MoU paves way for formal discussions on potentials to develop the corridor to unlock economic benefits
DP World and its partners envisage investing up to US$1bn in developing supply chain infrastructure along the corridor
DP World, a leading global provider of end to end logistics solutions, and the Ministry of Transport have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the aim of developing the Ethiopian side of the road linking Ethiopia to Berbera into one of the major trade and logistics corridors of the Country’s international trade routes.
The MoU, which was signed in Addis Ababa today by Her Excellency, Dagmawit Moges, Ethiopia’s Minister of Transport, and Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Group Chairman and CEO of DP World, follows a decision by the two parties to explore the potentials for developing logistics infrastructure and the provision of end to end logistics services along the corridor to unlock major economic benefits for Ethiopia.
In terms of the MoU, it is proposed that the Parties would establish a joint venture logistics company to perform logistic operations from origin to destination. It is intended that for export, DP World will offer services from origin in Ethiopia up to Berbera Port, while for imports, it will offer from the port of loading to the delivery of shipments in one of the dry ports in the hinterlands or the final destination of the consignees.
DP World and its partners envisage investing up to US$1bn over the next ten years in developing the supply chain infrastructure along the corridor. This will include dry ports, silos, warehouses, container yards, cool and cold chain depots, freight forwarding and clearing activities. The infrastructure investment will be in parallel with the implementation of the latest IT infrastructure and technology to ensure the efficient functioning of the corridor, and smooth, secure and transparent transfer of cargo throughout the entire transportation journey.
The MoU also envisages that the Ministry of Transport will see to it that a review and resolution of regulatory obstacles facing the Ethiopian side of the Berbera Corridor are exercised with a view to ensuring competitive arrangements for logistics companies so that they could be able to use the Corridor on a common user basis.
“As we kick off the journey towards prosperity, aiming at unlocking Ethiopia’s development potentials designed to propel the country into becoming an African beacon of prosperity, the transformation of the logistics industry is expected to play the leading catalytic role. Ethiopia aims to diversify its port access facilities and services to improve its trade corridor access routes; utilizing the Berbera corridor will surely have the potential to make Ethiopia a front runner in logistics operations, boosting the competitive advantage of delivering our products to the world market. The development of this Corridor will not only meet with the growing demand of Ethiopian’s international trade, but it would also enhance our Nation’s capacity in utilizing our existing major corridor both in terms of volume of trade and efficiency.” said the Ethiopian Minister of Transport Dagmawit Moges.
Speaking at the signing ceremony in Addis Ababa Mr. Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Group Chairman and CEO of DP World, said: “As a leading global provider of trade and logistics solutions, we strongly believe that developing the Berbera Corridor into one of the major trade and logistics corridors will unlock huge economic benefits for Ethiopia, and support its ambitious development plans. It will create new jobs, attract new businesses and investment along the corridor, as well as diversify and strengthen the country’s access to international trade by having a direct, seamless and efficient link between Ethiopia and Berbera Port.”
The road infrastructure that will connect Berbera Port to Wajaale at the border with Ethiopia, funded by the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development and the UK’s Department for International Development, is expected to be completed by the end of 2021. The road will link to the existing modern highway on the Ethiopian side and will further position Berbera as one of the key trade gateways in the region and will be one of the fastest and most efficient routes for Ethiopian transit cargo.
DP World has committed to investing up to US$442 million to develop and expand Berbera port, with the first phase nearly completed. Further work is already underway on expansion of the quay to 1000 metres which will increase capacity to two million TEUs, operated by 10 quay cranes.
The British Ambassador, Kate Foster, visited Hargeisa this week to reaffirm the strength of the UK’s partnership with Somaliland including in the trade and development sector.
In her first visit to Somaliland since her appointment in February, Ms. Foster joined President Muse Bihi in launching the main construction phase of the 22.5 km Hargeisa bypass. The UK-supported bypass will reduce the time and cost of transporting goods between Berbera Port and landlocked Ethiopia by addressing a strategic chokepoint on the Berbera corridor.
In the construction phase, particular attention will be paid to climate proofing, ensuring the road is built to last. Protection of local heritage is also a key consideration, recognising the road’s proximity to the iconic Nasa Hablood hills – the symbol of Hargeisa city.
