BİZİM BÜYÜK TURAN SEVDAMIZ VAR... BİZİM DÜNYANIN NERESİNDE BİR TÜRK VARSA, ONUNLA ASİLKAN - CEVHER-İ ASLİYE BAĞIMIZ VAR.. VARSIN DİĞERLERİNİN  HER BİRİ ERMENİ OLSUN... ANKARA'DAKİ BOZKURTLARLA, TEBRİZ'DEKİ, KERKÜK'TEKİ, HAMA'DAKİ, HUMUS'TAKİ BOZKURTLAR ARASINDA HİÇ BİR AYRICALIK YAPMIYORUZ...

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Relentless wildfires roared through Southern California for a third day Tuesday, sending more than half a million residents fleeing with family members, pets and whatever prize possessions they could fit in their

vehicles.

The blazes have charred 400,000 acres and reduced 1,300 homes -- 1,000 in San Diego County -- to ash. The fires have killed one person and injured more than 50. Earlier Tuesday, officials erroneously reported that a second person had died.

Earlier Tuesday, Lt. Gov. John Garamendi, said the number of evacuees "could very well approach 500,000 by the end of the day."

By Tuesday night, officials had evacuated nearly 350,000 homes in San Diego County. Using U.S. Census Bureau numbers from the 2000 census, that could mean as many as 950,000 were affected by the fires.

In San Diego County, at least 513,000 residents had been ordered to find refuge in shelters, schools and stadiums as fires pushed into new areas.

Twelve thousand more people were advised but not ordered to evacuate.

President Bush will visit the area Thursday, the White House said. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff arrived in San Diego on Tuesday afternoon.

Chertoff promised a different federal reaction from the one in New Orleans in 2005.

"We have been preparing and planning and training together for the last 2½ years," he said.

And the scene at Qualcomm Stadium on Tuesday did seem to live up to Chertoff's expectations as volunteers cheerily handed out chairs, food and water.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency delivered 25,000 cots early Tuesday. Free newspapers were available, National Guard troops kept watch, ventriloquists and balloon artists entertained kids, and even massage therapists were trying to help the 12,000 to 15,000 evacuees relax as they fretted about the fate of their homes.

Meanwhile, at least two fires raged on the property of the U.S. Marines' Camp Pendleton, north of San Diego. Three-thousand Marines were evacuated Tuesday evening.

Paul McHale, assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense, said 550 Camp Pendleton Marines were preparing to deploy to the fire area.

As the Santa Ana winds, which approached 70 mph, fueled the fires, 1,400 Navy personnel and their families were evacuated, the Pentagon said.

And in an effort to make room for more civilians who have had to evacuate their homes, sailors stationed in Southern California are abandoning their barracks.

McHale said that a dozen Defense Department firefighting teams, with 12 engines, were already working the blazes, and more than 17,000 National Guardsmen are potentially available if needed.

The Pentagon has provided 11 helicopters equipped with water buckets to fight the fires, he said. But aerial attacks on the fires have been minimal because of the fierce Santa Ana winds.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has already called up 1,500 National Guard troops, including more than 200 taken from border duty to help with supplies and security at Qualcomm Stadium and DelMar Fairgrounds and Racetrack, where thousands of evacuated residents are taking shelter.

Eighteen firefighters have been injured in the blazes, according to Schwarzenegger, who said Tuesday that he was "heartbroken" after touring the Lake Arrowhead area where the Grass Valley and Slide fires have burned 5,000 acres and destroyed more than 200 homes.

Lake Arrowhead resident Michelle Dresser, who owns a business and was chased from her home by a wildfire last year, said Tuesday she was waiting until the last minute to leave. She spent the night in her store, partly to help customers and neighbors. "It is crazy. We are surrounded by fire on both sides," she said.

Asked by CNN where she would go, she replied, "I have to find someplace to accept two dogs, two cats and a turtle."

Qualcomm Stadium is accepting animals.

New evacuation orders are being added frequently to the San Diego Office of Emergency Services Web site.

