Egypt

Why the Coronavirus Should Worry Us All

Inter Press Service, by Dr. Ifeanyi Nsofor 

Dr. Ifeanyi Nsofor is a medical doctor, the CEO of EpiAFRIC, Director of Policy and Advocacy for Nigeria Health Watch

Colorized scanning electron micrograph of MERS virus particles (yellow) both budding and attached to the surface of infected VERO E6 cells (blue). Credit: NIAID

ABUJA, Jan 21 2020 (IPS) - The coronavirus outbreak — which began in Wuhan, China, and causes a pneumonia-like illness — is raging across Asia, infecting close to 300 people and killing four. It was initially known to be transmitted from animals to human, and was just confirmed to be transmitted from human to human.

The rapid nature of its origin and speed in transmission reminds us that national security is threatened when a pathogen can travel from a remote village to major cities on all continents in 36 hours. Therefore, global health security should be given the same priority as national security.

The history of infectious disease outbreak is not new. In 1918, the Spanish flu pandemic infected about 500 million people globally (a third of world’s population then) and caused the death of 20 million to 50 million victims.

The 2014 -2015 Ebola outbreak in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone infected 28,000 and killed over 11,000. By the end of the West Africa Ebola outbreak, the three nations lost a combined GDP of $2.8 billion.

Infectious diseases continue to be a huge problem. Of recent, Ebola and measles outbreaks in DRC have killed 2236 and over 6,000 respectively.

This Corona virus outbreak is happening during the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday as millions travel to visit with loved ones in country and travel abroad, making the current threat a global one. Most urgently, all countries must collaborate to contain this outbreak now

The ease of travel in today’s global community means the world must always be prepared for disease outbreaks. It is no longer whether an infectious disease outbreak would happen but when.

Globally, 100,000 aircraft carry millions of passengers from one city to the other daily. A visit to flightradar24.com puts this in perspective and shows how interconnected countries are.

International borders really do not protect against infectious disease outbreaks. This is why governments, national public health institutes, communities, private sector and global health actors must act rapidly to contain this outbreak and others happening elsewhere.

Also, processes must be put in place to prevent future outbreaks. These are four interventions to ensure response and prevention happen.

First, increased screening at international borders using computerized thermal cameras should be intensified. No one should be exempt from this screening no matter how highly placed they are.

In 2015, the global health community learnt the hard way the dangers of giving preference to diplomats in the way Patrick Sawyer moved freely from Monrovia to Lagos despite being already infected with Ebola.

That oversight led to a short Ebola outbreak in Nigeria which could have gotten out of hand if not for quick response mounted by Nigerian authorities and other global health organisations. Beyond international air borders, most countries have very porous and poorly manned land borders.

To overcome this challenge, communities along these borders must be properly informed about this current outbreak, its presenting symptoms and who to call when they suspect individual have symptoms.

Second, prepare for the spread of fake news on infectious diseases and be proactive about pushing out the right information to counter it. Community education is very important, especially at this time when the infection is raging. People are scared and can easily fall prey to fake news.

National public health institutes must take charge and disseminate the right information through different channels including TV, radio, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp and community engagements.

The experience with the spread of fake news during the Ebola outbreak in Nigeria in 2015 led to people bathing with salt water because they believed it would stop them from getting infected with Ebola. That fake news led to deaths of two victims.

Third, governments in consultation with national public health institutes should designate specialized centers for handling suspected cases. At the same time, they should provide the necessary drugs for treatment too.

These must be coordinated with staff at ports of entry. There should be no confusion about where to take a suspect case. If a suspected case presents at hospitals, there must be plans to immediately direct the individual to the right part of the hospital to prevent the spread of the infection.

In 2015, while evaluating the African Union response to Ebola in West Africa, I heard firsthand the harmful effect of having hospital security workers who are not well informed. At Saint John of God Hospital in Port Loko District, Sierra Leone, the wrong handling of an Ebola case by a security officer led to deaths of 10 health workers.

Excerpt: Read on via www.ipsnews.net

بالعلم فقط يتساوى الجميع

٢٥ يناير ٢٠٢٠ الاهرام اليومي 

لاختبار نظريتي حول مدى عمق الفجوه بين الطبقات في مصر، كثيرا ما أزعج نساء الطبقة العليا بسؤالهن عما إذا كن يعرفن أي نساء عانين من الختان. مع استيائهن الشديد تكون إجاباتهن دائما بالنفي. لا أقف عند هذا الحد. أسألهن إذا كانوا يدركن أن 87 في المائة من النساء في مصر قد عانين من الختان. عندئذ يصيب هؤلاء النساء الذعر كما لو كن يعشن في بلد آخر، لكنهن يدركن على الفور مدى انفصال الطبقات في مصر