The corridor is already facilitating the delivery of much-needed humanitarian assistance to vulnerable communities in the wider region. The World Food Programme uses Berbera to bring 65% of its food aid into Ethiopia. With Ethiopia’s trade volumes projected to continue expanding, Berbera also represents an alternative for increasing trade and prosperity in the Horn of Africa.
The continued development of the Berbera corridor will ensure that ordinary people from across Somaliland will benefit from inclusive economic development. Future UK support will focus on more efficient cross border trade between Somaliland and Ethiopia including through the use of one-stop border posts, cargo tracking systems and efficient regulation at the border.
At the launch event, Somaliland President, Muse Bihi, said: “I would like to thank the UK and partners for their role in investing in Somaliland’s infrastructure to boost the economy, which will help in service delivery as well as create employment.”
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Kate Foster said:
“We are proud to support the Hargeisa bypass, which is a crucial part of the Berbera corridor. Once this 240 km project – in coordination with our Abu Dhabi and European partners – is completed late next year, it will improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of people by creating jobs, unlocking the region’s economic potential and ease the delivery of humanitarian supplies.
“At a time of huge challenges for Somaliland, including tackling COVID-19, this is a demonstration of the UK’s commitment to the people of Somaliland.”
Eugene Torero, Director of Trade Policy at TradeMark East Africa, said:
“We are grateful for the continued support by United Kingdom and the fruitful partnership with the Somaliland government which has ensured steady progress in the construction of this important road amidst many challenges.”
“TMEA is committed to continue implementing various initiatives, with the government, that will support Somaliland’s agenda in increasing trade not only within its borders but also with its neighbours consequently creating jobs and helping reduce poverty”
The President of the Republic of Somaliland HE Muse Bihi Abdi attended the groundbreaking ceremony of the 22.5 kilometer Hargeisa Bypass Road funded by UKAID. The bypass is expected to alleviate congestion from commercial traffic from the Berbera Corridor by swinging traffic to the north of the capital city of Hargeisa and rejoining the main Hargeisa – Wajale highway.
Berbera – Hargeisa highway known as Berbera Corridor is currently under construction and is funded by the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development as part of the DP World Berbera port expansion project.
“We need to put our minds together to build roads, we are grateful to Allah for the help we are getting, but we too can build more roads, and I would like to suggest to the business community and the wealthy in the country that they can build the road from Burao to Hargeisa,” said President Bihi.
President Bihi stressed the need for a better road network in Somaliland and invited the business community to invest in highways, and briefly touched on the possibility of tall roads to encourage private investment in transportation network development.
At the end of his speech, the President who recently visited the Hargeisa main bridge which has sustained an unspecified damage from the recent floods said that the expertise and equipment for the Hargeisa bypass project should be utilized to fix the Hargeisa bridge.
Among the dignitaries that attended the groundbreaking ceremony was Taiwan Ambassador to Somaliland Mr. Allen C. Lou, the newly appointed Director of UAE Trade office in Somaliland Mr. Abdullah Muhammad Al Naqbi, and the British Ambassador Kate Foster, the UK Ambassador to Somalia who is on her first official visit to Somaliland since taking over from Ambassador Ben Fender in February 2021.
“We are proud to support the Hargeisa bypass, which is a crucial part of the Berbera corridor. Once this 240 km project – in coordination with our Abu Dhabi and European partners – is completed late next year, it will improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of people by creating jobs, unlocking the region’s economic potential, and ease the delivery of humanitarian supplies.” the UK Ambassador said.
The Hargeisa bypass road is slated to be completed in 22 according to the Berbera Corridor Project Manager Mr. Angus Miller who spoke at the event.
Besides the Hargeisa bypass project, the President addressed opposition parties’ concern of candidate detention and urged patience and trust in the rule of law to ensure the process runs its course and that no candidate will be prevented from running for office if exonerated of charges. Opposition parties have accused the government and the ruling Kulmiye party of deliberately targeting their candidates to prevent them from participating in the elections. The local and parliamentary elections are scheduled for May 31st.
