Tag: Turkey
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Turkey votes in key election that could end Erdogan’s 20-year rule
Turks will vote on Sunday in one of the most consequential elections in modern Turkey’s 100-year history, which could oust President Tayyip Erdogan after 20 years in power and halt his government’s increasingly authoritarian path. The vote will not only lead Turkey, a NATO-member country of 85 million, but also decide how it is governed,…
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Erdogan attacks LGBTQ ahead of crucial vote
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday launched a new attack against Turkey’s LGBTQ community in a bid to rally his conservative voters in the May 14 elections. Turkey’s longest-serving leader has campaigned tirelessly since withdrawing over a health scare that sidelined him for three days last week. Polls show the 69-year-old running alongside left-wing secular…
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US sets $259 million sale of F-16 equipment to Turkey
US President Joe Biden’s administration notified Congress on Monday of the planned sale to Turkey of avionics software upgrades for its existing fleet of F-16 fighter jets, a deal worth up to USD 259 million. The deal, first reported by Reuters on Monday, moves forward with the sale of a modernization package for Turkish planes…
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Turkey’s parliament ratifies Finland’s NATO accession as Sweden waits
After completing the ratification process, both Turkey and Hungary are required to send their ratification documents to the US government in Washington, which is NATO’s depository under the alliance’s founding treaty. Stoltenberg will formally invite Finland to join NATO. The Finnish government said that as a final step, Finland would deliver an “instrument of accession”…
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Black Sea grain export deal renewed
The accord with Russia and Ukraine was struck by the United Nations and Turkey in July — and was renewed for another 120 days in November — to deal with a global food crisis that could lead to Russia’s February 24, 2022, invasion of Ukraine. And it was partly fuel. Black Sea blockade. Russia had…
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Turkey begins reconstruction for 1.5 million people left homeless by earthquake
It said it had requested $113.5 million of the $1 billion in funds appealed by the United Nations last week, adding that it would focus the money on clearing mountains of debris. UNDP estimates that the disaster produced between 116 million and 210 million tons of debris, compared with 13 million tons of debris after…
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Turkey speeds up reconstruction plans as earthquake death toll nears 50,000
Turkey has stepped up plans to house victims of the devastating earthquake that hit its border region with Syria, the interior minister said, as the combined death toll in the two countries reached 50,000. Suleyman Soylu said 313,000 tents along with 100,000 container houses have been set up in the disaster zone, which stretches hundreds…
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Turkey probing building contractors as earthquake death toll rises
Erdogan, in power for two decades, faces elections within four months. Even before the earthquake, opinion polls showed he was under pressure from a cost-of-living crisis, which could worsen as the disaster disrupted agricultural production. Soylu said 313,000 tents have been set up in the earthquake zone, along with 100,000 container houses. Turkey’s death toll…
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‘It’s all rubble’: pollution fears over Turkey earthquake waste
“(It) can contain many different chemicals like lead or microplastics or asbestos,” said Sedat Gundogdu, a plastic pollution expert at Cukurova University in Adana. The researcher estimates that the 200 million tons of debris produced by the earthquake is “seven times the amount of waste generated annually by Turkey”. “We don’t have the capacity to…
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Turkey’s Antakya became a ghost town after the third earthquake
Viewed from afar, what used to be high-rise buildings now looked jagged as the city looked out of place. Chunks of river banks fell into the water, while troops sealed off damaged bridges. Hoardings had been driven into the ground and signs scattered among the rubble were reminders of the shops that used to fill…
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Bangladesh rescue team returned from Turkey
According to the Ministry of External Affairs, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen told the Turkish Foreign Minister that Bangladesh is sending an additional 10,000 tents, along with the initial 2000 to Turkey, for earthquake victims. In a phone call to his Turkish counterpart on 15 February, he also requested that he let Bangladesh know if…
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Turkey halts layoffs, offers salary aid in earthquake zone
A ban on layoffs was also imposed in the 10 earthquake-hit provinces covered by a state of emergency. Turkey’s parliament imposed a three-month state of emergency on 7 February following a request from President Tayyip Erdogan. The government offered wage support and a ban on layoffs in 2020 in an effort to ease the economic…
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Hasty reconstruction could leave Turkey at risk of another earthquake disaster
“It is necessary not only to replace the collapsed buildings, but also to re-plan cities based on scientific data, such as not building on faultlines and learning from past mistakes,” said Esin Koymen, former head of the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce. ” Architects. “The first priority is the new plan, not the new building.” more…
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Panic as Turkey, Syria shaken again by 6.3M earthquake
Reuters saw Turkish rescue teams rushing on foot after the latest quake to check on residents, most of whom were living in makeshift tents after tremors two weeks ago. Muna al Omar, a resident, said she was in a tent in a park in central Antakya when the quake struck. “I felt the earth explode…
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Turkey removes debris from earthquake, relief work stalled
Turkey resumed work on Monday to clear debris from collapsed buildings after rescue operations stopped two weeks after a major earthquake that killed more than 46,000 people in southern Turkey and northwest Syria. Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) said about 13,000 excavators, cranes, trucks and other industrial vehicles had been dispatched to the…