 إذا كانت هؤلاء النساء لا يعرفن أو يصادفن سوى عدد قليل من النساء المختونات وبشكل سطحي فقط، فإنهن يعشن بين 13 في المائة من المصريات ولا يدركن كثيرا عن الـ 87 في المائة من باقي المصريات. السبب الرئيسي لانتهاج الختان، هذا العمل الوحشي، ليس الفقر في حد ذاته ولكنه قلة التعليم التي يعاني منها فئة معينة من المجتمع. عندها فقط يدرك المرء الفجوة بين المتعلمين وغير المتعلمين وأن التعليم أو عدمه هو العامل الرئيسي في قضية الثراء والفقر. في العقود الأربعة الماضية تم إنشاء العديد من المدارس والجامعات الخاصة التي تحتاج رسوما باهظة لا يستطيع دفعها إلا البعض. من مزايا هذه المدارس أنها لا توفر الكفاءة اللغوية للطالب فحسب، بل تحصنه بالاستراتيجيات وتقنيات التعليم الحديثة فيتمتع طلاب هذه المدارس بفرص الإبداع الفني والرياضي والموسيقي. كما أن هذه المدارس تثري الطالب بالمقومات التي تساعده في رفع شأنه والتفكير خارج الصندوق وتوفر له التوعيه والنضج والثقة والمعرفة للمضي قدماً في الحياة. وبما أن التعليم في هذه المدارس مختلط، فالاثنان الطالب والطالبى يتعلمان كيفية التعامل مع الجنس الآخر بطريقة محترمة وكريمه للطرفين. وليس بالصدفة أن معظم كبار الدوله ورؤساء البنوك والمديرين التنفيذيين للشركات ومعظم من يبدع ويخلق تمتع بفرص تعليمية سليمة أعطته الكفاءة التي أوصلته لهذا المستوى. ولأن الأثرياء يتمتعون بفرص تعليمية جيدة، فهم يحصلون على فرص عمل أيضا جيدة ويستمرون في النهوض في المجتمع، وعلى النقيض فبدون التعليم الجيد يبقي الشخص راكدا في نفس المستوى إن لم يكن يتدنى مع الوقت إلى مستوى أقل ليصبح أكثر فقرا. إذن لتحسين مستوى معيشة الفرد المصري لابد من وجود منظومة تعليمية قادرة على تحسين قدراته وتنمية مواهبه وإعطائه فرصة الإبداع والتقدم

في مصر يوجد ٢٣ مليون طالب بمراحل التعليم قبل الجامعي، كما أن إجمالي عدد المدرسين لتلك المرحلة ١,٩ مليون مدرس. تكفي هذه الأرقام لمعرفة ضخامة المشكلة وبالغ خطورتها. ومع ذلك قد بدأت الدولة بخطوات ثابتة لتطوير التعليم. سوف تأخذ المنظومة التعليمية الجديدة سنوات طوالا حتى نجني ثمارها وتصل بنتائجها إلى ذوي الدخل المحدود، لكنها قد بدأت وهو الأهم. نحن بصدد تغيير شامل للمنظومة التعليمية تبدأ من رياض الأطفال حتى الثانوية العامة. تنقسم استراتيجية تطوير التعليم إلى أربعة محاور هي: تطوير نظام التعليم وتعديل الثانوية العامة وفتح المدارس اليابانية والمدارس التكنولوجية بالنسبه للتعليم الفني

لا يسعنا هنا إلا ذكر ما قد حدد لرياض الأطفال لأنها الأساس لبناء البذرة السليمة للإنسان. يتلخص النظام الجديد برياض الأطفال، "في مناهج جديدة تماما، وطريقة تدريس مبتكرة"، وتهدف هذه المناهج لأن يتعود الطفل من الصغر على أن يلغي من ذاكرته فلسفة الحفظ والتلقين، ويكون شخصية مبتكرة مفكرة طموحة تستطيع حل المشاكل والتفكير خارج الصندوق، وأن يكون الطفل أكثر انتماءً لوطنه ويحترم الآخر ولديه روح التعاون مع الجميع، ويتمحور كل ذلك حول "بناء الشخصية المصرية"، وهذا ما ذكرته الهيئة العامة للاستعلامات المصرية

كما وفرت الحكومة المصرية حتى الآن ٣٥ مدرسة تتبع النظام التعليمي الياباني وتستمر في تأسيس هذه المدارس. وتطبق هذه المدارس النموذج الياباني "توكاتسو"، وهذا النموذج هدفه التنمية الشاملة للطفل من جميع الجوانب وتركز على "شخصية الطفل المتمثلة في سلوكياته ومهاراته العقلية، ومن ثم خلق مواطن صالح متزن منتج يعتز بنفسه ويقوم بأدواره في المجتمع لما فيه صالحه الشخصي وصالح المجتمع ككل على حد سواء، ويتحقق ذلك من خلال مجموعة من الأنشطة المرتبطة بالمهارات الحياتية إلى تدرج في الممارسات اليومية داخل المدارس". إن الطلبه الذين ينضمون إلى هذه المدارس المتميزة سوف يجنون الكثير إلا أن مصاريف تلك المدارس في حدود الـ ١١ ألف جنيه سنويا، وبموجب هذا لن يستطيع إلا بالأكثر ذوي الدخل المتوسط الوصول إليها ولن يستفيد منها ذوو الدخل المحدود

 لقد أعطيت للقارئ صورة مبسطة ليس فقط للتمييز الطبقي الواسع في مصر، ولكن أيضًا للدور الذي يلعبه التعليم في تحديد المستويات الاجتماعية. سيؤدي تحسين النظام التعليمي ومعايير المعلم إلى تزويد الطلاب بفرص لخرق السقف الزجاجي، الحاجز غير المرئي الذي يحد من فرص البعض بحكم ظروفهم الاجتماعية. بالتأكيد مع التعليم الجيد سوف يستطيع ذوو الدخل المحدود من سد الفجوة العميقة المتواجدة حاليا واتخاذ الطريق نحو مستوى معيشي أفضل

Ancient wonders minus the crowds – why now is the perfect time for a Nile cruise

The Telegraph, by  Wendy Gomersall (Link: Ancient wonders minus the crowds—why now is the perfect time for a Nile cruise) 

Colourful whirling dervishes in Egypt CREDIT: GETTY

Striding straight past huge images of mysterious lion-, falcon- and crocodile-headed gods gouged into the walls of Kom Ombo temple, Islam, our young Egyptologist, dropped to his knees in the courtyard and beckoned us over. 

Two days into our Nile cruise and we’d already seen two 60ft stone giants called the Colossi of Memnon dating back to 1350BC, and, from 1490BC the Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, Egypt’s sole female pharaoh.

