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Turkey’s  Erdogan Sparks Controversy in Hagia Sophia Conversion

Its very name Hagia Sophia evokes the ancient mysteries of Byzantium.  Its setting along the Golden Horn on the majestic Bosphorus joining Europe and Asia in itself serves as a beacon for uniting world religions.  Yet this magnificent church which has weathered the march of time and the shift of empires has now fallen victim to a very contemporary crisis; a crass political/religious move by Turkey’s authoritarian leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan to return the historic structure into a mosque.  

Constructed in 537 AD by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian on the site of a church built by the 

Roman Emperor Constantine, Hagia Sophia became a revered symbol of Christianity in  Constantinople.  In 1453, when the Ottomans captured the city, the Sultan ordered the church’s transformation into a mosque.  But nearly five centuries later, Hagia Sophia’s status changed yet again in 1934 when Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern secular Turkey, converted the shrine into a museum to be shared by all faiths.   

Hagia Sophia, Holy Wisdom in Greek, remains the grande dame of Eastern Christendom in Istanbul, the pulsating metropolis on the crossroads of Europe and Asia-minor.  

Now the fates and Turkey’s new “Sultan” Erdogan deemed that the structure return to Islam. Erdogan claims that Turkey had exercised its sovereign right; “After 86 years, Hagia Sophia will serve as a mosque again.”  Indeed the secular opposition party that controls Istanbul has described Erdogan’s true intent as political rather than religious.

World renown Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk told the BBC, “Kemal Atatürk changed Hagia Sophia from a mosque to a museum, honoring all previous Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic history, making it as a sign of Turkish modern secularism.” 

Atatürk’s political vision rested on dual pillars: Turkish nationalism and secularism.

Of course Erdogan is playing a populist game by appealing to the overwhelming Muslim 

Turkish majority.  Serious economic setbacks from the Coronavirus, not to mention growing political opposition to his authoritarian style and policies, make playing a religious card a clever tactic especially among the rural Anatolian populace.  

There’s a growing global consensus that Erdogan has upset a delicate balance of politics and faith in Turkey.  

Pope Francis in Rome has shown his anguish saying his “thoughts go to Istanbul” and  “I think of Santa Sophia and I am very pained.” 

Patriarch Bartholomew of the Eastern Orthodox Church has warned that the conversion of the sacred site would fracture two worlds.  Notably the Russian Orthodox Church decried Erdogan’s move.  

UNESCO deeply regrets the decision of the Turkish authorities, made without prior discussion, to change the status of Hagia Sophia which is inscribed on the World Heritage List. “Hagia Sophia is an architectural masterpiece and a unique testimony to interactions between Europe and Asia over the centuries.  Its status as a museum reflects the universal nature of its heritage, and makes it a powerful symbol for dialogue,” said Director-General Audrey Azoulay.

Hagia Sophia is located in old Istanbul near the magnificent Blue Mosque. 

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo advised, “The United States views a change in the status of the Hagia Sophia as diminishing the legacy of this remarkable building and its unsurpassed ability, so rare in the modern world,  to serve humanity as a much-needed bridge between those of differing faith traditions and cultures.”

 Sadly Erdogan’s move has tarnished Turkey’s image and questioned its secularism.  

Comment du Jour

                           Bonne Fete!!     14 July. 

                           Happy National Day to France !!  

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                                   Beijing's Hong Kong Squeeze

The crisis was brewing for months.  Storm clouds were gathering around Hong Kong’s splendid bay as China’s communist authorities have put the vice grip squeeze on democratic Hong Kong’s political rights and social freedoms.  The world has watched aimlessly until the United States and a few fellow democracies said Stop.  

President Donald Trump threw down the gauntlet to Beijing’s leadership.  In a measured but tough speech on a wide range of issues implicating China from having dismantled the American industrial economy, profited from unfair trade deals and industrial espionage, the President addressed the Hong Kong crisis head on.

