DIYARBAKIR: Police detained a pro-Kurdish party mayor in southeast Turkiye on Monday over alleged militant links and he has been replaced by the state governor, the interior ministry said, two months after the mayor won power in local elections.
After previous municipal elections, Turkiye detained pro-Kurdish mayors, removing virtually all from their posts to be replaced by state officials over charges of ties to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
Mehmet Siddik Akis, mayor of Hakkari province bordering Iran and Iraq, was accused of having a high-level role in the PKK militant group, the ministry said in a statement on X.
A security source said police teams carried out a search at the Hakkari municipal building and kept out members of Akis’ pro-Kurdish DEM party, the third largest in Turkiye’s parliament.
Akis and his lawyer could not immediately be reached for comment but his party was set to hold a news conference regarding the situation. DEM has previously denied any association with the PKK.
“The government, which is defeated by the will of the people every time, has again resorted to the way it knows best: usurping (the people’s) will and conducting a coup,” DEM said in a statement about the mayor’s arrest.
In the March 31 local elections, DEM reaffirmed its regional strength, winning 10 provinces in the mainly Kurdish southeast.
Turkish authorities accuse DEM and its pro-Kurdish predecessors of ties to the PKK, which is designated a terrorist group by Turkiye, the United States and the European Union.
Over 40,000 people have been killed in the PKK’s separatist insurgency against the Turkish state, launched in 1984.
Turkiye arrests pro-Kurdish mayor two months after election
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Turkiye arrests pro-Kurdish mayor two months after election
UK PM: We can’t ignore Russian threat
“We cannot ignore the threat that Russia poses. We’ve seen what’s happened in Ukraine just over three years ago,” Starmer told the BBC, when asked if Britain would have to send troops to fight in a future European conflict.
The United Kingdom will build new nuclear-powered attack submarines and create an army ready to fight a war in Europe as part of a boost to military spending designed to send a message to Moscow — and Washington.
“We have to recognize the world has changed,” Starmer told the BBC. “With greater instability than there has been for many, many years, and greater threats.”
Deterring Russia
NATO chief Mark Rutte says leaders of the 32 member countries will debate a commitment to spend at least 3.5 percent of GDP on defense when they meet in the Netherlads this month.
Like other NATO members, the UK has been reassessing its defense spending since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Russia is attacking the UK daily, with 90,000 cyberattacks from state-linked sources directed at the UK’s defense over the last two years. A cyber command to counter such threats is expected to be set up as part of the review.
Bolstering Europe’s defenses
European countries, led by the UK and France, have scrambled to coordinate their defense posture as Trump transforms American foreign policy, seemingly sidelining Europe as he looks to end the war in Ukraine. Trump has long questioned the value of NATO and complained that the US provides security to European countries that don’t pull their weight.
Robert Jenrick, justice spokesman for the main opposition Conservative Party, called on the government to be more ambitious and raise spending to 3 percent of national income by 2029.
“We think that 2034 is a long time to wait, given the gravity of the situation,” he told Sky News.
At least 34 dead in India’s northeast after heavy floods
- More than a thousand tourists trapped in the Himalayan state of Sikkim were being evacuated
- Authorities have warned of further landslides and flash floods
BHUBANESWAR/DHAKA: At least 34 people have died in India’s northeastern region after heavy floods caused landslides over the last four days, authorities and media said on Monday, and the weather department predicted more heavy rain.
More than a thousand tourists trapped in the Himalayan state of Sikkim were being evacuated on Monday, a government statement said, and army rescue teams were pressed into service in Meghalaya state to rescue more than 500 people stranded in flooded areas.
In neighboring Bangladesh, at least four members of a family were killed in a landslide in the northeastern district of Sylhet, while hundreds of shelters have been opened across the hilly districts of Rangamati, Bandarban, and Khagrachhari on Sunday.
Authorities have warned of further landslides and flash floods, urging residents in vulnerable areas to remain alert.
India’s northeast and Bangladesh are prone to torrential rains that set off deadly landslides and flash floods, affecting millions of people every year.
Roads and houses in Assam’s Silchar city were flooded, visuals from news agency ANI showed, and fallen trees littered the roads.
“We are facing a lot of challenges. I have a child, their bed is submerged in water. What will we do in such a situation? We keep ourselves awake throughout the night,” Sonu Devi, a resident of Silchar, told ANI.
Ukraine and Russia meet in Turkiye for peace talks with few hopes for a breakthrough
ISTANBUL: Delegations from Russia and Ukraine gathered in Turkiye on Monday for their second round of direct peace talks in just over two weeks, although expectations were low for any significant progress on ending the three-year war.
