The Jim Bakker Show

Turkey warns EU it is making ‘serious mistakes’ over failed coup

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu

By Ece Toksabay and Tuvan Gumrukcu

ANKARA/ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkey said on Wednesday the European Union was fueled by anti-Turkish sentiment and hostility to President Tayyip Erdogan and was making grave mistakes in its response to a failed coup which was costing it the trust of ordinary Turks.

Erdogan and many Turks have been incensed by what they see as the undue concern of Europe over a crackdown after the abortive July 15 putsch but indifference to the bloody events themselves, in which more than 240 people were killed.

“Unfortunately the EU is making some serious mistakes. They have failed the test following the coup attempt … Their issue is anti-Turkey and anti-Erdogan sentiment,” Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told the state-run Anadolu Agency.

“We have worked very hard toward EU (membership) these past 15 years. We never begged, but we worked very hard … Now two out of three people are saying we should stop talks with the EU.”

More than 60,000 people in the military, judiciary, civil service and education have been detained, suspended or placed under investigation since the coup attempt, in which rogue soldiers commandeered tanks and warplanes to try to take power.

Dismissals continued at Turkey’s Scientific and Technological Research Council (Tubitak), which has now removed 560 staff, private broadcaster NTV said on Wednesday.

Some of Turkey’s European allies are concerned Erdogan, already seen as an authoritarian leader, is using the coup attempt as an excuse to further tighten his grip. Turkish officials dismiss such claims, saying the purges are justified by the gravity of the threat posed by the putsch.

Western allies are also watching Erdogan’s rapprochement with Russian President Vladimir Putin, concerned that both leaders may use their detente and chilled relations with the West to pressure Washington and the European Union.

Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern has said Europe needs to think again about Turkey’s possible EU membership.

“I am interested in a fundamental discussion,” he said on Wednesday in an interview with broadcaster ORF.

“That fundamental discussion is: Can we accept someone within the EU who does not adhere to democratic standards, who has difficulty with human rights, and who ignores humanitarian necessities and necessities regarding the rule of law?”

Turkey began EU accession talks in 2005 but has made scant progress despite an initial burst of reforms. Many EU states are not eager to see such a large, mostly Muslim country as a member, and are concerned that Ankara’s record on basic freedoms has gone into reverse in recent years.

In a return to combative form, Erdogan on Wednesday took aim at Turkey’s banks, saying they should not be charging high interest in the aftermath of the coup plot and promising to take action against lenders who “go the wrong way”.

Erdogan has repeatedly equated high interest rates with treason and called for lower borrowing costs to fuel growth, raising concern about the independence of the central bank.

‘LOSING’ TURKEY

Erdogan on Tuesday took a big step toward normalizing ties with Russia, meeting Putin in a visit to St Petersburg, his first foreign trip since the failed putsch.

Putin said Moscow would phase out sanctions against Ankara, imposed after the Turks shot down a Russian fighter jet near the Syrian border nine months ago, and that bringing ties to their pre-crisis level was the priority.

“We’re not mending relations with Russia to send a message to the West,” Minister Cavusoglu said. “If the West loses Turkey one day, it will not be because of Turkey’s relations with Russia, China, or the Islamic world, but rather because of themselves.”

Erdogan’s spokesman Ibrahim Kalin told reporters in Ankara it was normal for Turkey to seek “other options” on defense cooperation as it had not received the expected support from its western friends and NATO allies following the failed coup.

NATO said on Wednesday that Turkey’s membership was not in question and that Ankara could count on its solidarity and support after the coup bid, which has triggered deep purges in the alliance’s second-largest armed forces.

Putin said on Tuesday Moscow would gradually phase out sanctions against Ankara, imposed after the Turks shot down a Russian fighter jet near the Syrian border nine months ago, and that bringing ties to their pre-crisis level was the priority.

Cavusoglu also indicated that Turkey could find common ground with Russia on Syria, where they have been on opposing sides of the conflict. Moscow backs Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, while Turkey says he is a dictator who must be removed.

“We think similarly regarding the ceasefire, humanitarian aid and (the need for) political resolution in Syria,” Cavusoglu said, although he added the two may think differently on how to implement the ceasefire.

He said Turkey was building a “strong mechanism” with Russia to find a solution in Syria, and a delegation including the foreign ministry, military and intelligence officials would go to Russia on Wednesday for talks.

