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A senior British lawmaker on Tuesday described the profound service to democracy around the world performed by Turks who resisted the July 2016 coup attempt.

Crispin Blunt, chairman of the U.K. parliaments Foreign Affairs Committee, hailed the success of last weeks visit to Turkey by the committee.

The parliamentarians met President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Blunt praised the very good level of access given by Turkish officials.

We were very pleased with the attention we got in Turkey, Blunt told Anadolu Agency. We had the opportunity to meet with the president for 90 minutes, which is very unusual for a parliamentary committee to get that length of time from a head of state.

The cross-party committee was taken to see the damage done to the Turkish parliamenton the night of the coup attempt.

We were able to get a sense of the profound shock that would have been in Turkey at the coup, he said.

Julys coup bid resulted in 248 people being martyred as elements of the military took to the streets in Ankara and Istanbul in an attempt to overthrow the government. They were defeated after ordinary people heeded Erdogans plea to challenge the pro-coup troops.

The president did include in his presentation to us a seven minute video showing us some of the events of the 15th and 16th July and some of the courage of the people on the streets helping face down that coup, Blunt said.

In that sense both President Erdogan and the people who came down to support him did a profound service to democracy around the world.

Blunt was speaking before the announcement that Prime Minister Theresa May is to visit Ankara on Saturday to meet Erdogan and Yildirim.

He said committee members had raised the possibility of restarting the peace process with the PKK terror group, which returned to its armed campaign in July 2015 following a two-year break in violence.

Of course, this is Turkeys internal politics, Blunt said, adding that it could allow Turkey and the international community to focus on eliminating the principle threat to us, which of course is ISIL and al-Qaeda.

See the article here:
Top UK lawmaker praises Turkish 'service to democracy' - http://www.worldbulletin.net

Soldiers from the Gambia greet Ecowas troops in Farafenni. Photograph: Seyllou/AFP/Getty Images

West African troops entered the Gambias capital, Banjul, on Sunday, to cheers from the citys residents, a Reuters witness said, as part of efforts to allow the new president, Adama Barrow, to take office after the countrys former ruler fled overnight.

Yahya Jammeh, who led the Gambia for 22 years but refused to accept defeat in a December election, flew out of Banjul late on Saturday en route to Equatorial Guinea as the regional force was poised to remove him. A convoy of around 15 vehicles, including armoured personnel carriers mounted with heavy machine guns and pick-up trucks full of soldiers, rolled down one Banjul street in the late afternoon, according to a Reuters journalist who saw them.

City residents lined the road, applauding and shouting thank you as the soldiers smiled and waved back. Troops were later seen entering the presidential compound, State House.

The regional operation began late on Thursday after Barrow was sworn in as president at the Gambias embassy in neighbouring Senegal, but it was halted hours later to give Jammeh one last chance to leave peacefully. His departure followed two days of negotiations led by Guineas president, Alpha Cond, and Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz of Mauritania, prompting speculation over what, if any, terms were agreed to convince him to step down.

Speaking on a Senegalese radio station, RFM, Barrow denied that Jammeh had been offered immunity from prosecution in exchange for leaving the country. He wanted to stay in the Gambia. We said we couldnt guarantee his security and said that he should leave, Barrow said.

Earlier in the day, the African Union and United Nations published a document on behalf of these two organisations and the regional organisation, the Economic Community of West African States. In it, they pledged, among other things, to protect Jammehs rights as a citizen, a party leader and a former head of state to prevent the seizure of property belonging to him and his allies, and to ensure he can eventually return to the Gambia.

Barrow, speaking on RFM, said the document did not constitute a binding agreement and said that upon initial inspection it appeared Jammeh had looted state resources. According to information we received, there is no money in the coffers. Its what we have been told, but the day we actually take office we will clarify all of it.

Jammehs loss in the 1 December poll and his initial acceptance of the result were celebrated across the tiny nation by Gambians who had grown weary of his increasingly authoritarian rule. But he reversed his position a week later, creating a standoff with regional neighbours who demanded he step down.

West African troops from Senegal, Nigeria, Ghana and Mali were deploying throughout the Gambia on Sunday. Barrow did not say when he would return to the Gambia but said it would be soon. At a press conference in Banjul, his spokesman, Halifa Sallah, said a military aide would be sent on Monday to determine if security conditions permit the presidents return.

Two Senegalese military officers said the multi-national force had met no resistance from the Gambian army as they advanced on Sunday. Rights groups accuse Jammeh of jailing, torturing and killing his political opponents while acquiring a vast fortune including luxury cars and an estate in the United States as most of his people remained impoverished.

