• Turkish election gains hailed as ‘milestone for Kurdish people’

    The former prime minister of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region hailed the gains made by the Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) in the Turkish elections as “a milestone for Kurdish people”.

    The Kurdish party has for the first time won enough votes to enter the Turkish parliament and is being hailed as a watershed moment in Turkish politics.

    Barham Salih, the former premier of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region, said “not long ago, Kurds were officially nonexistent, at best identified as mountain Turks”. “After decades of denial and persecution, the time for the Kurds has arrived,” he added.

    The victory comes as HDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtas accusedthe government of having links to the violence that erupted across Kurdish regions this week.

    Relations have remained strained with the Turkish government, with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan accusing Western nations of backing the Kurdish “terrorists”, whilst bombing Turkmen and Arabs in Syria.

    "The West, which has shot Arabs and Turkmens, is unfortunately placing the PYD (the political wing of the YPG) and PKK in lieu of them," said Mr Erdogan in a speech.

  • FARC militants attack Colombian electricity pylons amidst stumbling negotiations
    FARC militants in Colombia attacked energy pylons in the southern province amidst stalling peace talks.

    The militant group pulled out of a ceasefire with the government three weeks ago, after Colombian air strikes killed a senior FARC negotiator.

  • ICC delegation to visit Israel at end of month
    A delegation from the prosecutor’s office of the International Criminal Court  is due to arrive in Israel at the end of the month as part of a preliminary investigation into whether war crimes and crimes against humanity were committed in occupied Palestinian territories.

    An independent atto

  • UN peacekeepers ‘trade sex for food’ in Haiti
    A UN report found that members of the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti abused and sexually exploited women by trading sex for food and medicine, reports the Associated Press.

    The draft report by the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services said peacekeepers engaged in “transactional sex” with more than 225 Haitian women.

    “For rural women, hunger, lack of shelter, baby care items, medication and household items were frequently cited as the ‘triggering need,’” said the report. It also acknowledged that there is “significant underreporting” noting that a third of alleged sexual abuse involves people younger than 18.
  • Serb Republic slams UK draft resolution on Srebrenica genocide
    The prime minister of Bosnia's autonomous Serb Republic slammed a move by the United Kingdom to draft a resolution at the United Nations to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide and reflect on the failure of the United Nations to prevent it.

    Zeljka Cvijanovic said the move was "an attack" on Serbs adding, "when judging such initiatives, you have to consider whether it is stabilising or destabilising the situation here," 

    Serbia’s foreign minister Ivica Dacic also commented on the drafting of a resolution, saying "paying tribute to the victims of any crime, including the crime in Srebrenica, is not an issue,” but added "We expect the world to treat the crimes committed against Serbs in the same way”.

    "The UK is leading on the drafting of a UN Security Council resolution to mark the 20th anniversary of the genocide in Srebrenica," a spokesperson from the British mission to the United Nations told AFP on Tuesday.

    "This is also an occasion for the international community to reflect on the lessons learned from one of the darkest moments in UN history and reaffirm our determination to prevent genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes," the spokesperson added.
  • Bosnian massacre survivors continue call for justice
    Survivors of the 1992 Zvornik massacre continued to call for prosecutions of those who carried out war crimes, as they marked 23 years since the killing of hundreds of civilians by Bosnian Serb forces.

    “Zvornik was one of the first areas in Bosnia where we had mass crimes [during the 1992-95 war],” said Ahmet Grahic, president of the Association of Families of Prisoners and Missing Persons. “As the families of those who were killed, we wanted these crimes to be prosecuted.”

    More than 190 men were killed by Bosnian Serb forces and aligned paramilitary fighters on June 8 1992. A Belgrade court has sentenced 7 people in 3 cases so far for crimes committed in Zvornik, with a fourth case pending. However, no senior commanders have yet faced trial for the massacre.

    “We had some trials in Belgrade, and there we had two or three trials for Zvornik, but those were for crimes in [detention] camps, but other crimes, mass killings, we had none for those,” added Mr Grahic.
  • US overturns controversial Jerusalem passport law

    The US Supreme Court has overturned legislation passed in 2002, which allowed US citizens born in Jerusalem to enter their country of birth as Israel.

    The court said Congress went “too far” in passing the law. The law went against the policy of the State Department, which does not list Israel as the place of birth for Jerusalem-born Americans.

  • Turkey recalls ambassador to Brazil after recognition of Armenian genocide
    The Turkish government announced it was recalling its ambassador to Brazil following a decision by the Brazilian senate to recognise the mass killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire a century ago as genocide.

    Turkey stated that their ambassador had been recalled for consultations and also said it had summoned Brazil’s ambassador to Ankara over the senate decision.
  • Police kill 12 in Jharkand

    Indian police have shot and killed 12 people, including three children, at a security checkpoint in the jungles of Jharkand.

    The security forces opened fire on a vehicle approaching a checkpoint, which was established after the police received a tip-off that CPI (Maoist) rebels were planning to extort money from local miners.

    Police said the dead wore the olive green uniforms of the Maoist rebels and were armed.

    “There were three children, aged 14-15 years, among those killed in the encounter,” Director General of Police Jharkhand, DK Pandey said. “They are poisoning innocent minds.”

  • UK to draft UN Security Council Resolution on Srebrenica genocide
    The UK will draft a UN Security Council resolution to mark next month’s 20th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre, reports Reuters.

    The British Ambassador to Bosnia, commenting on the resolution on Tuesday, said,

  • AKP loses majority as Kurdish party gains seats

    The elections in Turkey saw the ruling AKP party of president Recep Tayyip Erdogan lose its majority, resulting in a hung parliament.

    The party received 41% of the vote in the polls, which saw a turnout of 86%.

    The president has called on all parties to "preserve the atmosphere of stability" in Turkey.

  • UN Commission of Inquiry finds Eritrean government responsible for crimes against humanity
    The United Nations accused Eritrea of committing crimes against humanity in a report in to human rights abuses released at the United Nations Human Rights Council on Monday.
  • US backs Israel over Gaza air strikes
    The United States has come out in support of Israel as it launched fresh air strikes in the Gaza strip on Sunday.

    The strikes were in response to rocket fire from Gaza, which the Islamic State affiliated Omar Brigades claimed responsibility for. The rocket fire and subsequent air strikes have both reportedly caused no casualties, as of yet.
  • ‘Borders change daily’ says Israeli minister on Golan Heights

    Israel’s security cabinet minister Naftali Bennett called on the international community to recognise Israeli sovereignty over the contested Golan Heights, which lies between Syria and Israel.

  • Russia sanctions must stay - US and Germany

    President Barack Obama and Chancellor Angela Merkel say sanction on Russia, imposed due to the Ukraine crisis, must remain until a deal to end the fighting is implemented.

    The two leaders met during the G7 economic summit, currently ongoing in southern Germany.

    The White House issued a statement after Mr Obama's talks with Ms Merkel, saying: "The duration of sanctions should be clearly linked to Russia's full implementation of the Minsk agreements and respect for Ukraine's sovereignty."

    Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that Russia was not a threat and had "other things to worry about".

    He told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera: "Only an insane person and only in a dream can imagine that Russia would suddenly attack Nato.

    The European Union's President of the Council of Ministers, Donald Tusk, also signalled a toughening of sanctions in a statement at the G7, while EU sanctions are due to expire at the end of July.

    "If anyone wants to start a debate about changing the sanctions regime, the discussion could only be about strengthening it."

    Prime Minister David Cameron said he was hopeful that there would be a united front to ensure that sanctions were "rolled over" despite admitting that "sanctions are having an impact on all of us".

Subscribe to International Affairs