Footage shared by Abdulkadir Uraloğlu under hashtag #TurkeyAccelerates inadvertently shows him speeding
Turkey’s transport minister has been given a speeding fine after posting a video of himself racing down a highway with the hashtag #TurkeyAccelerates.
On Sunday evening, Abdulkadir Uraloğlu shared a video of himself on X driving along a highway near the capital, Ankara, listening to folk songs and clips of speeches by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Continue reading...Temperatures of 44C predicted as blazes rage across Europe
Almost 6,000 people have been evacuated from their homes in northern, central and southern Spain as wildfires continue to burn amid a heatwave that could bring temperatures of 44C to some parts of the country.
The deadly heat across large parts of Europe has created what scientists have called a “molotov cocktail” of climatic conditions that is fuelling vast wildfires.
Continue reading...Former teacher Martyn Latchman, 38, became unwell during the preparatory phase of £1,500 procedure
A British man has died after starting a hair transplant procedure in Istanbul.
Martyn Latchman, 38, from Milton Keynes, who left a 16-year career in teaching last year to become a defence contractor, died last week after becoming unwell during the preparatory phase of the £1,500 procedure.
Continue reading...Refreshing northerly airmass to bring abrupt end to extreme heat, offering respite for residents and firefighters
After enduring a relentless stretch of searing temperatures, relief is finally in sight for south-east Europe. The Balkans, which have been scorched by a brutal heatwave over recent weeks, have seen daily maximum temperatures soar, culminating in a peak on Saturday with widespread temperatures of 40C (104F) and above across Albania, Serbia, Bulgaria and neighbouring regions.
Turkey also suffered, with a scorching 50.5C (122.9F) recorded in Silopi on Friday, the country’s all-time highest maximum temperature. Now these places are set to experience a dramatic cooldown as a refreshing northerly airmass is moving in, bringing an abrupt end to the extreme heat and offering much-needed respite.
Continue reading...Czech firefighters and Italian aircraft join rescue effort in Greece, and firefighter among those killed in Turkey
Thousands of people in Greece and Turkey have been forced to evacuate homes as firefighters in the countries battled to contain wildfires fanned by strong winds and searing heat.
As temperatures in south-eastern Europe exceeded 40C for a seventh straight day, the Greek prime minister praised rescue workers for waging “a titanic battle” to bring blazes under control.
Continue reading...High temperatures and strong winds fan fires between Istanbul and Ankara forcing evacuation of several villages
A wildfire killed at least 10 forest workers and rescuers on Wednesday who were battling to douse the flames near Eskişehir in western Turkey, authorities said.
The agriculture minister, İbrahim Yumakli, said the fire killed five forest workers and five rescuers. Local lawmaker Nebi Hatipoğlu and news website BirGün had earlier said 11 had died.
Continue reading...Footage shows animal leaping over wall in Lahore before attack that left victims with face and arm injuries
The owners of a pet lion that escaped from a farmhouse and injured a woman and her two children in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore have been arrested, authorities said on Sunday.
The arrest came after dramatic video footage emerged showing the lion leaping over a wall and attacking the victims in a residential area.
Continue reading...Turkey police face demonstrators after prosecutor orders arrests at LeMan magazine, whose editor-in-chief denies allegation and says image has been deliberately misinterpreted
Clashes erupted in Istanbul with police firing rubber bullets and teargas to disperse a mob on Monday after allegations that a satirical magazine had published a cartoon of the prophet Muhammad.
The clashes occurred after Istanbul’s chief prosecutor ordered the arrest of the editors at LeMan magazine on grounds it had published a cartoon that “publicly insulted religious values”.
Continue reading...City’s bar association says people ‘deprived of their liberty through arbitrary, unjust, and illegal detention’
Police arrested more than 50 people in Istanbul on Sunday ahead of a banned LGBTQ+ Pride march, the city’s bar association said.
“Before today’s Istanbul Pride march, four of our colleagues, including members of our Human Rights Centre, along with more than 50 people, were deprived of their liberty through arbitrary, unjust, and illegal detention,” the Istanbul Bar’s Human Rights Centre posted on X.
Continue reading...Hosting the climate summit is a major political and logistical exercise. The prime minister is being urged to turbocharge the diplomatic effort
The Australian government’s bid to host a major global climate conference in Adelaide next year wasn’t supposed to go like this.
A two-week meeting of diplomats at the UN climate headquarters in Bonn, Germany, failed to resolve what has become a long-running issue: whether the summit known as Cop31 would be held in Australia or Turkey, the only other nation vying for the rights.