The repression has forced thousands of Gambians to seek asylum abroad over the years. An additional 45,000 people fled to Senegal amid growing fears of unrest in the wake of last months election, according to the UN. Hundreds of Gambians carrying sacks, suitcases and cooking pots began returning by ferry from Senegals Casamance region on Sunday.

Hawa Jagne, 22, a cloth trader, hugged her sister Fama as she stepped off the boat. Im so relieved to see her, Jagne said. Everyone is free. You can do whatever you want, because this is a democratic country. You can express yourself. No one can kill you.

Continued here:
The Gambia awaits new era of democracy under Adama Barrow - The Guardian

Chinas state media used Donald Trumps inauguration as U.S. president to warn about the perils of democracy, touting the relative stability of the Communist system as President Xi Jinping heads toward a twice-a-decade reshuffle of senior leadership posts.

With ministries and senior officials stressing unity as a priority for China, smoothing the path for the partys congress in the fourth quarter, state media were quick to highlight divisions within America shown by Trumps elevation, without necessarily directly referencing the new president.

Democracy has reached its limits, and deterioration is the inevitable future of capitalism, according to the Peoples Daily, the flagship paper of Chinas Communist Party. It devoted an entire page on Sunday to critiquing Western democracies, quoting former Chairman Mao Zedongs 1949 poem asking people to "range far your eyes over long vistas" and saying the ultimate defeat of capitalism would enable Communism to emerge victorious.

The unusual series of commentaries in the Peoples Daily mirrors Soviet efforts to promote an alternative political and economic system during the Cold War. The rise of anti-establishment, protectionist politicians like Trump, amid populist winds on several continents, has sent political parties scurrying to shore up their support, helping China to portray itself as relatively steady.

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Read more: Xi preaches openness abroad while clamping down at home

"Chinas rising wealth has brought greater global presence, but thats not enough," said Zhang Ming, a political science professor at Renmin University in Beijing. The Communist leaders want that someday China will matter globally for the nature of its political system and create its own universal values.

The commentaries came after Trump in his inauguration speech said his administration would focus on an America first approach to foreign policy, undermining hopes abroad that the new president would moderate his protectionist tone. His pledge to abandon a U.S.-led Pacific trade pact has helped China step in to advocate for an alternative Asia-wide deal.

The 58th presidential inauguration in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 20.

Photographer: Ricky Carioti/Bloomberg

The official Xinhua News Agency congratulated Trump and said it hoped for "win-win" cooperation. An editorial in the state-backed China Daily said the countries should work toward "an updated, more desirable version of globalization."

Still, the Peoples Daily also used Trumps inauguration weekend to tout the benefits of Chinas political system. "The emergence of capitalisms social crisis is the most updated evidence to show the superiority of socialism and Marxism," it said.

"Western style democracy used to be a recognized power in history to drive social development. But now it has reached its limits," said another article on the same page. "Democracy is already kidnapped by the capitals and has become the weapon for capitalists to chase profits."

Xi during his term has called for strengthened confidence in Chinas communist system. Most recently, Chinas top judge called on his cohorts to absolutely not fall into the trap of false Western ideas such as judicial independence, separation of powers and constitutionalism.

Trumps policies are giving China a chance to take a bigger global role, said Zhang.

"China doesnt have a better Communist system than it used to have, but the global economic and political turmoil has undermined public confidence in western democracy," he said.

Still, China faces several difficulties, including questions about its rule of law and own governance among foreign companies operating there. While it has gained greater military and economic clout in Asia, it is also embroiled in territorial disputes in the East China Sea and South China Sea that have undercut its efforts to build its soft power in the region.

For Xi there is also the risk of a trade war with the Trump administration and a dispute over Chinas currency, Li Daokui, a former adviser to the Peoples Bank of China, said at a forum in Beijing in December at Tsinghua University.

"There will be several rounds of battles and China needs to be ready to think about solutions in areas that he may initiate battles," said Li, now a professor at Tsinghua. "I believe China is ready for the battles. Without going through the wars, its impossible for other nations to respect Chinas stance, and its impossible for China to become a global leader."

With assistance by Rosalind Mathieson, and Keith Zhai

Read the original:
China Slams Western Democracy as Flawed - Bloomberg

President Donald TrumpDonald TrumpTrump team won't move embassy to Jerusalem quickly: report GOP senators to introduce ObamaCare replacement plan Top Dem comes out against Tillerson ahead of key vote MORE's aide, Kellyanne Conway, said in an interview broadcast Sunday that the poor coverage the president received before assuming office has had a negative effect on the country's democracy.

"He has just absorbed an unprecedented qualitatively and quantitatively unprecedented deluge of negative criticism and coverage that's frankly unfair and a little bit dangerous to our democracy," Conway said on "Sunday Today."

