zaterdag 22 augustus 2020

Erdoğan Needs New Enemies

by Burak Bekdil
August 22, 2020 at 5:00 am

All those Turkish-Greek tensions in the Aegean and Mediterranean seas bolster a century-long Turkish nostalgia to take back some of the Greek islands. Yeni Safak, a fiercely pro-Erdoğan newspaper, suggested that the Turkish military should invade 16 Greek islands.
"Discussion of wars and invading Greek islands is... a tactic used by the regime of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to distract the Turkish population from the woeful economic situation." — Greek City Times.
Erdoğan needs epic stories of military might against real or fabricated foreign enemies to tell an increasing number of grudging voters in the face of an ailing economy. That is bad news for the entire region.

Fearing a sharp decline in his approval rating, especially in view of a looming economic crisis, Turkey's Islamist strongman, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, appears to be chasing new wars with real or imaginary enemies. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

Election data and research show that Turks have a tendency to unite behind their leader in times of crises or confrontation with foreign enemies. According to the Turkish pollster Metropoll, for example, Erdoğan's approval rating peaked to 71.1% in December 2013, when he portrayed a slew of corruption allegations about him and his family as "a coup attempt." In parliamentary elections in 2015, Erdoğan's nationwide vote fell to 37.5% and his Justice and Development Party lost its parliamentary majority for the first time since it came to power in 2002.

Erdoğan's approval rating rose sharply again to 67.6% after a failed putsch against his government in July 2016. At the height of the COVID-19 crisis his rating was a strong 55.8%. Metropoll said Erdoğan's current approval rating is at 50.6%. He thinks he needs new tensions with Turkey's past and present-day adversaries.

Most recently, condemning the historic normalization deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Erdoğan said that "because we stand by Palestine," he is considering withdrawing Turkey's ambassador from the UAE. "I gave instructions to my foreign minister... We may suspend diplomatic relations [with the UAE] or recall our ambassador to Abu Dhabi," Erdoğan added.

If he does so, Turkey will be the only country in the region that has no diplomatic relations with Armenia and Cyprus, and no ambassadorial-level relations with Syria, Israel, Egypt and the UAE. Turkey's relations with many countries where it has full diplomatic ties are not in much better shape.

In late July, even before the UAE-Israel deal, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar told Al Jazeera that Turkey would hold Abu Dhabi, the leading emirate, accountable at the right time and place for "malicious actions committed in Libya and Syria." He said that the UAE is "a functional country that serves others politically or militarily and is used remotely."

Turkey evidently has deep ire for any deal that may help stabilize one of the world's most volatile regions. On August 3, the Turkish Foreign Ministry condemned an oil agreement concluded between a US-based company and Syrian Kurds for the development of oil fields in northeastern Syria. In northwestern Syria, where Turkey controls small pockets of land, Ankara threatened to respond militarily to potential attacks on its forces.

There are "hotter" disputes, as well. Ignoring international efforts to find a diplomatic solution to maritime border disputes with its traditional Aegean rival, Greece, on August 10, Turkey resumed oil and gas exploration in the Mediterranean Sea -- only days after Turkey's government said it would delay offshore surveys to seek a diplomatic resolution with Greece.

French President Emmanuel Macron called for Turkey to be sanctioned and accused its government of violating the rights of Greece and Cyprus. In the face of increasing Turkish assertiveness, Macron also ordered the French Navy to the Eastern Mediterranean to provide military assistance to Greece. In a further move, France signed a defense deal with Cyprus. The agreement came into effect on August 1. The two-year Defense Cooperation Agreement covers energy, crisis management, counter-terrorism and maritime security cooperation between Cyprus and France.

While the standoff was deepening, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis convened his national security council. A statement issued after the meetings was reminiscent of pre-war times: "We are in complete political and operational readiness," Minister of State George Gerapetritis said on state television channel ERT. "Most of the fleet is ready to be deployed wherever necessary."

If you add to that perilous picture the Cypriot, Israeli and Egyptian navies, Turkey is up against formidable naval forces in the Mediterranean. In one dangerous incident on August 14, two warships, the Greek Navy's Limnosfrigate and Turkey's TCG Kemalreis, collided in the Eastern Mediterranean.

