LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
February 01/19

Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For today
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God
Letter to the Ephesians o2/17-22: “Jesus came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling-place for God.

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on February 01/19
Hariri's New Government Announced after Nine Months of Delay
Bassil Says His Bloc Got 'More than It Wanted' in New Govt.
Geagea Swaps 'Culture' for 'Administrative Affairs' to 'Facilitate Govt. Formation'
Jumblat Congratulates Hariri but Vows to Fight Public Funds Waste
Lebanon, a Small Country in the Eye of the Storm
In Lebanon's Hills, Carlos Ghosn Winery Presses On
Lazzarini: Lebanon-Israeli Borders Most Stable in Region
Lebanon's daily Al-Mustaqbal in Its Last Print Edition

Litles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on February 01/19
Russia and Israel Discuss Cooperation to Prevent Incidents in Syria
Iran Faces Biggest Economic Pressure in 40 Years, President
Iran Wants to Improve its Missile Accuracy, Not Range
Europe Launches Sanctions-Busting Iran Payment Vehicle
Children, babies dying from cold at camp in northeast Syria
Central Bank Announces Reactivation of Subsidized Housing Loans

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on February 01/19
Hariri's New Government Announced after Nine Months of Delay/Naharnet/January 31/19/
Lazzarini: Lebanon-Israeli Borders Most Stable in Region/Nazeer Rida/Asharq Al-Awsat/January 31/19
The Arab Nation and its Soft Bellies/اEyad Abu Shakra/Asharq Al Awsat/January 31/19
Why Arms Control Won’t Work With North Korea or Iran/Eli Lake/Bloomberg View/January 31/19
Controversy of Entertainment in Saudi Arabia/Salman Al-dossary/Asharq Al Awsat/January 31/19
Turkey's Sweeping "Educational" Penetration into the Balkans/Uzay Bulut/Gatestone Institute/January 31, 2019

Latest LCCC English Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on February 01/19
Hariri's New Government Announced after Nine Months of Delay
Naharnet/January 31/19/
The line-up of Prime Minister Saad Hariri's new government was announced on Thursday, following around nine months of strenuous negotiations that involved several obstacles.
Hariri presented the line-up to President Michel Aoun after Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea accepted to cede the culture portfolio to Speaker Nabih Berri and a long-running obstacle over the representation of the Hizbullah-backed Consultative Gathering was resolved.
Below is the cabinet's line-up as recited by Council of Ministers Secretary General Fouad Fleifel:
- Prime Minister: Saad Hariri (al-Mustaqbal Movement)
- Deputy PM: Ghassan Hasbani (Lebanese Forces)
- Foreign Affairs: Jebran Bassil (Free Patriotic Movement / President Aoun)
- Defense: Elias Bou Saab (FPM / Aoun)
- Justice: Albert Serhan (FPM / Aoun)
- Economy: Mansour Bteish (FPM / Aoun)
- Energy: Nada al-Bustani (FPM / Aoun)
- Environment: Fadi Jreissati (FPM / Aoun)
- Presidency Affairs: Salim Jreissati (FPM / Aoun)
- Displaced: Ghassan Atallah (FPM / Aoun)
- State Minister for Foreign Trade Affairs: Hassan Mrad (Consultative Gathering / Aoun)
- Tourism: Avedis Guidanian (Tashnag Party)
- State Minister for Refugee Affairs: Saleh al-Gharib (Lebanese Democratic Party)
- Health Minister: Jamil Jabaq (Hizbullah)
- Sport and Youth: Mohammed Fneish (Hizbullah)
- State Minister for Parliament Affairs: Mahmoud Qmati (Hizbullah)
- Education: Akram Shehayyeb (Progressive Socialist Party)
- Industry: Wael Abu Faour (PSP)
- State Minister for Information Technology Affairs: Adel al-Afiouni (Miqati's bloc)
- Interior: Raya al-Hassan (Mustaqbal)
- Public Works: Youssef Fenianos (Marada Movement)
- Labor: Camille Abu Suleiman (Lebanese Forces)
- State Minister for Administrative Development: May Chidiac (LF)
- Finance: Ali Hassan Khalil (AMAL Movement)
- Culture: Mohammed Daoud (AMAL)
- Telecommunications: Mohammed Shuqeir (Mustaqbal)
- Social Affairs: Richard Kouyoumjian (LF)
- Agriculture: Hassan al-Laqqis (AMAL)
- Information: Jamal al-Jarrah (Mustaqbal)
- State Minister for Social and Economic Rehabilitation of Youth and Women: Violet Khairallah Safadi (Mustaqbal)
- State Minister for Administrative Development Affairs: May Chidiac (LF)
Addressing the Lebanese after the line-up's announcement, Hariri apologized to citizens over the delay and noted that the country is facing “economic, financial and service-related challenges in addition to the Israeli threats.”“I'm counting on everyone's cooperation,” he added.
“Cooperation is a must so that we rise to the level of the challenges in order to overcome this period,” Hariri went on to say, stressing that “the solution lies in bold reforms, not in nagging or populist speeches.” Hariri also revealed that a session to draft the ministerial policy statement will be held at noon Saturday. The issue of representing the Hizbullah-backed Consultative Gathering, a grouping of six Sunni MPs, had delayed the formation of the government for the past four months. Previous disagreements over Christian and Druze representation had also hindered the formation process before being eventually resolved. Late Thursday, fireworks resounded in the Lebanese capital. A new government will be able to unlock billions of dollars in aid pledged at a conference in April, notably to help boost the country's ailing infrastructure.
In 2009, it took Hariri five months to form a government, while his successor Tammam Salam took a whole ten months after he was nominated in 2013.
After its formation, the new government now has 30 days to draw up a ministerial declaration to outline its priorities before it starts working. This too could prove to be difficult, in view of internal divisions. Contentious issues include Lebanon's relations with Syria's Assad, the future of around one million Syrian refugees in a country of 4.5 million, and Hizbullah's weapons arsenal.
Analysts says the new cabinet's main challenge will be the economy. Lebanon's service-oriented economy had looked on the brink of collapse for some time, but a Paris conference dubbed CEDRE in April made aid pledges worth $11 billion. It is one of the world's most indebted countries, with public debt estimated at 141 percent of gross domestic product in 2018, according to Moody's Investors Service.

