Day: June 1, 2021

ISTANBUL (AA) – Turkey won 18 medals at the 2021 International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Weightlifting Championships, the Turkish Weightlifting Federation (TWF) confirmed Monday.

Competing in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, the Turkish athletes, including 10 men and 11 women, claimed six gold, six silver and six bronze medals in the tournament.

The women’s national team collected 672 points to clinch the top of the standings for the first time in 17 years, the federation added.

The federation also said that the Russian team came in second with 608 points, while the US team finished in third spot with 594 points.

With 572 points, the men’s national team trailed behind first-place Russia, which amassed 646 points in the men’s category.

TWF President Tamer Taspinar congratulated the weightlifters and their trainers on winning the medals.

Source: Anadolu Agency

ISTANBUL (AA) – Latest reports about the construction of an Emirati airbase on Yemen’s Perim Island have raised concerns about the country’s sovereignty and security of international naval trade routes.

Satellite images from Planet Labs Inc. obtained by the Associated Press, showed the construction site of an airbase on Perim Island, known also as Mayun Island, involving 1.85-kilometer (6,070-foot) runway and three hangars.

Although the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has announced in June 2019 a partial withdrawal of its troops from the Saudi-led coalition battling Yemen’s Houthi rebels, Chris Murphy, a US Senator and a Democrat from Connecticut, tweeted that the base is “a reminder that the UAE is not actually out of Yemen”.

Yemeni Foreign Minister Ahmed bin Mubarak denied in a statement any foreign legal activities on the Perim Island. “There is absolutely no agreement signed with anyone regarding the establishment of a military base on the Yemeni soil,” he said.

However, Adel Dashela, a Yemeni analyst, believes that the UAE has suspicious political and military plans in Yemen.

“Yemen’s national security is under unprecedented danger and it is time to stop this absurdity,” Dashela told Anadolu Agency. “The base UAE is building on Mayun Island must be destroyed and its forces must be expelled,” he said.

In March 2021, local media reported an attempt to create an airbase with a 10,000 ft (3,000 m) runway in the north of the island in 2016. The project, however, was abandoned in 2017 with some constructions and the runway outline visible.

– Blackmailing

An official source from the Saudi-led coalition described reports of the UAE military presence on Mayun and Socotra as “not true”, and defined its current efforts in Yemen as “compatible with the coalition forces in defending Marib from Houthi militias’ air attacks,” according to a statement by the official Saudi news agency SPA.

The statement said the construction on Mayun Island is under the control of the Saudi-led coalition and will enable the Yemeni government and coalition forces to confront Houthi rebels, secure maritime navigation, and support the West Coast forces.

Abdulsalam Muhammed, chairman of Abaad Studies and Research Center, said the coalition’s confirmation of the UAE presence on the island “collides with the UAE’s earlier announcement of its exit from Yemen”.

This means that “Saudi Arabia is coordinating with the UAE in all its activities in the south of Yemen,” Muhammed told Anadolu Agency.

Muhammed continued, “Referring to Marib in the coalition’s statement indicates linking the violation of Yemen’s sovereignty to the justification for defending Marib, which is an act of blackmail”.

“They condition protecting Marib in exchange for occupying the islands of Mayun and Socotra, controlling Mocha in exchange for Taiz, and keeping the legitimate government forces in Shabwa in return for handing over Aden to Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces,” he added.

– Saudi message

Dashela echoes a similar belief, saying the coalition’s statement conveyed a clear message to the Yemeni government to “either remain silent on what is happening in Socotra and Mayun islands, or they will stop their air support and let the Houthis storm Marib.”

In March, the Saudi-led coalition withdrew its Patriot defense system, which was protecting Marib from Houthi missiles. The move enabled the Iran-aligned rebels to take advantage of the situation to start an ongoing offensive campaign on Marib since February.

Yemen has been beset by violence and chaos since 2014, when Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including the capital, Sanaa. The crisis escalated in 2015 when a Saudi-led coalition, of which the UAE is a member, launched a devastating air campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi territorial gains.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the conflict has claimed more than 233,000 lives.

