said Pakistan had improved its economic indicators well before the outbreak of Covid-19 late in March and was still capable of continuing to pay off the debt on time.
However, the possible deterioration in the country’s current account deficit, likely depletion in its foreign currency reserves and low tax and non-tax revenue collections due to limited economic activities and anticipated contraction in the domestic economy may weaken the government’s ability to continue paying off the debt on time, going forward, the agency said.
Moody’s alert may turn the rupee-dollar exchange rate volatile and may increase cost of new foreign borrowing for the country in international markets, an analyst said…”
EU Parliament scraps cutting funds for Turkey
https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/eu-parliament-scraps-cutting-funds-for-turkey-154775
“The European Parliament (EP) on May 14 rejected a proposal by some of its lawmakers that would have cut pre-accession funds for Turkey.
“Today, the European Parliament has largely voted against suspending IPA fund for Turkey,” Spanish lawmaker Nacho Sanchez Amor wrote on Twitter.
Sanchez Amor is a member of the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee and is the EP’s rapporteur on Turkey.
“Those funds are now mainly focused on supporting an independent civil society,” added Sanchez Amor, who is a member of the parliament’s social democrat bloc.
EU lawmakers adopted the evaluation of the 2018 EU budget during this week’s plenary session via a remote voting system due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
One of the amendments to the report suggested the European Commission consider suspending pre-accession funds for Turkey if there was a lack of progress on various reforms.
The proposal was submitted by German lawmaker Monika Hohlmeier from the center-right political group, the European People’s Party, a group that had previously proposed unsuccessfully to officially end accession negotiations with Turkey in the most recent version of the EP’s report on the country.
The latest amendment was a particularly tricky political move because it was presented as part of the 2018 budget evaluation, indirectly related to Turkey.
The amendment on cutting pre-accession funds was, in the end, turned down by the majority of EU lawmakers due to a coalition between social democrat, liberal and green political groups.
“This was a good a fight: with our joint efforts by Sanchez Amor, myself and likeminded parliamentarians we managed to reject the proposal to cut IPA funds for Turkey. Happy to know that that the Turkish civil society will not suffer under the current bilateral difficulties,” German lawmaker Sergey Lagodinsky, chair of the EU-Turkey Committee and member of the Greens, said on Twitter.
The adopted text also confirms that IPA funds were crucial to support civil society in Turkey.
However, it underlines the importance of using rule of law conditionality for payments in order to encourage further reforms.
The EU will provide a total of ?168.2 million ($186.5 million) for Turkey’s IPA funds in 2020.”
38 detained over deadly attack on aid workers
https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/38-detained-over-deadly-attack-on-aid-workers-154764
“Turkish security units on May 15 detained at least 38 suspects over alleged links to May 14’s deadly terror attack in the eastern province of Van.
Two social workers delivering aid amid the coronavirus outbreak were killed in a terror attack on May 14.
The victims were in Özalp in the Van province when gunmen opened fire with rifles, also wounding a bystander.
According to the provincial governor’s office, the vehicle carrying the assailants fled the scene.
In a statement, the Defense Ministry slammed the YPG/PKK terror group for the “treacherous” attack.
In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and European Union – has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.
The YPG is the PKK’s Syrian branch.
Turkish president condemns PKK attack
Turkey’s president has condemned the attack on May 15.
“The treacherous attack against Vefa Social Support Group officials carried out by the terrorist group PKK in the Ozalp district of Van yesterday has once again exposed the abhorrent face of the terrorist group trying to hide behind the curtains,” President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an said on Twitter.
Erdo?an also wished God’s grace on the martyrs from the attack, adding that the PKK will pay the price for it.”
Turkey refused Greek Cyprus-bound aircraft to fly across its airspace: FM spokesperson
https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-refused-greek-cyprus-bound-aircraft-to-fly-across-its-airspace-fm-spokesperson-154773
“Turkey refused a Greek Cyprus-bound aircraft that took off from China to fly across its airspace due to “standard restrictions,” said the Turkish Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hami Aksoy on May 14.
“In line with our established policy regarding the Greek Cypriot Administration [GCA]), permissions for overflights through the Turkish airspace are not granted to GCA-registered aircraft or aircraft transporting cargo to and from the GCA,” said Aksoy.
However, he pointed at the fact there are exceptions for humanitarian reasons, but the aircraft failed to give a timely notice.
Overflight clearances are granted, however, should an application be submitted for ambulance aircraft with patients on board, evacuation flights and aircraft carrying medical supplies, it will be an exception with humanitarian considerations, he said.
Aircraft requesting permission for technical or emergency landing are also included among exceptions, irrelevant of their registration, Aksoy noted.
He referred to media reports on May 13 that an aircraft transporting medical supplies from China to the Greek Cyprus was denied overflight clearance.