(Additional reporting by Francois Murphy in Vienna; Writing by Nick Tattersall and David Dolan; editing by Patrick Markey and Richard Balmforth)

Turkey detains 42 journalists; EU alarm sounds

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan reviews a guard of honour as he arrives to the Turkish Parliament in Ankara, Turkey, Ju

By Daren Butler and Seda Sezer

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkey ordered the detention of 42 journalists on Monday, broadcaster NTV reported, under a crackdown following a failed coup that has targeted more than 60,000 people, drawing fire from the European Union.

The arrests or suspensions of soldiers, police, judges and civil servants in response to the July 15-16 putsch have raised concerns among rights groups and Western countries, who fear President Tayyip Erdogan is capitalizing on it to tighten his grip on power.

EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker questioned Ankara’s long-standing aspiration to join the EU.

“I believe that Turkey, in its current state, is not in a position to become a member any time soon and not even over a longer period,” Juncker said on French television France 2.

Juncker also said that if Turkey reintroduces the death penalty – something the government has said it must consider, responding to calls from supporters at public rallies for the coup leaders to be executed – it would stop the EU accession process immediately.

Turkey abolished capital punishment in 2004, allowing it to open EU accession talks the following year, but the negotiations have made scant progress since then.

Responding to Juncker’s comments, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told Haberturk TV that Europe cannot threaten Turkey regarding the death penalty.

Erdogan has declared a state of emergency, which allows him to sign new laws without prior parliamentary approval and limit rights as he deems necessary. The government has said these steps are needed to root out supporters of the coup and won’t infringe on the rights of ordinary Turks.

NTV reported that among the 42 journalists subject to arrest warrants was well-known commentator and former parliamentarian Nazli Ilicak.

State-run Turkish Airlines said it had fired 211 employees, citing their links to a religious movement Erdogan has blamed for the attempted putsch.

U.S. CLERIC

Erdogan accuses U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who has many followers in Turkey, of masterminding the coup plot. In his first decree since the state of emergency was declared, Erdogan ordered the closure of thousands of private schools, charities and foundations with suspected links to Gulen, who denies involvement in the coup.

Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the United States since 1999, says the coup may have been orchestrated by Erdogan himself.

Turkey wants the United States to extradite the cleric. Washington has said it will do so only if there is clear evidence.

Foreign Minister Cavusoglu said that ties with Washington will be affected if it fails to extradite Gulen. He said he would hold meetings with political and judiciary officials during a coming visit to the United States.

Erdogan has accused Gulen, his former ally, of attempting to build a “parallel network” of supporters within the military, police, judiciary, civil service, education and media with the aim of toppling the state.

“They are traitors,” Erdogan told Reuters in an interview last week. He described Gulen’s network as “like a cancer” and said he would treat them like a “separatist terrorist organization” and root them out, wherever they may be.

Gulen denies the allegations.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Saturday that authorities had taken around 13,000 people into custody over the coup attempt, including 8,831 soldiers. He promised they would have a fair trial.

The officers accused of staging the coup will stand trial in an Ankara district laden with symbolism for Turkey’s recent history – the scene of an army show of strength before a “post-modern coup” ousted its first Islamist-led government in 1997.

Rights group Amnesty International said it had received credible evidence of detainees being subjected to beatings and torture, including rape, since the coup attempt.

Erdogan has extended the maximum period of detention for suspects from four days to 30, a move Amnesty said increased the risk of torture or other maltreatment of detainees.

Photographs on social media have shown some of the detainees bruised and bandaged.

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said on Twitter that Amnesty’s allegations were false, describing them as Gulenist “slander”. “Absolutely none of those detained were subject to torture or bad treatment during or after their detention,” he said.

ANKARA’S FRUSTRATION

Ankara is increasingly expressing frustration over what it says in the lack of solidarity from Western partners in the aftermath of the coup.

Western countries pledged support for democracy in Turkey, but have also expressed concern over the scale of subsequent purges of state institutions.

Last week, the minister for EU affairs chided Western countries for not sending any representatives to demonstrate their solidarity with Turkey since the failed coup.

On Sunday, presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin took to the opinion pages of the New York Times to defend Turkey’s actions.

“Several thousand military officers and their accomplices in law enforcement and the judiciary have been suspended or arrested for having links to the coup. Their removal from public posts makes the Turkish government stronger and more transparent,” he wrote, adding that at least 1,200 rank-and-file soldiers have been released so far.

