Tag: Turkey

Sunday Smack

Happy Sunday! Again, I hope everybody is safe this weekend! After a very eventful and exciting few days in international law, let’s recap some of the biggest stories of the week. Failed coup: 250 dead, 1400 injured, 2,839 detained I did not come across a proper blog post about this so far, but still had to include it. What is happening in the world? Turkey used to be a peaceful holiday location not so long ago. China’s Legacy Maritime Claims If you are an international lawyer, or follow international law news sites and blogs you couldn’t have not heard about…

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Sunday Smack

Happy Sunday and greetings from rainy London! At least they predict it to be rainy during this weekend, but at the time I am writing this (scheduled post alert) I am still hoping they are wrong! Anyway, we are going to attend, uhm… we have attended The Queen’s Birthday Parade on Saturday, and then spend a pleasant weekend strolling around in my favorite city ever. Come rain or come shine. So here’s what I’ve been reading while preparing for the trip… To Really Improve the Lives of Syrian Refugees, Turkey and the World Must Cooperate Better Turkey will unchangeably  remain…

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united-nations: We are here to shape a different future. Today we declare: We are one humanity, with a shared responsibility. Let us resolve here and now not only to keep people alive, but to give people a chance at life in dignity. – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, Turkey. Follow the action as the Summit continues on Tuesday at: http://webtv.un.org/

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Sunday Smack

Happy Sunday! And happy Mother’s Day for all the mothers (mine especially! ♥), as we are celebrating it on the first Sunday of May on this side of the pond. Speaking of which, happy May too! That’s a whole lot of happy occasions! 🙂 And these are for your reading pleasure today: What the Failure of the Geneva Talks Means Forcing Assad to step down might be an uneasy task to say the least, but finding a worthy and capable successor proves even more difficult. One Europe, from the Arctic to Lampedusa Why I have only recently come across Federica…

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Sunday Smack

An Historic Day at the UN 165 member states signed the Paris Agreement on Friday, the first day it was open for signing, which is indeed a new high in the history of multilateral agreements. The EU-Turkey Statement: A Treaty That Violates Democracy (Part 1 of 2) and (Part 2 of 2) We knew that this agreement is wrong on so many levels. Here is another great publication about it. What Does it Mean to Sponsor Terrorism? I think the list of states that directly or indirectly “sponsor” terrorism is too long, and this article only scratches the surface.

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Sunday Smack

Happy Sunday and happy reading! The USA Sets Sights on Stopping UN Peacekeeper Sexual Abuse It’s about time to make this a priority. Hopefully the next Secretary General in alliance with the most powerful veto-holding member state can show some results. The Surprising Success of Syria’s Quasi-Ceasefire This is just one of the positive signs we see today, but the end is still nowhere in sight.  Refugees in ISIS’ Shadow This great New York Times op-ed (complete with a video) was written by Bono, who by the way, also testified to the US Congress this week about his experiences visiting…

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Sunday Smack

Happy Sunday! Despite all promises, I am not being very active here these days. I am having a very intense, as well as very exciting time profession-wise. Once I settle with at least a fairly consistent workload, I hope to transfer all I have learned and gained there to here, this blog that I still want to build as a creative outlet of my professional self. I don’t make any promises anymore, but I really do hope it is going to be soon. Until then, let’s move on to the next one of our regular Sunday reading sessions. The EU-Turkey…

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Sunday Smack

Happy Easter, everybody! A photo posted by Katalin Tarjan (@katalintarjan) on Mar 27, 2016 at 6:33am PDT After a week like this, I wish everybody to be safe wherever you are! Today’s reads are not at all pleasant, let’s get to them… What the Brussels Attacks Tell Us About the State of ISIS and Europe Today There are tons of analysis to read on the topic these days. It certainly cannot be said that the Belgian intelligence  were not preparing for an attack like this. Yet they were not prepared. I hate to say this, but since this seems to…

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Sunday Smack

Happy first Sunday of Advent! How can it be Advent already, when I feel like I have just returned from summer vacation, is beyond me. But it is. There is only one month left for our 2015 goals, and time to think about new ones for the new year! The year in world affairs is far from being over yet, though. One of the most important diplomatic events of 2015 kicks off tomorrow in Paris. UN member states will gather in Paris in the next two weeks for the UN conference on climate change. Long negotiations are to be expected,…

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NATO Foreign Ministers discuss boosting cooperation with EU, other partners

NATO Foreign Ministers discuss boosting cooperation with EU, other partners Now, some serious news about the NATO summit this week… Allies must build closer cooperation with partners and organisations like the European Union, to better address the security challenges to the east and south, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday (14 May 2015). “The challenges we all face demand a comprehensive response, so all of us need to work even closer together,” he said at the end of a two-day meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers in Antalya, Turkey. 

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