Officials said the crisis is far from over.

"It will not end ... until it reaches the ocean or the winds turn around," San Diego Fire Battalion Chief Bruce Cartelli said Tuesday.

Despite having 21 years of experience as a firefighter, Arthur Jackson marveled at the fires he battled. "It is just amazing how this fire selects whatever it wants and burns whatever it wants," he told CNN.

Although they were toiling in 24-hour shifts, Jackson said he and his fellow firefighters were "holding up pretty good." What weighed heaviest on them was not so much the physical exertion, he said, but knowing they had failed to protect all of the structures.

For some, the failure was more than a professional concern. "Some of the firefighters -- their own homes have burned up," he said.

Iran to release British sailors
IRAN has finally announced it will free the captured British sailors and marines as a gift to Britain.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today said he has pardoned the 15 Brits detained in the Gulf last month.

He said the move was a gift to the British people to mark the birthday of Islam’s Prophet Muhammed and Easter.

The announcement came minutes after he gave medals of honour to the Iranian coast guards who intercepted the sailors and marines. He told them: "On behalf of the great Iranian people, I want to thank the Iranian Coast Guard who courageously defended and captured those who violated their territorial waters."

He also criticized Britain for deploying Leading Seaman Faye Turney, one of the 15 detainees, because she is a woman with a child.

He said: "How can you justify seeing a mother away from her home, her children? Why don’t they respect family values in the West?" A Downing Street spokeswoman said: "We welcome what the President has said about the release of our 15 personnel.

"We are now establishing exactly what this means in terms of the method and timing of their release."

Iranian media reported that the 15 captives "shouted with joy" after hearing they were to be released.

They were taken to the British Embassy in Tehran after meeting President Ahmadinejad at a special ceremony as part of the release process.

The freed Brits are expected to be flown back to the UK tomorrow.

EU calls for 'democratic' Serbia

The European Union's foreign policy chief has said he stills hopes for a "pro-European and democratic government" in Serbia after the success of the ultra-nationalist Radical party in elections on Sunday.
 Javier Solana said he hoped "very much there will be a speedy formation of a government that will be on the line of pro-European forces". "The majority voted for forces that are democratic and pro-European," Solana said as he arrived for a meeting of EU foreign ministers to discuss the 27-member bloc's strategy towards Belgrade in the light of the vote. The hardline Radical party attracted the most support in the election, achieving 28 per cent of the vote. But it is unclear whether it can form a government and the party's deputy leader, Tomislav Nikolic, says he does not expect to be invited to form the next government.
 Nikolic said he expected the Serbian president, Boris Tadic, "will not give us the mandate".
 "Tadic already said last night that he would not respect the democratic principle and he would not give a mandate to the Serbian Radical Party," Nikolic said. He said the pro-Western parties would have a hard time forming a coalition and forecast that it would be shortlived and that more elections would be held before the end of the year.
 Western appeals
 Solana denied that the vote demonstrated the failure of Western efforts to quell nationalist feelings in Serbia.
 The West told Serbs before the election that they should turn their backs on nationalism if they hoped to join the EU and Nato.
 But many Serbs appeared to have ignored those appeals.
 Tadic, the West's great hope, led his opposition Democratic party to about 23 per cent of the vote, well behind the Radical party.
 The EU froze a stabilisation and association agreement (SAA) with Belgrade in May over its failure to surrender Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb army chief, who was believed to be hiding in Serbia.
 He is wanted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia for war crimes in the conflict in Bosnia in the mid-1990s.
 Vojislav Seselj, the Radical party's official leader, remains on trial at the tribunal in the Hague.

Only one woman was fighting against a horde of invaders and traitors in Malgobek

On the evening, February, 4^th, judicial-medical examination has established, that the scorched body found in apartment N17 at home N3 on the street of Oskanov in Маlgobek (Ingushetia), where February, 3^rd, during several hours there was a fierce fight with application of armoured technique, belongs to the unknown woman, Ingush informational sources report. 