Continue reading...Ukrainian president says if Russian leader does not arrive it will indicate ‘that he does not want to end the war’
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has doubled down on his promise to wait in Turkey on Thursday for face-to-face talks with Vladimir Putin, calling it a test of Russia’s willingness to pursue peace.
Speaking to journalists in Kyiv on Tuesday, Zelenskyy said he planned to wait for Putin in Ankara alongside the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, adding that he would travel to Istanbul if Putin opted to hold the meeting there.
Continue reading...Kurdistan Workers’ party says it will dissolve its guerrilla forces, months after call to do so from its jailed leader
A Kurdish militant group whose attacks and insurgency against Turkey have spanned more than four decades has declared it will disarm and disband, after a call from its jailed leader earlier this year.
The Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK) announced the decision to dissolve its guerrilla forces, heeding a watershed announcement from Abdullah Öcalan three months ago.
Continue reading...Lawyers say the Turkish national, who has been held in a Louisiana Ice center for two weeks, was illegally detained
A federal appeals court on Wednesday granted a judge’s order to bring a Turkish Tufts University student from a Louisiana immigration detention center back to New England for hearings to determine whether her rights were violated.
A judicial panel of the New York-based US second circuit court of appeals ruled in the case of Rümeysa Öztürk after lawyers representing her and the US justice department presented arguments at a hearing on Tuesday.
The Associated Press contributed reporting
Continue reading...Turkey’s president lashes out shortly after talks with Netanyahu’s government aimed at defusing tensions
The Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has lambasted Israel for undermining stability in neighbouring Syria during a diplomatic forum, days after the two countries held talks aimed at defusing an escalating conflict between them on Syrian soil.
“Turkey will not allow Syria to be dragged into a new vortex of instability,” Erdoğan told attendees at the Antalya diplomacy forum on the southern Turkish coast, accusing Israel of “trying to undermine the 8 December revolution”, in reference to the insurgency that toppled the former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad after decades in power.
Continue reading...Özgür Özel expanded call to boycott companies perceived as close to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Turkey’s anti-government protesters are weighing their options, amid calls by the main opposition leader for weekly rallies, a growing economic boycott and a groundswell of fired-up student demonstrators determined to stay on the streets.
The leader of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), Özgür Özel, expanded a call to boycott goods and services from companies perceived as close to the president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, during a rally in support of the jailed Istanbul mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu.
Continue reading...Joakim Medin, who works for the Dagens ETC newspaper, was arrested on Thursday when his plane landed
A Swedish journalist who was detained on his arrival in Turkey to cover protests over the jailing of Istanbul’s mayor has been arrested on terror-related charges and for “insulting the president”, the Turkish presidency has said.
Joakim Medin, who works for the Dagens ETC newspaper, “has been arrested on charges of ‘membership in an armed terrorist organisation’ and ‘insulting the president’”, the presidency said on Sunday.
Continue reading...Hundreds of thousands gather for Ekrem İmamoğlu outside Istanbul centre in move to keep momentum after clashes with police
Turkey’s main opposition has rallied in defence of the jailed Istanbul mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu, in a move to sustain the largest anti-government demonstrations in years.
Hundreds of thousands of people attended the protest called by the head of the opposition Republican People’s party (CHP) in a spot far from the Istanbul city centre. The party leader, Özgur Özel, claimed 2.2 million people attended.
Continue reading...News of protests has been preserve of a few newspapers and channels outside well funded pro-government networks
At the same time as the sound of clanging pots and pans rang out through the streets of opposition strongholds in Istanbul on a recent evening, marking another mass anti-government demonstration, a different reality was being broadcast to viewers of Turkish pro-government channels.
Public television showed the president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, speaking to a gilded conference room after an iftar dinner. He boasted of his government’s achievements, of hiring new teachers and attracting youth to an aerospace and technology conference.
Continue reading...Arrests condemned as ‘unlawful’ by press freedom groups, highlighting growing repression amid demonstrations against President Erdoğan
A prosecutor in Istanbul has remanded eight journalists in custody, reversing a decision to release them after they were arrested for covering Turkey’s largest anti-government protests in years.
The journalists were among 10 arrested in dawn raids on their homes earlier this week. An Istanbul court initially ruled the journalists should be released before reversing the decision and issuing an official arrest order, according to their lawyers and representatives.
Continue reading...Istanbul mayor has become the only politician capable of challenging Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the ballot box
When crowds of police arrived at the residence of the Istanbul mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu, to arrest him in a dawn raid last week, his response was calm and deliberate. The mayor of Turkey’s largest city – a longtime rival of the president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan – issued a video message to his supporters, filming himself as he put on a crisp white shirt and tie to be dressed for his detention.
“A small group is trying to usurp the will of the people,” he said. “I will stand strong.”
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