The aircraft in question, which departed from China did not submit a timely overflight clearance request prior to its take-off and requested an overflight clearance with a declaration to land in Larnaca, only while approaching the Turkish airspace, said the spokesperson.
Under these circumstances, the aircraft was denied permission to enter the Turkish airspace as per the standard restrictions regarding flights involving Greek Cyprus he said, adding that in any event, a reasonable period of time to allow for any coordination of exceptional permission was not accorded.
“Had an application for the overflight permission of the flight in question been submitted in a timely manner, it could have been possible to grant an exception with humanitarian considerations. As a matter of fact, clearance for such flights have been granted before, insomuch as allowing the landing of GCA-registered aircraft to airports in Turkey,” Aksoy said.
“The failure to submit a timely application for overflight and the subsequent abuse of the humanitarian attitude of Turkey by the GCA, despite being fully aware of regular practice, is a manifestation of its efforts to exploit certain issues for political agenda, contrary to the interests of its own people,” he stated.”
Turkish coast guard rescues 28 asylum seekers in Aegean
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/turkey/turkish-coast-guard-rescues-28-asylum-seekers-in-aegean/1842586
“The Turkish Coast Guard on Friday rescued a total of 28 asylum seekers in the Aegean Sea.
Acting on a tip-off, the rescue team reached out to asylum seekers, who were onboard a rubber boat that was forced into Turkish territorial waters by the Greek Coast Guard.
The asylum seekers – including Afghan, Syrian, Central African, Palestinian, Iraqi, Iranian, and Cameroonian nationals – were rescued off the coast of Doganbey in the Aegean province of Izmir.
The asylum seekers were taken to the provincial migration office.
Turkey has been one of the main routes for asylum seekers wanting to reach Europe, especially since Syria’s civil war started in 2011.
Turkey hosts nearly four million Syrians, more than any other country in the world.”
Turkish security forces neutralize 2 terrorists
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/turkey/turkish-security-forces-neutralize-2-terrorists/1842334
“Turkish security forces “neutralized” two PKK terrorists in the country’s southeast, the Interior Ministry said on Friday.
The terrorists were neutralized by the provincial gendarmerie command in an air-backed anti-terror operation in the Besta district of Sirnak province, the ministry said in a statement.
Turkish authorities often use the word “neutralize” to imply the terrorists in question surrendered or were killed or captured.
The operation is ongoing in the region.
In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK — listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US and the European Union — has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.”
Turkish forces destroy 4 YPG/PKK terrorist shelters
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/turkey/turkish-forces-destroy-4-ypg-pkk-terrorist-shelters/1842295
“Turkish security forces have destroyed four YPG/PKK terrorist shelters in the country’s eastern Mus province, the local governorate said on Friday.
The provincial gendarmerie command launched an anti-operation in the region to prevent a possible terrorist attack, the governorate said in a statement.
In the operation, security forces destroyed four shelters, and seized explosives, weapons, ammunition and life supplies belonging to the terror group.
The PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and EU – has waged a terror campaign against Turkey for more than 30 years, resulting in the deaths of nearly 40,000 people, including women, children and infants. The YPG is the terrorist PKK’s Syrian offshoot.”
Hungary warns of new migration wave threatening Europe during coronavirus crisis
https://rmx.news/article/article/hungary-warns-of-new-migration-wave-threatening-europe-during-coronavirus-crisis
“A new migration wave from North Africa threatens Europe amid the coronavirus pandemic, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said during a videoconference with 14 EU foreign ministers.
The videoconference, held on Spain’s initiative, was designed to discuss the increase in migration in the Mediterranean at a time when illegal border crossing have increased by 28 percent year-on-year, according to Frontex.
Szijjártó said that mass migration into Europe presents both health and security risks that are unique during the pandemic era.
The minister wrote on his Facebook page that even before the pandemic, the region in the Mediterranean already faced serious problems and migration was one of them. Following the coronavirus crisis, these problems have only worsened.
“Our position is clear: The European Union must make every effort to prevent new migration waves starting from North Africa,” he said.
Szijjártó believes two steps are necessary to achieve this goal.
“Our borders must be strictly protected, and developments must be carried out in places where they’re needed most,” he said.
Szijjártó pointed to Hungary’s support in the effort to secure Europe’s borders and aid those countries that serve as the source for migration by “offering help to several North African countries maintain drinking water supplies and health services”.
“Additionally, we are offering scholarships to 1,200 young north Africans at Hungarian universities, and we have supported persecuted Christians with 22 million euros so far,” he wrote, pointing to the Hungary Helps program.
He also highlighted how Visegrád Group, consisting of Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia, have sent €35 million to help aid with the epidemic and increase border security in Libya.