Dr. Chen Shih-chung Minister of Health and Welfare Republic of China (Taiwan)
The threat that emerging infectious diseases pose to global health and the economy, trade, and tourism never ceases. Pandemics can spread rapidly around the world due to international aviation and transport. As of March 2021, a novel form of pneumonia that first emerged in Wuhan, China, at the end of 2019 and has since been classified as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused more than 126 million cases and more than 2.7 million deaths worldwide. The disease has had an enormous medical, economic, and social impact around the world, and significantly threatened global efforts to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Due to its proximity to China, Taiwan had been expected to be one of the countries most severely affected by the epidemic. But given its experience of fighting the 2003 SARS outbreak, Taiwan did not ignore the alarms, piecing together evolving official and unofficial accounts to form a picture of the emerging disease that implied a scope and severity worse than the global public perception suggested. Authorities used this information to launch enhanced monitoring on December 31, 2019, and have tirelessly implemented public health containment measures since Taiwan’s first case was detected on January 21, 2020. As of April 22, 2021, there had been 1,086 confirmed cases, including 11 deaths, in Taiwan. Life and work have continued much as normal for the majority of the population. Taiwan has contained COVID-19 ever since the beginning of the pandemic, including a record 253 days without any cases of domestic transmission between April and December 2020.
After dealing with SARS, Taiwan established a nationwide infectious disease healthcare network that is led and overseen by infectious disease experts across six regions. More than 100 secondary response hospitals are included in the network and all twenty-two special municipalities, counties and cities have designated their primary response hospitals. The network also provides the legal authority for transferring patients with highly contagious diseases to designated facilities based on public health and clinical need. This has proven instrumental in protecting health systems and health professionals from being overwhelmed, and allowed most non-COVID-19 health services to continue to operate without disruption during the pandemic. To date, there have been only two hospital-associated COVID-19 outbreaks in Taiwan. Both were well managed resulting a total of 11 cases and zero death of health professionals.
By introducing public health control measures early and effectively, Taiwan has also mitigated the economic impact of COVID-19. To maintain essential international, social, economic, and trade activities, Taiwan implemented flexible adjustments for related quarantine measures for vessels and aircraft so that fisheries, offshore wind farms, and air transport industries could continue operations. In stark contrast with the global economic contraction, Taiwan’s GDP growth for 2020 was approximately 3.11 percent, with even higher growth of 4.94 percent in the fourth quarter. Furthermore, public trust and cooperation with the government’s response have been key to successfully containing COVID-19. In formulating disease control regulations, the government has adhered to the principles of reasonable response, minimum damage, and gradual adoption. It has worked hard to maintain the balance between people’s right to know and personal privacy and freedom, actively responding to people’s wishes by upholding the principle of fairness at the same time as prioritizing the protection of disadvantaged groups, including migrant workers. Throughout this pandemic, Taiwan has demonstrated an emphasis on the right to health and associated protections and strong opposition to human rights abuses. Indeed, at no point has Taiwan restricted people’s right to free expression, assembly, or participation in public life.
Although COVID-19 has hit all countries hard, its impact has been harshest among already vulnerable and high-risk communities, as well as those lacking quality health care services and those unable to handle the adverse consequences of antipandemic containment measures. As a responsible member of the international community, Taiwan will do its utmost to work with the World Health Organization and global health leaders to ensure that all people enjoy living and working conditions that are conducive to good health. We will also monitor health inequities to advocate more effectively for universal access to quality health services.
Thanks to its robust health system, rigorous testing strategies, information transparency, and public-private partnerships, Taiwan’s response to COVID-19 has been one of the world’s success stories. This pandemic has proven yet again that Taiwan cannot remain outside of the global health network. Taiwan plays an indispensable role in the global monitoring and early warning systems that detect the threat of emerging infectious diseases, and the Taiwan Model has proven consistently capable of containing COVID-19. The pandemic has also highlighted Taiwan’s capacity to research, develop, produce, and supply therapies and associated tools quickly (including two COVID-19 vaccines that are presently in Phase 2 trials). Being able to comprehensively participate in and contribute to international COVID-19 supply chain systems, as well as global diagnostics, vaccine, and therapeutics platforms, would allow Taiwan to work with the rest of the world.
We urge WHO and related parties to acknowledge Taiwan’s longstanding contributions to the international community in the areas of public health, disease prevention, and the human right to health, and to include Taiwan in WHO and its meetings, mechanisms, and activities. Taiwan will continue to work with the rest of the world to ensure that all enjoy the fundamental human right to health as stipulated in the WHO Constitution. Echoing the mantra of the United Nations’ 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, no one should be left behind.
