Free Republic

ANKARA, Turkey (AFP) — Turkey’s religious affairs state agency came under heavy criticism on Thursday from the main opposition party after it said girls as young as nine could marry under Islamic law. The Diyanet religious affairs directorate said on Tuesday the minimum age for girls to marry was nine, while for boys it was 12, according to Turkish media including the Hurriyet daily quoting the agency’s official website. The post, which took the form of an explanatory statement on Islamic law, has since been taken down, after a backlash from the opposition and women’s rights groups. The head of...

The Russian airbase in Syrian Khmeimim was fired upon with the 82-millimeter automatic mortar Vasilek. About this, referring to the opinion of military experts, writes "Bulletin of Mordovia". Among its advantages is a light weight (just over 630 kilograms), which allows placing the gun, for example, in a camper van and high rate of fire (up to 120 rounds per minute). The edition specifies, that "Vasilek" is charged by cassettes and fire in bursts. One detonated ammunition can disintegrate into 600 fragments. "It should be noted that mines of a caliber of 82 millimeters are practically impossible to intercept by...

After more than three weeks of testimony and four days of deliberation, a New York jury convicted a Turkish banker charged in a U.S. sanctions-busting case that strained relations between the two countries. Hakan Atilla, 47, the deputy general manager of Halkbank, was found guilty of five counts of conspiracy and bank fraud but acquitted of money laundering. The verdict is likely to bring sharp rebukes from the government of Turkish President Recep Erdogan, who was implicated during the closely watched trial. Atilla faces up to 30 years in prison when he is sentenced by U.S. District Judge Richard Berman...

Anti-Semitism is widespread in Turkey and intensely motivated by Islamic scriptures. Some Turkish authorities and opinion-shapers have chosen the “easy” way: Use the “Jew card” to demonize Gülen and his supporters. Many pro-government news websites and discussion forums, including pro-government newspapers, are filled with columns that claim Gülen is actually Jewish.A columnist with the pro-government newspaper Sabah, Ersin Ramoğlu, for example, wrote a column entitled “Fethullah Gülen: a Karaite Jew,” in which he “described” how “Jewish Fethullah Gülen has destroyed Turkey, such as by poisoning thousands of young people in his schools.” Then he explained why Gülen engages in all...

Beer enthusiasts are using a barn in Norway’s Akershus County to brew a special ale which has scientific pretensions and roots back to the dawn of human culture. The beer is made from einkorn wheat, a single-grain species that has followed humankind since we first started tilling the soil, but which has been neglected for the last 2,500 years. “This is fun − really thrilling. It’s hard to say whether this has ever been tried before in Norway,” says Jørn Kragtorp. He started brewing as a hobby four years ago. He represents the fourth generation on the family farm of...

Diyanet said: Girls nine, males can marry 12 years old According to the Directorate of Religious Affairs (DÄ°B), nine daughters and 12 boys can be married. In this respect, it is mentioned that the women who entered the age of adolescence can also be married after talking about the provisions and benefits of the marriage. However, the Diyanet said in the page that "Marriage, which is not officially registered, is a crime by law. The statement reads as follows: "Without the wife of the woman who has reached the age of the Bulgah, it is possible for her to be...

Russia blamed “external interference” for driving anti-regime protests in Iran, echoing claims by Iranian leaders. In a statement carried Tuesday by the official TASS news agency, the Russian foreign ministry said the protests were “Iran’s internal affair.” “External interference destabilizing the situation is inadmissible,” it said. The Russian foreign ministry also said: “We express the hope that the situation won’t develop under the scenario of bloodshed and violence.” Both Russia and Iran are backers of Syria’s President Bashar Assad and have provided substantial military support to his regime during the Syrian civil war. Earlier Tuesday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali...

An Egyptian court sentenced former President Mohammed Morsi to three years in prison on Saturday during a court session broadcast on national television. The former Islamist president was sentenced, along with 19 others, for insulting the judiciary. The case involved 25 defendants including Alaa Abdel-Fattah, a prominent human rights activist, and Amr Hamzawy, a political commentator. Abdel-Fattah and Hamzawy were each fined 30,000 Egyptian pounds (about $1,700/€1,400). Hamzawy is living in exile, but Abdel-Fattah is serving a five-year sentence for participating in an illegal demonstration in 2013. All the defendants are said to have insulted the judiciary with a variety...

In an interview with the German newspaper Heilbronner Stimme, the former president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Charlotte Knobloch, voiced grave concern Friday over growing anti-Semitic sentiment in the country. She said that public Jewish life is under threat and can only be lived out “in public with police protection and under the most serious security precautions.” Knobloch pointed out the fact that Hanukah celebrations in Berlin and Munich, as well as the large menorahs installed in both cities, were, by necessity, accompanied by massive, around-the-clock police protection. A large menorah installed in the city of Heilbronn,...

THESE ARE dark days for journalists in Turkey, now the leader among governments that imprison news-gatherers. In one week alone, nearly 70 journalists were on trial on false accusations of supporting terrorism. Under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey, a member of the North Atlantic alliance, and not all that long ago a boisterous democracy, has fallen into the grip of dictatorship. The theater of the absurd is in full season.