Accepting the Challenge – is Georgia thinking of war?

As Russia deployed additional troops to the Abkhazian conflict zone, Tbilisi has tossed around war rhetoric about Abkhazia. Georgia asserts that Russia has stationed dozens of armor and artillery systems in the territory of Abkhazia and posted 200 land troops in Ochamchire.

According to President Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgian authorities have evidence that Russia tried to provoke the recent uprising in Tbilisi and use that time to deploy its troops in Abkhazia. "Moscow officials know that if they separate Abkhazia from Georgia, Georgia will not manage to exist as an independent state, but we'll respond properly to all such attacks and protect our country," stated Mikheil Saakasvhili. However, there are other problems troubling Tbilisi. Soon the UN will discuss the issue of Kosovo's independence.
The Georgian government fears that if the West recognizes Kosovo's independence without Russia's approval the latter may recognize Abkhazia's independence. Archil Gegeshidze, expert at the Foundation of Strategic Studies and International Relations states, "If Kosovo's independence is recognized, Russia will certainly try to use this trend regarding Georgia. However it is impossible to apply Kosovo precedent in Georgia due to historic, political and other factors."
According to Gegeshidze, Abkhazia's de facto authorities will never resign and delegate power to the UN. Russia will not allow it. "Due to these factors, the process which was culminated by Kosovo independence may not be compared to Georgia. Leave alone the fact that Albanians were subject to ethnic cleansing in Kosovo, while the violence in Abkhazia came from Abkhazs and Georgians were the victims of the ethnic cleansing. There are many other differences in these processes but Russia claims that if Kosovo's independence is recognized, the same may happen in Abkhazia," Gegeshidze explained.
‘We'll accept the challenge' Mikheil Saakashvili has responded to the statement made by his Russian colleague, Vladimer Putin that if Kosovo gains its independence Abkhazia may also. "We'd like to tell Russians and others: you cannot divide Georgia. Moreover Georgian state, law enforcement and security services are mobilized to protect Abkhazia and Tskhinvali," President Saakashvili declared. Givi Targamadze, chair of the parliamentary committee for defense and security, states that recognition of Abkhazia's independence by Russia will be tantamount to waging war against Georgia. Georgia will accept this challenge.
Nino Burjanadze, Parliament speaker says that the government is willing to solve the conflict through peaceful, political methods. However, she added, "The majority of Georgian people except traitors will defend the unity of Georgia if anyone tries to divide Georgia and recognize Abkhazia's independence." Is Georgia Ready for War? The statements by Georgian top officials raise the question whether we will face further aggravation in the Georgia-Abkhazian conflict zone or resumption of armed confrontation. If the threat is real, is the Georgian army ready to fulfill the task and what will the reaction of international community be?
 Will the escalation in Abkhazia spill over in Tskhinvali region? "Russia wants to declare: Let Abkhazians and Georgians talk but there should not be any results until a consensus is reached. In this case the talks will not concern maintenance of Georgia's territorial integrity. Georgia and Abkhazia will have equal sides during the negotiations similar to the situation of Kosovo and Serbia. The main goal will be consensus rather than the territorial integrity of the country," says Gegeshidze. Tornike Sharashenidze, an expert in international relations, coordinator of GIPA international policy programs and former director of NATO information center says that we should not expect any military conflict in the conflict zone.
This will not happen even if Kosovo's independence is recognized. "Escalation in Abkhazia is not favorable for Russia, Georgia and international community. Hence we should not expect such deterioration," he says. Akia Barbakadze, an independent expert in military issues says, "I doubt that any military operation is considered a serious state program. However, I don't exclude that the worst scenarios have been developed in the general headquarters. Georgia has two frozen conflicts and they may resolve anytime. As for the armed forces, they must be ready for the worst plots. A military operation was planned long ago in the conflict zone and this plan exists in the general headquarter.
The general headquarters' function concerns development of such plans not only regarding Tskhinvali, Java or Sokhumi. The matter concerns all possible threats- border violation or attack of would-be enemy. It is necessary to elaborate such plans." Giorgi Bliadze, independent military expert believes, "The military headquarters of any normal country develop such plans notwithstanding the reality of the threat of armed conflict." But is it reasonable to hold military operation in conflict zones? Will the operation provide political resolution and ensure peaceful co-existence for the Georgian, Abkhazian and Ossetian populations?