The Ukrainian delegation led Defense Minister Rustem Umerov was in Istanbul for the meeting, according to Heorhii Tykhyi, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, said in a message posted on the Ukrainian Embassy Whatsapp group. The Russian delegation headed by Vladimir Medinsky, an aide to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, arrived Sunday evening, Russian state media reported.
Turkish officials said the meeting would start at 1 p.m. local time, with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan presiding over the talks and officials from the Turkish intelligence agency also present.
However, Ukrainian spokesperson Tykhyi said the start would be at midday local time. It was not immediately possible to clarify the discrepancy.
Recent comments by senior officials in both countries indicate they remain far apart on the key conditions for stopping the war. Fierce fighting has in the meantime continued along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, and both sides have hit each other’s territory with deep strikes.
On Sunday, a Ukrainian drone attack destroyed more than 40 Russian planes deep inside Russia, Ukraine’s Security Service said, while Moscow pounded Ukraine with missiles and drones.
Russian air defenses downed 162 Ukrainian drones over eight Russian regions overnight, as well as over the annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, Russia’s Defense Ministry said Monday.
Ukrainian air defenses damaged 52 out of 80 drones launched by Russia overnight, the Ukrainian air force said.
Two ballistic missiles struck a residential neighborhood in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Monday morning, including one that hit near a school, the city’s mayor said.
One missile landed near an apartment building, while the second struck a road near the school, Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said in a statement and published a photo of a wide crater.
“Standing next to the crater, you realize how different it all could have been,” Terekhov wrote. “A few more meters — and it would have hit the building. A few more minutes — and cars, buses would have been on the road.”
No casualties were reported.
Serbia’s protesting students rally to mark 7 months since train station tragedy
BELGRADE: Thousands of people on Sunday vowed to keep on fighting for justice and rule of law in Serbia as they demanded that President Aleksandar Vucic call a snap parliamentary election following months of persistent demonstrations that have challenged his firm grip on power in the Balkan country.
Protesters led by university students blocked bridges in the capital Belgrade and rallied in 30 other Serbian cities and towns as they also marked exactly seven months since a concrete canopy collapsed at a train station in the north, killing 16 people and sparking the massive wave of anti-corruption protests.
“The whole of Serbia has risen,” protesting students said in a speech that was read at all the rallies at the same time. “There will be no more silence, there will be no more surrender!”
Many people in Serbia believe that the deadly Nov. 1 canopy collapse in Novi Sad was the result of flawed renovation work on the station building, and they link the disaster to alleged government corruption in major infrastructure projects with Chinese state companies.
Vucic, whom critics have accused of imposing authoritarian rule in Serbia since coming to power over a decade ago, initially dismissed the possibility of holding early elections but on Friday suggested they could take place, though without saying exactly when.
Sunday’s protests included commemoration ceremonies for the victims of the Novi Sad crash and student marches and blockades. In Belgrade, crowds halted traffic at two key bridges over the Sava River for three hours, while protesters in Novi Sad carried a white wreath for the canopy collapse victims as they walked toward the crash site.
Mina Miletic, from Belgrade, said she is encouraged by so many people fighting together for the same goal: “The rule of law and life in a decent country.”
Vucic has accused the protesters of working for unspecified Western powers to “destroy Serbia.” Pro-government media on Sunday described the blockades in Belgrade as “terror” and alleged falsely that “only a handful” of people joined the rallies.
Most media in Serbia are controlled by the ruling populists, often lashing out at government opponents and accusing them of anti-state activities.
The student movement is seeking a snap vote, arguing that the current government cannot meet their demands for justice for the crash victims. Presidential and parliamentary elections are otherwise due some time in 2027.
No one has been sentenced in connection with the tragedy in Novi Sad and doubts prevail that ongoing legal proceedings will uncover the alleged corruption behind the crash.
Serbia is formally seeking European Union entry but the ruling populists have been accused of clamping down on democratic freedoms, including free media. Vucic’s authorities have stepped up pressure on protesters, including police detentions, intimidation and physical attacks.
EU chief congratulates Polish nationalist on election win
BRUSSELS: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Monday congratulated nationalist Karol Nawrocki on winning Poland’s presidential election, adding she was “confident” that “very good cooperation” would continue with Warsaw.
“We are all stronger together in our community of peace, democracy, and values. So let us work to ensure the security and prosperity of our common home,” she said on X.