– Red Sea

Over the past five years, the UAE has pursued an ambitious strategic agenda in the Red Sea, building military installations and securing control of the southern coasts of Yemen along the Arabian Sea in the Bab al-Mandab Strait and Socotra Island.

Despite reducing its military footprints in Yemen in 2019, the UAE has consolidated itself in the southern regions. It has continued to finance and impart training to thousands of Yemeni fighters drafted from various groups like the Security Belt Forces, the Shabwani and Hadrami Elite Forces, Abu al-Abbas Brigade, and West Coast Forces.

Muhammed, who is also the co-writer of the newly published book “UAE’s Game in Yemen”, believes that the UAE’s repeated attempts to gain control of the Yemeni coast show the “real motives for its participation in the Arab coalition and intervention in Yemen”.

“The UAE’s political and military influence in southern and western coasts of Yemen will give it superiority over regional powers competing with it over the southern Red Sea region and eastern Africa, including Turkey, Qatar, Iran and Saudi Arabia,” he said.

Analysts think that the UAE is using Yemen’s weakness to build its own military outlets in an attempt to control international naval trade lanes.

“The UAE believes that its control of the Yemeni coasts will guarantee its alliance with international powers which might assign it to play an international role in protecting global economic interests by participating in securing maritime trade and oil routes in the Red Sea,” Muhammed argues.

Perim

Source: Anadolu Agency

ANKARA (AA) – Gazi Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Turkish Republic, is our nation’s red line, the leader of a major Turkish political party said on Tuesday.

“Everybody should know that Gazi Mustafa Kemal Ataturk is ours and our nation’s red line. He is our first president and the leader of the war of independence. Everyone who has faith and compassion is obliged to respect him,” Devlet Bahceli, the head of Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), told his party’s parliamentary group.

Bahceli’s remarks came after a controversial remarks on Ataturk by an Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque imam on Friday.


He said Ataturk is Turkey and the Republic of Turkey.

“It is a duty of every generation and every Turkish child to commemorate him with mercy, respect and stay true to his work,” he said.

“I warn the owners of ambitions to take your hand off Ataturk, cut your accusations and silence your tongue,” he stressed.

Ataturk was born in 1881 in the Greek city of Thessaloniki, then part of the Ottoman Empire. His military education started in 1893 when he was enrolled in a military school in Thessaloniki. Along with military skills, Ataturk also learned the French language.

He continued his education at the Military School of Istanbul and then graduated as a lieutenant in 1902. With his extraordinary skills, Ataturk quickly climbed the military ranks, becoming a staff captain in 1905.

The year 1911 marked a significant point in Ataturk’s life as he fought the Italians in Tripoli and won a decisive victory, proving his skills in the military field.

He drew the attention of his subordinates with his outstanding services following the start of the Balkan Wars in 1912. As a major, he played a significant role in recapturing Dimetoka and Edirne provinces.

– Success in battle of Dardanelles

In 1914, when Ataturk was a military attache in Sophia, World War I started and the alliances deployed soldiers on the Gallipoli peninsula and the battle of Dardanelles (Canakkale) started.

In a letter to Acting Chief Commander Enver Pasha, Ataturk requested to be in the field, suspending his duty in Sophia.

Ataturk and Turkish soldiers made history by showing incredible resistance. Ataturk’s order to his soldiers at the war still echoes in the hearts of all Turks: “I don’t order you to attack, I order you to die!”

His star continued to shine during his services in northwestern Edirne province and southeastern Diyarbakir province in 1916, earning the major general title the same year. He fought against the British army in Damascus in 1918, and led successful resistance against it.


- Path to independence

Following the occupation of Istanbul by the allies in 1919, Ataturk went to northern Samsun province as the inspector of the 9th army, which changed his life completely, and Turkey’s eventually.

After he said that the liberation of country from the occupant forces could only be possible through the will of people, he organized two congresses — in Sivas and Erzurum provinces — where the battle of independence and the country’s future was discussed.

On April 23, 1920, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey was established and Ataturk was elected as the head of the government and speaker of the parliament, which enabled him to adopt laws essential to beat occupant forces.