We have been exceptionally harsh and critical of the current Mayor of Hargeisa Mr. Abdirahman Mahmoud Aideed SOLTELCO and went as far as crowning him the worst mayor in the world and chronicled his profoundly corrupt and self-centered reasons for wanting a second term as a Mayor. It’s exhausting but why why do we do it? Because the effect of his soon-to-end term is something every Hargeisa resident will live with for the foreseeable future, and Hargeisa, Somaliland’s capital deserves better than the trash-strewn, potholed cesspool that SOLTELCO has lorded over the last several years.
Mayor SOLTELCO is unfortunately more than just an extraordinarily corrupt and incompetent civil servant, he personifies the societal decay that has been eating away at the moral fabric of the people of Somaliland. A society that no longer ostracizes the liar, the thief, or the corrupt but embraces and holds them up as a model of success. There is no denying the fact that SOLTELCO, like a villain from a badly written political corruption book, is simply a symptom of the unseen pandemics that have been ravaging the people of Somaliland long before COVID-19 — corruption and tribalism.
President Bihi who toured the main bridge and flood-damaged areas is not an innocent bystander who is helpless to affect any change and watch Hargeisa washed away by floods like the rest of us, partially perhaps because of climate change as his online trolls try to compare Hargeisa floods to those at the holy city of Mecca but mainly because of the greed and incompetence of its elected officials starting with the Mayor who either sold or gave away flood zones for residential plots constricting the natural drainage of the city, and if any percent of the state institutions in Somaliland were functional, what SOLTELCO represents would’ve withered and died a long time ago, instead, it grows fat feeding on the misery of the very people whom it was supposed to serve and because of the public’s collective complacency, we live in a country where SOLTELCO wants a second term entirely funded from the public coffers and is trading publicly owned lands for political favors.
SOLTELCO is by no means the only candidate who is openly violating campaign finance laws (if we had such laws) by using public funds for campaign purpose, one prime example is President Muse Bihi Abdi’s prime pick for future Speaker of Parliament, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Dr. Yasin Faratoon but we digress.
The capital of the Republic of Somaliland has seen major floods in the past few days where its main bridge that connects the city may collapse and a lion on the loose terrorized its citizens and critically wounded a woman but its Mayor, Mr. SOLTELCO has curiously stayed quiet and disappeared from public view except to solicit, dine and court tribal elders for their “votes”. In perhaps the purest form of impunity, he claims he has been in training for the last eight years, and now has cracked the secret code of becoming the best mayor that Hargeisa deserves.
It brings us no joy to air one of Somaliland’s dirtiest laundry that beyond corruption, what sustains SOLTELCO and what he represents is tribalism and until we reject this oppressive and mutant version of democracy where tribal elders are the unspoken kingmakers that pick who can run for public office in our elections and we stop electing people based on kinship or tribal affiliation and move to a higher ideological plain where meritocracy and good ideas matter, we will forever end up with the most corrupt and inept of public servants.
The path forward and the cure to the disease that is SOLTELCO, not the person but what he stands for, corruption, greed, and incompetence shielded by a system run by others like him higher up in the food chain is to punish them in the ballot box and until that happens the people of Hargeisa deserve SOLTELCO for another term.
According to statements released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the Presidency, a high-level Qatari delegation led by Qatar’s Special Envoy of the Minister of Foreign Affairs for Counterterrorism and Mediation in Conflict Resolution Dr. Mutlaq bin Majed Al-Qahtani has arrived in Somaliland.
The Qatari delegation was received by Hon. Liban Yousuf Osman, Acting and Deputy Minister of foreign affairs and International Cooperation at Egal International Airport where they proceeded to a meeting with the president of the Republic of Somaliland H.E. Muse Bihi Abdi.
Hon. Liban Yousuf Osman, acting and Deputy Minister of foreign affairs and International Cooperation received a high-profile delegation from Qatar led by Qatar special envoy of the foreign minister of state of Qatar H.E Dr.Mutlaq bin majed Al-Qahtani. pic.twitter.com/b8IyTwDUXz
The statement added that President Bihi discussed the establishment of bilateral ties with the Qatari delegation and the opening of an official diplomatic mission by Qatar in Somaliland. In addition, the two sides discussed Qatar’s charity organization, Qatar Charity, to open an office in Somaliland as well.
