- The Guardian
- Issue #2077
TURKIYE: The largest parade of ships and aircraft took place on 29 October in Istanbul to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Turkish state. The event attracted large crowds of spectators who sang patriotic songs and waved Turkish flags.“Our country is in safer than ever and in competent hands, you may rest in peace,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at a wreath-laying ceremony at the tomb of the nation’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. “We will be successful and victorious. No imperialist power can prevent this,” Erdogan vowed. “Just as emphasised by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, it is our foremost responsibility to ensure the perpetual existence of our Republic, which was originally established as a protector of the vulnerable.” A day earlier the Turkish President addressed hundreds of thousands of supporters at one of the largest pro-Palestinian rallies. There he directly accused Israel of committing war crimes in Gaza. “Israel has been openly committing war crimes for 22 days, but the Western leaders cannot even call on Israel for a ceasefire, let alone react to it,” Erdogan said. In an hour-long speech Erdogan repeated his assertion that Hamas was not a terrorist organisation, and described Israel as an occupier. “We will tell the whole world that Israel is a war criminal. We are making preparations for this. We will declare Israel a war criminal,” he said.
GERMANY: Recently German politician Sahra Wagenknecht announced her resignation from Die Linke (The Left Party) with an intention to form a new party, Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance – For Reason and Justice (BSW) which included members who had quit The Left as they want ‘to return to political sanity.’ The new political party is yet to be officially registered (it’s planned for early next year), but around 14 per cent of Germans are ready to support and vote for it already, according to a recent poll. “We need to return to political sanity, and this applies first and foremost to our economic policy. Germany is a country that is poor in raw materials and rich in exports. A large part of our well-being depends on high industrial added value. But with the economic sanctions [against Russia] we have cut ourselves off from cheap energy resources without any visible alternatives,’ Sahra Wagenknecht said.
IRAN: The Iranian army began a mass military exercise in the central region of the country. The objective is to assess the combat capabilities of several units and test new weaponry. Military spokespeople said the exercise involves various army units – infantry, armour, missiles, artillery aviation, and drones, as well as electronic and cyber warfare units. According to the new organisational structure, the maneuvers focus on four key characteristics: speed, precision, intelligence, and the ability to automate and network military equipment.
UN: It is estimated that more than 114 million people are displaced worldwide. The number of people displaced by war, persecution, violence, and human rights violations globally is likely to have exceeded 114 million people at the end of September, UNHCR, the UN refugee agency said, marking an increase of 5.6 million from the end of last year.