All those Turkish-Greek tensions in the Aegean and Mediterranean seas bolster a century-long Turkish nostalgia to take back some of the Greek islands. Yeni Safak, a fiercely pro-Erdoğan newspaper, suggested that the Turkish military should invade 16 Greek islands.

The website Greek City Times commented:

"Discussion of wars and invading Greek islands is... a tactic used by the regime of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to distract the Turkish population from the woeful economic situation,"

Erdoğan's idea of vote-hunting by regional troublemaking is not limited to naval adventures only. Against the background of a sudden border flare-up between Azerbaijan and Armenia on July 12, the Turkish and Azeri militaries launched a two-week long joint military exercise, involving the traditional allies' air and ground forces.

In Turkey's southeast, Iraq blamed Ankara for a drone attack that killed two high-ranking Iraqi military officers. The incident occurred shortly before a planned visit by Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar to Baghdad. A fuming Iraqi government said the Turkish minister was no longer welcome.

Erdoğan needs epic stories of military might against real or fabricated foreign enemies to tell an increasing number of grudging voters in the face of an ailing economy. That is bad news for the entire region.

Burak Bekdil, one of Turkey's leading journalists, was recently fired from the country's most noted newspaper after 29 years, for writing in Gatestone what is taking place in Turkey. He is a Fellow at the Middle East Forum.

© 2020 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Related Topics: Turkey

Recent Articles by Burak Bekdil

Turkey's Brain Drain: Why Youths See No Future There, 2020-08-01
Hagia Sophia and Turkey's Supremacism, 2020-07-14
Turkey: How Erdoğan's Migrant Blackmail Failed, 2020-07-10
Turkey: Erdoğan Wishes "Many More Happy Conquests", 2020-06-20
Erdoğan's Libya Campaign: Another Neo-Ottoman Design, 2020-06-03

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https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16375/turkey-erdogan-new-enemies

Where is the America Report?

Democracy – We’ve had the Russia Report, now where is the America Report?

11th August 2020 / United Kingdom

Now we've had the Russia Report, where is the America Report?

By Rob Woodward – TruePublica: The long-awaited Russia report was published with a call for “immediate action” by the government and intelligence services to tackle the threat from just one country – Russia. The reality was that while Russia may have been meddling at the edges of Britain’s democracy, America has been actively involved in centrally funding the breakdown of democracy, the rule of law and the British way of life. So where is the America Report?

The Russia Report cited ‘open source’ studies which pointed to “pro-Brexit or anti-EU stories on RT and Sputnik, and the use of ‘bots’ and ‘trolls’, as evidence of Russian attempts to influence the process.” Apparently, 150,000 Russian tweets bots churned out pro-Brexit propaganda. When asked to comment on Russian interference into British politics, MI5 couldn’t be bothered to answer and provided just six lines of text – and anything remotely important in that text was redacted anyway.

The government said: “We have seen no evidence of successful interference in the EU referendum“. Was anyone expecting them to say anything else?

In referring to the meddling of the biggest political and economic decision Britain has been faced with since the last World War, not a word was mentioned about any other interference. And by interference, I mean the type of interventions that would make a significant difference to the outcome of a referendum. For instance – no comment was made that one billion targeted ads delivered by American tech giants hit swing voters in the EU referendum.

Does anyone think that Brexit would have become a reality without the ubiquitous depth and reach into the fabric of our lives as a result of social media? It is not alleged – but a matter of documented fact, that in the last four weeks on the runup to the EU referendum, voters were targeted by the American company SCL Elections. and Cambridge Analytica. They had collected data, notably from another American company – Facebook. In fact, they collected an illegal dataset containing “hundreds of data points on millions of individuals,” including the gathering of “psychological insights into voters’ personalities and decision-making” and “political opinions, sociological structures and additional psychological metrics.” SCL then targeted “salient segments of the voting population according to their geographic location, views on the EU, propensity to vote and other factors.” This trio of American corporations effectively hunted down unsuspecting marginal voters relentlessly. One-third of British voters were undecided on the question of EU membership just one week before the referendum in June 2016.

