‘No one can bring back what we lost’: fears rise among poor in Turkish city ravaged by earthquakes

Less well-off residents in the southern city of Antakya feel left out of the city’s rebuilding efforts

• Read more: A year in the aftermath of Turkey’s earthquake – a photo essay

Rows of bright white marble gravestones dot a hillside on the outskirts of Antakya, some bearing the words “martyr of the earthquake”. The final resting place for the city’s dead will soon be overshadowed by tower blocks for those who survived. Bright yellow cranes jut into the skyline on the next hillside, slowly birthing a cluster of concrete skeletons, new government housing for some of the hundreds of thousands who lost their homes when deadly earthquakes struck southern Turkey and northern Syria last February.

“No one can bring back what was lost, as we lost everything,” said İsa Akbaba, who lost seven members of his extended family along with his home.

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Still in ruins: the 2023 Turkish earthquake – then and now

A 7.8-magnitude quake hit southern Turkey and northern Syria on 6 February 2023, killing more than 40,000 people and erasing entire cities. Then and now photographs show the scale of devastation and the enormity of the reconstruction

Over 65 nightmarish seconds of the pre-dawn hours of 6 February 2023, the ground swallowed swathes of entire cities across south-east Turkey resulting in more than 50,000 deaths.

Bridges collapsed, roads and airport tarmacs cracked and millions of lives across 11 Turkish provinces were upturned by the time the rest of the country woke up, stunned.

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Procter & Gamble staff held hostage in Turkish factory freed in police raid

Gunman, who was detained unharmed, was protesting about war in Gaza and had trapped seven workers for nearly nine hours

Turkish police have released seven workers taken hostage by a pro-Palestinian gunman at a plant near Istanbul owned by US consumer goods company Procter & Gamble in protest at the war in Gaza.

Local officials said police staged a raid nearly nine hours into the standoff when the lone gunman took a bathroom break.

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People smugglers recruiting skippers from central Asia on Turkey to Italy route

Boat drivers from former Soviet republics often have very little experience and no idea what they are doing is illegal, say NGOs

People smugglers are increasingly recruiting people from former Soviet republics in central Asia to pilot boats carrying migrants from Turkey to Italy, say NGOs and lawyers.

The migrants are taken by sea from Turkey to Italy, often using sailing boats, as an alternative to the longer overland route through the Balkans where border guards in Croatia and Slovenia have engaged in illegal pushbacks of asylum seekers at the EU border.

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US approves $23bn sale of F-16 war planes to Turkey

The sale follows Turkey’s decision to ratify Sweden’s NATO membership

The Biden administration has announced its approved a $US23 billion deal to sell F-16 warplanes to Turkey, after Ankara ratified Sweden’s Nato membership, the state department said.

The state department will now notify Congress of the agreement, as well as of a separate $8.6bn sale of 40 F-35s to Greece.

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Orbán reaffirms backing for Swedish Nato bid as allies’ patience runs low

Hungarian parliament yet to sign off on application despite repeated promises not to hold up process alone

Viktor Orbán has said he will urge the Hungarian parliament to sign off on Sweden’s Nato bid “at the first possible opportunity”, as diplomats said Hungary’s allies were “exasperated” by the country’s foot-dragging.

Sweden applied to join Nato in May 2022, but its accession was delayed as Turkey and Hungary strung out the ratification process.

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Turkish parliament approves Sweden’s membership of Nato

Vote leaves Hungary as only country still to ratify application made in response to Russian invasion of Ukraine

The Turkish parliament has given its long-awaited approval to Sweden’s membership of Nato, bringing the Nordic country significantly closer to joining the western military alliance after months in limbo.

Three months after Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Turkish president, submitted a bill on approving membership to parliament, MPs voted in favour of ratifying it late on Tuesday night.

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Creation of Palestinian state is only way to peace, EU foreign policy chief says – as it happened

Josep Borrell wants European-Arab initiative to revive a peace process, with the ultimate aim being a two-state solution

The World Health Organization and the United Nations have made a new delivery of medical supplies to southern Gaza, the WHO director-general has said.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the shipment included eight refrigerators, eight solar panels, and clean delivery kits to supports 66 births as well as medicines and supplies to enable surgeries. He added that it would support 142,000 people requiring care.

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Trial opens in Turkey over deadly hotel collapse during earthquake

Hearing in Adiyaman involves 11 defendants accused of ‘conscious negligence’ while overseeing building’s construction

Turkey has opened the first major trial linked to the construction of buildings that crumbled in two earthquakes last year that claimed more than 50,000 lives.

The hearing in the south-eastern city of Adiyaman involves 11 defendants accused of “conscious negligence” while overseeing the construction of the Isias hotel.

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‘T-shirt row’ causes Saudi Arabia-based Turkish Super Cup final to be postponed

  • Galatasaray and Fenerbahce were set to play in Riyadh on Friday
  • Tribute to founder of modern Turkey was reportedly rejected

The Turkish Super Cup final between Galatasaray and Fenerbahce scheduled to be played in Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh, on Friday was postponed over what the clubs have described as “some problems” in the event’s organisation.

At the heart of those issues, according to media reports, was the wish of the two teams to wear T-shirts featuring the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, during the warm-up before the evening kick-off.

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Weather tracker: rain batters Argentina and DRC as fog shrouds India and Pakistan

Turkey also affected by fog, with 10 killed and 57 injured in serious road crash involving three buses

During the Christmas period, parts of South America experienced intense showers and thunderstorms, resulting in substantial rainfall in various regions. On Monday, more than 100mm of rain fell in the Catamarca province in Argentina, which led to flash floods. A sudden surge in river water levels then caused the collapse of a pedestrian bridge, which was the only link between the towns of Rincón and Pomán. While many other roads in the region were damaged and houses were flooded, no casualties were reported.

