Return to Transcripts main page
Hala Gorani Tonight
Interview with the Turkish President; Carnage in Beirut After Multiple Suicide Bombings; Peshmerga Forces Look to Retake Sinjar; EU to Give Billions to Africa to Address Migrant Crisis; Combating Human Trafficking. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired November 12, 2015 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:00:08]
HALA GORANI, CNN HOST: Tonight I sit down with the Turkish President.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, TURKISH PRESIDENT: (As translated), whatever we said came to be true, until today. And they say no to every claim that we voice,
but unfortunately, they will come to terms with our claim.
GORANI: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, tells me why he thinks a no fly zone in Syria will happen. Plus we talk about the fight against ISIS, and the refugee
crisis in an exclusive interview.
Plus, carnage in Beirut this evening. Dozens are killed, hundreds more wounded, after multiple suicide bombings, who is responsible?
And this hour, taking aim at ISIS. Peshmerga forces launched a major offensive to retake Sinjar in Iraq.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Hello, everyone, I'm Hala Gorani, we are coming to you live from Istanbul Turkey. And this is a special edition of THE WORLD RIGHT NOW.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
GORANI: We begin this hour with breaking news about two devastating suicide bombings in Beirut. According to a statement posted online, ISIS is now
claiming responsibility for the carnage.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Authorities say two hackers blew themselves up on a busy street during evening rush hour. The death toll is staggering. At least 41 people
were killed. And this toll by the way worsening by the hour. 200 other people were wounded. The blasts happened just minutes apart in Beirut
southern suburbs. A stronghold of Hezbollah but also a neighborhood that is quite mixed.
Let's get the very latest from Beirut. Journalist Tamara Qiblawi joins me now on line.
Tamara first, describe the scene, tell us what happened today in south Beirut?
TAMARA QIBLAWI, JOURNALIST: Well, as you know, two suicide bombers blew themselves up just three minutes apart from one another. There are
widespread reports among witnesses of a third suicide bomber who died in the blast before he managed to blow himself up.
It was a -- it was rush hour in a popular mixed (inaudible) the southern suburbs of Beirut, right outside a major Palestinian refugee camp
(inaudible) Palestinian refugee camp. Women and children among the dead. We've heard - we've heard some terrific stories. We've heard of a baby
dying in the arms of his mother, at the moment of the blast. And also a story about a young man who left the suicide bomber just as he was -- the
second the suicide bomber - just as he was blowing himself up. And he basically was ripped into two different pieces. Just really horrific over
here.
GORANI: All right. Tamara Qiblawi is in Beirut with the very latest. Our viewers we're seeing some of that video of the aftermath, at least two
suicide bombers reports possibly of a third, and claims of responsibility unverified for now. But it certainly would mark a turning point if it is
the case that ISIS sent these suicide bombers to blow themselves up in a Hezbollah neighborhood in southern Beirut. We will keep our eye on that of
course.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Let us turn our attention now to what's going on in northern Iraq. Kurdish forces have launched a mass offensive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Their aim to retake the town of Sinjar from the Sunni terrorist group. And we've just learned from the Pentagon that American troops are in
the field calling in air strikes from positions in Sinjar. The Pentagon says the force is behind the front lines, but it is there. One major goal
of the operation is to recapture strategic highway, known as Route 47. It is a vital supply route from Mosul to Raqqa. So it crosses right from Iraq
to Syria which runs through Sinjar.
We'll have a lot more on that battle later in the show, in fact our Nick Paton Walsh was reporting from very near the frontlines.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: I mentioned in the top - at the top of this hour, we are coming to you live from Turkey. I am in Istanbul this evening. It's a country
getting ready to host the G-20 summit in a few days. Ahead of that I sat down for an exclusive interview with the President of this country, Recep
Tayyip Erdogan. His first international interview since his party's election win over a week ago.
Now of course high on the agenda is what's going on in Syria, is the fight against ISIS. The President himself included on the schedule of a working
dinner on Sunday, the fight against ISIS. So I started by asking what he wants from some of his G20 partners, like the United States with regard to
that particular challenge.