The boilerplate statement from the Presidency did not delve into why the Qatari delegation headed by its envoy Mediation in Conflict Resolution arrived in Somaliland when there is a major political upheaval and an armed standoff in the neighboring country of Somalia where Qatar has invested heavily in Farmajo and has propped up Villa Somalia.
Qatar’s Ambassador to Somalia Mr. Hassan bin Hamza Hashem is among the Qatari delegation that arrived in Somaliland and met with President Muse Bihi Abdi. Mr. Hashem has been implicated in the shooting death of Paul Anthony Formosa a Construction Manager working for Port, Customs and Free Zone Corporation (PCFC) contracted by DP World for the construction of the Bossasso port in the Puntland Federal Member State of Somalia.
Although the Gulf crises between the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia on one side and Qatar on the other have subsided, Somaliland has officially sided with the Emirates at the time. DP World has been Somaliland’s largest direct foreign investor to date with nearly half a billion US dollars to expand and renovate Berbera Port.
Taiwan Government and “Simply Help” foundation based in the USA work together to share daily necessities and medical supplies with Somaliland Government to show the rock-solid friendship as well as the borderless love.
Ambassador Allen C. Lou of the Taiwan Representative Office in the Republic of Somaliland underscores Taiwan Government’s efforts to integrate resources from NGOs and private enterprises to channel to Somaliland. Since 2020, Simply Help Foundation continues to donate daily necessities to Somaliland. The said foundation operates in more than 20 countries, especially in Central America and Southeast Asia regions since 2000. The said foundation not only donates needed materials but also trains people to learn living skills. In 2005, the said foundation acknowledged the Special Consultative Status with ECOSOC.
Taiwan Representative Office, on behalf of the Taiwan Government and Simply Help Foundation, donates daily and medical necessities to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation to assist the local people in need. It is believed that a friend in need is a friend indeed.
Taiwan is helping and Taiwan has long been contributing on many fronts. Our efforts are proudly described as the “Taiwan Model”. We are always ready to share with Somaliland what we have and what we are good at.
Despite vehemently denying that the International Community has cut all budgetary support to Somalia’s Federal Government following its failure to hold elections and the approval of an illegal mandate extension for President Mohamed Abdillahi Farmajo whose term has ended on February 8th, the Minister of Finance Dr. Abdirahman Beileh admitted in an interview with Mr. Abdi Hersi, an Imam in Calgary Canada that the International Community has not funded its operation since last year and all other funding sources including from Qatar and Saudi Arabia have been exhausted and is at the moment unable to pay salaries.
In the unveiling of a special account set up by the Minister of Finance Dr. Beileh in Salaam Bank, the Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Mahdi Guleid stated if one million Somali diaspora members donate an average of 20 a month, it would bring in 20 million US dollars a month and 240 million annually, enough to fund all government operations. Instructions to would-be contributors state the funds can be sent from any Hawala overseas to the designated account number.
The International Community including the African Union have unanimously and strongly condemned the term extension for Farmajo and have threatened serious actions against those involved including the use of individual sanctions. In addition, the Commander of US Africa General Stephen J. Townsend stated that the term extension poses a greater challenge than Al-Shabaab in front of the House Armed Services Committee on April 20th.
Although Mr. Abdi Hersy has no official role in the term-ended Federal Government of Somalia and lives in Calgary Canada where he is fighting the Canadian government to keep his refugee protection status, he maintains an unusually high level of access to President Mohamed Abdillahi Farmajo and his inner circle and he has held an impromptu zoom session with the Minister of Finance Dr. Beileh on the dire straits of the government’s financial situation.
Subsequently, Mr. Hersy in a video conference with the Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Mahdi Guleid, and the Minister of Finance Dr. Abdirahman Beileh to unveil a new account where the diaspora can effectively crowdfund the functioning of the federal government and effectively keep Farmajo in office.
Mr. Hersy is a fixture on social media where he frequently comments on issues in Somalia, is a fervent supporter of President Farmajo, and despite living in the west has lambasted the international community for its opposition to the term extension. Mr. Hersy is fond of the word neocolonialism and has long called for the ouster of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Representative Mr. James Swan and even suggested that Somalia is considering replacing the west with Russia and China.