But first he warned poignantly,  “The world is now suffering as a result of the malfeasance of the Chinese government.  China’s cover-up of the Wuhan virus allowed the disease to spread all over the world, instigating a global pandemic that has cost more than 100,000 American lives.”                                   

The U.S.  planned an urgent UN Security Council meeting to address the deteriorating political situation in Hong Kong.  China predictably blocked the formal session.  Nonetheless the United States and United Kingdom pushed back. 

During a subsequent discussion in the Council,  Britain’s acting Ambassador Jonathan Allen added, “this legislation risks curtailing the freedoms that China has undertaken to uphold as a matter of international law.”  

The communist crackdown in Hong Kong today could well presage similar bully boy tactics towards democratic Taiwan, over which Beijing has never renounced the use of force to “bring back to the Motherland.”    

Britain holds a special moral responsibility towards its former Crown Colony in the Far East.  
In 1984 Britain and  China signed a formal treaty in which the colony would revert to Chinese control in 1997.  Importantly the deal allowed for the heralded “One country two systems,” a formula whereby Hong Kong would retain its legendary free market and social freedoms for a fifty year period.  For a while, China kept to the bargain but over the past few years the winds have  changed.  

While Britain has done little to chastise the PRC for its political pressures on Hong Kong’s freedom, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government would be wise to mobilize global
opposition not only at the United Nations but as importantly through the Commonwealth, the 
Group of 54 predominantly former British colonies and as mostly democracies, may be quicker to support censuring China.  Australia, Canada, and  India, are among them. 

President Trump warned, “Hong Kong is no longer sufficiently autonomous to warrant the special treatment that we have afforded the territory since the handover.  China has replaced its promised formula of “one Country, two Systems” with “one country, one system.”   Thus the U.S. may cut the special trading status we have with Hong Kong as well as restrict

Chinese firms with listings on the New York Stock Exchange.  Chinese companies on American exchanges have surprisingly not been subject to the same financial transparency as other listings. 

Significantly U.S. two-way trade with Hong Kong reached $36 billion in 2019;  but with the 
U.S. sporting a $26 billion surplus!

Despite being under PRC’s “Special Administrative Region” since 1997, the Hong Kong SAR
nonetheless remains one of the world’s freest and most entrepreneurial economies.  This is something to be preserved, not pressured.  The successful city state of 7.5 million people has traditionally served as a halfway house for trade between China and the West.  

Clearly American sanctions should punish the PRC regime, not penalize pro-U.S. Hong Kong.  Otherwise Xi Jinping will have scored another backhanded victory; pressuring Hong Kong politically and having the USA help hurt the relatively independent Hong Kong economy.
Though Hong Kong no longer holds the economic clout it had in 1997, China’s Communist Party wishes to see the feisty city state sidelined to the more prosperous counterweight of Shanghai.

“Hong Kong has flourished as a bastion of freedom,” stated a joint communique from Australia, Britain, Canada and the United States.  Beijing’s new security law would “curtail the Hong Kong people’s liberties, and in doing so, dramatically erode Hong Kong’s autonomy and the system that made it so prosperous.”

Is that Beijing’s true plan? 

Comment du Jour

                               Global Economy Facing Dangerous Shocks

After years of consistent economic expansion and growth throughout much of the 

world, the global economy is facing tectonic shocks from the COVID-19 pandemic.  

For developed states such as the United States and Western Europe, the “unseen enemy” of the virus has shattered economic forecasts and international commerce; for developing countries, the after-shocks of this crisis can be even more lasting as they will fall victim to steep drops in  demand and investment.  

The global economy is projected to contract sharply by -3.2 percent this year, according to the 

UN’s World Economic Situation mid-2020 report.  This sharp contraction, the greatest since the 

Great Depression of the 1930’s, follows a lackluster original forecast of 2.1 percent growth at the beginning of this year.   

The Report estimates that GDP growth in the developed economies will plunge to -5.0 percent in 2020.  A modest 3.4 percent recovery is expected next year.  Significantly, “world trade is      forecast to contract by nearly 15 percent in 2020 amid sharply reduced global demand and      disruptions in supply chains.” 

