Pirates kill sailor, kidnap 15 off Nigeria on Turkish ship

The ship was sailing through the most dangerous sea in the world for piracy when it was attacked

Armed men killed an Azerbaijani sailor and abducted 15 Turkish crew members from a Turkish cargo ship off the coast of Nigeria, Turkey’s Anadolu news agency reported Sunday.

That left three crew members to sail the Liberian-flagged Mozart owned by a Turkish company, the state agency said. 

Turkish news channel NTV spoke to a sailor still on board who said several crew members were wounded.

The Mozart had been en route from the Nigeria’s economic capital Lagos to Cape Town in South Africa when it was boarded on Saturday. It has now arrived at Port-Gentil in nearby Gabon.

“We have established the necessary contacts with all the countries concerned for the release of our nationals,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on NTV.

“The bandits, the pirates who abducted our citizens have not contacted us yet. These pirates make contact at some point to communicate their demands,” he added.

Earlier, a voice from the Mozart — purportedly that of the new captain — had said on a recording posted on Twitter: “I do not know where I am heading. The pirates cut the cables, only the radar is working.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke by telephone to the new captain and was following events closely, his office said.

Ten sailors who were taken hostage from a Turkish vessel off West Africa were released in August 2019.

Pirate attacks on ships worldwide jumped 20 percent last year driven by a record spate of kidnappings off West Africa, the International Maritime Bureau said last week.

A total of 195 incidents of piracy and armed robbery were reported, up from 162 in 2019.

Out of 135 sailors abducted globally last year, 130 were recorded in the Gulf of Guinea — the highest ever number of crew members kidnapped in the area stretching thousands of kilometres (miles) from Senegal to Angola.

 

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U.S. to sanction Turkey over Russian defense system - sources

The United States is poised to impose sanctions on Turkey over its acquisition last year of Russian S-400 air defense systems, four sources including two U.S. officials told Reuters on Thursday, a move likely to worsen already problematic ties between the two NATO allies.

 

FILE PHOTO: A view shows a new S-400 "Triumph" surface-to-air missile system after its deployment at a military base outside the town of Gvardeysk near Kaliningrad, Russia March 11, 2019. REUTERS/Vitaly Nevar

The long-anticipated step, which is likely to infuriate Ankara and severely complicate relations with the incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden, could be announced any day, sources said.

The sanctions would target Turkey’s Presidency of Defence Industries and its head, Ismail Demir, sources have said. Several sources said they were expecting the announcement on Friday but one said it could come any day and perhaps as soon as Thursday.

The Turkish lira weakened following the news. U.S. sanctions could harm a Turkish economy already struggling with a coronavirus-induced slowdown, double-digit inflation and badly depleted foreign reserves.

A senior Turkish official said sanctions would backfire and hurt ties between the two NATO members.

“Sanctions would not achieve a result but be counter-productive. They would harm relations,” the official said.

“Turkey is in favour of solving these problems with diplomacy and negotiations. We won’t accept one-sided impositions,” he said.

To be sure, the U.S. State Department could alter its plans and widen or narrow the scope of planned sanctions against Turkey, a NATO ally for decades.

However, sources said the announcement of the sanctions in their current form was imminent and suggested the United States -- after long waiting for Turkey to change course in the face of U.S. warnings about sanctions requirements under the law -- was out of patience and finally ready to act.

The Pentagon referred questions on any potential sanctions to the State Department. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Russia delivered the ground-to-air S-400s last year and Turkey tested them as recently as October. Ankara said they would not be integrated into NATO systems and pose no threat, and has called for a joint working group on the issue.

But the United States has stressed that the S-400 poses a threat regardless, and went so far as to announce last year that it was removing Turkey from the F-35 fighter jet program over Ankara’s decision.

Lockheed Martin’s F-35 stealth fighter jet is the most advanced aircraft in the U.S. arsenal and is used by NATO members and other U.S. allies.

 

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Turkey targets Somalia for oil drilling

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (AFP)

ANKARA: Turkey is to drill for oil off the shores of Somalia after an invitation from the Horn of Africa nation to explore its seas, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. 

Somalia adopted a new petroleum law last week to attract further foreign investment in the energy field, and opened up 15 blocks for oil companies that are willing to explore the country’s hydrocarbon potential.

Turkey has been increasing its footprint in Somalia, especially since 2011 when it began providing the country with humanitarian aid to tackle a famine problem, and is also signing energy and resource deals with African countries.

It will start exploring for gas in the eastern Mediterranean this year after signing a maritime agreement with Libya, and has a deal with Niger to carry out mineral research and exploration activities.

“There is a proposal from Somalia,” Erdogan said on Monday. “They are saying: ‘There is oil in our seas. You are carrying out these operations with Libya, but you can also do them here.’ This is very significant for us.” Turkish engineers are carrying out infrastructure work in Somalia, but contractors are increasingly being targeted in terror attacks.

