Merkel rejects connection between Islamist terrorism and refugee influxAugust 18, 2016 - 11:56 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Islamist terrorism predates last year’s record influx of refugees, seeking to separate the two issues after a series of attacks last month eroded her popularity, Bloomberg reports. Addressing a party event in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Wednesday, August 17, Merkel said it’s “apparent” that terror groups are seeking to win recruits among asylum seekers in Germany. She also cited Islamic State operatives involved in the Paris attacks in November who entered Europe with the wave of migrants from the Middle East. “But the phenomenon of Islamist terror, or of ISIS, isn’t one that arrived with the refugees,” Merkel said in the town of Neustrelitz, using one of the acronyms for Islamic State. “It’s one that we have and have had” already in the past, she said. Emerging from a shortened summer break, Merkel spoke three weeks after defending her refugee policy in the face of public outrage over four attacks in southern Germany during a week in July. Two of the attacks were committed by asylum seekers who had pledged allegiance to Islamic State, Bloomberg reports. Merkel’s approval rating slumped 12 percentage points to 47 percent in an Infratest poll published Aug. 5, though her party still leads in all national surveys. Ahead of state elections in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania on Sept. 4, the latest poll puts support for Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union at 23 percent, four percentage points ahead of the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party. The Social Democrats, who have won the state’s last four elections, were at 24 percent. The eastern region is largely rural and has the lowest per-capita gross domestic product of the country’s 16 states. + Merkel will continue her campaigning in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania on Thursday, holding a meet-and-greet in her own electoral district at midday and then speaking about agriculture later in the afternoon in a town near the Polish border. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | 17 bridges collapse as a result of floods in Armenia As a result of floods in Armenia’s northern Lori and Tavush provinces, 17 bridges, including five large ones, have collapsed. Armenia: Top cleric to retain title as he bids to become interim PM Galstanyan said earlier that the interim government would be tasked with stopping the “destruction of our homeland”. Ex-mayor of Karabakh capital arrested in Yerevan Ex-mayor of the Nagorno-Karabakh city of Stepanakert David Sargsyan has been arrested for 20 days. 269 people evacuated amid severe floods in Armenia’s north According to the Interior Ministry, 269 people have been evacuated from their homes in Lori and Tavush provinces. |