Croatia charges 8 ex-Yugoslav officers with war crimesZagreb, 18 October 2016 (MIA) - A Croatian prosecutor has charged eight former Serb troop commanders with torture, rape, expulsion and killing of more than 100 civilians during fighting in Croatia in 1991-95, AP reports.
The County Prosecutor's office in Split said Tuesday the suspects include former Yugoslav army officers and rebel Serb commanders. It says the suspects ordered attacks on civilian areas and failed to prevent crimes by the troops.
Clashes in Croatia erupted after the country declared independence from the Serb-led former Yugoslavia. Croatia's minority Serbs, backed by the Serb-led Yugoslav army, took control of large swaths of land and declared their own mini-state.
About 10,000 people were killed in the war and millions fled their homes before Croatia retook most of the territory in 1995 and a peace agreement was signed. lk/17:04
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Turkey's EU minister says migrant deal may end without visa liberalisation
Ankara, 18 October 2016 (MIA) - The European Union should implement visa-free travel for Turks by the end of the year and stop insisting that Turkey change its anti-terrorism laws, or Ankara may cancel its side of a deal to stop illegal migration, Turkey's EU minister told Reuters.
Turkey agreed in March to stop illegal migrants crossing into Greece in exchange for financial aid for those in its care, the promise of visa-free travel for its citizens to much of the EU, and accelerated EU membership talks.
But there has been deadlock over the plan to grant Turks visa-free access to Europe, initially planned by October. Brussels first wants Turkey to change its anti-terrorism laws, which it deems too broad and potentially oppressive by European standards.
"Forcing this despite the situation is putting a roadblock in front of the visa liberalization, and therefore we will assume they aren't keeping the promises they made," Turkish EU Affairs Minister Omer Celik said in an interview in Ankara.
"In that case we won't carry out the readmission deal, and we will cancel it if necessary," he said, referring to the part of Turkey's agreement with Brussels under which it takes back migrants who have illegally traveled to Greece.
He said no final demand for a schedule had yet been given by Turkey, but that if visa liberalization is not implemented by the end of the year it would have "reached its natural death".
"There won't be anything left to talk about," he said.
More than a million migrants entered the EU last year by taking boats from Turkey to Greece, but the numbers taking that route have tumbled since the deal with Ankara came into effect.
Celik said Turkey had been keeping its promises, with illegal arrivals on the Greek islands dropping to 20-30 people a day from a peak of 7,000 in 2015.
"If there is a working part of the deal, it is because of the working quality of Turkish institutions. It is thanks to the security forces and coast guard," Celik said.
"There is nothing holding the deal back in terms of Turkey realizing its promises, but every aspect is lagging from the European side."
The EU said this month it was living up to its side of the agreement, and that financial support for migrants in Turkey had accelerated in recent months.
Relations between Turkey and the EU were tested after a failed coup in July. Many Turks were incensed by what they saw as Europe's failure to show speedier solidarity over the putsch, in which more than 240 people died.
European leaders have also been critical of the scale of a post-coup crackdown, in which more than 32,000 people have been jailed and 100,000, including top military figures, have been dismissed from jobs in the security and civil services.
Celik rejected suggestions that the suspensions had caused institutional weakness or damaged accession talks with the 28-nation bloc.
"To the contrary, them leaving increases institutional quality. Especially at the foreign ministry and EU ministry there are no setbacks regarding the EU negotiations," he said. lk/19:46
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Ankara, coalition agree Turkish jets to join Mosul operation: minister
Ankara, 19 October 2016 (MIA) - Turkish jets will continue to take part in the air operation backing Iraqi forces and Kurdish Peshmerga to retake Iraq’s second city of Mosul from jihadists after the defence minister said late Tuesday Ankara had agreed a deal with its coalition partners, AFP reports.
“We have agreed with coalition forces for our air forces to take part in the Mosul operation,” Fikri Isik was quoted as saying by the official Anadolu agency.