Now, at Kom Ombo temple, founded in 180BC, we gawped at 300 crocodile mummies and the world’s first depictions of surgical instruments –  scalpels, forceps and a birthing chair that made our eyes water. Then we gathered round to see Islam’s latest “find”.

Chiselled into the slab at our feet was a rectangle divided into four and a few rocks. And? Islam explained that what we were seeing is a game, a sort of Ancient Egyptian noughts and crosses played by people waiting for treatment at the local sanitorium, nearly 200 years before Christ was born.

While there is no shortage of wow factors to visit Egypt, it’s these little details that make me return again and again.

MS Tulip CREDIT: DISCOVER EGYPT

Following the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, the country’s tourist industry is enjoying a resurgence, with a 40 per cent increase in visitors reported last year. It’s a good time to go. Shabbier boats have been scrapped or upgraded, and more luxurious options now exist. Tombs and temples are less crowded, and security has been reinforced – I noticed more watchtowers, scanners and police presence at the sights than when I was last here, five years ago. 

For my seventh Nile cruise, I chose the 52-cabin MS Tulip, sailing for seven nights between Luxor and Aswan. With modern, tasteful decor, the cabins were a decent size with, joy, a bath, not just a pokey shower. Food was good and plentiful.

After that, what makes or breaks a Nile cruise is the guide. And we’d struck gold with Islam, who had excellent English, great pride in his heritage and a sense of humour. “Mashi, Mashi?” (okey dokey) was his rallying call for my group of 20. He also knew when we’d had enough history and injected a fun element when we were starting to flag: “What does KFC stand for in Egypt? Kentucky fried camel.” 

The 60ft high Colossi of Memnon CREDIT: GETTY

A morning was earmarked for the tombs of the Valley of the Kings, the colours of the wall paintings still vibrant after thousands of years. Another half-day was spent at the temple at Edfu, dedicated to the falcon-headed god Horus. We took caleches for the 15-minute ride to the entrance. I was happy to see the horses looked healthy again – some operators had stopped using these carriages because the animals were in poor condition.

There was, of course, time to relax. As the boat sailed towards Aswan, I admired the views. The river was edged with green ribbons of vegetation backed by sparkling sand and bare mountains. We sailed past dusty villages and minarets, from which the Muslim call to prayer drifted through the haze. Farmers in long, cool robes (galabeyas) drove donkey carts, water buffalo sheltered in ramshackle sheds, and children splashed, laughing, in the shallows.

There was more laughter at galabeya party night: a tradition on Nile cruises where guests are invited to dress like Egyptians. The fun and games included a belly-dancing contest and wrapping your spouse in loo paper in the make-a-mummy competition. There was also a Nubian show featuring African drum beats and singing, a whirling Dervish-style performance and, naturally, a belly dancer.

Philae Temple, Aswan CREDIT: GETTY

We arrived in Aswan for day five. In the morning we saw High Dam, an incredible feat of modern engineering, and Philae Temple, dedicated to Isis with beautiful wall carvings of the goddess. Next was the Granite Quarry and the Unfinished Obelisk – abandoned when cracks began to appear in the granite. I felt for those ancient stonemasons, all their hard work left in eternal limbo.

There’s one optional extra I’d really recommend: a trip from Aswan to Abu Simbel, £85pp, about three hours away, featuring two temples built by Ramses the Great. 

The afternoon brought a welcome change of pace as we boarded a felucca, a traditional wooden sailing boat.

The penultimate day was just the right time for the relaxing sail back to Luxor. It was fascinating to float past the biblical landscape again – palm trees, white ibis in the reeds, rippling dunes – and wonder how much it has really changed over the past five millennia. A comforting thought.

Energy restored, we answered Islam’s call – “Mashi, Mashi?” – and trotted off for the two final sights: Luxor Temple with its statues of Ramses the Great and ram’s head sphinxes, still being dug out of the ground; and Karnak, with its hall resembling a forest of giant stone trees.

I walked seven times around a giant scarab beetle made of stone – in hope, as the legend goes, my dreams would come true. Finally, I sat in my favourite spot by Karnak’s sacred lake and watched the kingfishers plunging in and out of the water, just as they have done for thousands of years.

Abu Simbel CREDIT: GETTY

Syrians enlist in Libya war day after Berlin talks

Asia Times, by Ahmad Zaza. Link: Syrians enlist in Libya war day after Berlin Talks

Fighters offered $2,000 salaries and Turkish nationality as Ankara seeks to bolster interests in Libya

A convoy of Syrian National Army members arrives in Turkey on October 21, 2019. Photo: Arif Hudaverdi Yaman / Anadolu Agency

On Monday, less than 24 hours after world powers agreed to halt arms shipments to Libya’s warring sides, men in northern Syria were still signing up to fight for the Turkish-backed government in Tripoli.

“The registration of fighters to go to Libya is continuing until this moment,” an Asia Times correspondent in Syria reported Monday afternoon, after visiting one of three recruitment centers in the Turkish-dominated northern countryside of Aleppo.

Approximately 800 Syrian men are currently preparing to go to Libya, an official with Syria’s opposition Ministry of Defense told Asia Times on condition of anonymity.

Those include 500 men from the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army, namely the Muatasim Division, and the Sultan Murad and Sultan Shah Brigades, which are made up of ethnic Turkmen. The recruits also include 300 former rebels.

The opposition Defense Ministry source said these men would be joining “hundreds” of Syrians already deployed by Turkey to the embattled North African nation on three-month contracts. The ministry has previously denied it is sending units to Libya.

“Every man who wants to go fight in Libya gets a monthly salary of $2,000. His family will receive $50,000 if he is killed in battle there, and he will be awarded $35,000 in case of permanent injury,” the source said.

