Turks set to evacuate from Lebanon by ship, driven by safety fears

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Updated 09 October 2024
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Turks set to evacuate from Lebanon by ship, driven by safety fears

Turkish passport holders gather near a hotel in the BIEL area of Beirut’s waterfront, ahead of their evacuation from Lebanon.
  • Those gathering at the port said the deteriorating security situation and economic hardship in Lebanon prompted them to flee on the ships, which left Turkiye on Tuesday

BEIRUT: Nearly 2,000 Turkish citizens and family members prepared to leave Beirut on two Turkish navy landing ships on Wednesday, evacuating from Lebanon over fears for their safety as Israel expanded its operations against Hezbollah militants.

Those gathering at the port said the deteriorating security situation and economic hardship in Lebanon prompted them to flee on the ships, which left Turkiye on Tuesday.

“We cannot take this situation anymore. No one knows where this country is taking us. The siege is becoming bigger,” said Issa Malak, who like many of the evacuees holds Lebanese as well as Turkish citizenship. “There is no bread here. There is no future in Lebanon.”

The ships first unloaded humanitarian aid upon arriving in Beirut. Turkiye’s defense ministry said they were carrying some 300 tons of supplies.

“There are beds, tents, blankets, food parcels, kitchenware and hygiene kits,” Turkish Ambassador Ali Baris Ulusoy told state-owned Anadolu news agency.

Ahead of the ships’ arrival, the passengers registered their papers and waited with their luggage.

“We’re leaving because the rockets and shells started dropping on us,” said Tarek Issa.

Mariam Darwish, who holds Turkish and Lebanese nationality, said she would travel with her 80-year-old Turkish father.

“The situation is becoming scary, and our neighborhood became unsafe,” she said. “This is much safer for us and our children, our grandchildren and our health.”

The ships are expected to arrive in Turkiye’s eastern Mediterranean city of Mersin on Thursday after a voyage of around 12 hours, a Turkish Foreign Ministry source said.

The source said a few of the Turkish evacuees would be joined by foreign relatives. Earlier this week, the source said there were around 14,000 Turkish citizens in Lebanon. Beyond the two ships, Ankara will also charter flights out of Lebanon if there is demand, the source said.

Turkiye has previously said it was working with around 20 countries on preparing for a possible evacuation of foreign nationals via Turkiye. Hundreds of people of various nationalities arrived in Turkiye from Lebanon last week on a commercial ferry. (Reporting by Abdelaziz Boumzar, Heba Fouad in Beirut and Tuvan Gumrukcu in Ankara Writing by Daren Butler Editing by Jonathan Spicer and Peter Graff)


Turkish prosecutors add charges of forging diploma against jailed Istanbul mayor

Turkish prosecutors add charges of forging diploma against jailed Istanbul mayor
Updated 57 min 17 sec ago
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Turkish prosecutors add charges of forging diploma against jailed Istanbul mayor

Turkish prosecutors add charges of forging diploma against jailed Istanbul mayor
  • Imamoglu denies the allegations against him, which his party says are orchestrated to protect Erdogan in power
  • His indictment over his diploma was reported by Milliyet newspaper

ANKARA: Turkish prosecutors charged Istanbul’s mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on Friday with falsifying his university diploma, a new case threatening more years in prison for President Tayyip Erdogan’s main rival, already jailed pending corruption charges he denies.

Imamoglu, at the center of a sprawling legal crackdown on the main opposition party, has been jailed since March 23 pending trial. He denies the allegations against him, which his party says are orchestrated to protect Erdogan in power.

His indictment over his diploma was reported by Milliyet newspaper, which said prosecutors were seeking eight years and nine months of prison time for the new charges. Reuters could not immediately obtain the document.

On March 18, Istanbul University said it had annulled Imamoglu’s diploma. He was detained a day later on the corruption charges, triggering Turkiye’s largest protests in a decade, and later jailed pending trial.

His detention has drawn sharp criticism from opposition parties and some foreign leaders, who call the case politically motivated and anti-democratic. The government denies the case is political.

Imamoglu is the main opposition Republican People’s Party’s presidential candidate in any future election. He won re-election as mayor in March last year by a wide margin against a candidate from Erdogan’s ruling AK Party.


