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Germany, Qatar extend support for Turkey amid US pressure

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Germany, Qatar extend support for Turkey amid US pressure

Qatar pledges $15bn in investment in Turkey

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani have expressed their support for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after escalation of tensions between Ankara and Washington.

Turkey’s official Anadolu news agency reports that in a Wednesday phone conversation with Erdogan, the German chancellor expressed her country’s commitment to strengthening its cooperation with Turkey through reciprocal visits at the highest levels.

Read More: Erdogan arrives in Qatar to discuss bilateral and regional issues

The two leaders discussed Erdogan’s forthcoming visit to Berlin scheduled for late September, and a meeting between Turkey’s Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak and Germany’s Economy Minister Peter Altmaier, due to be held in shortly.

According to US based Bloomberg network, “Germany wants Turkey to avoid a financial meltdown and can’t allow the country to descend into chaos, according to a person familiar with Merkel’s thinking who asked not to be identified discussing government deliberations. In an overture that signals normalizing relations after a series of diplomatic clashes, Germany plans to host Erdogan for a state visit on Sept. 28”.

Read More: Saudi Arabia and UAE were about to attack Qatar

Bloomberg report further says that Germany is Turkey’s biggest economic partner by far, accounting for some 37 billion euros ($42 billion) in bilateral trade last year.

About 6,500 partly or wholly-owned German companies operate in Turkey while it ranks 16th among Germany’s export markets, ahead of Japan and many smaller EU countries.

According to the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity, Merkel also underlined her country’s concern for a strong Turkish economy, repeating her Monday comments that Turkey’s economic prosperity “serves Germany’s interests”.

Read More: Iranian-Qatari leadership discuss Yemen, regional conflicts

Her remarks come as US President Donald Trump’s punitive measures against Turkey have pushed its lira into freefall and sent shudders through its financial markets.

Germany, Qatar extend support for Turkey amid US pressure

Meanwhile, the emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani also arrived in Turkey on Wednesday on a “working” visit aimed at strengthening mutual cooperation. The emir discussed bilateral relations and ways to expand the existing strategic ties between the two sides in various fields.

Read More: Qatar’s emir: Saudi Arabia want “regime change”

According to Aljazeera and some German news networks, Qatar’s emir pledged $15 billion in direct investments in “Turkey’s financial markets and banks”, Turkish officials said.

Read More: Qatar removes products from Saudi-led quartet from market

On August 10, US President Donald Trump announced that his administration was doubling steel and aluminum tariffs on Turkey. This was considered to be the US’ reaction to Turkey´s two-year-long detention of an American pastor over terrorism charges.

In retaliation, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan raised tariffs on some American commodities, and called on Turkish people to boycott US-made electronic goods, including Apple’s iPhones.

Germany, Qatar extend support for Turkey amid US pressure

In a related development, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, while addressing a news conference with his Turkish counterpart in Ankara, on Wednesday, said that Russia has been exploring for some time using national currencies to settle bilateral trade deals with Turkey and other countries.

He said, “Identical processes have been happening in our relations with Iran. Not only with turkey and Iran, we’re also arranging and already implementing payments in national currencies with People’s Republic of China.”

On Saturday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had announced that his country was preparing to conduct trade through national currencies with China, Russia and Ukrain.

Iran and Trukey came forward to help Qatar after Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE and Egypt severed their ties with Qatar in June 2017. Closure of Turkish military base in Qatar was one of the demands put forwarded by the Saudi-led quartet.

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Amid India-Canada diplomatic tensions, Justin Trudeau shares video of his Diwali celebrations

This comes a day after India expressed its concern over the reports of cancelled Diwali celebrations in Canada.

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Amid the ongoing diplomatic tensions between Canada and India over the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Sunday shared a video of his Diwali celebration on social media platform X.

Sharing a 44-second video of his Diwali celebrations on social media, the Canadian Prime Minister wrote, “Happy Diwali! So many special moments shared celebrating with the community this week.”

This comes a day after India expressed its concern over the reports of cancelled Diwali celebrations in Canada.

The Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Saturday, while addressing the media over Canada’s serious allegation against Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Nijjar, said it was unfortunate that the prevailing atmosphere in Canada has reached high levels of intolerance and extremism.

In the video, Prime Minister Trudeau showed off some colorful religious threads on his wrists, explaining that he received them during visits to three Hindu temples in Canada recently. He called them symbols of “good luck” and “protection,” adding with a smile, “I’m not taking them off until they fall off”.

Trudeau was also seen interacting warmly with the community, celebrating the festival, and enjoying delicious Indian sweets like jalebis, which he jokingly said he would “save for the team.”

On November 1, Trudeau posted on X, “Happy Diwali! Today, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, and Jain families will celebrate the triumph of light over darkness with festivities, candles, diyas, and fireworks. Wishing you all joy and prosperity during this special time.”

Addressing a press conference in Delhi, Jaiswal said India condemns the recent allegations made by the Canadian government against Shah that he was purportedly involved in the killing of Nijjar and called it “absurd and baseless”.