At least 2,000 fighters are currently undergoing training in Turkey or have already been flown to Libya and deployed to frontline positions, according to a January 15 report in the UK newspaper The Guardian.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, while denying the use of Syrian mercenaries, has defended his country’s military involvement in Libya as being carried out at the invitation of the UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA).

Ankara on November 27 signed a military pact with the GNA, as well as a controversial maritime boundary agreement that seeks to carve out an exclusive economic zone from the coast of southern Turkey to the northern shores of oil-rich Libya.

For Turkey, the fall of the government in Tripoli to the rival Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar and his Russian and Emirati allies could jeopardize its claim to offshore gas reserves recently discovered in that zone.

On the eve of peace talks in Berlin, Haftar’s forces sealed off key Libyan ports, blocking oil exports and crippling the country’s main income source in protest at Turkey’s decision to send troops.

Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar salutes during a military parade in the eastern city of Benghazi in this file photo taken in May 2018. Photo: AFP / Abdullah Doma

Rebel to mercenary

For Syrians once set on toppling the regime of Bashar al-Assad – and now trapped between a fortified Turkish border and advancing Syrian troops – fighting on behalf of Turkish interests in Libya offers financial security at minimum, and the possibility of a way out.

Mohammed, a 28-year-old father, says he was motivated to fight in Libya by the prospect of earning dollars after his militia salary was converted to the depreciating Turkish lira.

“After my family and I were displaced to northern Syria, I didn’t find any work, so I joined the Sultan Murad brigade, where I was paid about $150 a month. Then they started paying me only 600 lira (about $105), which was not enough to support my family,” he told Asia Times.

At the end of December, Mohammed registered to go to Libya, and he has been informed he will be deployed in late January. “They also promised me Turkish citizenship,” he said.

Yaqoub, a former rebel from Homs countryside, since displaced with his wife and two children to the northern city of Afrin, on January 13 registered to go fight with the Muatasim division in Libya.

The 30-year-old was told that in early February he would be called up for duty.

“I learned through one of my neighbors, who is a fighter in the Syrian National Army, that there is a monthly salary of $2,000 … and that every fighter or his family will be compensated in the event of injury or death,” Yacoub told Asia Times.

“Because of our poor living conditions here and the lack of work opportunities, I decided to sign up,” he said.

The most prominent Syrian opposition fighter to go to Libya thus far is the commander known as Muatasim Abbas, a veteran of the Muatasim Brigade, who is said to have landed in the country in early December.

For those with significant experience in Syria’s civil war, namely with anti-tank weaponry, the standard compensation for fighting in Libya is Turkish citizenship, according to the opposition Defense Ministry source. For those without significant experience, Ankara has promised to grant their relatives nationality in the event of their death.

When it is time to deploy, fighters are bussed from Syria into Turkey, and from there flown via Adana or Istanbul airports to the Libyan capital.

Syrian National Army fighters present in Libya said they were prevented by Turkish authorities from using their phones on the journey. In recent days, however, an undated video emerged online purporting to show a group of Syrian men headed to Libya on board Libya’s national carrier, Afriqiyah Airways.

An unknown fate

While many Syrian fighters have agreed to go to Libya for various reasons, others expressed their refusal to do so, such as Ahmed, 35, a displaced person who once served as a commander for a Damascus-based rebel faction.

About two weeks ago, he says he received an offer from one of his friends in the Muatasim Division to go to Libya for $2,000 a month. But he refused.

“I took up arms for a higher purpose, which was to protect people and fight against the regime. I did not pick up a weapon to be a mercenary and fight outside Syria,” he said. “If the regime falls, I’d put it back down.”

He called the shifting of fighters to Libya, “a betrayal of the revolution,” especially at a time when the northwest province of Idlib and the neighboring western countryside of Aleppo are facing a Russian-backed onslaught.

“I will not leave to fight in any other country, no matter what they are offering,” Ahmed told Asia Times.

Umm Ammar, a 60-year-old woman forced to flee her home outside Damascus to the Turkish-dominated north, says her son left to go fight in Libya against her wishes.

“Frankly I do not want my son to be a mercenary or to die in a foreign land,” she told Asia Times.

“When my son told me of his intention to go to Libya, I begged him not to go, but he insisted in order to achieve his goal of obtaining Turkish citizenship, and so that his father and I can enter Turkish territory to receive treatment in their hospitals,” she said.

One month ago, she says, he left for “an unknown fate.”

Libya has been torn by fighting between rival armed factions since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising killed dictator Muammar Gadhafi. In April, forces loyal to Haftar launched an assault aimed at taking the capital Tripoli, which later stalled.

Those clashes killed more than 280 civilians and 2,000 fighters and displaced tens of thousands, until a fragile ceasefire backed by both Ankara and Moscow was put in place on January 12.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Sunday’s summit failed to launch necessary talks between the government in Tripoli and Haftar.

“It is clear that we have not yet succeeded in launching a serious and stable dialogue between them,” Lavrov told reporters after the conference, where the warring sides did not meet face to face.

Mufidah Abdul Rahman: Google doodle celebrates one of Egypt's first female lawyers

N UAE, by Gillian Duncan

Rahman was the first married woman to enroll at Cairo University’s Faculty of Law

Google is celebrating Egypt’s first female lawyer, Mufidah Abdul Rahman, with a dedicated doodle on its homepage.

Born on this day 106 years ago in 1914, Rahman, who had nine children, was the first married woman to enroll at Cairo University’s Faculty of Law, and the first mother to graduate from the institution.

Her career was also defined by a series of firsts, being the first female lawyer to take cases to the Court of Cassation in Egypt; the first woman to present a case before a military court; and the first female to plead cases in courts located in the south of the country.