These are stunning statistics and reflect the cruel reality that nearly 90 percent of the world remains on pandemic lockdown causing catastrophic job cuts and threatening a quick economic revival.  

There’s an ongoing debate between saving lives and saving jobs. 

Dr. Elliott Harris, Assistant Secretary General for Economic Development warned that, “The pace and strength of the recovery from the crisis not only hinges on the effect of public health measures in slowing the spread of the virus, but also on the ability of countries to protect jobs and incomes.”  

Moreover UN officials warn the increase in global economic inequality can lead to instability.  

Due to the Wuhan virus pandemic, the United States has gone from having robust economic growth and historically low unemployment to negative growth and surging unemployment all in a space of a few months!  U.S. growth of 2.9 percent last year is except to fall to -4.8 percent this year but rebound to 3.9.  in 2021.  

The European Union's growth of 1.8 percent last year will slip to -5.5 this year and only inch up to 2.8 percent in 2021.   Equally Japan whose growth in 2019 was a anemic 0.7 percent will fall to  -4.2 percent but will then jump to 3.2 percent next year.    

Looking at East and South Asia, which grew 5 percent on average last year, there’s still a   prediction of some growth this year albeit 0.8 percent.  China’s growth of 6.1 percent last year is expected to maintain 1.7 percent this year and then theoretically surge to 7.6 percent in 2021.  

India who recorded an impressive 4.1 percent in 2019 is still expected to reach 1.2 percent this year and then climb to 5.5 percent in 2021.  

Just a few years ago the so-called BRICS, the informal alliance of fast-growing developing world economies, were the talk of the town.  Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa were lauded as a new global engine.  Now with the exception of China  (if you can believe the numbers) and India, these economies have cooled considerably.  

Brazil has gone from 1.1 percent growth last year to this year expected -5.2 percent.  Russia goes from an anemic 1.3 percent last year to a -4.3 percent this year.  The once vibrant Southern African region has gone from flat growth in 2019 to -3.5 percent this year.  

A particularly troubling trend concerns Latin American and African growth rates.  The UN report states that, “The pandemic will likely cause an estimated 34 million people to fall below the   extreme poverty line in 2020, with 56% of this increase occurring in African countries.”   This underscores a troubling trend where African growth rates reached 3 percent last year to fall -1.6 percent this year but rebound to 3.4 percent next year. 

South America underscores some serious shortfalls; growth last year was -0.5 percent, this year shall drop to -5.5 percent and only rise 2.7 percent next year.  Such numbers reflect economic free fall in Venezuela, and serious economic contractions in Argentina, Brazil and Chile. 

Without a strong U.S.,  European Union, and Japanese economic recovery along with vibrant free trade,  global growth will stagnate and poverty will increase.  Trade, investments and free markets will then begin to turn the tide lifting all boats.    

Comment du Jour

WHO is Covering for China?? 

Did World Health Organization (WHO) Cover-up China's Role in Corona Crisis? 

t’s easy to point fingers during a deadly pandemic, and let’s do so. WHO first sounded the alarm? WHO downplayed real medical risks? WHO calmed or stoked irrational fears? 

WHO  in this case, is the global medical monitor providing us with real time warnings and assessments.

Governments and health officials counted on the Geneva-based World Health Organization (WHO) to be the proverbial canary in the coal mine warning us about the evolving dangers of the Coronavirus.  Instead the health monitor downplayed the initial phases of the deadly Coronavirus aka COVID-19 in Wuhan, China giving outside observers the impression that the outbreak was a small and containable blip on the radar in far off interior China.  

The timing was worthy of a spy thriller; the crisis starts slowly in China’s Yangtze River valley in late November; the Chinese government in its characteristic covert and obfuscatory way withholds early data warnings allowing the virus to take root before the world really notices. Then by December early warnings are noted but the world was in holiday mode. 

WHO’s in charge?  Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus from Ethiopia became Beijing’s select candidate to run WHO.  He was elected Director General in 2017, for a five year term, succeeding  China’s Dr.Margaret Chan.  