[15:05:18]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT ERDOGAN: (As translated) International terrorism is going to be one of the topics in the agenda of one of our working dinners. And there we
are going to concentrate on certain priorities on ISIS.
And other than that, we are going to focus on the other terrorist organizations which are imposing a threat on Turkey, which we will discuss
along with ISIS such as PYG and PKK.
They will be all discussed around the table. Because if we miss out any one of those, we will have missed out on a collective terrorism, because we
have paid a huge price in the aftermath of terrorist organization attacks in Turkey.
And if terrorism or the terrorist mentality in the world shall not be discussed at every length, we will not be triumphant. If we do that we will
be triumphant.
As the coalition forces, we are part of an end over. So we have to get together around the table in order to put the diagnosis accurately first.
And once we name the diagnosis accurately, we have to implement the ways of cure. And then international terrorism and ISIS will be attacked in every
way possible. And we are determined.
GORANI: So this is your first interview since the election victory by the way of the party that you founded here in this country. And so you're
coming out I believe stronger as the leader here as well. What do you think of Russia's involvement now in its bombing campaign inside of Syria.
PRESIDENT ERDOGAN: (As translated) Well let me be very clear in my remarks. I visited Moscow about a month and a half ago or two months ago, and I've
had the chance to very comprehensively discuss these issues with President Putin back there. But in the direction of our thoughts, we couldn't take a
concrete step forward.
And then I've called them a couple times. But throughout those telephone conversations, I cannot say that I've got what I was expecting. I am the
President of a country in this geography that enjoys the best and the largely developed relations with Russia. From the commercial relations to
other relations, whether it be when I was the Prime Minister, whether it be now as the President, we've never had any challenges in our ever
flourishing relations. But now we've come to a bottleneck where I have certain expectations. What are those expectations?
There is a country threatening me from my southern border with every step they take forward, I'm being threatened. And 2.5 million refugees are
coming to my country from Syria and Iraq. They are already inside my country, 2.2 million of those are coming from Syria, and 300,000 of those
citizens are coming from Iraq.
We are hosting them in our country and until so far we have spent about $8.5 billion and the international community support was $417 million only.
While we are busy with such an enormous task, we would expect our friendly countries and friendly neighbors to do more. Russia being one of them.
Russia is actually bombing the moderate oppositions, we have the (inaudible) Turks which are victims of those bombardments right now in
Syria. And these are the issues we had reminded Putin of, and these were the issues we were expecting some sort of a heightened level of
sensitivity. But that sensitivity is still not to be found, it's nowhere to be found.
GORANI: You say Russia's bombing moderate rebels instead of simply focusing on ISIS. Your critics would say Turkey is bombing more Kurdish militant
positions than ISIS positions. So how do you respond to that criticism?
PRESIDENT ERDOGAN: (As translated) Well this is not a very accurate criticism, I must say. Let me draw your attention to something. You can't
call one terrorist good, the other one evil. All terrorists are evil.
We are being told this over and over. APG is fighting against ISIS, and PYD is fighting against ISIS. And because of that, they are being supported
through weaponry. And when I hear this, I respond by the following.
If you are - if you think those terrorists are good, because they're fighting against ISIS, then El Nusra should be good because they are
fighting against ISIS as well. Are you going to be able to label El Nusra a good terrorist group? They have no answer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[15:10:04]
GORANI: There you have it part one of this interview with the Turkish President. Essentially saying well some of these Kurdish fighters we're
bombing, are no better than the Al Qaeda affiliated Nusra front and it's not because they're fighting ISIS that they should be called good
terrorists.
Let's get some analysis on what we just heard from Turkish President Erdogan.
My next guest has written a book called "The Rise of Turkey," he is Soner Cagaptay he is the Director of the Turkish Research Program at the
Washington Institute, he is this evening in New York.
Sonar, I understand you were able to hear some of this interview. This is very tricky for Turkey, isn't it?