Rahman, who was paid in eggs and fruits when she was young, went on to plead more than 400 cases.

She also co-founded the National Feminist Party, which fought for universal suffrage in Egypt and was a member of feminist union Bint al-Nil, which advocated for women’s rights.

But she is perhaps most famous for her representation of Bint al-Nil leader, Doria Shafik, who led a march of 1,500 women on Egyptian’s Parliament in 1951 to demand better socioeconomic rights for women.

The march interrupted parliament for four hours. After being summoned to explain herself in court, Shafik chose Rahman to defend her in her trial, which was subsequently adjourned indefinitely by the judge.

It is said women's rights experienced little improvement in the immediate wake of the march, but Rahman never gave up trying to improve conditions for women in the country.

And five years later, in 1956, Egyptian women won their right to vote.

Google frequently uses its doodles to celebrate people, countries, anniversaries and events. It created its first back in July 2000 to celebrate United States’ Independence Day, and has since designed thousands more.

Regional Google Doodles

Mufidah Abdul Rahman isn't the first regional personality to be honoured with a Google Doodle. Here are some other doodle's from that have celebrated MENA region heroes:

The Google Doodle for January 20, 2020 celebrates Mufidah Abdul Rahman.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Updated: January 20, 2020 11:18 AM

 

How Turkey Made Syrian Rebels Tools of Foreigners and Libyan Mercenaries

The Jerusalem Post via Middle East Forum, by Seth Frantzman
(Excerpt. Read on here: How Turkey made Syrian rebels tools of foreigners and Libyan mercenaries) 

When rumors first circulated in early December 2019 that Turkey would send Syrian rebel fighters to Libya and pay them like mercenaries to fight in a foreign war they were greeted with skepticism.

Now there are thousands of Syrians in Libya fighting for Turkey and for a ramshackle government in Tripoli that they have no stake or interest in. How did the Syrian rebellion that once sought to un-seat Assad become a tool in Ankara's foreign policy, something between a foreign legion and a gang of mercenaries for hire?

Ankara supported the Syrian rebellion from its early years enabling the rebel groups to use Turkey as a waystation and a place of recuperation. They could bring supporters through Turkey, funding, food and humanitarian aid and they could organize in Turkey, using it almost as a staging area.

Syrian rebels who once fought Syrian dictator Bashar Assad have become a tool in Ankara's foreign policy.

 

 

 

 

This made sense for Turkey because Ankara supported the rebels ideologically and was also flooded by several million refugees. Up until 2015 this fluid arrangement worked. But in that year things began to change. Two elections in Turkey and the breakdown of the PKK ceasefire led to a crises. The rise of ISIS in 2014 had also brought increased pressure on Turkey to close the Syrian border and build a wall.

Turkey enabled some 50,000 supporters of ISIS to transit the country, often under the naïve view that they might join the increasingly extremist Syrian rebellion. Instead those foreigners joined ISIS and began attacking the Syrian rebels and the Kurds in Syria, as well as the Assad regime. By 2015 when the US had encouraged the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) to become the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Turkey became concerned that a US-backed Kurdish group would dominate eastern Syria.

Turkey saw the SDF as a creeping form of the PKK taking over a long border. While Turkey hadn't feared ISIS on the other side of the border, it didn't want an off-shoot of the PKK there.

By 2016 Turkey had set upon an idea. It would stop the SDF's advance, which had crossed the Euphrates by that time, and it would use Syrian rebels to do it. This became the precursor to the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army. It assembled units such as the Sultan Murad who consisted of Turkmen Syrian minorities. It also called upon Faylaq al-Sham, a unit that had long received support from Turkey. Other rebel units came as well, the Al-Moutasem Birgade, Nour al-Din al-Zenki, Levant Front, Jaish al-Nasr, Jaysh al-Tahrir, Hamza Division, 13th Division, Liqa Suqur al-Jabal and others. Although some of these groups boasted of having large forces, only several thousand participated initially.

By late 2016 Turkey was goading the mostly Sunni Arab Syrian rebels to fight the Kurds.

 

 

 

Turkey had some background in moving these units around. It had already transported some from Kilis to Reyhanli, two border crossings that link Turkey to areas in northern Syria. Now it moved them to fight in an area near Jarabulus on the Euphrates. By this time in late 2016 Turkey was already goading the mostly Sunni Arab Syrian rebels to fight the Kurds. They were told to see the Kurdish YPG as "atheists" and "Infidels" who were working with the Assad regime. This was hammered home during the fall of Aleppo when a small pocked of Kurdish YPG in Aleppo worked with the regime, forsaking the Syrian rebels being pushed out of the city. From then on it was only time until the Syrian rebels believed revenge was in order.

Having completed the operation near Jarabulus dubbed Euphrates Shield Turkey realized it had accomplished three objectives. It had stopped the US-backed SDF offensive from reaching Afrin, a Kurdish canton in northwest Syria, and it had pushed ISIS back from the border, increasing Turkey's role in Syria. A fourth by-product was to make the Syrian rebels dependent on a new relationship operating with Turkey in the field.

The year 2016 became a difficult one for Turkey. A coup attempt resulted in a crises with 50,000 people imprisoned or detained. By 2017 Turkey's regime was in the midst of a constitutional referendum.

Turkey established a presence in Syria's Idlib province not to protect anti-Assad rebels, but to control them.

Turkey realized that to continue operations with a new entity, called the TFSA or Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army, it would not only need to standardize the units involved but also increase Turkey's role in Idlib, where many Syrian rebels were being pushed back by the even more extremist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. Turkey was eyeing greater involvement in Idlib, including observation posts, and didn't want to always rely on HTS for escorts. Also groups like Ahrar al-Sham, independent of Turkey's backing, would need to be neutralized or brought under control.