Local forces have been trained by Turkish officers at a military base that was built by Turkey in the Somali capital Mogadishu.

Ibrahim Nassir, an Africa analyst from Ankara-based think tank Ankasam, said the Somali drilling offer might be payback for some of the reconstruction work and humanitarian aid. But he also suggested that Somalia might be using Turkey as a counterbalance against its regional rivals.

FASTFACT

Turkey has been increasing its footprint in Somalia, especially since 2011 when it began providing the country with humanitarian aid to tackle a famine problem, and is also signing energy and resource deals with African countries. 

“The dispute over maritime territory in the Indian Ocean between Kenya and Somalia might result in security risks during drilling activities, and some armed groups may be used to prevent Ankara from proceeding with hydrocarbon exploitation,” he told Arab News.

Jędrzej Czerep, a senior analyst at the Polish Institute of International Affairs, said that Turkish oil extraction from Somalia could be presented as stealing national wealth.

“That would expose the Turks to greater risks both on the mainland and at sea where Al-Shabab is using motor ships. It could also divide the growing Somali diaspora in Istanbul or even radicalize some of its members,” he told Arab News.

An unstable political situation in Somalia could expose Turkey further, according to Atlantic Council senior associate Charles Ellinas. The third Turkey-Africa Partnership Summit is set to be held in April in Turkey.

“It is not just the short term one should be worried about,” he told Arab News. “It is also the longer term. It takes something like 20 years to recover the investment from an oilfield. And during that period oil sales must be maintained. As things stand, with a very unstable political environment, upheavals in Somalia over such a period are quite likely.”

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Nigerian daily names Erdogan Muslim Personality of 2019

Turkish president named Global Muslim Personality by Nigerian Islamic newspaper for second straight year

By Gokhan Kavak

A Nigerian Islamic newspaper rated Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan “Global Muslim Personality of 2019,” praising him Friday for standing up for the rights of Muslims worldwide.

Publisher of Muslim News Nigeria, Rasheed Abubakar, said the choice of Erdogan was "undisputable" for the influence and power he wields within the Muslim world and in the international community.

"Due to his undisputable influence and power within the Muslim world and in the international community, Erdogan took the first place in this year as well," Abubakar said of the Turkish leader who was also named the winner in 2018.

Mentioning that Turkish president always stands with suffering people, he said that Erdogan always rises his voice on Syria, Myanmar, Kashmir and Palestine.

Abubakar also noted Erdogan's effort at Kuala Lumpur Summit for the unity of Muslims.

Erdogan emerged on top of the ratings that included influential Muslim figures, including Malaysian leader Mahathir Bin Mohamad, Somali-origin U.S. Muslim congresswoman Ilhan Omar, Gambian President Adama Barrow and German-Turkish footballer Mesut Ozil.

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Turkey to open TVET school in Rwanda

Turkish Ambassador to Rwanda, Burcu Çevik. / File

Turkey will establish a new Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) school in Rwanda, the Turkish Ambassador Burcu Çevik has revealed.

The envoy who was speaking to Sunday Times in an exclusive interview on Friday said the school will provide quality education to Rwandans.

"We want to open a school in Kigali to provide technical and vocational training. We believe this is important because Rwanda is also relying on its human resources who require quality skills," she noted.

"This is just a plan now but we hope it will materialize" given the discussions that have already taken place between Turkish and Rwandan officials.

The Maarif Foundation conducts such educational activities on behalf of the Turkish Government. The Foundation is a Turkish institution under the Education Ministry which runs hundreds of schools across the world with the support of Turkish public money.

Maarif wants to open a similar school in Rwanda.

Çevik said a delegation from the foundation will visit Rwanda in December to kick start technical negotiations, which will eventually pave way for the opening of the school.

Rwanda has, for the past few years, embarked on investing in and promoting TVETs as alternative institutions providing hands-on skills required for the job market. 

Turkey, on the other hand, is known as one of the countries that are most advanced in implementing TVET.

The Ambassador said Turkey would contribute its expertise within that area, and that with the introduction of the school, more Rwandans who are unable to go to Turkey would access education.

Currently, Turkey provides scholarships to Rwandan students. Last year, 45 students went to study in Turkey and this year 35 also got the opportunity.

The Maarif Foundation has been taking over the educational institutions of the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), after the group orchestrated a coup attempt on July 15, 2016, which resulted in the killings of hundreds of people, and left others injured.

In Rwanda, Hope Kids Academy, which was linked to the group, was closed down in 2017 at the request of the Turkish Government.

The planned TVET School will be completely different from the previous school, the Ambassador said.

Rwanda is attracting international academic institutions that provide a quality education that is desperately needed to position the country into a knowledge-based economy.

Already, it is home to widely recognized institutions like Carnegie Mellon University, African Leadership University, Oklahoma University, and the African Institute of Mathematical Sciences, and others.

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