Recently, Hungarian MEP György Hölvényi outlined how Hungary has introduced a comprehensive strategy to halt migration from Africa while still helping those in need stay in their home countries, receive an education, and help build institutions that offer better societies in Africa.”
Hungary: EU court ruling on migrant transit zones will harm border defense
https://rmx.news/article/article/hungary-eu-court-ruling-on-migrant-transit-zones-will-harm-border-defense
“Hungary slammed the European Court of Justice (ECJ)’s ruling on Thursday that found Hungary illegally held asylum seekers at the Röszke transit zone on the border with Serbia, with Hungarian officials saying that Europe’s top court is putting border defense capabilities of nation states at risk.
The ECJ, which is the European Union’s equivalent of a supreme court, has now ordered Hungarian authorities to reconsider their application of such migrant detentions.
Hungary said the ruling directly contradicts a previous ruling of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) last year.
“The decision is dismaying. The ruling intends to force Hungary to stop defending its border with a fence and allow immigrants into the country,” Minister in charge of the prime minister’s office Gergely Gulyás said at a press briefing on Thursday. “When the danger of infections keeps most European borders closed, it is especially threatening that the European Court believes that the effective defense of national borders and the consideration of asylum requests outside its territory goes against European law.”
The case was originally filed by two Iranian and two Afghani nationals stuck in the Röszke transit zone on Hungary’s southern border with Serbia. They entered the transit zone seeking asylum in Hungary, but the Hungarian authorities refused to process their case, arguing that they came from Serbia, a country deemed to be safe.
Represented by a Soros-funded NGO, the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, they entered their case with the Szeged district public administration and labor court, which in turn forwarded it to the ECJ.
Gulyás said the ECJ’s ruling is a warning sign which should prompt EU member states to take matters pertinent to national security into their own hands.
“This ruling should prepare Europe either for the [EU] to allow individual member states to reacquire control over border protection or bring stricter EU rules,” Gulyás said. He added that the ECJ’s ruling was the polar opposite of a ruling last autumn of the ECHR, which concluded that the procedures Hungary established at the Röszke transit zone did not amount to detention.”
White House Plans Strategic National Stockpile Revamp So ‘America Never Has to Shut Down Again’
The White House plans to replenish and redesign the nation’s strategic stockpile of critical supplies to make the country less vulnerable to future catastrophic events, three administration officials told reporters in a conference call Thursday.
A key concept behind what is being billed as the Strategic National Stockpile 2.0 is to build up a 90-day buffer of key supplies and source more of the manufacturing in America, imbuing the system with “surge capacity” to make it possible to quickly ramp up production in the face of future cataclysmic events.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/white-house-plans-strategic-national-stockpile-revamp-so-america-never-has-to-shut-down-again_3350899.html?__sta=vhg.hhksexIJ_fmb%7CBBV&__stm_medium=email&__stm_source=smartech
(Richard: This will last until we get a Dem Presidet, Clinton drew down our supply of bombs and air craft missiles, Obama did the same and drew down or reserve of medical supplies. Why spend money on weapons and medicines to defend the nation when you can spend it on votes.)
Wuhan Locals Describe Panic as City Experiences Second-Wave Outbreak
As Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the CCP virus first emerged, experiences another wave of infections, residents told The Epoch Times that authorities were downplaying the scale of the current outbreak, and expressed fear of contracting the virus.
On May 14, China’s National Health Commission announced three new infections in the entire country, two of them in Shenyang city in northeastern Liaoning Province, and one in Jilin city, Jilin Province. It didn’t report new data for Wuhan.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/locals-describes-panic-as-wuhan-experiences-second-wave-outbreak_3351412.html?__sta=vhg.hhksexIJ_fmb%7CBBV&__stm_medium=email&__stm_source=smartech
IT’S ON! President Trump Calls for Former President Obama to be Questioned Under Oath on SpyGate!!
The media was outraged when President Trump accused former President Obama of spying on his campaign and transition team back in 2018.
But Trump was right and the liberal media was just playing defense for the former president.
Earlier this year President Trump tweeted this Obama spying photo.
This was after it was clear President Trump was right — Obama spied on his campaign, family and Transition team.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/05/president-trump-calls-former-president-obama-questioned-oath-spygate/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=the-gateway-pundit&utm_campaign=dailypm&utm_content=daily
Tucker: America is splitting into two before our eyes
Some states are using science to guide their decisions and cautiously beginning to relax their lockdowns. But power-drunk politicians in the other half of the country are tightening their lockdowns even now.
Tucker Carlson Tonight’ obtains ‘shocking’ draft letter to WHO from Trump admin
The Trump administration appears on the brink of resuming U.S. funding of the World Health Organization.
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