Turkey planned an operation in 2017 to attack the Kurds in Afrin, in order to continue Turkey's march along the Syrian border. It would bring together up to 20,000 Syrian rebels to attack the YPG in Afrin. Again groups like Sultan Murad, Hamza Division and Faylaq al-Sham would be the building blocks. Increasingly these groups were more extremist and Islamist and Turkey never bothered to turn them into an effective fighting unit, preferring them as menacing cannon fodder to be used for looting and destruction to inflict fear into civilians.

Ankara helped create what the Syrian rebels called a "National Army" or Jaish al-Watani. It was already composed of some 36 different opposition groups by the time of the January 2018 Afrin offensive, according to TRT. Some 10,000 Syrians who were already serving around Jarabulus as part of operations there came to fight in Afrin.

Turkey dubbed the destruction of Afrin "Operation Olive Branch." 160,000 Kurds were ethnically-cleansed, their statues destroyed and shrines of minorities like Yazidis desecrated. Turkey saw this as a success, removing PKK members from the border and giving the Syrian rebels a "victory." Since Turkey didn't want to use Syrian National Army to fight Assad, because Turkey was increasingly working with Russia on a ceasefire in Idlib, it had to find a fight for them. Turkey was buying S-400s from Russia and building a gas pipeline with Russia called TurkStream. That necessitated not using Syrian rebels to fight Assad. Turkey decided the best use for Syrian rebels would be to fight Kurds and weaken the US presence in Syria, giving Turkey power over areas once controlled by the YPG.

Before each Turkish operation in Syria Ankara would hold a ceremony to try to show off the Syrian National Army's cohesion. On the eve of Olive Branch it did this and on the eve of Peace Spring it did the same. On October 9, 2019 as the US was withdrawing from northern Syria due to Turkish threats, the Syrian rebels once again held a ceremony for the "National Army." Turkish pro-government Anadolu media were on hand. Turkish media listed the dozens of groups who were now part of the Syrian National Army. US officials privately saw these groups as Islamists, jihadists, undisciplined fighters involved in ethnic cleansing, but Turkey saw them as shock troops to do its bidding in northern Syria.

 

 

 

Still frames (clockwise from left) of videos from October 2019 showing Turkish proxies carting off a terrified female captive, executing civilians, butchering motorists, and vowing to behead infidels an apostates

Egypt’s Red-Hot Currency Continues to Rise as Inflows Pick Up

Bloomberg, by Tarek El-Tablawy and Paul Wallace (Link: Egypt' Red-Hot Currency Continues to Rise as Inflows Pick Up)

Egypt’s currency, one of the world’s best performers in 2019, has breached a key threshold following inflows of more than $1.5 billion in the past week.

Egyptian pound bank notes Photographer: Andrew Burton/Bloomberg

 The pound rose 0.9% to 15.92 per dollar Monday, trading stronger than 16 against the greenback for the first time since March 2017. Local banks saw $1.7 billion of inflows in the five days through Jan. 13, the central bank said in a statement.

The currency, which was floated in late 2016 amid a foreign-exchange crisis, has been popular with carry traders in the past year. They’ve been lured by yields of almost 15% on local bonds as well as the economic reforms undertaken by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi.

The central bank has cut its main interest rate by 350 basis points to 12.25% since August. It will probably reduce it again to around 11.5% on Thursday, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists.

That monetary easing is doing little to deter inflows from bond traders. Societe Generale SA expects the pound to appreciate another 3.7% to 15.35 per dollar by the end of the year.

A narrowing current account and growing tourism revenue are adding to the currency’s appeal, according to Cairo-based investment bank EFG Hermes.

“This supports a favorable view for the Egyptian pound, which is still gaining foreign-investor traction, thanks to high real yields,” EFG analysts Mohamed Abu Basha and Mostafa El Bakly said in a note Tuesday.

A key factor in the future will be Egypt’s foreign debt commitments, according to Allen Sandeep, director of research at the Naeem Brokerage in Cairo. Most of the money owed to Gulf nations, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, is likely to be rolled over or extended, he said. “If that’s the case, the pound will likely strengthen” or stay within the range of 15.75 per dollar, he said.

The rise could also reflect investors entering the market to lock in high yields ahead of the expected rate cut on Thursday. Subscriptions to Egyptian T-bills have jumped over the last couple of auctions, with around 85 billion pounds ($5.3 billion) in subscriptions last Thursday alone, according to Sandeep.

زراعة الكباري ....تقنية تحول الكتل الخرسانيه الي مساحات خضراء

DMC مصر

 

De-escalating the Iranian showdown

Ahram Online and Al Ahram Weekly 

The world has been breathing a sigh of relief at the de-escalation of the conflict between  the US and Iran, writes Azza Radwan Sedky

Azza Radwan Sedky , Tuesday 14 Jan 2020

 

The year 2020 started with a vengeance. According to some pundits, the Middle East has been teetering towards World War III, with the Iranian-US conflict triggering this terrible prophecy.

But let’s go back a few decades and open Pandora’s Box to reveal something of the strife between Iran and the US. The two states have not seen eye to eye since the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979 followed by the attack on the US Embassy in Tehran when US diplomats were held hostage for 444 days.  

Many years later, former US president Barack Obama’s efforts to appease Iran were shunned by President Donald Trump when the US exited the Iran nuclear agreement and imposed crushing sanctions on Iran. However, Trump did not retaliate after Iran downed a US drone in June last year or after it attacked Saudi oil facilities in September.

More recently, the crisis became more acute. In Iraq, Iranian-backed militiamen killed an American contractor and wounded others in rocket attacks. This time, the US retaliated by ordering strikes in Iraq and Syria, killing 25 militia fighters. Iraqi protesters then rallied outside the US Embassy in Baghdad, got inside the compound and set sections of it ablaze. 

