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Daily Sabah, Turkey
Dec 30 2014
Turkey discusses threats in 2014's final National Security Council meeting
The last National Security Council (MGK) meeting of 2014 was held on
Tuesday at the Presidential Palace in Ankara. The meeting of Turkey's
top national security body was chaired by President Recep Tayyip
ErdoÄ?an, and the topics discussed included regional security threats
caused by the terrorist organisation the Islamic State of Iraq and
al-Sham (ISIS), the current situation of the training and equipping
program for Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters, and the ongoing
cooperation between Turkey and the U.S in this field, and Turkey's
ongoing aid to peshmerga forces fighting against ISIS were at the top
of the agenda according to sources. In 2015, the Armenian diaspora
will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the alleged Armenian events,
and public diplomacy efforts against the Armenian diaspora is also
expected to be discussed in the meeting.
The ongoing Kurdish reconciliation process and the future of the
process were also discussed in the meeting. Following the Oct. 6-7
Kobani protests that turned into violent clashes between pro- and
anti-PKK groups upon calls of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic
Party (HDP) for street protests, similar incidents took place last
weekend in the southeastern town of Cizre which left three people
dead. Following the incidents, Prime Minister Ahmet DavutoÄ?lu said
that the clashes were perpetrated by outside provocateurs who have
been detained.
Turkey's relations with the European Union were also discussed in the
meeting. The top three EU commissioners visited Ankara in early
December and they stressed the importance of energizing Turkish-EU
relations during their visit. However, heavy criticism by EU's
officials that came after the Dec. 14 operation was disapproved of and
the EU's approach was not found to be sincere by Ankara. Last week,
however, ErdoÄ?an called the president of the European Commission,
Jean-Claude Juncker, and extended an invitation to visit Turkey.
Turkey's ongoing fight against the Gülen Movement's infiltration into
state institutions that is considered a national threat was also
discussed in the meeting. In a previous meeting held on Oct. 30, the
MGK publicly documented the movement of the U.S.-based Islamic scholar
Fethullah Gülen, referred to by government officials as the "parallel
state," as one of the leading threats against the country's national
security. The MGK said in a written statement that measures would be
taken to combat these networks. "The fight against 'parallel
structures' and all other illegal formations, which assume a legal
posture, both domestic and foreign, will be maintained with resolve,"
the statement said.
http://www.dailysabah.com/politics/2014/12/30/turkey-discusses-threats-in-2014s-final-national-security-council-meeting
Dec 30 2014
Turkey discusses threats in 2014's final National Security Council meeting
The last National Security Council (MGK) meeting of 2014 was held on
Tuesday at the Presidential Palace in Ankara. The meeting of Turkey's
top national security body was chaired by President Recep Tayyip
ErdoÄ?an, and the topics discussed included regional security threats
caused by the terrorist organisation the Islamic State of Iraq and
al-Sham (ISIS), the current situation of the training and equipping
program for Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters, and the ongoing
cooperation between Turkey and the U.S in this field, and Turkey's
ongoing aid to peshmerga forces fighting against ISIS were at the top
of the agenda according to sources. In 2015, the Armenian diaspora
will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the alleged Armenian events,
and public diplomacy efforts against the Armenian diaspora is also
expected to be discussed in the meeting.
The ongoing Kurdish reconciliation process and the future of the
process were also discussed in the meeting. Following the Oct. 6-7
Kobani protests that turned into violent clashes between pro- and
anti-PKK groups upon calls of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic
Party (HDP) for street protests, similar incidents took place last
weekend in the southeastern town of Cizre which left three people
dead. Following the incidents, Prime Minister Ahmet DavutoÄ?lu said
that the clashes were perpetrated by outside provocateurs who have
been detained.
Turkey's relations with the European Union were also discussed in the
meeting. The top three EU commissioners visited Ankara in early
December and they stressed the importance of energizing Turkish-EU
relations during their visit. However, heavy criticism by EU's
officials that came after the Dec. 14 operation was disapproved of and
the EU's approach was not found to be sincere by Ankara. Last week,
however, ErdoÄ?an called the president of the European Commission,
Jean-Claude Juncker, and extended an invitation to visit Turkey.
Turkey's ongoing fight against the Gülen Movement's infiltration into
state institutions that is considered a national threat was also
discussed in the meeting. In a previous meeting held on Oct. 30, the
MGK publicly documented the movement of the U.S.-based Islamic scholar
Fethullah Gülen, referred to by government officials as the "parallel
state," as one of the leading threats against the country's national
security. The MGK said in a written statement that measures would be
taken to combat these networks. "The fight against 'parallel
structures' and all other illegal formations, which assume a legal
posture, both domestic and foreign, will be maintained with resolve,"
the statement said.
http://www.dailysabah.com/politics/2014/12/30/turkey-discusses-threats-in-2014s-final-national-security-council-meeting