The source of the information you have just read is posted by the UK government on its own website (HERE) – entitled “Cambridge Analytica/SCL Group – Phycographic Targeting of Britain.” Cambridge Analytica is widely reported to be British owned, but it was actually co-owned by aggressive right-wing free-market fanatic Robert Mercer. Notably, whilst CA had one office in London, it’s two biggest offices were maintained from New York City, and Washington, DC. And so, it’s not as if American meddling into British politics is a secret – and yet no mention of their political meddling anywhere.

At TruePublica, we have written many reports and articles about how large sums of dark money campaigns have influenced not just getting Brexit over the line but have since been pushing hard for a no-deal Brexit.

Read: Corruption and dark money now the lifeblood of the Tory party

Secrecy

The biggest search engine in the world – with incredible power over entire populations have been caught secretly funding far-right shadowy groups – like the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) who are accused of having a stranglehold on the political system in America with huge sums of ‘dark money’ funding from unknown sources. In turn, these American organisations, with connections to the Whitehouse have focused their massive firepower at ensuring Brexit Britain becomes a reality. Just this one ‘institution’ has over 400 corporate and political funding connections – the vast majority are American.

Opaque think tanks and front charities – not required by law to publish funding sources – many with close contacts with the current American administration have also been exposed. Many are funded by transnational corporations who do not want to be identified – such as the fossil fuel industry and especially the pervasive search engine and social media giants. And we’re not talking of anything less than tens of millions of dollars being invested each year in acquiring a new market for their insatiable desire for deregulation and profiteering. And make no mistake – deregulation is what this is all about.

Reports published as far back as July 2018 revealed that Britain’s most prominent free-market think tank was brokering access to senior Tory politicians for American donors seeking to influence the course of Brexit. The head of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) was secretly filmed boasting about setting up meetings with Brexiteer MPs, government ministers and senior trade officials for US visitors – who had agreed to raise money for the IEA’s work pushing for a US-UK free trade deal.

Fanatics

Two years ago – The Independent wrote a report about how American religious conservatives are fuelling Europe’s far-right surge, shifting power away from individuals who have universal rights and onto powerful institutions like churches, patriarchal family structures, the police and ‘strong leaders’.

Corporate Europe Observatory – a research group that investigates corporate lobbying have found their way into the same cul-de-sac. In May 2019, they wrote – “Collectively, these parties don’t believe in genuine vibrant democracies, despite their rhetoric about ‘people power’. Rather, they present a future vision based on (ultra)nationalism; even if many of them have been through recent re-branding exercises to try to tone down their more unsavoury and extreme racist elements and broaden their appeal.”

And the money is paying off. Successfully exploiting public anxiety over migration, national identity and the failures of the establishment are the hallmarks of populists and their cheerleaders. After decades on the fringes, they’re forming governments, by themselves or in coalition.

The reality is that a picture has emerged of a powerful, well-funded global alliance of ultra-conservatives, free-market and far-right political actors, many of whom unite around an economically libertarian but socially conservative worldview. Their strategy begins by influencing elections, then onto judicial systems, education, and healthcare systems, as well as policymakers and public opinion. Its goal is to take power and then keep it.

Boris Johnson has already achieved much of this same agenda. The EU referendum was very much ‘influenced’ illegally and the Tory party is increasingly funded by ‘dark money.’ Britain’s judicial system is being attacked and leaked documents show a trade deal putting a much treasured NHS into the hands of the miserable American privatised system of profit before health. The media is being silenced, dissenters threatened with all sorts of legal and libel cases and now an American style spokesman is required to control the public narrative that was always the job of the Prime Minister.

Martin Kettle over The Guardian wrote that “a stake has been driven through the heart of the UK’s postwar self-image” and that Britain is now to become a “vassal of the US.”

Ian Dunt over at politics.co.uk points out that Britain – is a country that has been in a subservient position (to the USA) since the end of the war and who we are now to be utterly controlled by. It is a grim foreshadowing of what will come if Brexit succeeds.”

Graham Vanbergen at The European Financial Review writes – Britain now stands on the precipice of becoming a ‘client state’ of a foreign super-power. The Trojan horse is Brexit. In his book, ‘Brexit – A Corporate Coup D’Etat’ (read the full introduction and first two chapters free HERE) there are countless references to American dark money operations. It highlights a leaked ‘blueprint for a radical free-trade agreement’ that included free movement of American citizens to come and go in Britain as they please – just as EU citizens had done.