SONER CAGAPTAY, DIRECTOR TURKISH RESEARCH PROGRAM: I did yes.
GORANI: Because here it is targeting Kurdish fighter positions, even though the same Kurdish fighters, at least some of them are taking part in
a Sinjar offensive, assisted by American personnel. As far from the front lines as the U.S. says they are, they're still allied with the United
States. This is an extremely complex situation.
CAGPTAY: Indeed it is. There are Kurds in Syria who are allies of the U.S., and they're known as PUD. And there's a Kurdish group separate but linked
to the PYD known as PKK. Which is recognized as a terrorist group by both the United States and Turkey and Turkey is fighting that group. And that's
mostly taking place inside northern Iraq. So I don't think it's fair to say that Turkey's bombing Kurdish targets in Syria, but it's really a bombing
of Iraq, where the PKK is based.
Of course PKK and PYD are related so it's very complex for outside observers to make sense of what is going on. But I think Turkey is at the
same time on hostile terms with one Kurdish group and on unfriendly terms with the other. And the question is where does U.S. policy go at this
stage?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: All right, so that is going to be the question, because I asked the President as well, what would you want to hear from Barack Obama? What
would you ask Barack Obama at this G-20 summit. And essentially he said look, I'm not going to tell you what our confident conversations are all
about. But he seemed to indicate he would want more from the U.S. President. What is Turkey's position going into this summit?
CAGAPTAY: That's correct. Turkey has two policies in Syria, one is quite lofty and nobel (inaudible) hosted over 2 million refugees with very little
assistance from the international community. It is now the country hosting the largest number of Syrian refugees. In fact it's the country hosting the
largest number of refugees, and that's a big burden.
The less lofty side of Turkish policy is that in a singularly focused on ousting the Assad regime, and that really has not succeeded. So I think
Turkey will want assistance from President Obama at the G-20 Summit, for the establishment of a no fly zone or a safe haven in northern Syria, that
could be used as a launching pad for rebel groups which are now being squeezed out by Russian and Iranian support to the Assad regime. So Turkey
wants the groups that it supports to get the upper hand in the fighting field again.
GORANI: Now, we heard from a top military official, General James Jones, who spoke to CNN today that that is this no fly zone, this idea of a no fly
zone is one of many options that should be considered.
It seems as though the U.S. is coming around to the idea, it's at least softening its position.
CAGAPTAY: Maybe the U.S. and its allies.
GORANI: It's pretty much been publicly against it for a long time. Yes - and so you can see this happening, because according to many of the Turkish
officials that I'm speaking to, it seems as though they're sending signals this is going to happen, this safe zone area.
CAGAPTAY: The way Syria's going is that international community meaning those that back the Assad regime, Russia and Iran, and those that back the
rebels, Turkey and United States, and others Saudi Arabia, Qatar, but also western native allies, are I think trying to create a power parity on the
ground. So that the two sides are equally powerful or equally weak so that they are forced to come to the negotiating table.
Now I think Russia and Iran have succeeded in this, they have boosted the Assad regime with their military presence in Syria.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAGAPTAY: So the question is will the other side, including Turkey do the same for the rebels that they support so they can create a power parity on
the ground. That would require some kind of a stronger support for the rebels, whether it's a safe haven or a no fly zone.
And I think the United States is very hard placed, because it's not going to put boots on the ground. The question is if there is a safe haven in
northern Syria to support rebels so they can be a counter weight to the Assad regime, who will the ground troops be? Will they be Turkish? Will
they be - that's also very difficult because I think the public in Turkey is largely unsupportive of the government's policy of intervention in
Syria. It would be difficult to see Turkish ground troops, so maybe some Turkish special ops or Turkish backed Syrian rebels. I think that will be
the best solution going forward if such a safe haven were to be established.
GORANI: Or support from the air, there are many options, either way, not simplifying the situation in Syria, certainly with many strategic self-
interests at odds, depending on what angle you look at it from.
