The EU's Dangerous New Confidence Game

In this mailing: - Douglas Murray: The EU's Dangerous New Confidence Game - Burak Bekdil: Turkey and US: Conflict Contained, Not Resolved [] [The EU's Dangerous New Confidence Game]( by Douglas Murray • November 20, 2018 at 5:00 am [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Addthis]( [Send]( [Print]( - The first problem of the European Court of Human Rights decision against Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff is that it means that, at least in cases of blasphemy, truth is not a defence. - Such a judgement hands over the decision on what is or is not allowed to be said not to a European or national court, but to whoever can claim, plausibly or otherwise, that another individual has risked "the peace." - There have been similar mobster tricks tried for some years now. They all run on the old claim, "I'm not mad with you myself; I'm just holding my friend back here." The first problem of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) decision against Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff is that it means that, at least in cases of blasphemy, truth is not a defence. Pictured: The courtroom of the ECHR in Strasbourg. (Image source: Adrian Grycuk/Wikimedia Commons) At the start of this decade, a minor story occurred that set the scene for the years that have followed. In 2010, a Saudi lawyer named Faisal Yamani wrote to the Danish newspapers that had published cartoons of Islam's prophet, Mohammed. Claiming to act on behalf of 95,000 descendants of Mohammed, the Saudi lawyer said that the cartoons were defamatory and that legal proceedings would thereby begin. However, everything about the supposed legal claim reeked. How had Mr Yamani located all these descendants? How had he come up with exactly 95,000 of them? And how could you claim that a statement about somebody who died 1,400 years ago was "defamatory"? Legally, one cannot "defame" the dead. [Continue Reading Article]( [] [Turkey and US: Conflict Contained, Not Resolved]( by Burak Bekdil • November 20, 2018 at 4:00 am [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Addthis]( [Send]( [Print]( - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that Turkey will not abide by the renewed U.S. sanctions on Iran's oil and shipping industries, claiming that they are "steps aimed at unbalancing the world." - U.S. President Donald Trump, in the same speech in which he hailed Erdoğan as a "friend and a tough, smart man," ruled out the possibility of Gülen's extradition. - The future actually looks potentially gloomier as the future of Syria shapes up and Erdoğan might well switch back to more radical anti-Western rhetoric ahead of critical local elections in March. Although Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has recently toned down his anti-American rhetoric, things have not come up roses in U.S.-Turkey relations. Pictured: U.S. President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan deliver statements at the the White House, on May 16, 2017. (Photo by Michael Reynolds-Pool/Getty Images) Only three months ago Turkey and its NATO ally the United States had too many issues about which to disagree: They had major divergences over Syria; they had different views on Turkey's plans to deploy the Russian-made S-400 air defense system on NATO soil; they had mutual sanctions on top government officials due to Turkey's refusal to free Andrew Brunson, an American evangelical Christian pastor living in Turkey who faced bogus charges of terrorism and espionage; they had a potential U.S. decision to block delivery to Turkey of arms systems, including the F-35 stealth fighter; they had potential U.S. sanctions on a Turkish public bank; the U.S. had doubled tariffs on Turkish steel and aluminium; a Turkish boycott on U.S. electronics; major differences over Syrian Kurds; and Turkey's persistent demands for the extradition of Fethullah Gülen, a Muslim cleric who is Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's political nemesis, living in self-exile in Pennsylvania. [Continue Reading Article]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [RSS]( [Donate]( Copyright © Gatestone Institute, All rights reserved. You are subscribed to this list as {EMAIL} You can change how you receive these emails: [Update your subscription preferences]( or [Unsubscribe from this list]( [Gatestone Institute]() 14 East 60 St., Suite 705, New York, NY 10022