According to Giorgi Bliadze, "If any military operation is planned in the conflict zone it should be short-term and so rapid that Russia must not have time to react. At the same time the plan should be developed at the level of political and international relations." "It is necessary to hold so called blitzkrieg in a contemporary political environment to assure international community that the problem must be solved in a military way. Certainly, an information war and the issues of political resolution should precede the military campaign. The state machine has not yet developed such preconditions," Giorgi Bliadze explains. Irakli Sesiashvili, an expert in military security issues, and Director of Justice and Freedom declares that, "Holding a military operation is easy.
It is more difficult to calculate the outcome. It must define what happens after the special operation, what force will oppose the new authorities and how will the peace be maintained. This process is more difficult and it requires more human and financial resources than the operation itself. If Tbilisi holds the special operation in a conflict zone, Russia will certainly try to aggravate the situation in other regions." "The reopening of conflict favors Russia's interests. We can predict that the separatist military units will be equipped with the Russian arms. However, the conflict will have the character of ethnic confrontation and it will require Russia's presence in the region. Russia will also try to beef up peacekeepers' contingent as well as the action field."
Barbakadze predicts. According to Barbakadze, there is another threat: the separatists will try to engage peaceful civilians from both sides in the conflict. This conflict will claim human lives and will compromise the state's stability and infrastructure. State control may be temporarily lost in certain territories. How will Georgia's allies react if the conflict resumes? Barbakadze reckons that the USA will not support a war, as the crisis will proliferate throughout the Caucasus region. Unrest in the region does not favor the US national interests. Assumingly Turkey will refrain from support for the same reason.
The EU will oppose the resumption of any crisis considering the new neighborhood initiative. Additionally, the crisis in Abkhazia will escalate tension in Samachablo and certain military resources will be required in the east. In the case of failure, the process will turn into an internal political crisis. According to Barbakadze it is impossible to solve the conflict by peaceful means considering all the factors involved. Even in the case of a military advantage, the operation will be held in an unfavorable situation and there will be a minimal chance of achieving any positive results.
Sesiashvili says, "De facto authorities of Abkhazia have announced that they will not rest until they regain Kodori gorge. Russian specialists provide Abkhazians with military training and instructions. The intelligence service also functions regarding Kodori. All this means that certain preparations are under way and a large amount of money is being invested in the process. They are waiting for further political tension in the country to use that moment in their favor. However, nowadays, their human resources are poor. The final decision is still up to the Kremlin. An unstable Georgia favors Russia's interests as this will hamper the process of Georgia's integration into Euro-Atlantic structures and damage the country's image."
Source: The Georgian Times

Turkey 'can't wait forever' on PKK

Iraq's government Tuesday repeated a pledge to shut down offices of the Kurdish rebel movement that has triggered a border crisis with Turkey, but Turkey's prime minister said his government "cannot wait forever" for results. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said Tuesday that Iraqi authorities will shutter the offices of the Kurdistan Worker's Party, or PKK, in northern Iraq's Kurdish territories.

The group has battled for autonomy for Kurds in southeastern Turkey for more than two decades, and Turkish authorities blame the group for the deaths of dozens of soldiers and civilians in recent weeks.

Tens of thousands of Turkish troops are massing along Iraq's northern frontier. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters during a visit to London on Tuesday that cross-border raids targeting the PKK could be launched "at any time."

The group has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, and al-Maliki used the same term to describe it Tuesday. He said Iraq would not allow its territory to be used as a "launch pad" for attacks on Turkey.

"The government will do its best in order to limit the PKK and its terrorist activities that are a threat to Iraq just like it is a threat to Turkey," al-Maliki said.