Iran declared Jerusalem the "capital of Palestine" on Wednesday following a parliamentary vote, according to the country's semi-official Fars news agency. Iran's announcement to recognize the holy city as the “Palestinian capital forever” comes in direct response to President Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. “It comes in response to the recent U.S. decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in hopes of dealing a blow to Muslims,” said Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, according to Turkey's Anadolu news agency.

Michael Rubin stated that the arrest warrant issued for former minister Zafer Çağlayan could be a sign that Zarrab is talking to prosecutors and giving evidence. Michael Rubin, academic and former staff advisor for Iran and Iraq at the Pentagon, spoke to ANF English service on the inclusion of one of Erdoğan’s former ministers, Zafer Çağlayan, in the case file of Reza Zarrab, its influence on Zarrab’s case and Washington-Ankara relations, and Erdoğan’s planned visit to the U.S. in mid-September. Rubin remarked that the arrest warrant issued for Zafer Çağlayan could be a sign that Zarrab is talking to prosecutors...

President Donald Trump's legal team is mounting a credibility attack on former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, with plans to portray him as "a liar seeking to protect himself if he accuses the president or his senior aides of any wrongdoing," The Washington Post reported Wednesday.. "He's said it himself: He's a liar," one person working on the strategy told the Post. Flynn's attorney, Robert Kelner, declined to comment. Ty Cobb, President Trump's private attorney overseeing the response to Russia special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, also declined to comment. The Post said its report was based on "three people familiar...

“You must move in the arteries of the system without anyone noticing your existence until you reach all the power centers… until the conditions are ripe, they [the followers] must continue like this. If they do something prematurely, the world will crush our heads, and Muslims will suffer everywhere…” - ​​​​​​Fethullah Gulen Later this month, organizations affiliated with the Turkish-based Gulenist Islamist movement will hold a reception lobbying Louisiana’s lawmakers. Why would a Turkish-based Islamist movement seek to lobby lawmakers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA? For the same reason they have conducted similar influence operations in almost every state capitol...

The Turkish government has hired FBI Director Christopher Wray’s longtime friend and former law partner Andrew C. Hruska to work on an unspecified proposal to the Justice Department, according to newly filed government documents.Hruska, a partner at the law firm King & Spalding, recently registered as a foreign agent of Turkey, according to documents released by the Justice Department on Saturday.The filings state that King & Spalding, where Wray worked until taking the FBI job, was hired “to prepare and present a proposal to the U.S. Department of Justice for cooperation between the governments of the United States and Turkey...

The parliament speaker of Iraq's semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan declared resignation on Tuesday, protesting the deterioration of political and economic situation in the region and the use of force against anti-government demonstrations. "I officially announce my resignation from the post of Parliament Speaker, and will continue my work in the parliament within the opposition group," Speaker Yousif Mohammed from the Gorran Movement said at a press conference in the city of Sulaimaniyah in northeastern Iraq. Mohammed accused the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) of using force to suppress the demonstrations that erupted in the Kurdish region amid widespread anger over unpaid...

Why the president's Jerusalem decision was the right thing to do. The Trump administration vetoed a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution last week that called on the U.S. to rescind its decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, and ultimately move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the seat of Israel’s parliament (Knesset), the Supreme Court, and where the Prime Minister and President of the Jewish State reside.  The UNSC resolution drafted by Egypt and backed by 13 other members of the Security Council affirms that “any decision and actions which purport to have altered the character,...

For the first half of this century, during one of the longest active political careers in this country, Winston Churchill was interested and sympathetic to Zionism. Hating tyranny in all its forms, he had reacted strongly against the Tzarist pogroms in the first years of the century and always understood the desperate need of a haven for Jews. “I recognise,” he wrote in a private letter on 2 January 1906, “the supreme attraction to a scattered and persecuted people of a safe and settled home under the flag of tolerance and freedom.” Two years later, on 30 January 1908, he...

On December 6, Donald Trump “opened the gates of hell” and “set the Middle East aflame” by acknowledging Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, or at least that’s what various prophets and practitioners of doom predicted. The reality was somewhat different. While violent demonstrations in the West Bank and Gaza, and in various Muslim and European countries, followed Palestinian Authority and Hamas calls for “days of rage”, these were hardly of the magnitude expected. Indeed, Jerusalem itself was relatively quiet. The diplomatic storm from the Arab world also was less intense than predicted. This unexpectedly mild reaction was due to...

Goodness is contagious. The Trump presidency will go down in history as a triumph for American freedom and goodwill towards men, a return to America being a force for good across the world. Merry Christmas! Israel says 10 more countries in talks about moving embassies to Jerusalem Honduras reportedly next in line after Guatemala announces relocation of mission; Togo, Paraguay, Romania and Slovakia also floated Following Guatemala’s announcement Monday that it would move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, at least 10 other countries are in talks to move their own missions, Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely said. In...