Global Security Studies Practicum

Turkey is still eager to join the European Union despite the ongoing debt crisis . Turkey’s deputy prime minister Ali Babacan states that European countries must act robustly to tackle their sovereign debt else the global economy will worsen. The European Union is expected to cut interest rates and offer extra long liquidity operations to shore their banks. Babacan reiterated that it is imperative for Turkey to improve on its democratic system and uphold the rue of law in order to reach the political benchmark of European membership. Babacan also stressed that in terms of economics, the European Union is not a model for Turkey to emulate. Turkey is the world’s sixteenth largest economy and is projected to 7-8 percent after growing 9 percent last year. Source:http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/06/turkey-eu-idUSL3E7N60PH20111206 Reliability: (9) Comments: Turkey is Islamic democracy who firs applied to join he EU in 2005. Turkey’s membership application has been hobbled by its...

14 November 2011 Al-Qaeda fighters in Yemen kidnapped two women and a man, French NGO workers, on May 28. The reasons behind the kidnapping are unknown, a ransom payment followed their release on Saturday. The hostages were kept at several locations and moved around in the months of captivity. At the time of their arrival in France they were greeted by France’s ambassador to Oman, who said that the hostages were in good medical conditions, and thanked Sultan Qaboos for helping secure their release. The names of the hostages and the amount paid for ransom have not been released. The three NGO workers are happy to go back home. Source: http://www.france24.com/en/20111114-french-hostages-yemen-freed-al-qaeda-ngo-triangle-generation-humanitaire Reliability: 8.5