Soner Cagaptay, thanks very much, for joining us this evening from New York.
CAGAPTAY: My pleasure.
GORANI: We appreciate your time and analysis. And we'll have the rest of our exclusive interview with President Erdogan a little bit later in this
show. I'll ask him about the refugee crisis, that's coming up in about 20 minutes time.
[15:15:14]
GORANI: Also next, inside the battle for Sinjar
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Peshmerga fighters launch a major offensive to retake the strategic town from ISIS. Will they succeed? We're live on the ground next.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
GORANI: Updating you now on our top story. The deadly bombings in Beirut.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: According to an online statement, ISIS is now claiming responsibility for the carnage. So far this is the toll, 41 people killed,
hundreds wounded in a southern suburb of Beirut, known as a strong hold, a Shiite stronghold of Hezbollah. More than 200 people were wounded.
As I mentioned this death toll is increasing. And ISIS is claiming responsibility on line. This has not been confirmed, but indeed a very
significant turning point if indeed it turns out that ISIS has ordered this bombing and managed to create such chaos and carnage in this Hezbollah area
of Beirut.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Now police forces across Europe are launching a massive anti- terrorism sweep against an extremist Kurdish Sunni Group that is apparently aligned with ISIS.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Investigators think the alleged members of (inaudible) were helping ISIS plot attacks against European diplomats as part of a plan to free
their leader Mullah Krekar, from a Norwegian prison. A complex story there, the arrests took place in the U.K., Norway, Finland and Italy. Authorities
also searched places in Germany and Switzerland looking for others.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: And to the migrant crisis now. The European Union says it will give nearly $2 billion for an emergency trust fund for Africa. So the hope is,
this money will be used to target the root causes of the influx into Europe.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[15:20:07]
GORANI: And as a result fewer individual migrants will actually make the trip to the continent. But they keep coming. More and more countries are
placing restrictions on their movement as they do. The latest is Sweden that had opened its doors but now the country is putting restrictions in
place for 10 days. The move prompted European Council President Donald Tusk to warn that the blocks open borders accord might be on the brink of
collapsing.
DONALD TUSK, EUROPEAN COUNCIL PRESIDENT: Let there be no doubt. The future of Schengen is at stake and time is running out. Every week decisions are
taken in Europe which testify to how grave the situation is. Reintroduction of border controls or technical barriers at the borders.
This is actually a demonstration that we need to regain the control of our external border.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Well, still the migrants come, the international organization for migration says almost 800,000 have arrived by sea this year. That's nearly
four times the amount that arrived in all of 2014.
CNN's Arwa Damon is on the island of Lesbos where she has witnessed a continuing stream of desperate migrants arriving.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: One set of hands starts to wave. The team on land signals back, the volunteers have witnessed this
countless times before. The frantic dismemberment brought on by the overwhelming emotions of having survived.
Just over 24 hours ago, 18 people drowned in these waters. A mother cradles her child who was handed over to medics, relief etched on her face. It is
hardest on the little ones wrapped quickly to keep them warm. This group is from Afghanistan.
Greek lifeguard volunteers keep their eyes peeled on the horizon as more arrive. These refugees fleeing war torn Syria. Others wait for ferries to
the mainland, exhausted children sleep anywhere.
2 year old (Ali) is in his favorite tigger outfit, the only thing brought to remind him of home. All his toys were left behind. (Ali) is from
(inaudible). His uncle the family says was one of the first five rebel fighters beheaded by ISIS, when they took over before (Ali) was even born.
We had to leave his mother says. It's only now that I was able to save the money, his father adds. Both want to remain unidentified, their own parents
are still living under ISIS.
The flood of refugees has not decreased with the coming of winter, and no crackdown on smuggling. No fences put up by European nations is going to
stop the most desperate of people.
The visuals do tend to speak for themselves. This massive pile of life jackets is just a fraction of what you will find littering the beaches, the
coastline of this island.
Each family, each person has a heart breaking story of leaving everything behind, knowing that their children may never see their homeland in their
lifetimes.
