NATO, Turkey - Current Affairs Questions and Answers

ANSWER: PM

Explanation:
Turkey is set to scrap the office of the PM in a historic switch under a proposal backed by the government for a new presidential system

• Forestry and water affairs minister Vessel Eroglu indicated there could be one and possibly two vice presidents under President Recept Tayyip Erdogan in the new format.
• It will submit the referendum next year
• There will not be a PM in the new system
• Erdogan who was elected to the top post in 2014 after serving the PM for more than 10 years, is seeking a strong presidency similar to France or the US
• His ruling Justice and Development Party AKP needs 330 votes in a 550 seat parliament to call referendum to legislate the changes
• Eroglu predicted that the proposed package would be put to referendum next spring along with support of MPs from nationalist movement party
• Opponents say this could drag Turkey into a one man rule
• Before Erdogan became head of state, the Turkish prime minister was seen as the number one but current Prime Minister Binali Yildirim is very much his subordinate.

ANSWER: Montenegro

Explanation:
The US Senate on 28 March 2017 voted to approve Montenegro as the 29^th member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

The accession treaty for the small Balkan nation to join the transatlantic alliance was passed through a 97-2 vote. Republicans Rand Paul and Mike Lee voted against the measure.

The move to add Montenegro as the 29th member was backed by President Trump.

As of now, 25 other NATO members have ratified Montenegro’s accession. The Netherlands and Spain have yet to do so.

However, Russia opposes Montenegro’s accession, calling it a provocation that would reinforce the pro-Western military alliance’s presence in the Balkans.

NATO: Know More

• NATO is an intergovernmental military alliance. It is based on the North Atlantic Treaty, which was signed on 4 April 1949.
• The organization constitutes a system of collective defence whereby its member states agree to mutual defence in response to an attack by any external party.
• Three NATO members (the United States, France and the United Kingdom) are permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto.
• The organization’s headquarters are located in Haren, Brussels, Belgium.

Montenegro: Know More


• Montenegro is a sovereign state in Southeastern Europe.
• It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast, Kosovo to the east, and Albania to the south-east. The country’s capital is Podgorica.
• The World Bank classifies it as an upper middle-income country.
• It is a member of the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the Council of Europe and others.
• On 2 December 2015, the country received an official invite to join NATO.

ANSWER: 7

Explanation:
Turkish parliament approved 7 of 18 constitutional amendments in the first round of voting to move Turkey to an executive-presidential system.

All 7 articles received more than 330 votes. That number is the required majority to take constitutional amendments to referendum.

The changes will bring an increase to the number of lawmakers represented in parliament to 600 from the current 550.

Elections will be renewed every five years instead of four.

Parliamentary elections will be held simultaneously with presidential elections.

The new system enables the elected president to keep links with his or her political party and will be permitted to run it.

The Turkish parliament has also approved the constitutional reform bill that includes strengthening the powers of the presidency.

Mr Erdogan, who could now retain presidency till 2029, says the reform will provide stability in the European Union candidate country. His opponents fear authoritarian rule.

Bill was approved with 339 votes, parliament said ; it needed 330 deputies in the 550-member assembly to support it in order to go to a public vote.

Mr Erdogan assumed the presidency - a largely ceremonial position - in 2014 after over a decade as prime minister.

Turkey has also been hit by a spate of deadly bombings and gun attacks by Islamic State and Kurdish militants over the past year and a half.

Turkey: Know More

• Capital: Ankara
• President: Recep Tayyip Erdogan
• Currencies: Turkish lira sign, Turkish lira
• Official language: Turkish

ANSWER: Russia

Explanation:
Moscow is aiming to create “zone of influence” through military means according to NATO Chief Jens Stoltenberg

• There has been large scale militarisation at NATO borders in Arctic, Baltic from the Black Sea to the Mediterraenean
• Large scale manœuvres are in place on the Russian side, NATO said
• Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and its support for Ukraine separatists has been viewed as an offensive by NATO

ANSWER: NATO

Explanation:
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) members and partners on 6 June 2016 launched Anaconda-16 Exercise, the biggest ever joint military exercise in Poland.

• The drill is part of NATO's exercise program and is being held just weeks before NATO's summit in Warsaw that is expected to decide that significant numbers of NATO troops and equipment will be based in Poland and in the Baltic states.
• The exercise was launched at the crucial time when central and eastern European nations are seeking strong security guarantees amid concerns about Russia.
• The exercise is organised and coordinated by Poland's military Operational Command.

ANSWER: EU

Explanation:
NATO and the European Union have signed an agreement for improving cooperation in cyberdefence. Technical agreement was signed in NATO HQ and both NATO and EU having 22 member countries in common will enhance cooperation in the area of defence related fields. In a statement, the EU said the new agreement will facilitate information-sharing to improve cyber incident prevention, detection and response at both the EU and NATO. EU has also been participating in Cyber defence exercises of NATO with objectives of progress in the EU Cyber Defence Policy Framework, which has set cooperation with NATO as one of its five priorities.

ANSWER: Lieutenant General John Nicholson

Explanation:
Army Lieutenant General John Nicholson has been appointed as NATO commander for Afghanistan. The strong Senate Armed Services Committee has confirmed the nomination of Nicholson. He was US army commander of NATO land forces prior to this. He also served as chief of staff operations of the ISAF and US Forces-Afghanistan. NATO is an intergovernmental military alliance based on North Atlantic Treaty signed on April 4, 1949.