Bassil Says His Bloc Got 'More than It Wanted' in New Govt.
Naharnet/January 31/19/The Free Patriotic Movement-led Strong Lebanon bloc has been allocated “11 ministers” in the new government and this is “more than it was asking for,” FPM chief MP Jebran Bassil said on Thursday. The eleventh minister referred to by Bassil is Hassan Mrad, who was nominated by the Consultative Gathering – a grouping of six Hizbullah-backed Sunni MPs. Under a settlement reached by the parties, Mrad will represent the Gathering in the government but will also attend the meetings of Bassil's bloc. He would also vote in cabinet alongside the Consultative Gathering. “We never asked for 11 ministers but no one has the right to say that we are prohibited from getting 11 ministers if our parliamentary representation entitles us to such a share,” Bassil, who retained the foreign affairs portfolio, said in an interview on LBCI television. “There are no 'three tens' in the government,” Bassil added, referring to a hypothesis that the cabinet line-up has given ten ministers to the FPM and President Michel Aoun, ten to Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri and the Lebanese Forces and ten to Hizbullah, its allies and the Progressive Socialist Party. “Had we accepted the results of the elections from the very beginning, we would not have witnessed this delay,” Bassil went on to say. Noting that the Strong Lebanon bloc is not fully consisted of FPM members, Bassil said it also comprises independent figures, the Tashnag Party and also the “Consultative Gathering”.
“The proportional electoral law ended unilateralism in Lebanon's sects and this has been reflected in the national unity government,” Bassil added. He also lamented that, “unfortunately, some parties tried to establish new constitutional norms” but were “confronted” by the FPM.
He added: “This country cannot run through dictations. We succeeded in forming a government through unified standards and mutual concessions.” “We all want to work together in this government. We will confront those who want to obstruct us and we will cooperate with those who want to cooperate with us,” Bassil went on to say.

Geagea Swaps 'Culture' for 'Administrative Affairs' to 'Facilitate Govt. Formation'
Naharnet/January 31/19/Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Thursday announced that his party will cede the culture ministerial portfolio to Speaker Nabih Berri in order to “facilitate” the formation of the new government. Geagea made his announcement as Berri was meeting with President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri in Baabda ahead of the announcement of the cabinet's line-up. At a press conference, the LF leader said his party wants the administrative development portfolio in return for giving up culture, after reports said that he prefers keeping the information portfolio. Geagea however stressed that the LF's approval is conditioned on an “instant” announcement of the cabinet's line-up. “Some political forces had impeded the formation of the government through unfair demands, putting all the burden on the shoulders of the PM-designate and the President. And until the last moment, some tried to blackmail the PM-designate over certain portfolios,” Geagea added. “The LF has never hesitated to sacrifice for the sake of Lebanon,” he said. He also noted that the LF has chosen the administrative development portfolio because “there are preparations to launch an e-government,” adding that the LF has prepared proposals and draft laws in this regard.

Jumblat Congratulates Hariri but Vows to Fight Public Funds Waste
Naharnet/January 31/19/Progressive Socialist Party leader ex-MP Walid Jumblat on Thursday congratulated Prime Minister Saad Hariri on the formation of his new government but pledged to “oppose” any measures that might lead to squandering public funds. “Sheikh Saad, congratulations on the government after the strenuous efforts. We will help you within the principles that we believe in in our party and we will oppose any wrongdoing against public money and the national resources, as has happened at the Deir Amar (power plant) and the Tripoli refinery,” Jumblat tweeted. “By the way, my remarks today about the delay of the government were a mere assumption and there is no need to turn them into a point of contention. What's important is the future,” the PSP leader added.

Lebanon, a Small Country in the Eye of the Storm
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January 31/19/Lebanon is a small multi-confessional country wracked by years of political crisis, a weakened economy and the fallout of the Syrian conflict.Consisted of 18 religious communities, its governance has been dictated by a power-sharing deal between the main sects.
Fallout of Syria conflict The country went through a civil war between 1975 and 1990 and was under Syrian guardianship from the 1990s until its troops withdrew in 2005. Its political institutions have long been paralyzed by disagreement between pro and anti-Syrians. The outbreak in 2011 of the war in Syria has been even more polarizing. Prime Minister Saad Hariri voiced support for the rebels, as Hizbullah sent fighters to bolster President Bashar al-Assad's regime. The conflict sporadically spilled over into Lebanon, with several suicide attacks rocking Beirut's southern suburbs and other regions. The most visible impact of the Syrian war in Lebanon, a country of four million people, has been the influx of an estimated 1.5 million refugees. Among the consequences for the local population are an increase in unemployment and a rise in poverty due to greater competition for jobs, according to the International Monetary Fund.
Colossal debt Lebanon's economy has been on the brink for several years due to regular political crises and the impact of the Syrian conflict. The country lags in development in areas such as water supply, electricity production and treatment of waste. The service-oriented economy used to expand by around nine percent annually before the Syrian crisis broke out, but growth has fluctuated on average around 1.1 percent over the past three years. A welcome lifeline for Lebanon came last April, when aid pledges worth $11 billion were made at a Paris conference. But the promised money is mainly earmarked for infrastructure projects which have been blocked due to a lack of government. On January 21, 2019, ratings agency Moody's downgraded the country's credit rating, saying public debt in Lebanon was estimated at 141 percent of GDP in 2018, making it one of the world's most indebted countries.

In Lebanon's Hills, Carlos Ghosn Winery Presses On
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January 31/19/Nestled in green hills north of Lebanon's capital Beirut just a few kilometers from the Mediterranean coastline, a winery co-founded by detained tycoon Carlos Ghosn presses on with trade. Arrested in November, the Franco-Brazilian-Lebanese high flier stands accused of under-reporting his income as chairman of Japanese automaker Nissan and is languishing in a Tokyo detention center. But the Ixsir winery seems undisturbed by the 64-year-old's dramatic fall from grace. Above the coastal town of Batroun, employees busy themselves -- between the fermentation tanks, among hundreds of oak barrels, and in the decade-old winery's bottling room. But they are reluctant to speak after their management refused to give an interview to AFP, and only talk on condition of anonymity. "Everything is as usual. Nothing has changed," says a worker at the wine-making enterprise, one of the most visible of Ghosn's investments in the tiny Middle Eastern country. In the boutique, where wine bottles are displayed, a salesperson says enthusiasts continue to flock to tastings. The wine's name Ixsir evokes a rejuvenating magic potion, and is the Arabic word that gave birth to "elixir" in English. Many Lebanese view Ghosn as a symbol of their country's large diaspora, and a prime example of Lebanese entrepreneurial genius, so have been shocked by his arrest. But local distributor Ziad Karam says the wine Ghosn helped create is doing well in Lebanon, and should continue to do so.
Retirement plans
Its various vintages are also exported worldwide, an anonymous employee says, to France, Switzerland, Britain, the United States, Mexico -- and Japan. Japanese sales might take a hit, they admit, but those to Europe and the Americas should continue. Producing around 500,000 bottles a year, the winery has shot to success since it was founded in 2008, competing with many well-established players. In Ixsir's speedy market ascent, many see the magic touch of Ghosn, who revived Nissan when most observers predicted he did not stand a chance, and who was seen as the linchpin of a three-way auto alliance with France's Renault and Mitsubishi Motors. Each year, Ixsir's barrels welcome 600 tons of grapes from 120 hectares of vineyards across the country. Even as Ghosn awaits trial in Japan, he is remembered fondly by colleagues in Lebanon, including for supporting small-scale independent vineyards. "Whenever he came to Lebanon, Ghosn would insist that the grapes were bought from local growers to encourage them to remain on their land," the employee says. Ghosn saw the wine venture -- as well as other investments in banking and real estate in Lebanon -- as the start of a return to his roots, acquaintances say. "Rather than investment for profit, Carlos sought to invest in his ties to Lebanon in recent years," says retired magistrate Choukri Sader, a friend and bridge partner. "He was planning to spend part of his retirement here -- probably looking for a little human warmth he couldn't find in Paris or Tokyo."