He also dismissed claims that Erdogan had orchestrated the coup in order to launch a crackdown.

“The claim that this was a fake coup is no more credible than the laughable claim that the 9/11 attacks were orchestrated by the United States.”

(Additional reporting by Humeyra Pamuk in Istanbul; Ece Toksabay in Ankara and Geert De Clercq in Paris; Writing by David Dolan; Editing by Michael Georgy and David Stamp)

EU eyes Israeli technologies for spotting militants online

By Dan Williams

TEL AVIV (Reuters) – European powers are trying to develop better means for pre-emptively spotting “lone-wolf” militants from their online activities and are looking to Israeli-developed technologies, a senior EU security official said on Tuesday.

Last week’s truck rampage in France and Monday’s axe attack aboard a train in Germany have raised European concern about self-radicalized assailants who have little or no communications with militant groups that could be intercepted by spy agencies.

“How do you capture some signs of someone who has no contact with any organization, is just inspired and started expressing some kind of allegiance? I don’t know. It’s a challenge,” EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator Gilles de Kerchove told Reuters on the sidelines of a intelligence conference in Tel Aviv.

Internet companies asked to monitor their own platforms’ content for material that might flag militants had begged off, De Kerchove said.

He said they had argued that the information was too massive to sift through and contextualize, unlike pedophile pornography, for which there were automatic detectors.

“So maybe a human’s intervention is needed. So you cannot just let the machine do it,” De Kerchove said. But he said he hoped “we will soon find ways to be much more automated” in sifting through social networks.

“That is why I am here,” he said of his visit to Israel. “We know Israel has developed a lot of capability in cyber.”

ADVANCE WARNING

Beset by Palestinian street attacks, often by young individuals using rudimentary weapons and without links to armed factions, Israeli security agencies that once focused on “meta data”, or information regarding suspects’ communications patterns, have refocused on social media in hope of gaining advance warnings from private posts.

Israeli officials do not disclose how far the technology has come, but private experts say the methods are enough to provide often basic alerts regarding potential attackers, then require follow-up investigation.

“Nine out of 10 times, the terrorist has contacts with others who provide support or inspiration, so meta data still applies,” said Haim Tomer, a former Mossad intelligence division chief turned security consultant.

When it comes to true lone wolves, even a valedictory Facebook message can often be picked up by Israel, he said.

“But in such cases, it would be a low-level ‘green alert’, meaning the person should be looked at further, whereas a ‘red alert’ would warrant instant action. That leaves the security services to decide how to handle matters,” Tomer said.

As De Kerchove was at pains to make clear to the conference, European standards of civil rights, such as privacy, make the introduction of intrusive intelligence-gathering technologies in the public sphere and aggressive police follow-ups difficult.

While Israel’s emergency laws give security services more leeway, its intelligence minister, Yisrael Katz, called for cooperation with Internet providers rather than state crackdowns. He cited, for example, the encryption provided by messaging platform WhatsApp which, he said, could be a new way for militants to communicate and evade detection.

“We will not block these services,” Katz told the conference. “What is needed is an international organization, preferably headed by the United States, where shared (security) concerns need to be defined, characterized.”

(Editing by Jeffrey Heller/Mark Heinrich)

Britain will not start EU divorce this year

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May (centre, left) holds her first Cabinet Meeting at Downing Street, in London July 19, 2016

By Michael Holden

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain will not begin its formal divorce from the European Union this year, a government lawyer said on Tuesday at the start of the first legal action prompted by last month’s referendum vote to exit the bloc.

At least seven lawsuits have been brought to force the government to accept that only parliament has the authority to decide whether Britain should trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, the formal exit process, rather than the prime minister.

Newly appointed Prime Minister Theresa May has vowed to press ahead with so-called Brexit but has previously indicated that Article 50, which starts a two-year countdown to leaving the bloc, should not be invoked before 2017.

Some European leaders have urged Britain to get on with the exit process, but in the first official confirmation that it would not be started this year, government lawyer Jason Coppel told London’s High Court: “The current position is that notification will not occur before the end of 2016.”

Britons voted by 52-48 percent on June 23 to leave the EU but the legal action over whether the government can begin divorce proceedings without approval from parliament is one of a number of challenges that could delay Brexit.

Last week, more than 1,000 prominent British lawyers wrote to then-Prime Minister David Cameron to say lawmakers in parliament should decide whether Britain leaves the European Union because the Brexit vote was not binding.

