بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Headline News 14/07/2021
Headlines:
Erdogan Reached Out to the Zionist Entity
Table win the Battle but Will They Now Lose the Political Battle
Europe’s Belt and Road Initiative
Details:
Erdogan Reached Out to the Zionist Entity
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has reached out to his new ‘Israeli’ counterpart, congratulating him for assuming office and underlining the importance of their bilateral relationship. Erdogan spoke to newly-sworn-in ‘Israeli’ President Yitzak Hertzog over the phone on Monday, 12 July. During the call, the Turkish president said he emphasised the important roles ‘Israel’ and Turkey play in ensuring security and stability in the Middle East. The two also spoke about the potential for "high cooperation" in fields of energy, tourism and technology, Erdogan said after the call. Hertzog acknowledged the call in a tweet later on Monday, saying both heads of state "emphasized that ‘Israeli’-Turkish relations are of great importance for security and stability in the Middle East" and that they "agreed on the continuation of a dialogue in order to improve relations between our countries". Acknowledging past disagreements, Erdogan said communication between Israel and Turkey should be maintained regardless of any potential disputes in the future. Speaking about Turkey's relationship with ‘Israel’ in December, Erdogan stressed that the issues lay at the top of government.
Table win the Battle but Will They Now Lose the Political Battle
As the Taliban retakes most of Afghanistan its political policies are taking shape and its showing the word how it plans to engage with the surrounding nations and those that have interests in Afghanistan. Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen said: “We welcome them (China). If they have investments of course we ensure their safety. Their safety is very important for us,” speaking to the South China Morning Post Newspaper. “We have been to China many times and we have good relations with them,” he said. “China is a friendly country that we welcome for reconstruction and developing Afghanistan.” The Taliban spokesman also said his group would not allow any "separatist group, including East Turkistan Islamic Movement, from operating in Afghanistan. “Yes, it will not be allowed in. People from other countries who want to use Afghanistan as a site (to launch attacks) against other countries, we have made a commitment that we will not allow them in whether it’s an individual or entity against any country including China. This is our commitment under the Doha Agreement. We are abiding by that agreement.” The Taliban have been very successful on the battlefield, but their politics has always lacked an understanding of the plans of the global powers and their agents such as Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. The comments about China leave much to be desired, but the Taliban need to ensure they don’t lose on the politicla battlefield after winning on the military battlefield.
Europe’s Belt and Road Initiative
European Union foreign ministers have approved plans to develop a rival global investment strategy to China's Belt and Road Initiative. The newly announced strategy called "Globally Connected Europe", pushes for investments in visible projects to link Europe to the world from 2022. "It has a broader purpose to put connectivity at the center of our external policy," the EU's top diplomat Josep Borrell said during a press conference on Monday, 12 July. "We started to do this two years ago with our agreement with Japan. "But it seems that today is much more important for us to look at the connectivity problems with the broader Middle East and looking forward to Central Asia and China, but not with the same approach and the same purposes that China has with the Belt and Road Initiative." Better connectivity means diversification of value chains and a reduction of strategic dependencies for the bloc and its partners. The US has for long wanted to counter China’s economic plans by having its allies build their own counter projects.