Lazzarini: Lebanon-Israeli Borders Most Stable in Region
Beirut- Nazeer Rida/Asharq Al-Awsat/January 31/19
UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon Philippe Lazzarini said the Lebanese border with Israel was one of the most stable in the Middle East in recent years, hoping that this situation would be maintained in the future. He also stressed that both Lebanon and Israel did not want war.
The security situation on the southern border deteriorated in December after Israel launched the "North Shield" operation, aimed at destroying Hezbollah’s tunnels. This led to a military alert on both sides of the border, followed by Israel’s resumption of building a concrete wall at controversial border points, which aggravated the crisis in the region.In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, Lazzarini said: “The good thing about the southern border is that the two sides do not want war so far.”Emphasizing the need to maintain constant efforts to prevent any escalation of the situation, the UN official noted that the main problems would lie in the risk of miscalculation, which could cause the situation to go out of control. “The file of tunnels could become a miscalculation; this requires collective attention to ensure that we don’t approach the danger zone,” he explained. The southern border has been one of the most stable areas in the Middle East since more than 12 years, according to Lazzarini, thanks to the issuance of UN Security Council Resolution 1701. On a different note, Asharq Al-Awsat asked the UN coordinator about the recent wave of attacks against the Syrian displaced in the Bekaa town of Arsal. “Arsal has always been our top priority because it is one of the areas where the number of refugees exceeds that of the Lebanese residents. For this reason, it is important to have approaches that would also benefit the host community in such regions,” he said. “Today, we are trying to develop long-term projects. There are talks with the municipalities and the authorities to find a solution to the sewage crisis, which has become a source of tension between the refugees and residents,” Lazzarini remarked. The second reason for tension is the competition between the Syrian and Lebanese labor force, a problem that has increased the need to focus more on employment projects, according to the UN official. The problem with this overall economic climate is the difficulty of making work projects sustainable, he noted. “We are talking about a situation where unemployment rates are high and jobs are missing year after year,” he continued, stressing the need to create jobs opportunities. Lazzarini pointed to Lebanon’s permanent stance that the future of the displaced would not be in Lebanon, but in Syria, confirming that the Lebanese were still committed to the voluntary and safe return of refugees. “I know that the term ‘voluntary return’ has created an internal controversy sometimes, but Lebanon respects the principle of not forcing the displaced people to return,” he stated.

Lebanon's daily Al-Mustaqbal in Its Last Print Edition
Beirut- Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 31 January, 2019/Lebanon's daily Al-Mustaqbal issued its last print version after 20 years on Thursday, it said, becoming the latest victim of the country's media crisis. The newspaper, owned now by Prime Minister Saad Hariri's Future Current party, was founded in 1999 by Hariri's father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who was assassinated by a massive truck bomb in Beirut six years later. Since then, the paper has been a mouthpiece of the Western-backed coalition in Lebanon, which is opposed to Hezbollah and other groups allied with Iran and Syria.
"Al-Mustaqbal folds up its last pages today," said an editorial on the front page of the newspaper, whose name means "Future" in Arabic. "On Feb. 14, 2019, it relaunches digitally."The newspaper said its Thursday print edition, which carried pictures of Hariri and the six bodyguards killed with him, would be its last. For two decades, Al-Mustaqbal recorded key events of the multi-confessional country's history. On Thursday, Al-Mustaqbal editor-in-chief Hani Hammoud wrote that his newspaper was struggling to adapt to the digital era. "In 20 years, a generation of readers has turned into consumers who feel that 120 characters... is enough for them to know," he wrote. "The daily battle of editors at Al-Mustaqbal... has become to find a headline that doesn't make the reader feel like they already saw it the previous night on their smartphone." The newspaper suffered a financial crisis in 2015, prompting the dismissal of employees and a delay in payment of salaries, media watchdog Reporters Without Borders says. Several Lebanese newspapers have stopped printing in recent years as they struggle to compete with digital media. Al-Mustaqbal is only the latest in them to call it quits. In September, political daily Al-Anwar disappeared from print after nearly 60 years due to "financial losses". In June, prestigious pan-Arab newspaper Al-Hayat closed its Lebanon offices, where it was first founded in 1946 before later becoming Saudi owned. Its printing presses in Beirut stopped the same month, leaving its international version only available online.
In late 2016, Lebanese newspaper As-Safir closed 42 years after publishing its first edition, with the founder saying it had run out of funds. Lebanon has weathered a series of political crises since civil war broke out in neighboring Syria in 2011, and the prime minister has for eight months failed to get all political parties to agree on a new Cabinet.

Latest LCCC English Miscellaneous Reports & News published on February 01/19
Russia, Israel Discuss Cooperation to Prevent Incidents in Syria
Moscow - Raed Jaber/Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 31 January, 2019/Moscow has been stepping up its Syria mediation role, especially as a top Russian delegation tasked with handling Syria developments chatted with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Talks focused on boosting cooperation to dodge conflict. A Turkish army delegation has also set course to Moscow Thursday, with an agenda concerning Idlib, north Syria. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, for his part, met with his Iraqi counterpart Mohammad Ali Al-Hakeem and discussed Syria. Netanyahu held a meeting Tuesday with Russian Special Presidential Envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentyev and Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin in Jerusalem. The sides discussed the situation in Syria, Iran’s activity in the conflict-torn state and security coordination mechanism between Israeli and Russian military.“Among the issues discussed were Iran and the situation in Syria, and strengthening the security coordination mechanism between the militaries in order to prevent friction. The Russian representatives reiterated Russia’s commitment to the maintenance of Israel’s national security”, Netanyahu’s press service said in a statement published on Twitter. Moscow-Tel Aviv relations were put to test following the fatal crash of the Russian IL-20 plane in September 2018 that the Russian Defense Ministry holds the Israeli Air Force responsible for. Since that time, Russia and Israel have repeatedly discussed on different levels the operation of the bilateral communications channel between the Russian Hmeimim airbase in Syria and the Israeli Air Force to prevent incidents. The visit by Vershinin and Lavrentyev came days after a high-level Russian military delegation arrived in Israel and held meetings in which they discussed the overall situation in Syria, especially the buildup of Iran troops, as well as improving the Russian-Israeli communication channel aimed at preventing friction between the two armies in Syrian airspace. Meanwhile, a delegation from the Turkish Ministry of Defense has been sent to Moscow for talks with the Russian military on the deteriorating situation in Idlib. Russian sources did not elaborate on the talks being held, but well-informed diplomats tied the visit to the agreement struck between President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on coordinating military operations to resolve the situation in Idlib. The northern province has recently been overrun by extremist Syrian opposition factions, whom Turkey is backing in a buffer zone arrangement. However, Turkey failed to remove extremists from the area, which was a provision within the Putin-Erdogan deal, calling for a possible military campaign to regain control of the violence-ridden area. Moscow has repeatedly expressed to the Turkish side, in recent weeks, its concern about the security situation in the province of Idlib.