"You know, the question for everyone who covers him and who thinks about him is: What is the line between thoughtful criticism and skepticism and, you know, flat out denial and delegitimization of what just happened?"

Conway said she's concerned about "how the poll numbers got there."

"If this man got a much higher percent of that as a vote than the number of people say they approve, I'm concerned that we're just not we all love our country, and we all love our democracy," she said.

She drew a distinction between the coverage of former President Obama before he assumed office eight years ago and the coverage of Trump.

"It's embarrassing. And it's disproportionate," she said.

"And I just believe if people can take a deep breath and watch him progress, I actually think those poll numbers will change when he starts making amazing progress for people."

Trump and his team often rail on the media, accusing reporters of biased and dishonest coverage against him.

On Saturday, a day after the president was sworn into office, he again took a shot at the media, claiming the press was lying about the crowd size at his inauguration.

Read more:
Conway: 'Unprecedented' negative coverage of Trump 'unfair to our democracy' - The Hill

THE NEXT CHAPTER in American history is playing out before our eyes. It began Friday on the Capitol steps with the inauguration of President Trump, and it continued yesterday on the streets of Washington and other cities around the country and the world. Rita Braver reports on one part of our Cover Story:

Madonnas mini-concert may have been a surprise. But so was the turnout for this event.

And they seemed to come from everywhere: Louisville, Hartford, Conn., Detroit, Northern California, Lake George, Colo. One man said, Im from Ohio, and Im here because I have a lot of women in my life that I love.

Demonstrators protest on the National Mall for the Womens March on Washington, January 21, 2017. Hundreds of thousands of protesters spearheaded by womens rights groups demonstrated across the U.S. and the world to send a defiant message to President Donald Trump.

ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP/Getty Images

And their reasons for being here had a common theme:

One woman said, Im here for womens rights and because I have a daughter and Im looking out for her future.

Another said, I want to show America that love still trumps hate.

Its time to speak out on why we are all so, so alarmed by our new president, said another.

And though this was not called an anti-Trump march, there was a point to the sea of pink hats.

Theyre called pussy hats, said one woman.

What do you think is the reason for them? she was asked.

Its because of what Donald Trump said about grabbing women without their consent. Which is not OK.

And up on the stage, were speakers like veteran womens rights activist Gloria Steinem, an honorary March Co-Chair (You look great! I wish you could see yourselves. Its like an ocean).

Steinem got right to the political point: Trump and his handlers have found a fox for every chicken coup, and a Twitter finger must not become a trigger finger.

The event was called in part because of concern among women about the possible erosion of rights they have spent generations working to achieve.

Cecile Richards, the president of Planned Parenthood, told the crowd, One of us can be dismissed. Two of us can be ignored. But together, were a movement.

The speeches went on for more than three hours, featuring everyone from Californias first minority woman Senator Kamal Harris (Theres nothing more powerful and we cannot be dismissed. Its going to get harder before it gets easier, and we will keep fighting no matter what because we have the power), to wounded veteran, now U.S. Senator from Illinois, Tammy Duckworth (I did not give up literally parts of my body so that we can give up our rights), to event co-chair Linda Mansour (I am unapologetically Muslim American. I am unapologetically Palestinian-American), to six-year-old Sophie Cruz, the daughter of undocumented immigrants (Let us fight with love, faith and courage so our families will not be destroyed).

But it was not just in Washington. There were sister marches in scores of cities around the world, with speakers calling for mass movement that will protect womens rights, and elect officials who will help.

But can one day of marches make a major difference?

The marches of the sixties on civil rights led to the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act, said University of Connecticut political science professor Paul Herrnson, who studies mass movements. The marches and protests on Vietnam also had an impact. Lyndon Johnson decided not to seek his partys presidential nomination for another term as a result of those marches.

But Herrnson says there is another key ingredient: The follow-up.

You know, American politics is really about sustained interest and sustained pressure. Its about organizing. Its about making sure that, over time, policymakers hear what you have to say and get the sense that you are determined.

I am woman -- hear me roar!

Speakers today vowed that this was only the beginning, and though it was the stars that stole much of the spotlight, like Alicia Keys (This girl is on fire!), it will be the rank-and-file who determine whether this is a one-day flash-in-the-pan a day that included a chance for marchers to jeer at President Trumps motorcade as it sped into the White House.

At the very least, for those who put their shoe leather and their hearts into the event, it will be a day that made history.

Protesters gather near the White House during the Womens March on Washington, January 21, 2017.

Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images

For more info:

Link:
What democracy looks like: Women's March on Washington - CBS News