An earthquake of approximately magnitude 7.0 in the Aegean Sea has caused sea water to rise and flood parts of the coastal city of Izmir, carrying furniture and other items with it. The quake struck at 2.51pm local time on Friday, according to the country's disaster agency
Powerful earthquake rocks Turkish coast and Greek islands
Continue reading...Witnesses capture the moment a building falls in the city of İzmir during a magnitude 6.6 earthquake in Turkey's Aegean region on Friday. The nation's disaster agency said the quake occurred at 2.51pm at a depth of 10 miles (16.5km)
• Powerful earthqake rocks Turkish coast and Greek islands
Continue reading...An earthquake has struck in the Aegean Sea, flattening buildings in Greece and Turkey. Footage shows buildings reduced to rubble in the Manavkuyu neighbourhood of İzmir, a city on Turkey's Aegean coast.
The US Geological Survey measured the earthquake at magnitude 7.0 and said tremors were felt as far away as Athens and Istanbul
Continue reading...French satirical newspaper depicted Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in his underwear
Turkey has threatened “legal and diplomatic” action against the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo after it published a caricature of president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on its latest front page.
The drawing described as “disgusting” by the Turkish leader and Ankara’s announcement that prosecutors have launched an official investigation into the publication have worsened already heightened tensions between the two countries.
Continue reading...President has become a hate figure in Islamic world over response to death of Samuel Paty
On 6 October, when Samuel Paty, a popular history and geography teacher at a school in a quiet Paris suburb, presented a copy of the cartoons of the prophet Muhammad that provoked the attack on Charlie Hebdo magazine five years ago, he self-evidently had no idea of the tragic consequence for his own life, French society or France’s relations with the Islamic world. What was intended as a classroom exploration of the freedom of thought has turned into a mini-clash of civilisations.
Ten days later, Paty was killed, allegedly by a Russian-born teenager of Chechen heritage, sending an electric shock into France’s long debate about secularism, or laïcité. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, responded by saying France would not “renounce the caricatures”.
Continue reading...Calls for boycott of French goods after president’s remarks at tribute to murdered teacher Samuel Paty
France has appealed for foreign governments to stamp out calls by what it calls a “radical minority” for a boycott of French products after Emmanuel Macron’s public backing of the Muhammad caricatures.
The appeal came as anger escalated across the Islamic world over the president’s remarks at a national tribute to the murdered high-school teacher Samuel Paty last week, with Turkish leader, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, calling on Monday for a complete boycott of French products in Turkey.
Continue reading...Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan suggested Emmanuel Macron, his French counterpart needed mental health treatment, the latest sign of a growing backlash in the Islamic world sparked by Macron’s claim that Islam is in crisis.
Ankara has been particularly incensed by a campaign championed by Macron to protect France’s secular values against radical Islam, a debate given fresh impetus by the murder of a teacher who showed his class a cartoon of the prophet Muhammad
Continue reading...Macron’s office says ‘rudeness is not a method’ after Turkish president calls for counterpart to have ‘mental checks’
France said it would recall its envoy to Turkey for consultations following “unacceptable” comments by the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, that suggested his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, needed a mental health check-up.
In the highly unusual move, a French presidential official said the French ambassador to Turkey was being recalled from Ankara for consultations and would meet Macron to discuss the situation after Erdoğan’s outburst.
Continue reading...Evidence including footage of Frontex ship making waves near a migrant dinghy appears to contradict agency’s denial of involvement in pushbacks
The EU’s border agency has been accused of complicity in illegal and often dangerous pushbacks aimed at preventing asylum seekers crossing the Aegean Sea.
Even as evidence of an aggressive maritime campaign by Greece has emerged, Frontex has denied knowledge of, or involvement in, pushbacks. But new evidence, including video footage showing a Frontex ship manoeuvring dangerously near a crowded dinghy full of people and creating waves that drove them back, appears to contradict the EU agency.
Continue reading...Arrested Lawyers Initiative says hundreds punished on trumped-up charges and hundreds more await trial
Campaigners are seeking to use the UK’s Magnitsky-style human rights sanctions against Turkish prosecutors and officials responsible for arresting and imprisoning thousands of lawyers.
Organisers of the Arrested Lawyers Initiative (ALI) are gathering evidence about the alleged torture and mistreatment of judges and legal representatives detained in Turkish jails.
Continue reading...Police say mobile sirens and surveillance cameras also used to deter crossings into EU
Greece has begun extending a border wall along its frontier with Turkey to deter migrants from trying to enter the European Union, the Greek government has said, after a border standoff earlier this year which has helped drive Greek-Turkish relations to a dangerously low ebb.