Iran Faces Biggest Economic Pressure in 40 Years, President
London- Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 31 January, 2019/Iran is facing its biggest economic pressure in the past 40 years because of crippling US sanctions, President Hasan Rouhani indicated, adding the dutiful government and Islamic system should not be blamed.
Rouhani was speaking at the shrine of the founder of Islamic Republic, Khomeini, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Iranian revolution. The President asserted that the country was not facing international isolation due to tensions with US, stating that Washington did not just break its promise to Iran, but it “showed the same lack of commitment to Europe, China, NAFTA, and Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).”Rouhani said that most of Iran’s “problems are because of the pressure exerted by the US and its followers,” he said, adding that it was not right for some people to blame their system and government for that. “The highest honor for us in recent years is our negotiations with the world powers and clinching moral, legal and political victory over them.” Rouhani criticized people condemning the government instead of the US, saying it “is the greatest damage that can be done” to the country, adding that Khomeini “was not afraid of foreign powers, but concerned about domestic division”, reported Agence-France Presse (AFP). Rouhani took another jab at opponents who have criticized Iranian diplomats' lack of foresight over not predicting the US withdrawal, saying that agreements are not based on whether the other party remains, “but the main basis is the country's interests.”Last May, US President Donald Trump pulled out of an international nuclear deal with Iran and re-imposed sanctions.
In recent months, Iranian riyal fluctuated which made it difficult for average citizens to meet their needs. The country witnessed unprecedented protests in 2017 which included various working classes against the deterioration of living conditions. The economic problems in Iran led to the ousting of several ministers, including minister of economy and labor, and changing the head of the central bank. Hardliners have repeatedly hammered Rouhani for going into negotiations on the 2015 nuclear deal with six world powers since its early stages, calling it a fool's errand and a deception. “Imposing sanctions on Iran to prevent us from selling our oil will be very dangerous,” state-owned ISNA news agency quoted Rouhani as saying, who added that Iran will resort to other methods to sell its oil. ISNA also announced the arrival of a second shipment of natural uranium to Natanz nuclear facility in Isfahan. Head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Ali Akbar Salehi, said thirty tons of yellowcake from a production plant in the city of Ardakan in central Iran was sent to a uranium conversion facility in Isfahan on Wednesday. Salehi explained that the nuclear industry can’t exist without uranium, asserting it is a “strategic” element, and it would be useless to advance Iran’s nuclear industry without it.He expected to extract 350 tons of Iran's natural uranium mines over the next five years. Prior to arriving in Isfahan, IRNA news agency reported that Salehi criticized China for stalling working on its redesign of a heavy water reactor in Iran. “The Chinese side decreased the speed of cooperation with us despite their commitments,” he said, adding that Iran has “alternative” choices if China cannot fulfill its job.” Under the 2015 nuclear agreement, experts from the United States and China were to help Iran redesign the Arak heavy water nuclear reactor to limit the amount of plutonium it produces as a byproduct. After the US withdrawal, Iran said UK was replacing the US. Salehi admitted that Iran obtained alternative pipes that the fuel goes through, before complying with the terms of the nuclear agreement, indicating that he could not declare them at the time. He added that only the Supreme Leader was aware of this. He told IRNA that Tehran informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of the pipes. The Agency had not commented on Salehi’s statement, which could refer to a possible violation of Resolution 2231. Iran says the purpose of Arak's facility for heavy water is "scientific and medical," but the facility has raised international concern that Iran is acquiring plutonium that can be used to produce weapons of mass destruction.

Iran Wants to Improve its Missile Accuracy, Not Range
London - Adil Al-Salmi/Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 31 January, 2019/The European demand to stave off the dangers of the Iranian missile program has seen no progress as Tehran continue to pressure for the financial mechanism to circumvent US sanctions. This comes amid controversy in Tehran over the consequences of late compliance with money laundering and terrorist financing standards as the international deadline approaches. Meanwhile, Secretary-General of Iran's National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani, said Iran would keep working to improve its missiles accuracy. He made his remarks a week after France announced it will impose sanctions unless there was progress in the current negotiations over Tehran’s missile program. Shamkhani joined a list of military leaders who have taken a stand on the European reservation against Tehran's continued development of its missile program. However, he said his country does not have a problem in increasing the range of its missiles. "Iran has no scientific or operational restriction for increasing the range of its military missiles, but based on its defensive doctrine, it is continuously working on increasing the precision of the missiles, and has no intention to increase their range," Reuters quoted Shamkhani. The international pressure on Iran over its missile program comes amid growing Iranian missile activities, especially that Tehran is accused of sending mid-range missiles to Houthi militias. Shamkhani’s reference to the range of Iran’s missiles can be seen as a gesture to appease to European countries objecting its program. Iran currently has the Emad and Khorramshahr missiles, with a range of 2,000 kilometers, but recently focused on diversifying its arsenal of medium-range ballistic missiles. In November 2017, deputy commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Brig. Gen. Hossein Salami, warned that Iran would increase its range of missiles to more than 2,000 km if action was taken against its forces. Then, in June 2018, IRGC commander Mohammad Ali Jafari said that Iran "does not intend to increase the range of its missiles."
However, IRGC Aerospace Force commander Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh announced in December that Iran is capable of extending the range of its ballistic missiles beyond its current 2,000 km limit, and has not done so until now only due to a lack of need.
He noted that many “enemy bases” were located 300-800 kilometers from the country’s borders. Iran fired guided missiles at targets outside its borders last year on two occasions. The first time showed footage of an Iranian drone aircraft targeting a site of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), opposed to Iran, at the beginning of September. In the second attempt, Iran fired rockets into the east of the Euphrates, in response to the bloody attack on the Ahvaz Military Parade. UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which accompanied the announcement of the nuclear deal in 2015, called on Tehran not to “undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons” for up to eight years. However, Iran said this is not binding and denied that its missiles were capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
Iran launched two satellite-guided missiles since the nuclear deal entered into effect in January 2016.
Washington has also told Tehran to stop developing satellite-launching technology, saying it was concerned that the same gear could also be used to launch warheads. Shamkhani said Iran would keep working on the technology “to improve the quality of people’s lives and increase the country's technological prowess.”Before that, Chief of Staff Major General, Mohammad Bagheri, said that Iran may switch from its defensive policy to “offensive” tactics. Speaking to reporters, Bagheri said Iran has no intention of attacking any country, stressing that “our defense strategy is to protect the independence, territorial integrity and national interests of our country.” “If there is any intention of attack against our interests, and we see evidence of it, we will not remain passive and allow the country’s security and peace to be endangered,” he said. In May, US President Donald Trump withdrew from a nuclear deal with Iran and reimposed sanctions, saying the deal did not address ballistic missiles. "Negotiations over Iran's missile and defensive capabilities are not acceptable in any way," Major General Hassan Firouzabadi, a top adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, was quoted as saying by the IRNA news agency.
Semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported Defense Minister Amir Hatami’s confirmation that Iran’s missile program in non-negotiable. “The enemies say Iran’s missile power should be eliminated, but we have repeatedly said our missile capabilities are not negotiable.”In the meantime, the debate in Iran over the government's bill to join Financial Action Task Force (FATF) continued. The government is awaiting the decision of the Expediency Council after the parliament passed two bills to join Palermo’s Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and Counter Terrorist Financing (CTF).
Sources said in recent days that committees tasked with studying the project refused to approve it. Deputy Speaker Ali Motahri said that the Expediency Council is responsible for the consequences if Iran does not join the FATF. Iran is expected to face sanctions from FATF if it does not comply to its conditions as the deadline expires in February.