Using a drone strike, the US killed Qassem Suleimani, the commander of the Iranian Al- Quds Force who had played a pivotal role in attacks in many countries in the region, including Lebanon and Yemen. From the Iranian perspective, Suleimani was a heroic figure, and ironically his death united a disgruntled people and a government facing internal dissent against the US, that is until the gunning down of the Ukrainian passenger plane. 

Those who have been against Trump in the US were quick to reject Suleimani’s assassination. On the US TV channel CNN, journalist Fareed Zakaria said that Suleimani was regarded “as a completely heroic figure, personally very brave,” while journalist Anderson Cooper, again on CNN, compared Suleimani to former French president Charles de Gaulle. 

Those who have supported Trump hailed his actions. US journalist Thomas Friedman writing in the New York Times pointed to Suleimani’s work with Iranian proxies across several countries. “Hizbullah in Lebanon and Syria, the Popular Mobilisation Forces in Iraq and the Houthis in Yemen – these created pro-Iranian Shiite states-within-states in all of these countries. And it was precisely these states-within-states that helped to prevent any of these countries from cohering, fostered massive corruption and keeping these countries from developing infrastructure – schools, roads, electricity,” he said.

A tit-for-tat conflict between Iran and the US brewed. Trump warned in a tweet that “should Iran strike any US person or target, the United States will quickly & fully strike back & perhaps in a disproportionate manner.” He even threatened to attack Iranian cultural sites, an unheard-of approach that is totally unprecedented from a developed country. 

Iran responded swiftly by firing a dozen missiles at two US military bases in Iraq. It threatened “more crushing responses,” but the attacks resulted in no casualties, which was a great relief. A day later, small rockets pelted the diplomatic area in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone.

The Iraqi parliament voted to expel US forces from the country after Suleimani’s death, causing Trump to threaten to impose sanctions against Iraq. Speaking to reporters on the US president’s jet Air Force One, he said that “if they do ask us to leave, if we don’t do it in a very friendly basis, we will charge them with sanctions like they’ve never seen before ever. It’ll make Iranian sanctions look somewhat tame.”

That was not all, as at the same time, and minutes after take-off, a Kiev-bound Ukrainian 737 Boeing plane departing from Tehran Airport went down killing the 176 passengers onboard including 63 Canadians who were mostly of Iranian descent. After US and Canadian officials announced that investigations had proven that the plane was shot down by surface-to-air missiles, a statement on Iranian TV acknowledged that Iran had “unintentionally” shot down the Ukrainian passenger plane.  

Until a few days ago, war seemed imminent as the rhetoric and aggression surged. Then things took a surprising turn. In a speech following the Iranian missile attacks on the US bases, Trump preferred to de-escalate hostilities rather than to escalate them. 

He signalled that no new US strikes would follow, and in an astonishing change in tone he also said that he was “ready to embrace peace with all who seek it,” when just a day earlier he had said that “if Iran does anything that they shouldn’t be doing, they’re going to be suffering the consequences and very strongly.” He also called for negotiations towards a new agreement with Iran.    

Iran took the same approach, seemingly uninterested in a wider confrontation and satisfied with the effects of its limited retaliatory measures. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted that his country had “concluded proportionate measures in self-defence,” adding that “we do not seek escalation or war.”

Both the US and Iran may have realised that this is as far as things should go and that further military force would be more damaging than beneficial. A war would put pressure on Trump domestically who had earlier campaigned in the US presidential elections on a promise to remove the US from further “endless wars.” 

Moreover, the consensus on Suleimani’s assassination was that it was illegal, and Trump may have deemed US allies unsupportive and reluctant to support another war.

According to US journalist Alex Ward writing on the US news website Vox, a war would have meant “a deadly opening attack. Nearly untraceable, ruthless proxies spreading chaos on multiple continents. Costly miscalculations. And thousands – perhaps hundreds of thousands – killed in a conflict that would dwarf the war in Iraq.” 

“The ripple effect would likely have reached the far end of the world with skyrocketing oil prices, attacks against American and allied targets anywhere around the world, and no backing down on either side leading to disastrous consequences.”  

Regardless of whether the Iranian and US approaches constitute appeasement, backing down or playing things right, the world is now breathing an overwhelming sigh of relief.

---

The writer is the author of Cairo Rewind on the First Two Years of Egypt’s Revolution, 2011-2013.

 

*A version of this article appears in print in the 16 January 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly 

via english.ahram.org.eg

تطوير مصر الجديدة.... ولكن

الاهرام ١١ يناير ٢٠٢٠ بقلم عزة رضوان صدقي

لمصر الجديده معزة خاصة عندي، فقد نشأت بها ودرست في مدارسها وكنت جزءا من مجتمعها طوال عمري: الانجلش سكول ونادي سبورتنج وسينما كريستال والمريلاند والامفتريون وآيس كريم ماجيك وعصير كمال، لديهم ذكريات وطيدة عندي. لذلك سعدت جدا بحرص أهلها عليها وقهرتهم لما قد يبدو لأول وهلة بأنه سحق لما كان جميل فيها. كما سعدت أكثر بخوفهم على الأشجار التي خُلِعت بعد أن ظللت شوارع مصر الجديدة لسنين طوال. هذا الخوف إثبات لمحبة أهل مصر الجديدة لحيِّهم

ومن دافع الحب أيضا كانت الانتقادات كثيرة، فدعنا نحاول الوصول إلى الحقيقة، وعما إذا كانت الانتقادات على وجه حق أم لا، ففي الفترة السابقة أخذت هذه الانتقادات الجزء الأكبر من أي حديث سواء مع سائقي السيارات أو الاجرة أو أعضاء صفحات مواقع التواصل الاجتماعي أو الزوّار من الأهل والأقارب