Despite his relatively young social media persona as an ultranationalist cleric who frequently defends the Somali Federal Government under President Farmajo, Mr. Hersy has been in a precarious legal limbo in Calgary Canada where he has been fighting extradition to the United States where is wanted for multiple sexual assaults he allegedly committed while working in Twin Cities hospital in Minnesota in 2006 where he lived and worked as a Respiratory Therapist before he fled to Calgary Canada where he falsely claimed refugee status and has been fighting extradition back to the US to face prosecution.
According to the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice which revoked his license, Mr. Hersy has sexually assaulted female patients under his care under the guise of administering medical care. There are currently active warrants for his arrest and is fighting extradition back to the United States from Canada where he has been granted refugee status.
TOP US trained officer major Ismail Abdikarim and his troops managed to take over many positions including Dabka and Sayidka junctions from government forces last night- sources
Major Abdikarim was the former commander of US trained forces known as Danab. pic.twitter.com/s35JjjV13h
It is unclear if there is popular support for Farmajo to marshal enough financial resources to replace the budgetary support cut by the international community due to the extra-judicial term extension or if the funds will not fuel potential conflict in Somalia resulting from Mr. Farmajo’s failure to hold elections on time and refusal to leave office.
Since yesterday, Mogadishu has been the scene of heavy gunfire exchange between opposing units from the Somali National Army where some have dug in multiple neighborhoods around the city. And for the second time former President Mr. Hassan Sheikh said that his residence was attacked by Somali National Army units with direct orders from President Farmajo. Other opposition figures have made similar allegations yesterday.
Article 2 of the United Nations Resolution on International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism strictly prohibits any individual, financial institution, or government entity to provide financing that could fuel an armed conflict. It is unclear if Salaam Bank where the crowdfunding account is established, Mr. Abdi Hersey the Cleric in Calgary with major legal issues of his own, and Somalia’s Minister of Finance Dr. Abdirahman Beileh who is an American citizen are aware of the legality of crowdfunding to keep the government afloat.
Violation of this treaty and others in multiple jurisdictions including the United States Patriot Act which requires stringent due diligence, reporting, and record-keeping requirement designed to keep money out of conflict zones could bring legal liability extended to Hawalas such as World Remit, Dahabshiil, and Taaj should they allow transfer of funds from individuals overseas to the crowdfunding account in Salaam Bank according to multiple sources familiar with international banking and Anti-Money Laundering laws.
Government officials from Somaliland where Dahabshiil, WorldRemit, and Taaj remittances have operations did not return calls for comment on the legal implication of Somalia’s crowdfunding effort and the possibility that the funds could fuel further conflicts in Farmajo’s attempt to stay in power.
As Turkey launched a military offensive against Kurdish minorities in neighboring Syria in early 2018, Facebook’s top executives faced a political dilemma.
Turkey was demanding the social media giant block Facebook posts from the People’s Protection Units, a mostly Kurdish militia group the Turkish government had targeted. Should Facebook ignore the request, as it has done elsewhere, and risk losing access to tens of millions of users in Turkey? Or should it silence the group, known as the YPG, even if doing so added to the perception that the company too often bends to the wishes of authoritarian governments?
It wasn’t a particularly close call for the company’s leadership, newly disclosed emails show.
“I am fine with this,” wrote Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s No. 2 executive, in a one-sentence message to a team that reviewed the page. Three years later, YPG’s photos and updates about the Turkish military’s brutal attacks on the Kurdish minority in Syria still can’t be viewed by Facebook users inside Turkey.
The conversations, among other internal emails obtained by ProPublica, provide an unusually direct look into how tech giants like Facebook handle censorship requests made by governments that routinely limit what can be said publicly. When the Turkish government attacked the Kurds in the Afrin District of northern Syria, Turkey also arrested hundreds of its own residents for criticizing the operation.
Publicly, Facebook has underscored that it cherishes free speech: “We believe freedom of expression is a fundamental human right, and we work hard to protect and defend these values around the world,” the company wrote in a blog post last month about a new Turkish law requiring that social media firms have a legal presence in the country. “More than half of the people in Turkey rely on Facebook to stay in touch with their friends and family, to express their opinions and grow their businesses.”