Europe Launches Sanctions-Busting Iran Payment Vehicle
Agence France Presse/Associated Press/Naharnet/January 31/19/Britain, France and Germany will launch a special payment mechanism Thursday that the EU hopes will help save a nuclear deal with Iran by bypassing U.S. sanctions, European sources told AFP. The entity, registered in France with German governance and finance from all three countries, will allow Iran to trade with EU companies despite Washington reimposing U.S. sanctions after President Donald Trump pulled out of the 2015 accord. The three countries -- the European signatories to the landmark deal that curbed Tehran's nuclear ambitions in return for sanctions relief -- are expected to launch the device, which has been in preparation for months. U.S. officials said they were following the situation but dismissed the idea that the new entity would have any impact on efforts to exert economic pressure on Tehran. While the new institution, called INSTEX -- short for Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges -- is a project of the three governments, it will receive the formal endorsement of all 28 EU members. The company was registered in Paris on Tuesday with 3,000 euros capital and a supervisory board with members from France and Germany, and chaired by a Briton. The formal announcement is expected to be made on Thursday afternoon by the German, French and British foreign ministers in Bucharest. EU diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini, who has led the bloc's efforts to save the Iran nuclear deal, said she welcomed the creation of INSTEX. "This step... the establishment of the special purpose vehicle, is I believe the mechanism that will allow legitimate trade with Iran to continue as foreseen in the nuclear agreement. So full support from our side," she told reporters.
Transatlantic discord
Washington has warned the EU against trying to sidestep its sanctions on Tehran, while the Europeans -- along with the deal's other signatories Russia and China -- say Iran has not broken its side of the nuclear accord and should be allowed to trade. Joseph Giordono-Scholz, spokesman for the U.S. embassy in Berlin, said the United States was "closely following" reports on INSTEX but said it would not weaken its campaign against Tehran. "As the President has made clear, entities that continue to engage in sanctionable activity involving Iran risk severe consequences that could include losing access to the U.S. financial system and the ability to do business with the United States or U.S. companies," he said. "We do not expect the SPV will in any way impact our maximum economic pressure campaign." The U.N. atomic agency has certified Iran's compliance with its obligations 13 times and even the head of the CIA said this week that Tehran was abiding by the accord -- drawing a furious response from Trump. The EU has growing concerns about Tehran's ballistic missile program, as well as its human rights record, its interference in Middle East conflicts and recent attempted attacks against opposition groups in Europe. Washington has warned it will vigorously pursue any company breaching its sanctions against the Islamic republic and a number of major international corporations have already pulled out. Mogherini insisted transatlantic ties were not threatened by the discord over Iran, saying Brussels was in regular contact with the U.S. to discuss concerns about Tehran's activities. Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said that despite differences over the nuclear deal, Europe shared many of Washington's concerns about Iran. "It's essential we show our American colleagues that we are going in the same direction as them on a series of issues such as ballistic missiles and Iran's regional activities," Reynders said as he arrived for the EU foreign ministers meeting. On the INSTEX project, he said that "at the end of the day it will be companies that decide whether or not they want to work in Iran, bearing in mind the risk of American sanctions." The new European scheme was originally intended to allow Iran to sell oil to the EU on a barter basis but, with Europe now buying very little Iranian crude, it is now aimed at small- and medium-sized companies. "We'll have to wait and see who uses it," a European source said.

Euro Parliament Urges EU Recognise Venezuela's Guaido
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January 31/19/The European Parliament voted on Thursday to recognise Venezuela's acting president Juan Guaido and urged the European Union and its member states to follow suit.The vote joins the growing international pressure on Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his remaining backers to step aside and allow free elections. It does not change EU policy, but adds to calls for the EU executive and its member states to join the United States, Canada and Brazil in backing Guaido. Four major European member states have told Maduro to call those elections by the weekend or they will recognise the opposition-backed parliamentary speaker.The motion urges Brussels accept Guaido as "legitimate interim president of the country until new free, transparent and credible presidential elections can be called in order to restore democracy." The text was proposed jointly by the major political groups in the parliament, and backed by a 439 deputies against 104 "no" votes and 88 abstentions. The vote also came as EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini demanded that Venezuelan authorities loyal to Maduro release detained foreign journalists.

Children, babies dying from cold at camp in northeast Syria
Reuters, Geneva/Thursday, 31 January 2019/At least 29 children and newborns are reported to have died in a teeming camp in northeastern Syria over the past 8 weeks, mainly due to hypothermia, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Thursday.
About 23,000 people fleeing fighting in Deir al-Zor between ISIS and the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces alliance, led by the Kurdish YPG militia, have arrived at al-Hol camp during the period, swelling its population, it said. “The situation in Al-Hol camp is heartbreaking. Children are dying from hypothermia as their families flee to safety,” Elizabeth Hoff, WHO representative in Syria, said in a statement. The United Nations agency appealed for unhindered access to the camp, saying the situation has become “critical” for 33,000 people, mainly women and children, now living there in bitterly cold winter conditions. Many displaced had walked for days or travelled in open trucks, arriving malnourished and exhausted following “years of deprivation” living under control of ISIS, it said. “Thousands of new arrivals have been forced to spend several nights in the camp’s open-air reception and screening areas, without tents, blankets or heating,” the WHO added.WHO-supported teams are working around the clock in the camp to screen new arrivals, support vaccination and refer severely malnourished children to a hospital in al-Hasakah, it said. “Humanitarian access to the camp and surrounding roads is hampered by bureaucratic obstacles and security constraints,” it added, appealing to all parties to provide unhindered access for life-saving aid.