Some “Leave” campaigners say there is a concerted attempt by the pro-EU British elite to prevent departure from the bloc by entangling the process in political and legal challenges.

COURT TAKES LITIGATION “VERY SERIOUSLY”

On Tuesday, London’s High Court ruled that a case brought by investment fund manager Gina Miller should be the lead action in the Article 50 claims, and would be heard by Britain’s Lord Chief Justice, the head of the judiciary in England and Wales, in mid-October.

However, lawyers said it was highly likely that the case would be appealed to the Supreme Court, the highest in the land, and heard there in December.

“The court takes this legislation extremely seriously and we will move expeditiously,” said judge Brian Leveson, adding that the matter was of great constitutional importance.

Among the other claimants expected to join the legal action are a British hairdresser and a group of Britons living in France. Such was the media interest and number of lawyers involved that the hearing had to be moved to a bigger courtroom.

If the legal challenge is successful, lawyers say there will have to be a debate and a vote in parliament on when to invoke Article 50, which could slow the exit procedure.

While the majority of lawmakers backed staying in the EU, most have since said they respect the verdict of the public. However Owen Smith, who is hoping to become leader of the main opposition Labour Party, has promised to hold a second vote on any Brexit deal.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has also said Scotland’s parliament would consider blocking an exit as Scots backed staying in the EU. Consent is required from the parliaments of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, according to a report by the House of Lords.

“We will be making the argument that the correct constitutional process of parliamentary scrutiny and approval, as well as consultation with the devolved administrations in Scotland and Ireland and the Welsh Assembly, needs to be followed otherwise the notice to withdraw from the EU would be unlawful and subject to legal challenge,” Miller said in a statement.

The referendum campaign generated heated arguments and turned increasingly ugly towards its end, with one pro-EU lawmaker murdered in her own constituency a week before the vote.

Those strong feelings remain, and staff at law firm Mischon de Reya, which is representing Miller, had received a “large quantity” of threats, and racist and anti-Semitic abuse, said lawyer David Pannick. He said some clients had been deterred from taking action because of the abuse.

Meanwhile outside the court, a small group of “Leave” supporters handed out leaflets saying: “Uphold the Brexit vote. Invoke Article 50 now!”

(Editing by Guy Faulconbridge, Stephen Addison and Giles Elgood)

Turkey widens post-coup purge, demands Washington hand over cleric

Supporters of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan hold an effigy of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen during a pro-government demonstration in Ankara ,Turkey

By Orhan Coskun and Ercan Gurses

ISTANBUL/ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey purged its police on Monday after rounding up thousands of soldiers in the wake of a failed military coup, and said it could reconsider its friendship with the United States unless Washington hands over a cleric Ankara blames for the putsch.

Turkish authorities moved swiftly to retaliate for Friday night’s coup, in which more than 200 people were killed when a faction of the armed forces tried to seize power.

But the swift justice, including calls to reinstate the death penalty for plotters, drew concern from Western allies who said Ankara must uphold the rule of law in the country, a NATO member that is Washington’s most powerful Muslim ally.

Thousands of members of the armed forces, from foot soldiers to commanders, were rounded up on Sunday, some shown in photographs stripped to their underpants and handcuffed on the floors of police buses and a sports hall. Several thousand prosecutors and judges have also been removed.

A senior security official told Reuters that 8,000 police officers, including in the capital Ankara and the biggest city Istanbul, had also been removed from their posts on suspicion of links to Friday’s coup bid.

Thirty regional governors and more than 50 high-ranking civil servants have also been dismissed, CNN Turk said.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said 7,543 people had so far been detained, including 6,038 soldiers. Work was under way to purge the civil service.

Turkey blames the failed coup on Fethullah Gulen, a cleric based in the United States who has a wide following in Turkey and denies any involvement.

Ankara has demanded Washington hand him over. Washington says it is prepared to extradite him but only if Turkey provides evidence linking him to crime. Yildirim rejected that demand.

“We would be disappointed if our (American) friends told us to present proof even though members of the assassin organization are trying to destroy an elected government under the directions of that person,” Yildirim said.

“At this stage there could even be a questioning of our friendship,” Yildirim added.

Yildirim said 232 people were killed in Friday night’s violence, 208 of them civilians, police and loyalist soldiers, and a further 24 coup plotters. Officials previously said the overall death toll was more than 290.