A total of 16 miles (26km) of wall will be added to the existing 6 mile fence along the Evros River, which forms much of the Greek-Turkish border, the government spokesperson Stelios Petsas said on Monday.
Continue reading...Ersin Tatar, who favours even closer ties with Turkey, defeats incumbent Mustafa Akinci
A rightwing hardliner who has long advocated closer ties with Turkey has won a presidential runoff in the Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus.
Ersin Tatar, whose candidacy had been openly endorsed by Ankara, garnered 51.74% of the vote once all ballots had been counted, local media reported.
Continue reading...Warring parties say ceasefire over disputed territory to take effect from midnight local time
Armenia and Azerbaijan have announced a new attempt to establish a ceasefire in their conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh starting from midnight local time (8pm GMT).
It comes a week after a Russia-brokered truce frayed immediately after it took force. The two sides trade blame for breaching that deal. On Saturday, Azerbaijan accused Armenia of striking its second-largest city with a ballistic missile that killed at least 13 civilians and wounded 50 others.
Continue reading...Unofficial early results show first round voting has narrowed field to leftist incumbent and rightwing nationalist
Voters in Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus are to face a stark choice between candidates in a run-off presidential election deemed crucial for the resumption of peace talks that could end 46 years of ethnic division on the Mediterranean island.
Following a campaign fraught with allegations of overt meddling from Ankara, the 200,000-strong electorate cast votes yesterday in a first-round contest that narrowed the field to a pro-reunification moderate and a Turkey-backed nationalist who wants two clear states on the island.
Continue reading...Any hope for a truce in the long-running conflict in the Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh was short-lived
The streets of Stepanakert were quiet as a ceasefire went into effect on Saturday afternoon, but the local population’s ears were still ringing from shelling and drone strikes that have decimated this highland town over the past 13 days.
The peace – and any hope of a lasting truce – was short-lived. Air-raid sirens in Artsakh, a de facto Armenian republic inside Azerbaijan’s borders, were screaming again before nightfall. Residents who have refused to flee the assault retreated back into bomb shelters and basements, bracing for another sleepless night.
Continue reading...Turkish Cypriot leader’s plan is described as ‘serious violation’ of UN ceasefire agreement
The EU’s diplomatic chief has condemned plans by breakaway northern Cyprus to reopen the beach of an abandoned resort in no-man’s land as a “serious violation” of a UN ceasefire agreement on the divided island.
The Turkish Cypriot leader, Ersin Tatar, backed by Ankara, has vowed to open a coastal section of disputed Varosha, prompting anger from the island’s internationally recognised government.
Continue reading...Guardian joint investigation finds both sides send military cargo planes to region, in blatant violation of agreement to end conflict
Turkey and the United Arab Emirates are carrying out regular and increasingly blatant violations of the UN arms embargo on Libya, fuelling a proxy war that is evading political solutions, a joint investigation by the Guardian has found.
Flight data and satellite images show both nations using large-scale military cargo planes to funnel in goods and fighters to forces or proxies inside Libya, routinely violating the 2011 UN arms embargo despite political promises to abstain.
Continue reading...Ankara’s assertive foreign policy is an increasing factor in broad geopolitical dispute
Plans for a durable Libyan ceasefire are to be endorsed by diplomats from 15 countries on Monday, but the value of the commitments made in the virtual meeting are belied by signs that deepening involvement in the country by rival external powers including Russia and Turkey could complicate efforts to form an interim government of national unity.
The Libya conflict has to be seen as not only a long-running power struggle in the country itself but also part of a wider geopolitical dispute in which Turkey’s assertive foreign policy – ranging from the eastern Mediterranean to Azerbaijan – is an increasing factor.
Continue reading...Sister of Richard Molloy, from Northern Ireland, travels to resort to repatriate his body
The families of a Northern Irish man who died and two of his friends who fell critically ill after a dental tourism trip to Turkey desperately want to bring their sons home, their local MP has said.
Richard Molloy, 33, was found dead on Saturday in the Turkish port city of Marmaris. His two friends , Declan Carson and Aaron Callaghan, fell critically ill and were reportedly found unconscious in the trio’s rented apartment.
Continue reading...At least one person killed in Ganja incident, as former Soviet republics move closer to war
Fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh has escalated dramatically after Baku accused Armenian forces of firing rockets at Ganja, which lies outside the contested territory.
At least one civilian was killed and four more injured in the attack on Sunday on Ganja, Azerbaijan’s second largest city, 100km (60 miles) north of the Karabakh capital, Stepanakert.
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