Arwa Damon, CNN, Greece.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: All right, next up inside the battle for Sinjar.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Peshmerga fighters launch a major offensive to retake the town from ISIS. We're live on the ground after this break.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:26:50]
GORANI: Let's return now to the battle for a strategic town backed by coalition air support. Peshmerga Kurdish fighters are making advances
against ISIS in Sinjar.
Our senior international correspondent, Nick Paton Walsh, is near Sinjar. He's been following this story and this major push to try to retake Sinjar.
He is with me live. Nick, tell us what you saw today.
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well Hala, this really is meant to be a kind of test for the ability of the Peshmerga
Kurdish forces to work with coalition airpower and reseize territory. This particular town, Sinjar, symbolic of course with what happened to those
living there, the Yazidis' last year, but also strategic because of where it lies between two vital ISIS cities. Here's what we saw today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WALSH: The sun broke bringing with it a vast trail of Peshmerga pushing for a new dawn of their own against ISIS. Crawling around the back of Mt.
Sinjar, their advance long expected and aimed here at Sinjar's western flank.
ISIS beaten back by dozens of coalition air strikes. Barely a local vehicle left standing. They've asked for new weapons, but used what they had facing
booby traps all around.
Their mortars and continued air strikes had one key target, the highway that runs through Sinjar. And just after noon, they took it, starving ISIS'
east of supplies from Syria. ISIS are just 500 meters potentially in that direction, but also down this road, where also lies Raqqa, the caliphates
self-declared capital.
This is why this road is so vital to the Peshmerga and the coalition, they need to seize it to keep it, to separate to keep the ISIS part of Iraq, and
their part of Syria.
ISIS weren't giving up the town, though, without burning it first. Once home to thousands of the Yazidis they persecuted it's being re-taken by
Kurds. Some suspicious of the other local group, the Sunni Arabs there.
The local Arabs here are all with ISIS this local commander says. Throughout the day one mushroom cloud after another, ISIS car bombs.
Some beaten back by a new Peshmerga weapon from the west, the Milan missile, which stops the suicide bombers in their tracks. This is what one
did to an ISIS car. Melting this pistol flat.
Sinjar's urban sprawl too could be flattened if ISIS chooses to fight in it, the first day's bravado, taking the Kurds far, but not to victory.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALSH: On the other side of the mountain as I am here though Hala, we've still been hearing consistent thuds of what must be airstrikes landing
around and near Sinjar. No let up in coalition air support.
The key question now, how fast can the Peshmerga and the coalition resolve the question of getting ISIS out of that dense urban center they seem to be
held up in, Hala.
[15:30:05]
GORANI: All right, we'll stay in touch with you, Nick Paton Walsh near Sinjar there as he continues to report on this important offensive.
Still to come, life jackets helped to keep them safe for a few hours at sea.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: But when will world leaders step in to help Europe's migrants for good? In our international exclusive, I asked the President of Turkey,
Recep Tayyip Erdogan of what he thinks right here on CNN.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Welcome back to our special edition of the WORLD RIGHT NOW, I'm Hala Gorani, we're coming to you live from Istanbul, Turkey.
A quick look at our headlines this hour.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: ISIS is now claiming responsibility for two powerful bombings in Beirut. According to an online statement that we at CNN cannot verify yet,
the suicide blasts killed 41 people in the southern stronghold of Hezbollah, more than 200 others were wounded.
Lebanon has declared tomorrow, Friday, a day of national mourning.
Also among our top stories, the Pentagon says American troops are helping in Sinjar, Iraq, behind the front lines.
They are calling airstrikes we are hearing. They're backing up thousands of Kurdish fighters who are trying to take back the Northern town from
ISIS. The operation includes up to 7,500 Peshmerga fighters, it is a major offensive.
British Prime Minister, David Cameron, says he wants London to become the world center for offshore Rupee trading.
He met with the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi today. The two are collaborating on billions of dollars in trade deals. Mr. Modi will speak
to a huge crowd, so big it is filling up Wembley Stadium, tomorrow, Friday in London.