ERDOGAN’S PLANE IN REBEL SIGHTS

Around 1,400 others were wounded as soldiers commandeered tanks, attack helicopters and fighter jets in their bid to seize power, strafing parliament and the intelligence headquarters and trying to seize the main airport and bridges in Istanbul.

The coup crumbled after President Tayyip Erdogan, on holiday at the coast, phoned in to a television news program and called for his followers to take to the streets. He was able to fly into Istanbul in the early hours of Saturday, after rebel pilots had his plane in their sights but did not shoot it down.

On Sunday he told crowds of supporters, called to the streets by the government and by mosques across the country, that parliament must consider their demands to apply the death penalty for the plotters.

“We cannot ignore this demand,” he told a chanting crowd outside his house in Istanbul late on Sunday. “In democracies, whatever the people say has to happen.”

He called on Turks to stay on the streets until Friday, and late into Sunday night his supporters thronged squares and streets, honking horns and waving flags.

Turkey gave up the death penalty in 2004 as part of a program of reforms required to become a candidate to join the EU. Germany said on Monday that Turkey would lose its EU status if it reinstates the death penalty.

Yildirim said Turkey should not act hastily over the death penalty but could not ignore the demands of its people.

The bloodshed shocked the nation of almost 80 million, where the army last used force to stage a successful coup more than 30 years ago, and shattered fragile confidence in the stability of a NATO member state already rocked by Islamic State suicide bombings and an insurgency by Kurdish militants.

Western countries said they supported Erdogan’s government but Ankara should abide by the rule of law.

“We stand squarely on the side of the elected leadership in Turkey. But we also firmly urge the government of Turkey to maintain calm and stability throughout the country,” U.S. Secretary of State Kerry told a news briefing in Brussels where he attended a gathering of European counterparts.

“We also urge the government of Turkey to uphold the highest standards of respect for the nation’s democratic institutions and the rule of law. We will certainly support bringing the perpetrators of the coup to justice but we also caution against a reach that goes well beyond that.”

Referring to Gulen, Kerry called on Turkey to furnish evidence “that withstands scrutiny”, rather than allegations.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini also called on Ankara to avoid steps that would damage the constitutional order.

“We were the first … during that tragic night to say that the legitimate institutions needed to be protected,” she told reporters on arrival at the EU foreign ministers meeting.

“We are the ones saying today rule of law has to be protected in the country,” she said. “There is no excuse for any steps that take the country away from that.”

Turkey’s pro-Kurdish HDP opposition, parliament’s third largest party, said it would not support any government proposal to reintroduce the death penalty. The main CHP opposition said the response to the coup attempt must be conducted within the rule of law and that the plotters should face trial.

“HEAVY BLOW” TO MILITARY

Turkish security forces are still searching for some of the soldiers involved in the coup bid in various cities and rural areas but there is no risk of a renewed bid to seize power, a senior security official told Reuters.

The official said Turkey’s military command had been dealt “a heavy blow in terms of organization” but was still functioning in coordination with the intelligence agency, police and the government. Some high-ranking military officials involved in the plot have fled abroad, he said.

Erdogan has long accused Gulen of trying to create a “parallel state” within the courts, police, armed forces and media. Gulen, in turn, has said the coup attempt may have been staged, casting it as an excuse for Erdogan to forge ahead with his purge of the cleric’s supporters from state institutions.

The swift rounding up of judges and others indicated the government had prepared a list beforehand, the EU commissioner dealing with Turkey’s membership bid, Johannes Hahn, said.

“I’m very concerned. It is exactly what we feared,” he said in Brussels.

A Turkish official acknowledged that Gulen’s followers in the armed forces had been under investigation for some time, but denied that an arrest list had been prepared in advance.

“In our assessment, this group acted out of a sense of emergency when they realized that they were under investigation. There was a list of people who were suspected of conspiring to stage a coup,” the official said.

“There was no arrest list. There was a list of people suspected of planning a coup.”

(Additional reporting by Alastair Macdonald and Robert-Jan Bartunek in Brussels, Francois Murphy in Vienna, Ece Toksabay, Gulsen Solaker and Dasha Afanasieva in Ankara, Can Sezer, David Dolan, Ayla Jean Yackley and Asli Kandemir in Istanbul; Writing by Nick Tattersall and Peter Graff, editing by Peter Millership)

EU proposes new asylum rules to stop migrants crossing Europe

Migrants who will be returned to Turkey demonstrate inside the Moria registration centre on the Greek island of Lesbos,

By Gabriela Baczynska

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Commission proposed more unified EU asylum rules on Wednesday, in a bid to stop people waiting for refugee status moving around the bloc and disrupting its passport-free zone.