But behind the scenes in 2018, amid Turkey’s military campaign, Facebook ultimately sided with the government’s demands. Deliberations, the emails show, were centered on keeping the platform operational, not on human rights. “The page caused us a few PR fires in the past,” one Facebook manager warned of the YPG material.
The Turkish government’s lobbying on Afrin-related content included a call from the chairman of the BTK, Turkey’s telecommunications regulator. He reminded Facebook “to be cautious about the material being posted, especially photos of wounded people,” wrote Mark Smith, a U.K.-based policy manager, to Joel Kaplan, Facebook’s vice president of global public policy. “He also highlighted that the government may ask us to block entire pages and profiles if they become a focal point for sharing illegal content.” (Turkey considers the YPG a terrorist organization, although neither the U.S. nor Facebook do.)
The company’s eventual solution was to “geo-block,” or selectively ban users in a geographic area from viewing certain content, should the threats from Turkish officials escalate. Facebook had previously avoided the practice, even though it has become increasingly popular among governments that want to hide posts from within their borders.
Facebook confirmed to ProPublica that it made the decision to restrict the page in Turkey following a legal order from the Turkish government — and after it became clear that failing to do so would have led to its services in the country being completely shut down. The company said it had been blocked before in Turkey, including a half-dozen times in 2016.
The content that Turkey deemed offensive, according to internal emails, included photos on Facebook-owned Instagram of “wounded YPG fighters, Turkish soldiers and possibly civilians.” At the time, the YPG slammed what it understood to be Facebook’s censorship of such material. “Silencing the voice of democracy: In light of the Afrin invasion, YPG experience severe cyberattacks.” The group has published graphic images, including photos of mortally wounded fighters; “this is the way NATO ally Turkey secures its borders,” YPG wrote in one post.
Facebook spokesman Andy Stone provided a written statement in response to questions from ProPublica.
“We strive to preserve voice for the greatest number of people,” the statement said. “There are, however, times when we restrict content based on local law even if it does not violate our community standards. In this case, we made the decision based on our policies concerning government requests to restrict content and our international human rights commitments. We disclose the content we restrict in our twice-yearly transparency reports and are evaluated by independent experts on our international human rights commitments every two years.”
The Turkish embassy in Washington said it contends the YPG is the “Syrian offshoot” of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which the U.S. government considers to be a terrorist organization.
Facebook has considered the YPG page politically sensitive since at least 2015, emails show, when officials discovered the page was inaccurately marked as verified with a blue check mark. In turn, “that created negative coverage on Turkish pro-government media,” one executive wrote. When Facebook removed the check mark, it in turn “created negative coverage [in] English language media including on Huffington Post.”
In 2018, the review team, which included global policy chief Monika Bickert, laid out the consequences of a ban. The company could set a bad example for future cases and take flak for its decision. “Geo-blocking the YPG is not without risk — activists outside of Turkey will likely notice our actions, and our decision may draw unwanted attention to our overall geo-blocking policy,” said one email in late January.
But this time, the team members said, the parties were embroiled in an armed conflict and Facebook officials worried their platform could be shut down entirely in Turkey. “We are in favor of geo-blocking the YPG content,” they wrote, “if the prospects of a full-service blockage are great.” They prepared a “reactive” press statement: “We received a valid court order from the authorities in Turkey requiring us to restrict access to certain content. Following careful review, we have complied with the order,” it said.
In a nine-page ruling by Ankara’s 2nd Criminal Judgeship of Peace, government officials listed YPG’s Facebook page among several hundred social media URLs they considered problematic. The court wrote that the sites should be blocked to “protect the right to life or security of life and property, ensure national security, protect public order, prevent crimes, or protect public health,” according to a copy of the order obtained by ProPublica.
Kaplan, in a Jan. 26, 2018, email to Sandberg and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, confirmed that the company had received a Turkish government order demanding that the page be censored, although it wasn’t immediately clear if officials were referring to the Ankara court ruling. Kaplan advised the company to “immediately geo-block the page” should Turkey threaten to block all access to Facebook.
Sandberg, in a reply to Kaplan, Zuckerberg and others, agreed. (She had been at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, touting Facebook’s role in assisting victims of natural disasters.)