And in Russia, the Kremlin has admitted that classified information on its nuclear submarine torpedo systems, that that information was accidentally
shown on two T.V. networks that it tightly controls. You're seeing those secret schematics now. A government spokesman said a similar mistake will
not happen again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
[15:35:33]
GORANI: Europe remains in a political deadlock over how to deal with the refugee and migrant crisis but while it argues with itself, those looking
for refuge just keep on coming.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
The International Organization for Migration says nearly 800,000 migrants have arrived by sea alone so far this year. Many people set off on boats
from this country, from the coast of this country heading to Greek islands, that makes it a key part of any solution.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: So far it's been reluctant to do much to help. Some of Europe's leaders meeting now in Malta will soon arrive here in Turkey for the G-20
Summit on Sunday. And ahead of their arrival in an international exclusive, Turkey's President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave me his thoughts on
the huge swell of people passing through his country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT ERDOGAN: (As translated) As Turkey, we share a borderline of 910km with Syria, there's no other country around the world like Turkey.
And Iran is suffering a great deal as well. And the rest of the world should understand where we're coming from. And the world doesn't seem to
understand where we're coming from.
I hope and pray that G-20 will provide a platform whereby all of these issues can be discussed openly, and where we can understand each other. The
EU is on the brink of reinterpretation of the situation. Because they started asking questions to themselves, they wonder what would happen if
these 2.2 million refugees would get out of Turkey and start marching toward EU.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Mr. President I find it interesting that essentially you're saying that the international community does not understand Turkey, that it
doesn't understand it's burden, that it doesn't understand strategically what are its challenges. Is that accurate to say that you feel
misunderstood?
PRESIDENT ERDOGAN: (As translated) Well, I'm telling you, they misunderstand us, and they are misunderstanding the situation, this is a
human drama, and what do you think the western world is doing in the face of this drama? We have to ask this question?
Well, Aylan - Aylan Kurdi -
GORANI: The little boy - the little boy who was washed upon on the beach.
PRESIDENT ERDOGAN: Alyan Kurdi - yes, Aylan was cast to the sea shore and everybody started screaming out loud. But hundreds of Aylan's were killed.
Where were they back then?
Inside our borders there are millions of refugees we have never shut our doors. But the western world shut their doors on the faces of the refugees.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, why do you think that text exists. Their GDP's are much higher than that of ours and financially and
economically, they are more robust than the Republic of Turkey. Why do you think they keep their doors closed? Do they expect those refugees to die
and get lost in the waters of the Mediterranean? But that's not what we do. We're trying to save them.
GORANI: Until very recently, officials in the United States, and I mean a few days ago, have said this idea of a safe zone, not on the table. It's
not right now, the conditions are not right for it. I know your country really wants this, this idea of the safe zone in northern Syria, are you
close to it? Are you close to getting at least some sort of agreement on principle with your western partner?
PRESIDENT ERDOGAN: (As translated) Let me put it this way. Whatever we said came to be true until today. And they say no to every claim that we voice,
but unfortunately, they will come to terms with our claims and they will say OK, yes. Because everything that they spent goes in vain.
All the arms, all the equipment they provide to the groups are lost in vain because they get confiscated by the terrorist organizations, they get
confiscated by the (inaudible) of ISIS. We have warned them, but they are still following the same trajectory.
They have made mistakes but they are repeating their mistakes so these are issues we're going to keep on discussing around the table throughout the G-
20.
We have plan B, and we have a plan C. and when the time is right we might start implementing those plans. But the actual question and the actual deal
at the end of the day is to save Syria out of this turmoil.
[15:40:14]
GORANI: Protect ourselves to Tuesday of next week and if you had to briefly tell me this was a successful G-20 because what?
PRESIDENT ERDOGAN: We have three fundamental topics in our agenda throughout our term of presidency. One of them is inclusivity, the other
one is investments, and the other one is implementation.