Central Bank Announces Reactivation of Subsidized Housing Loans
Kataeb.org/Thursday 31st January 2019/Lebanon's Central Bank officially announced the reactivation of subsidized housing loans, saying that it has allocated a sum of LBP790 billion ($526.6 million) for this purpose. Banks will consequently resume processing applications after it had stopped doing that last year given that the funds provided by the Central Bank for 2018 had been depleted. In a circular issued on Wednesday, the Central Bank explained that the allocated funds are divided into two parts: -A sum of LBP490 billion ($326.6 million) is aimed at covering loans that were previously approved in 2018 -A sum LBP300 billion ($200 million) is aimed at covering subsidized loans for new applicants. The interest rate on subsidized housing loans has been set at 5.94 percent, the circular mentioned. The maturity of settlement of these loans has been reduced from 30 to 25 years. Economist Ghazi Wazni told The Daily Star newspaper that the new housing loans program will have a limited positive impact on the sluggish real estate sector because the amount covering 2019 is still not sufficient. “I don’t think the LL300 billion for housing loans in 2019 will stimulate the real estate market dramatically. We need $800 million a year to revive the real estate sector and to allow more citizens to benefit from this subsidized loans,” Wazni said. But Wazni stressed it is not the duty of the Central Bank to subsidize housing loans.“It is the duty of the government to handle the housing loans for the citizens. The new Cabinet must devise a plan or allocate funds for this program. The Central Bank has been doing the job of the previous governments.”

Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on February 01/19
The Arab Nation and its Soft Bellies
أمتنا العربية... وخواصرها الرخوة/إياد أبو شقرا
اEyad Abu Shakra/Asharq Al Awsat/January 31/19
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/71672/eyad-abu-shakra-the-arab-nation-and-its-soft-bellies-%d8%a5%d9%8a%d8%a7%d8%af-%d8%a3%d8%a8%d9%88-%d8%b4%d9%82%d8%b1%d8%a7-%d8%a3%d9%85%d8%aa%d9%86%d8%a7-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b9%d8%b1%d8%a8%d9%8a%d8%a9/
It was announced, a few days, ago that the Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was about to visit Chad. This announcement almost concurred with the tour made by Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif in Iraq, and included unprecedented visits to influential communities in a country that has rarely looked as fragmented and fragile as it is now.
These two events bring to mind the overly ambitious ‘Map of the Arab World’ that was published in the media and promoted almost like a logo for firebrand Arab nationalist organizations during the 1970s and 1980s. With this map, I also recall the ‘nationalist’ rhetoric somehow imbued with ethnic chauvinism at the expense of high principles like respect of liberties, diverse views, ‘institutional’ politics, etc.
Those days we were parroting honest and innocent slogans such as “nothing takes precedence over the struggle (for liberation)”. In fact, excessive ‘nationalism’, albeit in the service of uniting various constituent factions in the face of foreign colonialism and mandates, was bound to leave a bitter aversion within minorities who felt forced to accept an ‘imposed’ or - at least - irrelevant identity.
Furthermore, given the fact that there were always certain powers working hard to nurture dissent and division inside the Arab world, aversion continued; but it would rise and fall in tandem with the rise and fall in the nation’s health, and the fortunes of the defenders of ‘Arabism’.
When things were looking up everybody was, of course, happy; while the opposite was true in bad times. During the latter, ethnic, sectarian and religious sensitivities would appear, unleashing secessionist calls and setting in motion campaigns that begin with redefining specificities and culminate in almost inviting foreign interventions with the aim of effecting political change or changing maps.
Before the 1967 Arab defeat, nationalist hope climaxed under the banners of “one Arab nation from the Atlantic to the Gulf”. The defeat, however, buried the big euphoric illusion.
Reactions, of course, were varied.
Some found the defeat an opportunity to settle old political scores. Another group was so desperate that they moved away from politics altogether. A third group began looking for practical alternatives after becoming convinced that the old ‘Arab political order’ was finished; in their quest, they found two opposing routes:
1- The route of ‘the People’s Liberation War’, through the Palestinian ‘Fedayeen’ resistance organizations which were widely accepted until September 1970 as the only viable alternative.
2- The route of the ‘Peace Settlement’ taken by the Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, who believed that since Israel was effectively America’s 51st state, Washington would never let it lose a war; thus, “all cards are in America’s hands”.
‘The People’s Liberation War’ option fell by September 1970 in Jordan, then in Lebanon, and lost its dimensions with the USSR exodus following Sadat’s expulsion of Soviet military advisors. It later became complete after the collapse of the USSR itself under Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin in the early 1990s.
At this juncture, in the absence of the ‘nationalist’ and ‘Leftist’ alternatives, and with the rise of the ‘Religious Right’ in Iran and Israel, and later in Turkey, it was obvious that the winds of the ‘Religious Right’ would affect the Arab world, as well.
In Egypt, ‘Political Islam’ was expected to emerge and flourish as early as Sadat adopted the sobriquet of ‘The Believer President’ and used its mass appeal in his campaign to crush the remnants of ex-President Nasser’s security establishment.
As for the rest of the region, with the demise of the ideological enemies of ‘Political Islam’ (both Sunni and Shiite), the margin was becoming ever smaller for those resisting it; more so, within the Arab political order.
In Iraq and Syria, particularly, the ruling Arab Ba’th Socialist Party -supposedly an ‘Arab nationalist’ and ‘Socialist Leftist’ party - soon lost its leftwing ‘Socialism’ after decades of monopolizing power, and relinquished its ‘Nationalism’ when sectarian and local affinities took over its leadership and security organizations.
Within a short time, the Iran-inspired and backed ‘Shiite Political Islam’ emerged as the main challenge to Baghdad’s regime, and ‘Sunni Political Islam’ as the main opposition to the Damascus regime. Even in Palestine, after years of conflicts and competition between various ‘Nationalist’ and ‘Leftist’ organizations, ‘Political Islam’ represented by Hamas and Islamic Jihad appeared on the scene.
Leaving the Near East, in the ‘Maghreb’ states of North Africa, the Amazigh (Berber) identity acquired a new momentum, which was quite natural, given the decline of Arab ‘Nationalism’ and the radicalization of ‘Political Islam’.
This situation only needed a detonator to take the whole region, which was already suffering economically, environmentally and politically, into the unknown.
This detonator came in the shape of the September 11th, 2001 attacks on the USA. That day, the attacks that targeted New York City, Washington DC, and an area in rural Pennsylvania shook the fragile Middle East; and the first tremor was invading Iraq in 2003, and from then on there was a ‘domino effect’.
The talk of ‘creative chaos’ or ‘organized chaos’ gained more credibility and was soon translated on the ground; as Iran’s expansionism gave rise to the armed ‘Islamist’ extremism, Al Qaeda at first, and later on ISIS.
In 2005, Lebanon’s former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri was assassinated, and as the Syrian troops were pushed to leave Lebanon, Iran assumed control through its Lebanese arm, Hezbollah.
During that period too, the countdown of the secession of South Sudan started (completed by 2011); and from Tunisia to Syria, through Egypt, Libya, Yemen, and … later Sudan, the ‘people sought to bring down the regime’ with mixed results!
Today, we witness an important development as Israel re-establishes strong ties with Chad; as branches from the same tribal groups live across Chad’s borders with Libya and Sudan. Other important regional developments include Iran’s interference even in Iraq’s tribal and ethnic politics; following its meddling in Kurdish affairs and involvement in the democratic change taking place in both Syria and Lebanon.
As for Turkey’s ambitions, they are fueled by its yearning to its former regional imperialist Ottoman influence which once covered the whole of the Arab world and extended westwards to the Algeria-Morocco borders.
So, while others have big projects, the only thing our nation has is very soft bellies!