The New European headlines with – ‘UK on track to become 51st state of America under Boris Johnson.’ Numerous other reports from the London Economic, America’s CNN, MSN news and many others have concluded the same.

What they want

This political vision is explicit about seeking to shift power. In America, many of these organisations have pooled their resources. This triad of “life, family, and freedom” was enshrined in the Manhattan Declaration, a manifesto written nearly a decade ago by American activists of the religious right. Signatories including Orthodox, Evangelical, and Catholic leaders pledged to act in unison and determined that “no power on Earth, be it cultural or political, will intimidate us into silence or acquiescence.”

The voting records of Britain’s Conservative frontbenchers speaks for itself and aligns itself to these goals. Boris Johnson, Priti Patel, Dominic Raab, Michale Gove, Rishi Sunak, Matt Hancock, Alok Sharma, Gavin Williamson and many other influential Conservative MP’s have almost universally voted against equality and human rights. Many have voted against LGBTQ+ rights, same-sex marriage and other progressive social policies (source).

British nationalist Daniel Hannon, a right-wing proponent of the replacement of the NHS with a private insurance system, founding Vote Leave member, whose account of the Good Friday Agreement has been criticised as factually inaccurate and reckless – is the man recognised as being the architect of Brexit. His connections to American conservatism is never-ending. He was also the head of the ERG – itself a fanatical right-wing political militia inside the Tory party forcing as hard a Brexit as possible.

However, it was Conservative MP Steve Baker who moulded the ERG into what The Economist has described as “the closest thing Britain has produced to sans-culottes” – the radical and militant partisans of the French Revolution. A born-again Christian; baptised by full-body immersion off the coast of Cornwall, Baker has spoken of being guided by a higher power. However, he is more a committed disciple of the laissez-faire Austrian economics model – that of unrestrained capitalism, than saving the poor from the crisis of daily life it delivers.

Peter Geoghegan, the investigations editor of openDemocracy and author of ‘Democracy for Sale‘ spells out the coming dangers of Britain’s swing to the Conservative/religious/free-market right. His article in politco.eu entitled – ‘Death by dark money: The Americanization of British democracy‘ is about shadowy political and corporate American actors, distorting British politics and directing it towards a hard Brexit.

MP Stephen Kinnock, chair of a parliamentary working group on electoral reform, warns, Britain is in the process of being “Americanized.” He says – “Dark money and dodgy data are playing an increasing role in our politics. That is a very dangerous place to be. We have been complacent about our democracy. We thought it would just look after itself.”

“A federal election in the U.S. is supposed to be decided by 150 million voters, and yet the policy preferences are being determined by literally 20 people, 20 major donors,” says Adav Noti, a U.S. election lawyer with the Campaign Legal Center, in Washington DC. Why does anyone now think it is any different in the UK.

The Russia Report does tell us one thing. It says British democracy is up for sale to the deepest pockets. The recent appointments to the House of Lords by Boris Johnson tells us that parliament is now up for sale to the highest bidders.

In short shrift, the British Conservatives, backed by foreign actors and dark money have systematically gone about dismantling Britain’s principles of democracy. They are thoroughly abusing Britain’s long-standing uncodified constitution and are now actively focused on weakening the institutions that hold them accountable. If they stay in power at the next general election, they will go on to attack other fundamental rights based around the principles of their deregulatory agenda, hidden inside the doctrine of its ‘triad of family life’ and blaming anything or anyone for the failings of its governance.

It’s not Russia we should looking towards as a threat to Britain’s way of life – it is America – by a very long way.

https://truepublica.org.uk/united-kingdom/democracy-weve-had-the-russia-report-now-where-is-the-america-report/

Extremist Jewish Israeli's Want To Kill

Bill Clinton Gets Massage by Mossad Sex Slave

EXCLUSIVE: 'Would you mind giving it a crack?' Bill Clinton leans back and smiles while receiving neck massage from Epstein victim, 22, in never-before-seen photos during trip on pedophile's plane to Africa in 2002