The battle of Turkish independence started on May 15, 1919, when the first bullet against the occupant Greek forces was fired by Hasan Tahsin, a Turkish journalist who was martyred shortly after his action.

Turkish army, under the leadership of Ataturk, won incredible battles against the occupant forces — including the first and second Battles of Inonu, Sakarya, Great Offensive — until 1923 when the Lausanne Treaty was signed on July 24.

The incredible achievements on the battlefield led to Turkish independence, and the Republic of Turkey was founded on Oct. 29, 1923.

Ataturk became the first president of the republic until Nov. 10, 1938, when he passed away in Istanbul at the age of 57 due to cirrhosis disease.

As a tradition, Turkish people visit his mausoleum in Ankara every Nov. 10 and pay tributes to Ataturk.

Source: Anadolu Agency

ANKARA (AA) – Another PKK terrorist has surrendered thanks to persuasion efforts by Turkey’s security forces, the Interior Ministry said on Tuesday.

The terrorists joined the PKK in 2008, and was active in Iraq, the ministry said in a statement.

The terrorist escaped from the terror group following persuasion efforts by Turkish gendarmerie and police teams, and surrendered to security forces after entering Turkey, the statement added.

The number of terrorists to have laid down arms through persuasion efforts this year now stands at 74.

Offenders in Turkey linked to terrorist groups who surrender are eligible for possible sentence reductions under a repentance law.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and the EU – has been responsible for the deaths of at least 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.

Source: Anadolu Agency

ANKARA (AA) – Over 1.94 billion coronavirus vaccine shots have so far been administered worldwide, figures compiled by Our World in Data, a tracking website, showed on Tuesday.

China leads the global count with 661.47 million jabs, followed by the US with 294.93 million.

India has administered 215.82 million shots, Brazil 67.48 million, the UK 64.92 million, Germany 49.94 million, France 36.22 million, Italy 34.95 million, and Mexico 30.48 million.

Turkey is ranked 10th on the list with over 29.18 million doses given, followed by Russia, Indonesia, Spain, and Canada.

The country with the most doses administered by population is the East African island nation of Seychelles, with 136.74 doses per 100 people.

Most COVID-19 vaccines are administered in two doses, so the number of shots given is not the same as the number of individuals fully vaccinated.

Since December 2019, the pandemic has claimed over 3.55 million lives in 192 countries and regions, with more than 170.77 million cases reported worldwide, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

The US, India, and Brazil remain the worst-hit countries in terms of the number of infections and deaths.​​​​​​​

Source: Anadolu Agency

ANKARA (AA) – At least three people, including two with suspected links to the PKK terror organization, were arrested Tuesday in the northwestern Turkish province of Edirne.

The National Defense Ministry said the three were arrested while trying to illegally flee to Greece though the Turkish border.

It was later discovered that two were PKK terror suspects, the ministry added.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and the EU – has been responsible for the deaths of at least 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.

Source: Anadolu Agency

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AA) – Sudanese transitional government is lobbying against Ethiopia regarding the disputes over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance dam (GERD) in African Continent and Middle East regions amid serious warns from Sudan, saying Ethiopia is going further with the preparations for the second filling of the dam.

Sudanese Foreign Minister Mariam Al-Sadig Al-Mahdi is engaging in a wide West African tour in Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Ghana amid other African countries earlier this month, including Uganda and South Sudan, the Sudanese ministry said.

Al-Mahdi has arrived in Senegal on Sunday after meeting with Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo.

The visit aims to put pressure on Ethiopia regarding the controversial Ethiopian dam, especially in terms of the disputes over the second filling of the dam, the matter that Ethiopia is pressing on unilaterally while Sudan and Egypt strongly rejected.

Al-Mahdi has also made a Middle East visit recently, including Egypt, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia well as meeting the ambassadors of Morocco, Mauritania, Turkey and others to explain the stance of Sudan regarding the dam.

Sudanese foreign ministry spokesman Mansour Bold said that the visit is aiming at many purposes head by boosting the ties with African countries, but the main agenda is to express the views of Sudan regarding the dam.

“Our Sudanese diplomacy is focusing on many principles towards this issue, first is the African solution for the African disputes, second is the win-win situation regarding the benefit from the African rivers and third is the rejection to the unilateral decisions to such mutual interests’ issue,” he explained.