Inclusivity, what do you mean by inclusivity? We want an inclusive growth to prevail. And in order for that to be possible we need young staff, we
need young people, we need young 20, and we need women 20 for the first time, within the framework of inclusiveness with initiated the women's
outreach, as women 20. And we have the SMEs that we hold dearly. For the first time it's going to be part of our agenda. Energy, agriculture,
justice, they will all be a part of the agendas within the G-20 Summit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in our exclusive interview. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who says he feels misunderstood by the West. Who also says that
the refugee crisis is being disproportionately carried by his country, Turkey, and that Europe is it waking up to the idea that perhaps it could
not even take in a fraction of that amount without putting in jeopardy, it's free passport zone, the Schengen area.
Let's get some analysis there on what President Erdogan just told us there. Let's bring in Patrick Coburn, he's the co-author of "Out of the Ashes" and
the Middle East correspondent for the British Newspaper, the Independent. And he joins me now live from where we usually broadcast from, London.
Patrick you were here for the elections just about a week ago or so. What did you make of what you heard President Erdogan say there?
PATRICK COBURN, MIDDLE EAST CORRESPONDENT, THE INDEPENDENT: Well's in a confident mood after his election victory. But I don't think his problems
have changed very much since before the election. Syria is still an intractable crisis, he's been very successful at home. But Turkey's policy
in Syria has been pretty disastrous. The Assad is in power. They want him to go. They wanted - they certainly did not want the Syrian Kurds to
control half the frontier.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COBURN: So they're facing this immensely complicated problem. And they don't have any solutions.
GORANI: And regarding his election victory, polls didn't predict this type of decisive victory for the party he founded, the AKP. What turned things
around for him last week here in Turkey?
COBURN: Well, I think -- I mean, first of all, the party was always in a pretty strong position with over 40% of the vote. Although it had done less
well in the last election on the 7th of June.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COBURN: I think what turned it around was a sense of instability in Turkey, because of the return to confrontation, armed confrontation with
the Kurds. The bombs in Ankara and close to the border, people were in a fearful mood. And there isn't an alternative to the AK Party, to Mr.
Erdogan's party.
So these things came together and produced this surprise victory. But of course it was also a surprise partly just because the polls said the
opposite, rather like the British general election earlier in the year. Retrospectively, one can see all the reasons why he was likely to win.
GORANI: Now but let's talk about his critics, because he certainly doesn't represent everybody in Turkey. Those who say he's cracking down more and
more on free speech, on the media, on his opponents. This his rule is becoming more and more autocratic across this country. What's -- I mean
this is - what -- how will the reaction from this government here to this criticism certainly, how it's handling it. What do you make of that?
COBURN: Well, it's going on what it did before. It's been closing down newspapers, it's been taking over television stations. And it controlled
most of these before and during the election particularly state television. So the ability to criticize the government is getting less and less.
Individual journalists are being hounded with everything from tax demands to legal action. So the ability to freely criticize the government is
really very limited now.
GORANI: And the refugees in one of the pieces you have wrote, that essentially the E.U. now, the European union, really needs cooperation from
Turkey, Turkey's housing 2 1/2 million refugees, most of them from Syria.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[15:45:10]
GORANI: And many of them are trying to make their way to Europe. How is that affecting relations between the E.U. block and Turkey?
COBURN: Well, in a sense, they -- Turkey has what the E.U. needs. I mean, it's -- if anything is to be done to stop the flow of refugees, it's going
to happen in Turkey, either the flow of refugees out of Turkey to Greece and up through the Balkans or from Syria and Iraq.
But, of course, there are limits to what can be done. This is a mass movement of people, this is you know millions of people, how exactly do you
stop them? And it's not just in Syria, there's a general mood in northern Iraq, even people who have not been bombed who are quite well off, are
feeling the whole area is collapsing into a general catastrophe and thinking of moving out. Giving up their jobs, selling their cars, houses,
making their way to Europe.