Bill Clinton is seen enjoying a neck massage from a Jeffrey Epstein victim in never-before-seen photographs obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com
The pictures are an ill-timed reminder of Clinton's links to Epstein as the former President, 72, prepares to endorse Joe Biden tonight at the Democratic Convention.
Clinton is seen sitting comfortably and laughing as Chauntae Davies, then a 22-year-old massage therapist, rubs her hands into his shoulders
The images show Clinton, then 56, leaning back while Davies kneels on a chair behind him, and in a second image, he seems to be smiling in relief
The former President had complained of a stiff neck after falling asleep on Epstein's 'Lolita Express' while on a humanitarian trip to Africa in 2002
Epstein's accused madam Ghislaine Maxwell encouraged Davies to give Clinton a massage while the group was refueling at a small airport in Portugal
Maxwell, 58, was arrested in July and is currently in prison on charges in connection to Epstein's sex trafficking ring
After Maxwell's insistence, Clinton asked Davies: 'Would you mind giving it a crack?'
Clinton's office previously issued a statement in regards to his travels on the plane and denied knowing anything about the financier's crimes

By CHEYENNE ROUNDTREE FOR DAILYMAIL.COM and BEN ASHFORD FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

PUBLISHED: 17:13 BST, 18 August 2020 | UPDATED: 04:19 BST, 19 August 2020

Bill Clinton grins with pleasure as he enjoys an intimate neck massage with a young Jeffrey Epstein victim in never-before-seen photographs obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com.

The troubling pictures are an ill-timed reminder of Clinton's links to Epstein as the former President, 72, prepares to endorse Joe Biden tonight at the Democratic Convention.

Clinton traveled numerous times on the dead pedophile’s private Jet, the Lolita Express, socialized with his alleged Madame, Ghislaine Maxwell, and faced a slew of sexual misconduct accusations himself during his years in public life.

Yet the 42nd President of the United States is still revered in progressive circles despite the renewed focus on Epstein's crimes and the predatory behavior of rich, powerful men laid bare by the #MeToo movement.

In the photos, Clinton sits comfortably and laughs as Chauntae Davies, then a 22-year-old massage therapist who acted as Epstein's personal masseuse, rubs her hands into his shoulders to get out the kinks in his neck.

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Bill Clinton is seen enjoying a neck massage from a Jeffrey Epstein victim in never-before-seen photographs obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com. Clinton sits comfortably and laughs as Chauntae Davies, then a 22-year-old massage therapist, rubs her hands into his shoulders

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Clinton, then 56, had complained of having a stiff neck after falling asleep on Epstein's notorious private jet while on a humanitarian trip with the pedophile to Africa in September of 2002. After Maxwell's insistence, Clinton asked the twenty-something: 'Would you mind giving it a crack?'

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Davies, who has claimed she was raped by Epstein after being recruited by Maxwell, said Clinton was a 'complete gentleman' on the trip as she described how the encounter occurred

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The pictures emerged as Clinton is set to make a rallying speech in support of Joe Biden at the Democratic convention on Tuesday night

Clinton, then 56, had complained of having a stiff neck after falling asleep on Epstein's infamous private jet, nicknamed The Lolita Express, while on a humanitarian trip with the pedophile to Africa in September of 2002.

Maxwell, who is now in prison on sex trafficking charges, repeatedly encouraged Davies to give Clinton a massage while the group was refueling at a small airport in Portugal after flying in from New York.

After Maxwell's insistence, Clinton asked the twenty-something: 'Would you mind giving it a crack?'

The images show Clinton dressed in a yellow button down shirt and beige slacks with his hands resting on his lap, as he leaned back while Davies knelt on a chair behind him for a better angle.

In a second image, Clinton seems to be smiling in relief as a sweatpants-clad Davies massages him.

Davies, who has claimed she was raped by Epstein several times after being recruited by Maxwell, said Clinton was a 'complete gentleman' on the trip.

She previously said she was invited to travel to Africa one week before the departure, and when she arrived to the airfield, she was instructed to wear a uniform to look professional.

Davies acted as an air stewardess on the flight and described being shocked when Clinton boarded the plane, saying he was 'charming and sweet'.

Davies, now in her early 40s, said of the massage pictures: 'Although the image looks bizarre, President Clinton was a perfect gentleman during the trip and I saw absolutely no foul play involving him.'

She explained the massage happened when 'we had a stop-over for the jet to refuel and while we were in the terminal the ex-President was complaining of stiffness from falling asleep in his chair.

'Ghislaine chimed in to be funny and said that I could give him a massage.

