Todays Zaman: EU objects to "convicted criminal" Omar al-Bashir's visit to Turkey
Turkey has received a request from the European Union to reconsider its decision to invite indicted Sudanese president Omar Hassan al-Bashir . Bashir, who in March became the first sitting head of state to be indicted by the ICC at The Hague, is among heads of state and government that İstanbul will host for an economic summit during the Organization of the Islamic Conference's (OIC) 25th session of the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation (COMCEC). Meanwhile, during a visit to the eastern province of Elazığ on Friday, when reminded of the issue, President Abdullah Gül, the host of the summit and a former foreign minister, underlined that Bashir would not come to Turkey for a bilateral visit. “These are multilateral visits, everyone is visiting [Turkey] as a member of an international organization. Therefore, everyone should see it this way and should act with this understanding,” Gül was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency in an apparent reference to the EU’s uneasiness over the expected visit.
Note EU-Digest: there is a saying: "It is by the people you associate with that other people will judge you". Sudanese president Omar Hassan al-Bashir is a convicted criminal by the International Criminal Court in the Hague and when he sets his feet on Turkish soil should be apprehended by Turkish authorities and delivered to the International Criminal Court. "