Jaiswal also said that India had summoned the Canadian High Commissioner on Friday to protest in the strongest terms for the references made to the Union Home Minister of India before the Committee by Canada’s Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister David Morrison.

On Tuesday, Morrison claimed that Shah orchestrated a campaign of violence, intimidation, and intelligence-gathering aimed at Sikh separatists on Canadian soil. He informed members of Canada’s national security committee in Parliament that he had confirmed Shah’s name to The Washington Post, which was the first to report the allegations. However, Morrison did not provide details on how Canada became aware of Shah’s alleged involvement.

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India, China complete disengagement in Depsang, Demchok at LAC after 4 years standoff

The Indian Army said that coordinated patrolling will start soon by both sides, and the ground commanders will continue to hold talks.

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India, China complete disengagement in Depsang, Demchok at LAC after 4 years standoff

In a significant development, India and China have completed the disengagement exercise in the Depsang and Demchok friction points at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh. The troops of both the countries are now verifying the vacation of positions and removal of infrastructure.

Reportedly, the Indian Army said that coordinated patrolling will start soon by both sides, and the ground commanders will continue to hold talks. The two sides will exchange sweets for Diwali tomorrow.

Earlier, Foreign secretary Vikram Misri announced that New Delhi and Beijing reached an agreement to disengage in the remaining friction points at LAC in eastern Ladakh. After the agreement, the two countries began troops disengagement at the two friction points at Demchok and Depsang plains on October 23.

India-China relations worsened because of the Chinese troops’ aggression along the Line of Actual Control, the de facto border, in April 2020. It further deteriorated on June 15, 2020, after 20 Indian soldiers died in the line of duty thwarting the Chinese offensive in the Galwan Valley. New Delhi had said India’s bilateral relations with China will normalise only after the situation at the LAC returns to what it was before May 2020.

Reports said that the Indian Army and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) have pulled back their forward-deployed troops and equipment from the two flashpoints, and have also dismantled temporary structures that had been built during the four-year-long standoff.

The Indian soldiers will resume their patrolling in areas that had been cut off because of the PLA’s presence. Nonetheless, the disengagement in Depsang and Demchok will not lead to the creation of buffer zones.

Both the countries had disengaged from Galwan Valley, Pangong Tso, Gogra (PP-17A) and Hot Springs (PP-15) areas and created buffer zones. Speaking to a newspaper publication, Lieutenant General Vinod Bhatia (retd), a former director general of military operations said that the disengagement at Depsang and Demchok will facilitate patrolling by both sides in a coordinated manner, and in the agreed upon frequency and strength of the patrolling parties.

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Iran says 2 soldiers killed in Israeli air strikes

Emphasising Iran’s right to self-defense under the UN Charter, the Iranian Foreign Ministry highlighted its obligation to counter foreign aggression.

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The Iranian Army said on Saturday that two of its soldiers were killed in Israeli air strikes that targeted military bases.

Iran stated that its air defenses effectively countered the attack, resulting in the unfortunate deaths of two soldiers and some areas suffering limited damage.

The Israeli military conducted strikes on Iranian military sites after 2 am on Saturday, responding to what they cited as ongoing attacks by Iran and its allies in the region.

Following the strikes, the Israeli military announced they had successfully completed the mission and achieved their objectives.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed the precise targeting of military sites in Iran to neutralize immediate threats to Israel.

“I can now confirm that we have concluded the Israeli response to Iran’s attacks against Israel. We conducted targeted and precise strikes on military targets in Iran — thwarting immediate threats to the State of Israel,” the Israel Defence Force posted on X.

Iran’s air defense headquarters acknowledged the hits on bases in Ilam, Khuzestan, and Tehran but asserted that these attacks were effectively repelled, with investigations ongoing to assess damages. Moreover, Iran indicated its readiness to retaliate against any Israeli aggression, stating that Israel would face proportional consequences for its actions.

Iran expressed its intentions to respond to the Israeli attacks on its military bases, condemning the actions as a violation of international law and the UN Charter’s principles on the use of force.

Emphasising Iran’s right to self-defense under the UN Charter, the Iranian Foreign Ministry highlighted its obligation to counter foreign aggression.

Pakistan strongly condemned Israel’s strikes on Iran, attributing the escalation to Israel and urging the UN Security Council to intervene for peace and security.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer emphasised that Iran should refrain from retaliating against Israel, advocating for restraint on all sides to prevent further escalation.

“I am clear that Israel has the right to defend itself against Iranian aggression. I’m equally clear that we must avoid further regional escalation and urge all sides to restrain. Iran should not respond,” the PM said at a Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

The United States advised Iran to halt its attacks on Israel to cease the ongoing violence and break the cycle of conflict, underlining the importance of de-escalation.

“We urge Iran to cease its attacks on Israel so that this cycle of fighting can end without further escalation,” U.S. National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett told reporters.

President Joe Biden was briefed on the Israeli operation throughout its development and execution by his National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan.

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