Timelines show conclusively that while WHO knew of the impending epidemic, it proceeded too cautiously to kick in emergency measures.  Why?  Dr. Tedros said on Jan 23rd,  “I am not       declaring a public health emergency of international concern today… this is an emergency in China, but it has not yet become a global health emergency.  It may yet become one.”  He added, “At this time, there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission outside China, but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen.”

Dr. Tedros stated dutifully, “Once again, I would like to thank the Government of the People’s Republic of China for its cooperation and transparency.  The government has been successful in isolating and sequencing the virus very quickly.”  Pure farce!

Dr. Tedros was far too late in declaring a pandemic only on March 11th.

Though the COVID-19 virus emanated from Mainland China, neighboring areas such as South

Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong acted with alacrity and professionalism to stem the spread.  

WHO pays?  The USA remains WHO’s largest financial supporter.  In 2019 the U.S.               contributions to WHO exceeded $400 million both in assessments (22%) and voluntary           donations; almost double China, the second largest contributor at $44 million.  Importantly,   China has become WHO’s second largest donor assessed at 12% of the budget or $28 million.   Japan pays $20 million or 8.5% of the budget. Ethiopia, Dr.  Tedros home country, pays $48,000.   

President Donald Trump has warned WHO that its China-centric actions will prompt a major review of American funding.  

WHO profits?  We cite the old Roman proverb, WHO profits?  China now controls five of the UN’s fifteen specialized agencies such as WHO.  Through its legitimacy as a supposedly neutral health monitor, WHO was able to effectively spread Beijing’s talking points to a wider audience first in the scientific community, then governments, and later via the media a frightened global populace.  WHO served as China’s transmission belt for the Coronavirus narrative.

WHO suffers?   Among the first was Dr. Li Wenliang in Wuhan who discovered and warned  about the dangers of Coronavirus.  He contracted the virus, was silenced by the police and later died.  Dr. Li has since become an icon for dissidents and ordinary people for courageously  speaking out.  Now more than a million people have been infected;  24,000 Americans, 20,000 Italians, 15,000 French, 11,000 British, and 3,200 Chinese (if you believe the number)  have died from this terrible virus. This is not the end either. 

WHO’s responsible? The primary guilt lies with Beijing’s regime who spread a deadly miasma of disinformation about the virus through both its State run media as well as the gullible WHO in Geneva.  The narrative that Coronavirus came from eating bats offered a colorful and folkloric story to obscure the Chinese Communist Party’s hidden hand of both screwup and coverup     inside China most likely connected to two research labs; the Institute of Virology and the Wuhan Centre for Disease Control. 

The United States and other key countries such as Britain, Canada,  France, Germany and Japan have provided WHO’s funding for emergency preparedness, response capability and expertise.  There’s no doubt that WHO has positively contributed to disease eradication and control such as the fights against Polio and Malaria. Thus the issue clearly becomes the WHO’s leadership, not its important and vital global health mission. 

Comment du Jour

Coronavirus Shrouds Easter

The Coronavirus outbreak has closed down the world, at least as we know it.  From the Far East into Europe and North America shutdowns, lockdowns, and stay at home orders are the norm.  And for good reason; COVID-19 poses the most dangerous global Pandemic since the 1918 scourge which killed millions. 

Easter is upon us and both the rituals and rites and joyful religiosity of the Season are strangely absent save for  some chocolate bunnies in the supermarkets.  Church services are banned; in this case Palm Sunday and Easter, the holiest most hopeful days of the Christian calendar, can’t be publicly celebrated since gatherings are forbidden.      

Yet this is not the order of some dystopian alien dictatorship which has seized our world while 

we were watching Netflix, but rather the sober realization of policymakers that we had better not

fool around with Covid-19.  

Clearly the atmosphere remains surrealistic in our cities, schools and stores. 

So from the USA to South America, Australia, South Africa and even India; We are Closed.   Wuhan, China where the deadly virus started in November faces a socio/political Purgatory which still continues despite the happy talk by Beijing’s Marxist mandarins that the health emergency is largely solved.  