In an unprecedented wave of migration last year, 1.3 million people reached the EU and most ignored legal restrictions, trekking from the Mediterranean coast to apply for asylum in wealthy Germany, prompting some EU countries to suspend the Schengen system that allows free passage between most EU states.

“The changes will create a genuine common asylum procedure,” said EU Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos. “At the same time, we set clear obligations and duties for asylum seekers to prevent secondary movements and abuse of procedures.”

The proposal would standardize refugee reception facilities across the bloc and unify the level of state support they can get, setting common rules on residence permits, travel papers, access to jobs, schools, social welfare and healthcare.

It would grant prospective refugees swifter rights to work but also put more obligations on them, meaning if they do not effectively cooperate with the authorities or head to an EU state of their choice rather than staying put, their asylum application could be jeopardized.

The five-year waiting period after which refugees are eligible for long-term residence would be restarted if they move from their designated country, the Commission said.

The plan, which will now be reviewed by national governments and the European Parliament, comes after the Commission proposed in May a system for distributing asylum seekers around the bloc, an idea that angered eastern EU states which refuse to take in refugees.

Only 3,056 people have so far been relocated under the scheme that was meant for 160,000 people, the Commission said. Hungary and Slovakia have challenged the quotas for receiving asylum-seekers in the courts.

Asked whether Brussels would punish countries, that also include Poland and the Czech Republic, for not complying with the relocation quotas, Avramopoulos said: “Were not here to punish, we are here to persuade. But if this persuasion doesn’t succeed, then yes, we’re thinking of doing that. But we’re not there yet.”

SAFE LIST

Last year’s record arrivals triggered bitter political disputes in the EU, where the wealthier states that ended up hosting most of the people accused the newer members in the east of showing no solidarity.

A deal with Turkey in March has since cut the arrivals to Greece to a trickle but has prompted concerns about human rights.

Unlike the Turkey route, however, which mainly brought Syrians and other people with a strong cases for asylum into Europe, the bloc is now worried over a rise in arrivals from Africa through Libya. Most people on that route do not qualify for asylum and, under the EU rules, should be sent back.

The Commission wants to draw up lists of “safe countries” outside the bloc, which would help EU states return people, after Athens’ refusal to recognize Turkey as such a place hindered deportations from the Greek islands back to Turkey.

To discourage chaotic flows by facilitating legal migration, the Commission also proposed an EU-wide system for resettlement directly from refugee camps. It said Brussels would pay 10,000 euros for each person EU states bring in.

But Slovakia, the current holder of the EU’s rotating presidency, was skeptical on chances for unified asylum system.

“We can only talk about real burden-sharing when the quality of life is the same in all EU states,” said Bernard Priecel, head of Slovakia’s migration service. “Otherwise we will always have secondary movements. How can you force them to stay?”

(Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

Obama urges NATO to stand firm against Russia despite Brexit

European Council President Donald Tusk (L-R), U.S. President Barack Obama and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker deliver remarks to reporters after their meeting at the NATO Summit in Warsaw, Poland July 8, 2016. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

By Yeganeh Torbati and Wiktor Szary

WARSAW (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama urged NATO leaders on Friday to stand firm against a resurgent Russia over its seizure of Crimea from Ukraine, saying Britain’s vote to leave the European Union should not weaken the Western defense alliance.

In an article published in the Financial Times newspaper as he arrived for his last summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation before he leaves office in January, Obama said America’s “special relationship” with Britain would survive the referendum decision he had warned against.

“The special relationship between the U.S. and the UK will endure. I have no doubt that the UK will remain one of NATO’s most capable members,” he said, but noted that the vote raised significant questions about the future of EU integration.

The 28-nation EU will formally agree to deploy four battalions totaling 3,000 to 4,000 troops in the Baltic states and Poland on a rotating basis to reassure eastern members of its readiness to defend them against any Russian aggression.

Host nation Poland set the tone of mistrust of Russia. Its foreign minister, Witold Waszczykowski, told a pre-summit forum: “We have to reject any type of wishful thinking with regard to a pragmatic cooperation with Russia as long as it keeps on invading its neighbors.”