Why Arms Control Won’t Work With North Korea or Iran
Eli Lake/Bloomberg View/January 31/19
Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence, appeared to undermine two premises of President Donald Trump’s foreign policy on Tuesday. First he said that North Korea was not likely to give up its nuclear weapons. Then he said that Iran was still complying with the international agreement to pause its own nuclear program. This was the instant headline for most news organizations. Yet again, Trump’s rhetoric is disconnected from the facts presented by the professionals serving in his administration. Some Democrats pounced. This political point-scoring is too easy — and misses a larger point on the policy. Trump’s critics might want to ask themselves a question: If he is wrong to seek a deal with North Korea, was Obama wrong to have pursued one with Iran? Conversely, if the Iran agreement was worth doing, then why isn’t one with North Korea? To be sure, there are important differences between the two nations. Iran has never fielded or tested a nuclear weapon, and North Korea has. North Korea has not sought to train and equip militias throughout Northeast Asia, the way that Iran has done in the Middle East. What the nuclear diplomacy with both Iran and North Korea shows is the limits of arms-control negotiations with rogue states. Weapons of mass destruction are a dictator’s insurance policy. The prospect of a mushroom cloud is why Kim Jong Un and his father, Kim Jong Il, did not end up like Saddam Hussein or Muammar Gaddafi. As Coats put it in his written testimony, “North Korea’s leaders view nuclear arms as critical to regime survival.”
That is not the only similarity. Like Iran, North Korea has also used diplomacy to buy time. And this is what Iran ended up getting in their deal. In 2013, when the US began the formal six-party negotiations with Iran, the stated purpose was to dismantle Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. When the talks ended two years later, the deal was merely to freeze it in place for 10 to 15 years. Iran disconnected centrifuges, but kept crucial facilities, including the underground bunker in Qom discovered by US spies in 2009. What’s more, the Iran deal had sunset clauses that would lift the limits on Iran’s nuclear fuel production by 2021, while letting Iran modernize the equipment to make that fuel more efficiently. Nor did the nuclear deal address Iran’s development of missiles to deliver a warhead.
Even if Iran complied with its terms, it would be able to enrich enough nuclear fuel that it could easily make nuclear weapons after the sunsets expired. In the meantime, it would be able to use the influx of cash from lifted sanctions to fund its war to dominate the Middle East. The assessment of the US intelligence community today is that Iran continues to be an aggressor in the region, while it is more or less complying with the limits spelled out in the 2015 agreement. This is despite the US withdrawal from the bargain last year, and its reimposition of sanctions on Iran’s banks and oil exports. At the same time, the very same assessment notes that Iran’s work on a space launch vehicle “shortens the timeline” for it to develop the long-range missiles capable of delivering a nuclear payload. Like North Korea, Iran is still pursuing its insurance policy. There is a lesson here for Trump — and his critics. Anyone worried about his North Korean diplomacy also needs to be honest about the shortcomings of Obama’s bargain with Iran. Trump himself, meanwhile, should be honest about what he’s trying to accomplish. Because if he really wants to rid North Korea of nuclear weapons, he needs to think first about how to rid North Korea of Kim Jong Un.

Controversy of Entertainment in Saudi Arabia
Salman Al-dossary/Asharq Al Awsat/January 31/19
As usual, major events in Saudi Arabia emerge as a subject of controversy and debate and later become a reality to which people get accustomed. Reactions to entertainment events followed the same path. The greater the controversy that arises as new events take place for the first time in the Kingdom, the greater the leaps are - not in the number or quality of the events being held - but in the acceptance and enthusiasm of the new concept within the community. Three years ago, for example, no one could have imagined that the Saudis would adapt so quickly to the rapid development of their country. But in fact, they were not only integrated but broke several barriers that many thought would take decades to overcome. During a session at the World Economic Forum in Davos this year, the Governor of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority said that in 2018, 500 entertainment companies were established, providing more than 20 thousand jobs to the people. The Entertainment Authority has provided more than 3,200 days of recreational activities to more than 19 million visitors, and every dollar invested in this area has doubled.
Imagine that 19 million visitors could have missed the opportunity to have a good time because there are those who claim that these events are inappropriate. Imagine that 19 million visitors are denied their right to choose; because there are those who do not like such a transformation.
If such provocative claims were actually heard, the state would have lost not only a door to entertainment for its citizens, which is of paramount importance anyway but also a very reliable economic resource. It would also have lost 500 companies and 20,000 job opportunities. All this was done in just one year, and before the launch of the new entertainment strategy, which is expected to open larger horizons, with the aim to transform the Kingdom into one of the top four entertainment destinations in Asia and among the world’s top ten. Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 recognizes that while culture and entertainment are important factors in a good quality of life, the available cultural and entertainment opportunities do not meet the aspirations of the citizens and residents and are not commensurate with the country’s booming economic situation.
The entertainment industry is not only limited to a concert or a film show; it is also an economic backbone of any country in the world, for the establishment of arts and entertainment projects, including libraries, museums and theaters, and for the support of talented authors, writers, directors and artists, with the final objective to offer a variety of cultural and entertainment choices.
According to statistics in Saudi Arabia, about two-thirds of the population of 30 million people are under the age of 30. Those are certainly the main beneficiaries of the entertainment sector; they need it the most and are attracted to the multiplicity its activities. They represent the segment of the society that found what suits them and meets their wishes, perhaps more than other age groups. At the same time, we must not disregard the fact that reservations by some components of the society must be seen as natural, rather than surprising. They must be understood as an essential part of any process of change faced by a world community. This is certainly different from vicious attempts to exploit such events and label them as evil. These provocative attempts are not new to Saudi society; the difference is that the Saudis have learned the lesson from bad experiences and will no longer allow anyone to dictate on them a path other than that they have chosen for themselves.