They can't see that they're going to have a decent life in their own countries but they also can't see themselves having a decent life in
neighboring countries. So that's why they're all heading to Europe at the moment, and it's not at all clear how they can be stopped.
GORANI: All right, Patrick Coburn, thanks very much for joining us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Patrick was here just about a week ago reporting on the elections and frequently reports from Turkey. Joining us from London, a quick break,
we will be right back.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
GORANI: Welcome back, as part of CNN's freedom project initiative Rafael Romo travelled to a small town in Mexico, one that has a terrible and
notorious reputation for exploiting women and girls. Take a look at his report.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Across the United States, law enforcement officials are fighting an international crime said to be worth
$150 billion in illegal profits.
[15:50:05]
SUSAN COPPEDGE, U.S. AMBASSADOR AT LARGE: The high volume, low cost business. We're told the highest they charge is $35 for that 15 minutes of
time. And often times the trafficker will count out the condoms that he gives the girl at night, and then count when she comes back how many are
left. And they do expect them to see 20 and 30 men a night.
ROMO: Susan Coppedge is U.S. State Department's Human Ambassador to combat human trafficking. A former federal prosecutor, Coppedge has seen a
troubling trend. Many of the victims and traffickers who abuse them have a tie to a single place, a small village in central Mexico that has become
known as the sex trafficking capital of the world.
COPPEDGE: Well we've been told by the traffickers themselves and by the young girls that this town raises pimps. That's what they've done for
generations.
ROMO: Who are these cold hearted criminals? In 2011, Coppedge helped convict (inaudible). Four of his victims were juveniles, the youngest was
14.
COPPEDGE: He took a broomstick and he beat her. And he beat her so much that the broomstick broke. And then after that when the broomstick broke,
he went and got one of those thicker rods out of a closet and started beating her with that.
ROMO: We travelled to the village of Tenancingo in Tlaxcala region of Mexico. Locals tell us many organized crime families call Tenancingo and
several other towns around it home. There main business widely known to be the selling of girls and young women in the sex market. In the town center,
an older woman selling fruit whispered a dire warning.
Tenancingo, Tlaxcala, this is the hub, this is where everything happens.
Mario (inaudible) was once a human trafficker.
MARIO HIDALGO-GARFIAS, CONVICTED HUMAN TRAFFICKER: (As translated) I got to the point of raping some of the girls that used to work for me. I used to
beat them up and not just with my fists. I used baseball bats to beat them up so they would work for me.
ROMO: He spent more than a decade in a Mexican prison for his crimes.
HILDAGO-GARFIAS: I took their children away, so they were forced to work for me. I could tell you 10,000 more things like that.
ROMO: Mario says he would pimp several girls at the same time, rehabbed, he said he agreed to talk to CNN despite the danger because he wants to see an
end to the practice of exploiting women and children by kidnapping, drugging and forcing them to have sex with dozens of men each day.
There's been reports over the last few years that there are girls as young as 9 years old that are trafficked in and around Tenancingo.
HILDAGO-GARFIAS: There are things beyond your imagination. Much more than what you can fathom. People only get to see about 3% of reality.
ROMO: Making it absolutely critical, these human trafficking operations are broken up before they reach the next child's front door.
Rafael Romo, CNN, Tlaxcala state, Mexico.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
[15:55:45]
GORANI: Welcome back, we're live in Istanbul. In New York, television footage has helped capture suspects who targeted news helicopters with
laser pointers. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: The super bright beams of light can temporarily blind pilots. In this case the suspects were caught in the act, and police quickly closed in
and arrested them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: And over in England, aircraft were not facing lasers, but some strong winds.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Take a look at this hair raising amateur footage from Saturday. Showing how this Fly Be plane coming in to land at Birmingham International
Airport from Germany had its steering temporarily overwhelmed by some really strong cross winds. Causing it to veer sharply off course to the
right just as it touched down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: I'm Hala Gorani, this has been a special edition of THE WORLD RIGHT NOW, from Istanbul. Thanks for watching.
"QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" is next.
END