Gaza’s Nasser Hospital operating as ‘one massive trauma ward’

Gaza’s Nasser Hospital operating as ‘one massive trauma ward’
Updated 04 July 2025
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Gaza’s Nasser Hospital operating as ‘one massive trauma ward’

Gaza’s Nasser Hospital operating as ‘one massive trauma ward’
  • 613 killed at aid distribution sites, near humanitarian convoys, says UN human rights office

GENEVA: Nasser Hospital in Gaza is operating as “one massive trauma ward” due to an influx of patients wounded at non-UN food distribution sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the World Health Organization said on Friday.

The US- and Israeli-backed GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, overseeing a new model of deliveries that the UN says is neither impartial nor neutral. It has repeatedly denied that incidents involving people killed or wounded at its sites have occurred.

The GHF said on Friday that “the most deadly attacks on aid sites have been linked to UN convoys,” and said the UN and humanitarian groups should work “collaboratively” with the GHF to “maximize the amount of aid being securely delivered into Gaza.” The UN in Geneva was immediately available for comment.

FASTFACT

Hundreds of patients, mainly young boys, were being treated for traumatic injuries, including bullet wounds to the head, chest, and knees, according to the WHO.

Referring to medical staff at the Nasser Hospital, Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative in the West Bank and Gaza, told reporters in Geneva: “They’ve seen already for weeks, daily injuries ... (the) majority coming from the so-called safe non-UN food distribution sites. The hospital is now operating as one massive trauma ward.”

Israel lifted an 11-week aid blockade on Gaza on May 19.

The UN human rights office said on Friday that it had recorded at least 613 killings, both at aid points run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and near humanitarian convoys.

“We have recorded 613 killings, both at GHF points and near humanitarian convoys — this is a figure as of June 27. Since then ... there have been further incidents,” Ravina Shamdasani, the spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in Geneva.

The OHCHR said 509 of the 613 were killed near GHF distribution points. The GHF dismissed these numbers as coming “directly from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry” and were being used to “falsely smear” its effort.

The GHF has previously said it has delivered more than 60 million meals to hungry Palestinians in five weeks “safely and without interference,” while other humanitarian groups had “nearly all of their aid looted.”

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that there have been some instances of violent looting and attacks on aid truck drivers, which it described as unacceptable.

Hundreds of patients, mainly young boys, were being treated for traumatic injuries, including bullet wounds to the head, chest, and knees, according to the WHO.

Peeperkorn said health workers at Nasser Hospital and testimonies from family members and friends of those wounded confirmed that the victims had been trying to access aid at sites run by the GHF.

Peeperkorn recounted the cases of a 13-year-old boy shot in the head, as well as a 21-year-old with a bullet lodged in his neck, which rendered him paraplegic.

“There is no chance for any reversal or any proper treatment. Young lives are being destroyed forever,” Peeperkorn said, urging for the fighting to stop and for more food aid to be allowed into Gaza.

 


French President Macron and Malaysian PM reaffirm calls for Gaza ceasefire

French President Macron and Malaysian PM reaffirm calls for Gaza ceasefire
Updated 04 July 2025
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French President Macron and Malaysian PM reaffirm calls for Gaza ceasefire

French President Macron and Malaysian PM reaffirm calls for Gaza ceasefire
  • “Our two countries are urging, more than ever, for a ceasefire,” said Macron

PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim reaffirmed on Friday their calls for a ceasefire in the fighting in Gaza, as Macron hosted Ibrahim in Paris.

“Our two countries are urging, more than ever, for a ceasefire, the release of the hostages, and for aid to get through,” said Macron, referring to Israeli hostages held by Hamas.


Egypt says Ethiopia’s power-generating dam lacks a legally binding agreement

This general view shows the site of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in Guba, Ethiopia, on February 19, 2022. (AFP)
This general view shows the site of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in Guba, Ethiopia, on February 19, 2022. (AFP)
Updated 04 July 2025
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Egypt says Ethiopia’s power-generating dam lacks a legally binding agreement

This general view shows the site of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in Guba, Ethiopia, on February 19, 2022. (AFP)
  • Egypt firmly rejects Ethiopia’s continued policy of imposing a fait accompli through unilateral actions concerning the Nile River, which is an international shared watercourse

CAIRO: Egypt said on Friday that Ethiopia has consistently lacked the political will to reach a binding agreement on its now-complete dam, an issue that involves Nile River water rights and the interests of Egypt and Sudan.

