Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu paid his respects Tuesday at one of two war cemeteries in Myanmar where Ottoman soldiers captured by the British during World War I were buried.
Cavusoglu traveled to the central Magway Region to visit the Thayet War Cemetery after holding talks Monday with Myanmar’s leaders, State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Htin Kyaw, during an official visit to political capital Nay Pyi Taw.
The ceremony at the cemetery, attended by a Turkish delegation and Thayet District’s administrator Aung Cho Oo, began with a minute of silence for the Ottoman prisoners of war, who were captured during WWI campaigns in the Middle East and forced into physical labor in Myanmar. (Courtesy of aa.com.tr)
June 15, 2016
Three killed in Myanmar helicopter crash: military
Three Myanmar army officers were killed when their helicopter crashed into a hillside and burst into flames in the country's central region Tuesday, the military said in a statement.
The MI2 helicopter went down mid-morning after it hit poor weather in south central Bago, according to the statement released by the office of the army's commander-in-chief.
It was flying south from Meiktila to an air base near Yangon, the former capital and largest city. (Courtesy of dailystar.com.lb)
The MI2 helicopter went down mid-morning after it hit poor weather in south central Bago, according to the statement released by the office of the army's commander-in-chief.
It was flying south from Meiktila to an air base near Yangon, the former capital and largest city. (Courtesy of dailystar.com.lb)
France's Foreign Minister to Visit Myanmar
France’s foreign minister will pay his first visit to Myanmar later this week, the French Embassy in Yangon said.
French Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Development Jean-Marc Ayrault will make the first official visit by a French government representative since the landslide victory by the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) last November brought to power the first civilian government in more than half a century.
Sonia Tebbakh, the first secretary at the French embassy, told The Myanmar Times that the purpose of the visit, which will last from June 17 to June 19, would be to show France’s support for the new government and announce how it intends to aid it in the coming years. (Courtesy of thediplomat.com)
French Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Development Jean-Marc Ayrault will make the first official visit by a French government representative since the landslide victory by the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) last November brought to power the first civilian government in more than half a century.
Sonia Tebbakh, the first secretary at the French embassy, told The Myanmar Times that the purpose of the visit, which will last from June 17 to June 19, would be to show France’s support for the new government and announce how it intends to aid it in the coming years. (Courtesy of thediplomat.com)
Turkish FM breaks fast with Rohingya, offers support
Turkey's minister of foreign affairs has been welcomed in Myanmar's Rakhine State, where he spoke of Turkey's support for its Muslim population before hosting a dinner to break the day's fast.
After traveling from capital Nay Pyi Taw to the Rakhine capital of Sittwe, Mevlut Cavusoglu listened to the problems faced by those who lived there, and talked reconciliation late Monday.
Since 2012, Rakhine -- home to more than one million Rohingya Muslims (described by the United Nations as the world's most persecuted minority group) -- has been troubled by communal violence, with Rohingya and other ethnicities and religious groups left reliant on aid in internally displaced person camps. (Courtesy of aa.com.tr)
After traveling from capital Nay Pyi Taw to the Rakhine capital of Sittwe, Mevlut Cavusoglu listened to the problems faced by those who lived there, and talked reconciliation late Monday.
Since 2012, Rakhine -- home to more than one million Rohingya Muslims (described by the United Nations as the world's most persecuted minority group) -- has been troubled by communal violence, with Rohingya and other ethnicities and religious groups left reliant on aid in internally displaced person camps. (Courtesy of aa.com.tr)
John Kerry, Rohingya and the new Iron Lady
She has a point. Democracy is complicated and American democracy even more so. The US secretary of state has been roaming the world preaching the virtue of the popular mandate, but now that "what the majority wants" has prevailed in Myanmar, he is championing the rights of a minority. His words were perfectly reasonable from an idealistic/political point of view, but Suu Kyi was merely saying she wished things in her country were that simple.
To begin with, her party won a landslide election in a country where the majority doesn't like the Rohingya that much. The paradox is obvious. In other words, "the people have spoken" and they surely must expect the National League for Democracy to listen. (Courtesy of nationmultimedia.com)
To begin with, her party won a landslide election in a country where the majority doesn't like the Rohingya that much. The paradox is obvious. In other words, "the people have spoken" and they surely must expect the National League for Democracy to listen. (Courtesy of nationmultimedia.com)
What Does the Future Hold for the Rohingya?
Of all the ethnic, racial, and religious minorities in the world, wrote the Economist last year, the Rohingya may well be the most persecuted people on the planet. Today nearly two million Rohingya live in western Myanmar and in Bangladesh. Inside Myanmar they have no formal status, and they face the constant threat of violence from paramilitary groups egged on by nationalist Buddhist monks while security forces look the other way. Since 2012, when the latest wave of anti-Rohingya violence broke out, attackers have burnt entire Rohingya neighborhoods, butchering the populace with knives, sticks, and machetes. They beat Rohingya children to death with rifle butts and, quite possibly, their bare hands. Since then, half the population of Myanmar’s Rohingya has been displaced. Some have tried to escape to other Southeast Asian nations on rickety boats often operated by human traffickers. (Courtesy of blogs.cfr.org)
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu meets Rohingya Muslim
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu (C) meets Rohingya Muslim elders at Aung Mingalar in Sittwe, a Muslim quarter where residents are mostly Rohingya, located in western Myanmar’s Rakhine State. Cavusoglu’s visit coincided during Islam’s holy fasting month of Ramadan as thousands of persecuted Muslim minority Rohingya languish in several other displacement camps following bloody sectarian violence in 2012 between the Rohingya and Buddhist population in Rakhine State. Cavusoglu earlier met with Myanmar President Htin Kyaw and State Counsellor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi in capital city Naypyidaw.
Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), won a landslide victory in November elections, ushering in the country’s first civilian government after 54 years of direct and indirect military rule. Both the police and the judiciary are overseen by Myanmar’s Home Ministry, which remains under control of the military. (Courtesy of siasat.com)
Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), won a landslide victory in November elections, ushering in the country’s first civilian government after 54 years of direct and indirect military rule. Both the police and the judiciary are overseen by Myanmar’s Home Ministry, which remains under control of the military. (Courtesy of siasat.com)
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