Obama was more diplomatic, urging dialogue with Russia, but he too urged allies to keep sanctions on Moscow until it fully complies with a ceasefire agreement in Ukraine, and to help Kiev defend its sovereignty. Ukraine is not itself a member of NATO.

“In Warsaw, we must reaffirm our determination — our duty under Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty — to defend every NATO ally,” Obama said.

“We need to bolster the defense of our allies in central and eastern Europe, strengthen deterrence and boost our resilience against new threats, including cyber attacks.”

Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland – all NATO members – have requested a permanent NATO presence. They fear Moscow will seek to destabilize their pro-Western governments through cyber attacks, stirring up Russian speakers, hostile broadcasting and even territorial incursions. Critics say the NATO plan is a minimal trip wire that might not deter Russian action.

The head of NATO’s military committee, Czech General Petr Pavel, said Russia was attempting to restore its status as a world power, an effort that includes using its military.

“We must accept that Russia can be a competitor, adversary, peer or partner and probably all four at the same time,” he said.

The Kremlin said it was absurd for NATO to talk of any threat coming from Russia and it hoped “common sense” would prevail at the Warsaw summit. Moscow was and remains open to dialogue with NATO and is ready to cooperate with it, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a conference call with journalists.

Russia often depicts NATO as an aggressor, whose member states are moving troops and military hardware further into former Soviet territory, which it regards as its sphere of influence.

Russian President Vladimir Putin made several gestures aimed at showing a cooperative face before the summit. At the same time, Moscow highlighted its intention to deploy nuclear-capable missiles in Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave between Poland and Lithuania.

Putin agreed to a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council next week, the second meeting this year of a consultation body that was put on ice after Moscow’s seizure of Crimea in 2014. Russia allowed a U.N. resolution authorizing the EU to intercept arms shipments to Libya in the Mediterranean, and Putin talked by telephone with Obama in the run-up to the NATO meeting.

However, a White House spokesman said they reached no agreement on cooperation in fighting Islamic State militants in Syria during that call on Wednesday.

BRITAIN

Outgoing British Prime Minister David Cameron, who said he will resign after losing the referendum on EU membership last month, will seek to emphasize an active commitment to Western security at his final NATO summit, to offset any concern about Europe’s biggest military spender leaving the EU.

The first item on the summit agenda was the signing of an agreement between the EU and NATO on deeper military and security cooperation.

The U.S.-led alliance is also expected to announce its support for the EU’s Mediterranean interdiction operation. NATO already supports EU efforts to stem a flood of refugees and migrants from Turkey into Greece, in conjunction with an EU-Turkey deal to curb migration in return for benefits for Ankara.

Obama and the other NATO leaders will have a more unscripted discussion of how to deal with Russia over dinner in the same room of the Polish Presidential Palace where the Warsaw Pact was signed in 1955, creating the Soviet-dominated military alliance that was NATO’s adversary during the Cold War.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg sought to balance the new military deployments and air patrols close to Russia’s borders by stressing the alliance would continue to seek “meaningful and constructive dialogue” with Moscow.

“We don’t want a new Cold War,” he told reporters. “The Cold War is history and it should remain history.”

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told reporters before leaving Ankara to attend the summit that NATO also needed to adapt to do more to fight a threat from Islamic State militants, who were accused of last week’s deadly attack on Istanbul airport.

“As we have seen from the terrorist attacks first in Istanbul and then in Iraq and Saudi Arabia, international security is becoming more fragile,” Erdogan said.

“The concept of a security threat is undergoing a serious change. In this process, NATO needs to be more active and has to update itself against the new security threats,” he said.

(Additional reporting by Gabriela Baczynska and Robin Emmott in Warsaw, Humeyra Pamuk in Istanbul and Elizabeth Piper in Lodon; Writing by Paul Taylor; Editing by Toby Chopra, Larry King)

Don’t give UK a generous Brexit deal, EU voters say: poll

LONDON (Reuters) – Voters in Germany, France, Sweden and Finland think Britain should not be given a generous deal when it tries to renegotiate its ties with the European Union, an opinion poll published on Friday showed.

Germans and the French were most opposed to helping Britain out: 53 percent of respondents in both countries said it should not expect any favors compared with 27 percent who said the EU should offer Britain a generous deal, polling firm YouGov said.

Furthermore, nearly half of voters in the two EU heavyweight countries said they would support a free trade deal with Britain only if Britain agreed to continue to allow EU citizens to live and work in the country.