China’s lack of transparency has deepened and obscured the overall crisis.  Beijing’s mendacious regime may still face its “Chernobyl Moment” when the full truth emerges!  And it most certainly will. 

Western Europe remains the epicenter of the deadly virus with Italy, Spain and France

facing the largest mass casualty events since the Second World War.  Britain and Germany are not too far behind.  France has used draconian police powers to keep people off the streets, to

protect them from this unseen enemy.  Even senior citizens need permission passes to take walks during the day!  Vibrant cities such as Paris are ghost towns, bathed in beautiful Spring days!

Just a year ago during Holy Week, Notre Dame cathedral, the iconic Gothic masterpiece which has graced Paris for nearly a millennium, suffered a terrible fire; the heart of France was ripped but her Soul has yet more to endure from further calamities with the pandemic.  

The USA now too confronts a frightful onslaught of Corona, with the virus sweeping major urban centers such as New York and New Orleans.  New York has become an eerie place.

Again the jarring changes come not from atheistic regimes but from the cold hard dictate of

“The scientists” who in the name of our salvation, are vigorously guarding our health. 

These experts are being followed with near theological rigor. 

Indeed Netflix has become the new deacon and holds our attention with droning vespers of vivid entertainment and mini-series.   While I will refrain from saying Hooray for Hollywood, let’s be happy that given this Sports Free Spring there is some entertainment.   

The U.S. Economy which stood powerfully at its bright zenith; has now been eclipsed by Planet Corona.  As publisher Steve Forbes suggested on FOX, the economy has been put into an induced coma.  Stopping for a time before its revival.  But a revival soon it must be.  

The sudden shutdown loss of more than nine million jobs, through no fault of the companies or the workers, remains a grim consequence of the government/Governors health shutdowns. People are hurting and want to get back to work.  Small business and farmers deserve a chance.  Health care workers, doctors, truckers and food store staff deserve a shout out!

New York’s Timothy Cardinal Dolan in a special message to Christians and Jews in the New York Post underscored that as a country, a state and especially “for us as a city, are ‘passing over’ from contagion, fear, infection, isolation and suffering, to unity, healing, recovery and a renewed life.” Cardinal Dolan added that both the message of Passover and Easter underscored the point of salvation.

Now as a wartime president, Donald Trump has marshaled a Public/private sector initiative and coordination not seen in the USA since WWII.  What used to be rightly called the Arsenal of Democracy during WWII, will become the Engine of American Revival and Renewal in our times. 

  

But it’s now Spring!   Easter is a time of rebirth and reawakening, for our societies worldwide

and for our battered economies.  Donald Trump stressed, “We have to open our country again!”  This is certain. We eagerly await the green light to get going again!

Comment du Jour

Coronavirus--Stormy Clouds Ahead for Europe, USA

Truth is often stranger than fiction.  If somebody suggested a thriller novel plot set to the backdrop of gyrating stock markets, falling oil prices, rising tensions with Iran, amidst a spreading worldwide health pandemic, all juxtaposed to a contentious American Presidential election, most literary agents would gruffly scoff, “it’s too far fetched.”  Perhaps, but look at the news.

The Coronavirus, which started in China late last year in Wuhan has since mushroomed into

a full fledged flu epidemic from the Far East to Western Europe and Middle America.

Corona or more properly COVID-19 has dramatically changed day to day life and drastically  reduced business activity, shut schools and Universities, and cancelled sporting events.

Even James Bond, or should we say his latest movie No Time to Die, has been postponed due to 

the Corona.

The 24/7 media and especially social media has turned the crisis into a near frenzy of information, disinformation and often simply information overload.  People are nervous and rightly so given the dire health predictions and infection rates.

There are serious medical and economic storm clouds ahead for Europe and the USA--Italy, France and Spain have seen the worst of the pandemic.  Now it is in the United States and Canada and spreading.

STAY SAFE!

STAY HEALTHY!

STAY ALERT!