الأقوال كثيره: "مذبحة الأشجار تمت"، "حنعيش في قلعة أسمنت"، "حد فاهم إيه إللي بيحصل؟"، "مش كان صبروا على كوبري أو اثنين علشان أهالي مصر الجديدة ميصبهمش الجنون؟"، "بكره تشوفوا البياعين إللي حينتشروا تحت الكباري والعربيات المركونة إللي حتدمر المنظر"

الانتقادات واقعية حتى وإن كانت لاذعة، فكان لابد من مراعاة قلق أهل الحي. مع عدم علمهم ببواطن الأمور أو الصورة المكتملة القادمة، بدت مصر الجديدة لأهلها كما لو كانت على حد قولهم "مصارينها طلعة برة". لا يوجد شارع أو ميدان لم يطُله الطائل: أكوام التراب وقوالب الاسمنت والأعمدة المخلوعة وبقايا قضبان المترو والحُفر المحفوفة بالخطر في كل مكان. المشوار الذي كان يستغرق عشر دقائق أصبح يحتاج إلى أربعين دقيقة. قطع المياه والكهرباء لساعات طوال. أشجار الخليفة المأمون التي كانت تتعانق أغصانها فوق الطريق في شكل رائع، هي أيضا قُلِعت. كم التحويلات اليومية تسببت في ازدحام وتكدس شديدين. كل هذا كان بالإمكان تحمُّله إذا كان قد تم إعلام أهل مصر الجديده بالتعديلات، والأهم جدولها قبيل تنفيذها بفترة. بالتأكيد كانوا سيتقبلونها حتى ولو على مضض

مع هذا فإن العمل بإصرار وبتواصل دؤوب ليل نهار نفّذ التعديلات في وقت قياسي. إنه كم من الجهد يُشكر عليه منفذو هذا المشروع الضخم، حتى ولو سبقته دوامات اقتلاع وهدم واختناقات مرورية. كما أن هذه التعديلات كانت لابد أن تنفذ مع بعضها البعض حتى وإن أرهقت أهل الحي. فمثلا اقتلاع قضبان المترو في شارع الحجاز كان لابد إتمامه مع زيادة سعة الطريق مع إقامة كوبري المحكمة مع تغيير مسار الطريق في روكسي إلى المقريزي وإلى كوبري القبة. لا يمكن تنفيذ جزئية إلا ولو نُفِّذت مع الجزئيات الأخرى

منذ ٢٠ سنة بالتقريب أُلغيت إشارات عديده وتحولت إلى انعطافات (دورانات) واسعة جدا لتفادي الكثافه المرورية عند الإشارات، ومع الوقت حتى هذه انعطافات اختنقت بكثرة السيارات. الكباري سوف تتغلب على هذه المشكلة، فالهدف من بناء هذا الكم من الكباري ليس إنشاء كوبري معلق مثل كوبري ٦ أكتوبر فوق شارع الجلاء أو كوبري ١٥ مايو فوق الزمالك، إنما أُنشِئت لتسهيل سيل السيارات وخلق حركة حرة بلا انقطاع. كذلك فإن الطريق الممتد تحت الكوبري بدون إشارات سيجعل السيارات تسير بسرعة يصعب معها وقوف الباعة أو الركن المخالف أو تحوّل المنطقة إلى مناطق عشوائية كما يتخوف أهل مصر الجديدة إلا في حالة كوبري النزهه الذي يتواجد تحته فراغات شاسعة سوف تنتهي بتحوّلها إلى عشوائيات إذا لم تُتخذ إجراءات صارمة لعدم حدوث ذلك 

وها قد ظهرت علامات الفرج وبشائر الانتهاء من التعديلات، فقد زُرعت الأشجار في بعض الطرق إيذانا بانتهاء التكسير والهدم وبدءا في التعمير والإشغال. حُدِّدت أماكن لأحواض بديلة في الأرصفه الجديدة لزرع أشجار ستنمو تدريجيا مثل مثيلاتها السابقة لتصبح رئة للحي من جديد. فُتِحت معظم الكباري للاستخدام وبدت سهوله السير والحركه. البعض الآخر من الكباري قد بدأ كسوتها بالزراعات الرأسية في خطوة مبتكرة وحديثة. اتُبِع في جدران وأعمدة هذه الكباري ما يُسمي بالجدران الخضراء التي تضيف بساطا أخضر على الخرسانات الأسمنتية وتعطي إشراقا لواجهة الكباري، كما أنها تنقي الهواء. أملى تطبيق هذا النظام على جميع الكباري الجديدة حتى تعود الخضرة بكثافة إلى حي مصر الجديدة

خوفي ينبعث من الآتي: كم الحوادث التي قد تحدث لو استمر المشاة في عبور الطرق الواسعة بنفس الأسلوب السابق. في بعض الأجزاء تضاعف عرض الطريق الأصلي ليصبح خطرا جدا على المشاة، وهذه مشكلة شديدة لا أجد لها حلا إلا بعض المطبات الصناعية التي قد تحد من السرعة ثم تخصيص أماكن لعبور المشاة، وقد بدأ فعلا تحديد هذه الأماكن، لكن يجب التزام المارة بها واحترام السيارات لها

طرأت على مصر الجديدة تعديلات تجعلها غير مصر الجديدة السابقة، ولكن بالتأكيد كان لابد من تغيير جذري لحل الكثافة المرورية. لكن ستبقى مصر الجديدة هي أجمل أحياء القاهرة وبحب أهلها لها ستعود إلى جوهرها السابق إن لم تصبح أجمل بإذن الل