Opposition to the EU’s free movement of workers principle was one of the main campaign messages of those who wanted Britain to leave the bloc, a decision British voters backed in a referendum on June 23.

Britain has yet to notify the EU formally of its plan to leave, a step which would kick off a period of up to two years for its exit to be completed.

The front-runner to become Britain’s next prime minister, interior minister Theresa May, has said she wants to hold informal talks with the EU about the outlines of a deal before launching the two-year exit period.

Of five continental EU countries covered by YouGov’s poll, only voters in Denmark favored offering Britain a generous deal, the polling firm said.

YouGov interviewed 2,045 people in Germany, 1,008 people in France and around 1,000 people in each of Sweden, Finland and Denmark between June 30 and July 5.

(Writing by William Schomberg; Editing by Richard Balmforth)

Istanbul attack could be result of Turkey, EU ignoring Moscow

Paramedics push a stretcher at Turkey's largest airport, Istanbul Ataturk

MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Kremlin said on Wednesday it believed that the recent attack on Istanbul airport could be a result of Turkish and European security services ignoring Moscow’s signals about suspected “terrorists” hiding in Turkey and Europe.

“Over the past many years, the Russian side … has informed our Turkish and European colleagues that persons suspected of being linked to terrorism … find shelter both in Turkey and in a number of other European countries,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a conference call with journalists.

“In most cases such signals from the Russian side have not been given proper attention or any reaction by our colleagues. To our regret, these (Istanbul attacks) can be a consequence of such disregard.”

(Reporting by Dmitry Solovyov; Editing by Vladimir Soldatkin)

Wall St. declines as growth worries, oil weigh

By Marcus E. Howard

(Reuters) – Wall Street stocks fell in afternoon trading on Tuesday as investors faced continued uncertainty in Europe and tumbling oil prices weighed on energy shares.

The Bank of England said the outlook for Britain’s financial stability after its June 23 vote to leave the European Union, dubbed Brexit, was “challenging” and said it would lower the amount of capital that banks were required to hold in reserve in order to allow them to keep lending.

“After a surprisingly big bounce last week, I think we’re in a little bit of a risk-off trading today – the uncomfortable feeling that maybe all is not fully well given Brexit,” said Jeffrey Carbone, senior partner, Cornerstone Financial Partners, in Cornelius, North Carolina.

Seven of the 10 major S&P sectors were lower. The energy sector <.SPNY> fell 2.4 percent. The materials index <.SPLRCM> was down 2 percent.

The financial sector <.SPSY> was down 1.9 percent with JPMorgan <JPM.N>, Wells Fargo <WFC.N> and Citigroup <C.N> falling between 2.4 and 3.8 percent.

Oil prices <LCOc1> <CLc1> also slipped more than $2 per barrel as a potential economic slowdown weighed on prospects for demand.

Tepid U.S. data added to overall growth worries. Data showed new orders for U.S. factory goods fell in May on weak demand for transportation and defense capital goods.

New orders for manufactured goods declined 1.0 percent after two straight months of increases, according to the U.S. Commerce Department.

At 2:20 p.m. (1820 GMT), the Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was down 130.39 points, or 0.73 percent, to 17,818.98, the S&P 500 <.SPX> had lost 17.28 points, or 0.82 percent, to 2,085.67 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> had dropped 50.52 points, or 1.04 percent, to 4,812.04.

Investors have been seeking safe-haven assets in an uncertain economic environment. Weak data from China added to the nervousness stemming from Britain’s vote to leave the EU.

Data from China showed services sector activity hit an 11-month high in June but a composite measure of activity including manufacturing fell to its lowest in four months.

Tesla’s <TSLA.O> shares fell 1.8 percent to $212.67 after the electric car maker missed vehicle delivery targets for the second consecutive quarter.

Netflix <NFLX.O> rose 0.8 percent to $97.45 after it reached an agreement with Comcast <CMCSA.O> for its services to be available on the cable company’s set-top box. Comcast was down 1 percent at $64.60.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by 2,267 to 742, for a 3.06-to-1 ratio on the downside; on the Nasdaq, 2,075 issues fell and 717 advanced for a 2.89-to-1 ratio favoring decliners.

The S&P 500 posted 66 new 52-week highs and one new low; the Nasdaq recorded 61 new highs and 29 new lows.

(Additional reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan and Tanya Agrawal in Bengaluru; Editing by Don Sebastian and James Dalgleish)

Sign up for Jim Bakker Show