“Without Turkey, it is impossible to make decisions on the future of Mosul,” he added during a visit to Rome.
His comments were further clarification of Turkey’s future involvement after Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said earlier in the day that the country’s jets joined in the air operation to recapture the city from the Islamic State group.
“Our air forces took part in the coalition forces’ air operations in Mosul,” Yildirim told his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) parliamentary group in Ankara.
Yildirim, who admitted he did not know “the operational details”, told reporters afterwards there was agreement “in principle” to be part of the coalition.
The long-awaited offensive began Monday with air and ground support from a US-led coalition. Yildirim said Turkey was “closely-watching” what was happening but did not give details on the nature of the Turkish air support.
Mosul was captured by IS jihadists in June 2014. But ahead of the offensive, Turkey and Iraq were entangled in a war of words over Turkey’s presence in northern Iraq.
Yildirim repeated President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s comments from Monday that Turkey would be involved in the operation and will be “at the table”.
While insisting it cannot be left out of the operation, Turkey has often spoken of its fears over the potential involvement of Shiite militias and anti-Ankara Kurdish militia in the fight for mainly Sunni Mosul. sk/08:59
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Eurostat: Half of Bulgaria's young population facing housing difficulties
Sofia, 19 October 2016 (MIA) - Around 58 per cent of Bulgarians aged 15-29 face housing deprivation, overcrowding or excessive housing costs, Eurostat data for last year showed, BTA reports.
According to data of Bulgaria's State Statistical Institute, Bulgarians aged 15-29 number 1.2 million versus total population of 7.2 million.
There were 3.9 million homes in Bulgaria in 2015, including 1.3 million three-room homes and 1.2 million two-room homes. One-room homes numbered 350,000 with homes with more than four rooms totalling 1 million.
Romania has the highest housing overcrowding rate among the young population at 69 per cent. In addition to Romania, Latvia, Slovakia, Croatia, Poland, Bulgaria, and Hungary also had more than half of the young population aged 15-29 living in overcrowded households.
In the EU, there are 89.6 million people aged 15-29 with 26 per cent of them living in overcrowded households. In 2015, 7.8 per cent of the EU young population aged 15-29 faced severe housing deprivation. ik/11:48
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US defense chief to visit Turkey over consensus for Mosul offensive
Ankara, 19 October 2016 (MIA) - U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter is due to visit Turkey on Oct. 19, after Ankara and Washington agreed on Turkey’s participation in coalition forces’ aerial campaign in the Mosul offensive against the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL), Hurriyet Daily News reports.
Carter will travel to Ankara as part of a weeklong Middle East and Europe trip, according to the Pentagon.
“He is scheduled to meet with Turkish leaders to discuss a range of security challenges in the region including the latest developments in Iraq and Syria,” according to a statement. A defense official said Carter would stay in Turkey for a couple of hours.
His visit comes after an agreement reached by Turkey and the U.S. at a meeting between the two allies’ chiefs of general staff in Washington over the weekend. The agreement will pave the way for Turkish warplanes to join an ongoing operation to capture Mosul.
Carter is due to head to the United Arab Emirates and Europe for counter-ISIL coalition meetings with U.S.-led coalition defense ministers in Paris on Oct. 25.
Meanwhile, Defense Minister Fikri Isik said coalition forces and Turkey had reached a consensus on the Turkish Air Force’s involvement in the Mosul operation. Elaborating on the upcoming defense ministers’ meeting in Paris, Isik said, “It’s natural that Turkey will be part of developments and meeting about Mosul.”
“It’s not possible to make a decision on the future of Mosul without Turkey,” he said.
Turkey is not joining aerial strikes right now, Prime Minister Binali Yildırım said. “But there is an agreement on the participation of Turkish aerial vehicles in the operation in principle. In the event there is a need, our warplanes will participate as part of the coalition. What is important is to be part of it,” Yildırım told reporters after a parliamentary group meeting on Tuesday.
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