'Everyone had a little chuckle but Ghislaine in her prim British accent insisted and said I was good. The President then asked me ''would you mind giving it a crack''.

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Clinton's team said he had only taken four trips with Epstein on the Lolita Express in 2002 and 2003. But flight logs showed he had taken a total of at least 26 individual flights in the course of those years

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Epstein's silver and black Boeing 727 airliner - dubbed the 'Lolita Express' - carried prominent passengers including President Bill Clinton and British royal Prince Andrew

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Epstein was accused of using his private plane to transport underage girls to his various luxury homes in New York, Palm Beach, New Mexico and even Paris. But Clinton has denied any knowledge of the pedophlies predilections

'He turned his back to me and I reached up and I started to rub out the kink in our former President's neck and shoulder.'

The massage therapist then revealed her embarrassment after innocently telling Clinton: 'I've got a bad angle, would you mind getting on your knees?'

Describing the incident she said: 'I'm not at all sure what came over me.

In an excerpt from her soon-to-be-released memoir, Davies added: 'I was groggy and have also always been the queen of putting my foot in my mouth.'

'For a moment the room fell silent. I couldn't believe I'd said that. The words just shot out before I realized what I was saying or who I said it to.

'Then, although his face had turned the color of fire, he laughed. The whole room was laughing too. And, being the good sport he was, he sat down so I could get a better angle.'

Epstein and Maxwell, along with other celebrities, accompanied Clinton on the trip to Africa in September 2002. It was part of a project for Clinton's foundation to raise awareness about poverty and the AIDS crisis in the continent.

Clinton and Ghislaine were pictured posing together as they boarded Epstein's plane.

Other pictures show the politician traveling on the infamous jet while playing cards with a cigar in his mouth.

The star-studded group – which included actors Kevin Spacey and Chris Tucker – visited the countries of Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, Mozambique and South Africa during the five-day humanitarian trip.

Epstein was previously accused of using his private plane to transport underage girls to his various luxury homes in New York, Palm Beach, New Mexico and even Paris. American dignitaries and rich and powerful figures also traveled on the jet.

Clinton's office previously issued a statement in regards to his travels on the plane and denied knowing anything about the financier's crimes.

His team said he had only taken four trips with him in 2002 and 2003 - although flight logs showed he had taken a total of at least 26 individual flights in the course of those years.

'President Clinton knows nothing about the terrible crimes Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty to in Florida some years ago, or those with which he has previously been charged in New York,' a statement read.

'In 2002 and 2003, President Clinton took a total of four trips on Jeffrey Epstein's airplane: one to Europe, one to Asia, and two to Africa, which included stops in connection with the Clinton Foundation.

'Staff, supporters of the Foundation, and his Secret Service detail traveled on every leg or every trip.'

Davies claims she was sexually abused by Epstein for several years and finally escaped his clutches in 2005.

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She previously said she was invited to join the trip one week before they departed, and when she arrived to the airfield, she was instructed to wear a uniform to look professional (pictured)

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Davies was thrust into Epstein's (pictured together) inner circle when she was training to be a massage therapist at a college in Los Angeles. She wound up meeting Ghislaine at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills. And just hours after meeting the now jailed socialite, Ghislaine contacted Davies and asked her to take a private jet with her to Epstein's Palm Beach home

In July 2019 she was interviewed by the FBI and the Assistant Attorney General of New Mexico. Epstein was arrested and charged in New York five days later. He committed suicide inside his jail cell in August.

Davies was thrust into Epstein's inner circle when she was training to be a massage therapist at a college in Los Angeles. She wound up meeting Ghislaine at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills.

And just hours after meeting the now jailed socialite, Ghislaine contacted Davies and asked her to take a private jet with her to Epstein's Palm Beach, Florida home.

Within weeks she was jetting around the world on the Lolita Express and was flown to Epstein's private island where she said she was attacked.

Davies said earlier this year that revisiting the photos made her question how such powerful people were pulled into Epstein's circle as he was committing heinous sex crimes.

'It's clear that Epstein was using this private jet and his wealth to get close to rich and powerful people,' Davies said.

'Looking back at these images now it raises a lot of questions about why Bill Clinton was using the plane and what perhaps Jeffrey may have been trying to accomplish by having him around.'