Turkey's Sweeping "Educational" Penetration into the Balkans
Uzay Bulut/Gatestone Institute/January 31, 2019
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13639/turkey-balkans-education
Erdogan repeatedly has said that his government aims to raise "devout generations" in Turkey. To this end, he has Islamized Turkey's education system. Now he is working on exporting Islamized curricula to Europe.
"Turkey's experience in religious education is very important to us, as it has advanced in a remarkable way. If we also use the imam hatip school method in our countries, in ten years we could also have a president [such as Erdogan] raised in an imam hatip school." — Participants in a conference of school administrators from Europe and the Balkans, 2017, according to the Maarif Foundation.
"...[J]ihad is obligatory until judgment day... in some places, jihad is done with the pen; in others it is done with the tongue. And in some other places, it is carried out with guns. What is your jihad in the lands where you reside? If Muslims are persecuted somewhere, it is because there is no caliphate where they live." — Nureddin Yıldız, one of the first members of the World Union of Scholars from Turkey and also the founding member of the Union of Scholars in Turkey, in a fatwa on his website.
The government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is building a huge mosque in Tirana, Albania, to add to the kindergarden, primary-, middle- and high-schools, and university it runs in the city. Pictured: Tirana, Albania. (Image source: Bjørn Andersen/Wikimedia Commons)
As part of its expansionist neo-Ottoman agenda, the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been building mosques and setting up Islamic educational institutions around the world. The mosque that Ankara is currently constructing in Tirana, Albania, will reportedly be the largest of the dozens of its mosques in the Balkans. Through the Maarif Foundation -- established in 2016 by means of a law enacted by the Turkish parliament, which gave it the authority to open schools abroad -- a kindergarden, primary-, middle- and high-schools were built in Tirana. In October 2018, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu was the keynote speaker at the inauguration in Albania of the Maarif-run University of New York Tirana.
According to the 2016 Maarif law, the foundation aims to "give and develop services of formal and informal education abroad." Some of its activities include "giving scholarships to students, opening schools, educational institutions and dormitories and training educators who will work at these institutions."
Maarif ("education" in Arabic) is a well-funded institution whose income comes from the Turkish government as well as from private donors, among other sources. Four members of its board of trustees are appointed by Turkey's president and three by the Council of Ministers. Its seven permanent members are also government employees.
According to its official website, Maarif runs 257 schools in 58 of the 95 countries it has approached. Turkish media reported in December that Maarif completed the process of turning 145 schools in the world linked to Islamic cleric Fethullah Gülen -- whom the Turkish government accuses of organizing the 2016 failed coup -- into Maarif-run institutions. On January 15, Maarif signed a cooperation agreement with the Diyanet, the Turkish government-funded Directorate of Religious Affairs -- which has built dozens of mosques worldwide -- to work together on educational and cultural matters.
The Turkish government appears to attach special importance to the Balkan states of southeastern Europe, a region that the Ottoman Turks conquered and ruled from the 14th to the early 20th centuries. Thus far, the Maarif Foundation is active in Albania, Kosovo, Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). It is also slated to open schools in Romania this year.
In early May 2017, Maarif organized a meeting of the administrators of its schools in the Balkans and other European countries. Participants from Germany, Belgium, Austria, Bosnia, Denmark, Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus, Kosovo, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Albania delivered speeches at the gathering. These participants, according to Maarif, said that "Turkey's experience in religious education is very important to us, as it has advanced in a remarkable way. If we also use the imam hatip school method in our countries, in ten years we could also have a president [such as Erdogan] raised in an imam hatip school."Erdogan repeatedly has said that his government aims to raise "devout generations" in Turkey. To this end, he has Islamized Turkey's education system. Now he is working on exporting Islamized curricula to Europe.
At a July 2017 event, the president of the Maarif Foundation, Birol Akgün, said that the aim of his organization is to raise a generation with "maturity in the Islamic sense."
The vice president of the Maarif Foundation, Osman Nuri Kabaktepe, is particularly notable. Kabaktepe is the former head of the youth branches of the Islamist Felicity (Saadet) Party, once led by Necmettin Erbakan, the late Turkish prime minister known for his fierce Jew-hatred and hostility to Israel and Europe. Erbakan, who championed a pan-Islamic union among Muslim peoples, has been described by Erdogan as "a teacher and a leader."
Kabaktepe also serves as vice president of the Istanbul-based, pro-Hamas Cihannüma Association for Solidarity and Cooperation Platform. At a Cihannüma-sponsored event last April, Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal delivered a speech in which he thanked Turkey for "making a significant contribution to reintegrating Palestinian territories into Palestine again." The event was organized jointly with the Istanbul-based Association of Jerusalem and our History" (KUTAD). KUTAD is headed by Jihad Ya'amur, a Hamas terrorist who was involved in the 1994 abduction and murder of Israeli soldier Nahshon Waxman.
Kabaktepe previously sat on the board of Turkey's IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation, a pro-government Islamist organization that has been accused of smuggling arms and dispatching jihadists to places such as Syria, Pakistan and Afghanistan and of financing Hamas, under the guise of charity for Gaza.
Kabaktepe is also a senior consultant -- along with Erdogan's son, Bilal -- for the Turkey Youth Foundation (TÜGVA), an Islamist group that aims to "support and educate Turkish and other Muslim youth" in and beyond Turkey. Kabaktepe frequently lectures university students at TÜGVA's "academic camps" on issues related to political Islam. In a 2015 lecture at the Social Fabric Foundation -- led by the pro-jihad cleric Nureddin Yıldız -- Kabaktepe referred to Erbakan's having called Western civilization "filthy," and claiming that the West owes its technological achievements to early Muslim inventions. Kabaktepe added: "Islam is the most superior. Muslims are the most superior. That is what the [Koran] says."
ıldız, with whom Kabaktepe has an ongoing cooperative relationship, issued the following fatwa [Islamic opinion] on his website: "...[J]ihad is obligatory until judgment day... in some places, jihad is done with the pen; in others it is done with the tongue. And in some other places, it is carried out with guns. What is your jihad in the lands where you reside? If Muslims are persecuted somewhere, it is because there is no caliphate where they live."
The Maarif Foundation, it seems, is using education as one form of jihad.
As the journalist Tom Ellis recently warned:
"[Turkey's] continued penetration in the Balkans -- using religion as a way in... should be of particular concern to Western powers."
*Uzay Bulut, a Turkish journalist, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute. She is currently based in Washington D.C.
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