“We are encouraging the African countries to put pressure on Addis Ababa to convince it to stop any unilateral measures regarding the dam in order to pave the way for an African solution to this problem,” he further added.

For his part, the head of Sudan’s negotiation team on the dam, Mustafa Hussein al-Zubair, disclosed to Middle East Eye that Ethiopia had begun the actual preparations for the second filling of the dam.

A Sudanese water expert Ahmed Alufti believes that the Sudanese diplomacy and technical teams have wasted many times to pressure on Ethiopia, alarming that this is the last time for both Sudan and Egypt to end the Ethiopian unilateral steps.

“Unless Ethiopia signed a binding agreement with the downstream countries and share with them the relevant data, the interests of Sudan and Egypt would be harmed,” he explained.

“Sudan is in need to do these tireless political and diplomatic movements and continue its pressure to serve the interests of Sudan regarding this issue,” he concluded.

Source: Anadolu Agency

ISTANBUL / ANKARA / EDIRNE, Turkey (AA) – Turkish police arrested 18 people over their alleged links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup, security sources said on Tuesday.

The Ankara’s Prosecutor’s Office issued arrest warrants for 14 suspects who were active in the terror group’s structure in educational institutions.

Police’s anti-terrorism branch in the capital Ankara arrested 13 suspects, and efforts are ongoing to apprehend the remaining suspects.

FETO and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 251 people dead and 2,734 injured.

Ankara accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.

Separately, the prosecutor’s office issued arrest warrants for six active-duty soldiers as part of a probe into the group’s alleged presence in the Turkish Armed Forces.

Police conducted Ankara-centered simultaneous operations in four provinces, and arrested five of them in Ankara, Izmir, Balikesir, and Kutahya provinces.

According to an investigation, the soldiers were found to be in contact with FETO members via payphone.

Meanwhile, Istanbul’s Public Prosecutor Office also issued arrest warrants for 60 suspects as part of a probe into FETO’s infiltration into the Turkish Armed Forces.

As many as 19 retired soldiers of Turkish air and land forces commands, nine ‘covert imams,’ and 32 students of a military school that has been shut down are among the suspects.

They were found to be in touch with their terror affiliates via fixed-line and payphones.

Police have launched Istanbul-centered simultaneous operations in eight provinces to arrest the suspects.

As many as 23 arrest warrants were also issued by the Edirne Public Prosecutor’s Office for 23 FETO suspects as part of a probe into FETO’s crypto structure.

The suspects included dismissed inspectors, police commissioners, academics, military personnel, lawyers, and officers and commissioners on active duty.

Police teams in 13 provinces have initiated operations to round up the suspects.

Source: Anadolu Agency

ANKARA (AA) – Syria’s interim government on Tuesday called on the international community to protect civilians in the Manbij district of Aleppo province after YPG/PKK terrorists opened fire on protestors.

In a written statement, the interim government condemned the YPG/PKK for opening fire on peaceful demonstrators, saying, “The UN and other countries must do their part to immediately protect people in Manbij and to put an end to the SDF’s acts of forcibly recruiting young people in defiance of international law.”

The YPG/PKK terror group uses the acronym SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces), which comprises Kurdish and Arab fighters battling ISIS/Daesh, as a cover for receiving international support.

Hundreds of people in Manbij gathered on Monday to protest the YPG/PKK detaining of children for armed training.

One civilian was killed and three others were injured when terrorists opened fire on the people protesting against the forced recruitments.

The terrorist organization YPG/PKK imposes “compulsory military service” on girls and boys born between 1990 and 2003. The terrorist organization forcibly recruits Arab children and youth in areas, including Manbij, Ayn al-Arab (Kobani), Qamishli, Malikiyah, Hasakah, Raqqa, and Deir ez-Zor.

Documenting the violations against civilians in Syria, the Syrian Network for Human Rights, in its report released on May 22, said nearly 3,800 civilians are forcibly held in detention centers established by the YPG/PKK-led Syrian Democratic Forces.

Source: Anadolu Agency