The unique topography of Catamarca aided the formation of a near-stationary convective shower over Pomán, unleashing several hours of torrential rain and causing catastrophic flooding.

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David Cameron threat over Humza Yousaf’s meeting with Turkish president

Foreign secretary says FCDO support for Scottish ministers could be withdrawn after Recep Tayyip Erdoğan talks

David Cameron has threatened to withdraw Foreign Office support for Scottish ministers after Humza Yousaf met the Turkish president without UK officials.

The foreign secretary wrote to the Scottish National party government saying it was a breach of protocol for Yousaf to have discussed Gaza and other matters with Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the Cop28 summit.

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Erdoğan hails ‘new era’ of friendship with Greece on historic visit to Athens

President of Turkey signs friendship accord, saying longtime foes could provide ‘an example to the world’

Greece and Turkey have sought to put years of tensions behind them with a friendship accord signed during a historic visit to Athens by the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The two Nato members – longtime foes in the air and sea – agreed to reset ties, sealing a “declaration on good neighbourly relations” which, it is hoped, will pave the way to settling disputes that have defied resolution for decades, including over undersea energy resources and the divided island of Cyprus.

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Recep Tayyip Erdoğan calls for ‘glass half full’ view as he meets Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Athens – Europe live

Erdoğan told the Greek head of state that his visit to Athens hailed the start of a new era between the two countries

Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, cannot be allowed to “blackmail” the rest of the EU by threatening to block Ukraine membership talks unless it releases withheld funds to Hungary, centre-left MEPs have said.

“This is a make or break moment for the EU,” said Pedro Marques, vice chair of the Socialist and Democratic group in the European parliament.

At a moment in which the US Congress has just outvoted a proposal by Joe Biden to continue to support Ukraine, we cannot put ourselves in a situation where the Ukrainians see that we are also not capable of continuing to assist them.

It also not acceptable, from my point of view, that anyone gets the perception that at the end of next week, Orbán got his way and got his €30bn in exchange for allowing the EU to continue to assist Ukraine.

Ministers of the two countries will have constructive meetings. We’ll discuss what steps we can take on all issues. Preparations have been made by ministers … I believe it will be better for the future of both sides to speak seeing the glass half full.

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Recep Tayyip Erdoğan plans ‘win-win’ approach in Athens after past feud

Analysts believe better ties with Greece are key to repairing Turkey’s strained relationship with Europe

Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, will be arriving in Athens on Thursday for the first time in six years, determined to move on with a “win-win approach” from the disputes and tensions left by his previous trip to the city.

The last time the Turkish leader visited the Greek capital – exactly six years ago to the day – what had been billed a historic tour descended into a verbal theatre of war as Erdoğan, dispensing with diplomatic niceties, went on the offensive.

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Virginia museum to return 44 stolen or looted works to Egypt, Italy and Turkey

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts says it received ‘irrefutable evidence’ 44 ancient art objects had been stolen or looted

Virginia’s state-run fine arts museum has begun the process of returning 44 pieces of ancient art to their countries of origin after law enforcement officials presented the institution with what it called “irrefutable evidence” that the works had been stolen or looted.

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts announced in a news release on Tuesday that it had “safely delivered” the pieces to the Manhattan district attorney’s office in New York, which it said had conducted an inquiry into the artworks as part of a broader investigation, along with the Department of Homeland Security. The DA’s office will facilitate the return of the objects to Italy, Egypt and Turkey, according to the Richmond museum.

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Turkish foreign minister told Sweden its Nato bid will be ratified ‘within weeks’ – Europe live

Tobias Billström, Sweden’s foreign minister, says it is ‘high time to get this ratification done by Turkey and Hungary’

Sweden’s foreign minister said he is “grateful” for US support, as the country continues to wait to join Nato.

The Finnish president’s office told Reuters today the presidents of Finland and Poland did not discuss military cooperation regarding Finland’s border with Russia during a meeting last week.

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Weather tracker: Ethiopia hit by severe drought amid east Africa floods

More than 50 people dead in Tigray and Amhara regions while UN warns of ‘crisis-level hunger or worse’ in Somalia

The regions of Tigray and Amhara in northern Ethiopia have continued to experience severe drought conditions with more than 50 people dead, as well as 4,000 cattle.

While northern Ethiopia suffers from droughts, the southern and eastern parts of the country, along with Kenya and Somalia, have been hit by flooding. Somalia suffered the worst of the flooding, with 50 people reported dead. According to the Somali disaster management agency almost 700,000 people have been forced to leave their homes.

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Sweden must join Nato soon to ward off Russian threat, says defence minister

Exclusive: Pål Jonson unable to give timeline for completion of membership process but confident it will happen

Sweden must become a full member of the Nato military alliance “as fast as possible” to ward off the threat from Russia, the country’s defence minister has said, as impatience builds in Stockholm over its slow path to accession.

Pål Jonson said that he was unable to put a timeline on the completion of Sweden’s Nato approval process buthe was confident that Turkey and Hungary, the two remaining members left to ratify the country’s membership, would do so eventually.

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Woman’s death during Brazilian butt lift surgery prompts UK-Turkey meeting

Melissa Kerr from Norfolk died on day of buttock enlargement surgery at private hospital in Istanbul in 2019

UK officials are to meet with counterparts in Turkey after the death of a British woman during so-called Brazilian butt lift surgery at a private hospital in Istanbul.

Melissa Kerr, 31, from Gorleston in Norfolk, travelled to the private Medicana Haznedar hospital for the buttock enlargement surgery in 2019.

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