Ethiopia’s prime minister said Thursday that the country’s power-generating dam, known as the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, on the Nile is now complete and that the government is “preparing for its official inauguration” in September.

Egypt has long opposed the construction of the dam because it would reduce the country’s share of Nile River waters, which it almost entirely relies on for agriculture and to serve its more than 100 million people.

The more than $4 billion dam on the Blue Nile near the Sudan border began producing power in 2022. 

It is expected to eventually produce more than 6,000 MW of electricity — double Ethiopia’s current output.

Ethiopia and Egypt have spent years negotiating an agreement over the dam, which Ethiopia began building in 2011. 

Both countries reached no deal despite negotiations spanning 13 years, and it remains unclear how much water Ethiopia will release downstream in the event of a drought.

Egyptian officials, in a statement, called the completion of the dam “unlawful” and said that it violates international law, reflecting “an Ethiopian approach driven by an ideology that seeks to impose water hegemony” instead of equal partnership.

“Egypt firmly rejects Ethiopia’s continued policy of imposing a fait accompli through unilateral actions concerning the Nile River, which is an international shared watercourse,” Egypt’s Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation said in a statement on Friday.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, in his address to lawmakers on Thursday, said that his country “remains committed to ensuring that our growth does not come at the expense of our Egyptian and Sudanese brothers and sisters.”

“We believe in shared progress, shared energy, and shared water,” he said. 

“Prosperity for one should mean prosperity for all.”

However, the Egyptian Water Ministry said on Friday that Ethiopian statements calling for continued negotiations “are merely superficial attempts to improve its image on the international stage.”

“Ethiopia’s positions, marked by evasion and retreat while pursuing unilateralism, are in clear contradiction with its declared willingness to negotiate,” the statement read.

However, Egypt is addressing its water needs by expanding agricultural wastewater treatment and improving irrigation systems, according to the ministry, while also bolstering cooperation with Nile Basin countries through backing development and water-related projects.

 


Firefighters master one Turkiye wildfire as two others rage on

Firefighters master one Turkiye wildfire as two others rage on
Updated 04 July 2025
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Firefighters master one Turkiye wildfire as two others rage on

Firefighters master one Turkiye wildfire as two others rage on
  • Firefighters have been battling more than 600 fires in the drought-hit nation
  • By Friday morning, they had gained control over a major fire near the resort town of Cesme

ISTANBUL: Firefighters early Friday gained control over a major wildfire in the western Turkish province of Izmir but two others continued to ravage forests there, a minister said.

Although Turkiye was spared the recent heatwaves that hit the rest of southern Europe, firefighters have been battling more than 600 fires in the drought-hit nation over the past week which have been fueled by high winds.

By Friday morning, they had gained control over a major fire near the resort town of Cesme, some 80 kilometers (50 miles) west of Turkiye’s third city Izmir, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli said.

The firefighters’ “intense work overnight and the air intervention that resumed at dawn have brought the fire in Cesme under control,” he wrote on X.

But they were still battling two other wildfires, one in Buca just south of Izmir and another in Odemis, about 100 kilometers further east where an 81-year-old man and a forestry worker died on Thursday.

Forecasters said temperatures were set to rise over the weekend and would reach around 40 degrees Celsius (104 degree Fahrenheit) in the province early next week.

With the fire under control in Cesme, the road linking the peninsular to Izmir was reopened, Anadolu state news agency said.

But the motorway connecting Izmir and Aydin to the southeast was closed because of the Buca fire, which began at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday and spread quickly due to the wind, CNN Turk said.

It said two people who had been cutting iron for use in construction had been arrested on suspicion of starting the fire.

On Monday, more than 50,000 people were evacuated, mostly in the Izmir area but also from the southern province of Hatay, the AFAD disaster management agency said.

According to figures on the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) website, there have been 96 wildfires in Turkiye so far this year that have ravaged more than 49,652 hectares (122,700 acres) of land.

The area of land burnt has more than doubled since Monday when it stood at nearly 19,000 hectares. EFFIS only maps fires that cover an area of 30 hectares or more.

Experts say human-driven climate change is causing more frequent and more intense wildfires and other natural disasters, and have warned Turkiye to take measures to tackle the problem.