“Facebook can’t bow to authoritarians to suppress political dissidents and then claim to be just ‘following legal orders,’” said Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat who’s a prominent Facebook critic. “American companies need to stand up for universal human rights, not just hunt for bigger profits. Mark Zuckerberg has called for big changes to U.S. laws protecting free speech at the same time he protected far-right slime merchants in the U.S. and censored dissidents in Turkey. His priority has been protecting the powerful and Facebook’s bottom line, even if it means marginalized groups pay the price.”
In a statement to ProPublica, the YPG said censorship by Facebook and other social media platforms “is on an extreme level.”
“YPG has actively been using social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and others since its foundation,” the group said. “YPG uses social media to promote its struggle against jihadists and other extremists who attacked and are attacking Syrian Kurdistan and northern Syria. Those platform[s] have a crucial role in building a public presence and easily reaching communities across the world. However, we have faced many challenges on social media during these years.”
Cutting off revenue from Turkey could harm Facebook financially, regulatory filings suggest. Facebook includes revenue from Turkey and Russia in the figure it gives for Europe overall and the company reported a 34% increase for the continent in annual revenue per user, according to its 2019 annual report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Yaman Akdeniz, a founder of the Turkish Freedom of Expression Association, said the YPG block was “not an easy case because Turkey sees the YPG as a terror organization and wants their accounts to be blocked from Turkey. But it just confirms that Facebook doesn’t want to challenge these requests, and it was prepared to act.”
“Facebook has a transparency problem,” he said.
In fact, Facebook doesn’t reveal to users that the YPG page is explicitly banned. When ProPublica tried to access YPG’s Facebook page using a Turkish VPN — to simulate browsing the internet from inside the country — a notice read: “The link may be broken, or the page may have been removed.” The page is still available on Facebook to people who view the site through U.S. internet providers.
For its part, Facebook reported about 15,300 government requests worldwide for content restrictions during the first half of 2018. Roughly 1,600 came from Turkey during that period, company data shows, accounting for about 10% of requests globally. In a brief post, Facebook said it restricted access to 1,106 items in response to requests from Turkey’s telecom regulator, the courts and other agencies, “which covers a range of offenses including personal rights violations, personal privacy, defamation of [first Turkish president Mustafa Kemal] Ataturk, and laws on the unauthorized sale of regulated goods.”
Katitza Rodriguez, policy director for global privacy at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said the Turkish government has also managed to force Facebook and other platforms into appointing legal representatives in the country. If tech companies don’t comply, she said, Turkish taxpayers would be prevented from placing ads and making payments to Facebook. Because Facebook is a member of the Global Network Initiative, Rodriguez said, it has pledged to uphold the group’s human rights principles.
“Companies have an obligation under international human rights law to respect human rights,” she said.
This article is republished from ProPublica under a Creative Commons license.
The United States Department of State, in a statement, announced the appointment of Mr. Jeffrey Feltman as the U.S. Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa. The appointment of the envoy comes at a time of heightened tension between Ethiopia and Sudan on the dispute of the Ethiopian Grand Renaissance Dam known as GERD and the worsening humanitarian crises in the Tigray region of Ethiopia following the military campaign against the TPLF.
Amnesty International and other human rights bodies have alleged wide-scale human rights violations, including extrajudicial killing of unarmed civilians, rapes, and the displacement of thousands of civilians from Tigray. Although the Ethiopian government has previously denied the involvement of Eritrean forces in the Tigray campaign, it has recently asked the Eritrean forces to withdraw, it still denies allegations of human rights abuses in Axum and other parts of Tigray by Ethiopian or Eritrean forces.
“Of particular concern are the volatile situation in Ethiopia, including the conflict in Tigray; escalating tension between Ethiopia and Sudan; and the dispute around the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.” the statement said.
The statement does not mention the renewed political and security crises in Somalia following the term extension of President Mohamed Abdillahi Farmajo’s mandate by the Lower House of the Parliament. The term extension has been unanimously denounced by the International Community where some countries including the United States have threatened sanctions.
Mr. Feldman is an experienced diplomat who served as an Ambassador to Lebanon and as former Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs and is currently a member of MEI‘s Board of Governors. Many regional analysts have suggested the appointment of the Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa to bring a direct engagement of the region’s many complexities beyond the traditional diplomatic channels.
