Day: June 15, 2021

Turkey administered over 842,000 coronavirus vaccine doses Monday, according to the country’s health minister.

Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter that 842,494 vaccines were administered Monday, adding, “We have administered 92,494 more doses than our target.”

Turkey has administered over 34.6 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines since it launched a mass vaccination campaign in mid-January, including first doses to nearly one-fourth of the country’s population of some 83.6 million, the Health Ministry said.

More than 20 million people have gotten their first doses, while nearly 13.7 million have been fully vaccinated, according to ministry data.

Turkey reported 5,626 new coronavirus cases, including 428 symptomatic patients, over the last 24 hours. The number of new cases on Sunday was 5,012.

The country’s overall case tally is over 5.33 million, while the nationwide death toll has reached 48,795 with 74 new fatalities.

Koca later announced on Twitter that vaccination appointments will begin for all employees affiliated with the Turkish Social Security Institution (SGK) as of Tuesday.

To contain the virus, Turkey currently has a curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. from Monday to Saturday and a full lockdown on Sundays.

Since December 2019, the pandemic has claimed over 3.8 million lives in 192 countries and regions, with more than 176.2 million cases reported worldwide, according to US-based Johns Hopkins University.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Oil prices have seen record highs in recent weeks with the US benchmark hitting a 32-month high and Brent rising above $73 per barrel.

The market is growing increasingly bullish on demand while the return of Iranian oil now looks more distant and uncertain in the short term than initially expected.

In this regard, oil prices early Tuesday continued their upward move, with Brent crossing the $73 threshold and West Texas Intermediate trading above $71 in early trading in Asian markets keeping the positive momentum of recent weeks on the back of bullish demand reports by OPEC and the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Global oil demand will rise by 6 million barrels per day (bpd) this year from the lows of 2020, driven by the rise of consumption in China and the US, especially in the second half of 2021 with growing economies and border re-openings, OPEC said Thursday in its monthly report.

Subsequently and interestingly, a day later, the IEA urged OPEC to ramp up oil production to ensure adequate supply amid expectations of surging demand. That was curiously a few weeks after it called for stopping investments in oil and gas to reach net-zero carbon emissions by global powers.

“Our first detailed look at 2022 balances confirms earlier expectations that OPEC+ needs to open the taps to keep the world oil markets adequately supplied. Global oil demand will continue to recover and, in the absence of further policy changes, by end-2022 reach 100.6 mb/d,” IEA said in its Oil Market Report on Friday.

Also joining recent bullish voices for oil prices, Goldman Sachs said it was plausible to see a level of $100 per barrel, amplifying a cheerful and optimistic attitude in markets.

Talks about Iran and the US returning to the nuclear deal resumed last weekend but skepticism is growing about the potential to reach an agreement ahead of the Iranian presidential election on Friday.

But on the other hand, the issue of the expansion of the Delta variant of the coronavirus and the spike in cases in countries like the UK, where Prime Minister Boris Johnson delayed for four weeks the total lift of the country’s lockdown because of it, and in other countries in Europe and in Asia, threatens to put the brakes to the growing optimism about the economic recovery and the acceleration of global oil demand despite the speedy yet uneven global vaccination process.

And there is the other element that could pose a hurdle in the medium- and long-term global oil demand which is inflation, related to the growing rise in prices of commodities and the price of the US dollar, the most relevant currency in oil transactions, all this as a consequence of the pandemic and which could in the long term, if oil prices rise too high, inflict another pain to oil-importing nations especially in Asia, representing one key challenge for OPEC+ after being tested during the whole pandemic period.

Overall, in a totally different picture than the one lived during 2020 with the unfolding of the pandemic, the oil price war between the Saudis and Russians –leading even oil prices to turn negative — once again OPEC+ will have another challenge, this time, to keep a balance between their fiscal and macro needs and a sustained global economic recovery and this will be significantly determined by an adequate price of oil.

*Opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Anadolu Agency.

Source: Anadolu Agency

At least 17 suspects were nabbed in an anti-terror operation against Daesh/ISIS in Turkey, a security source said Tuesday.

Prosecutors in the southeastern Diyarbakir province launched an investigation into the suspects with links to the terror group, said the source on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

As part of the probe, an operation was started simultaneously in four provinces — Diyarbakir, Bursa, Mugla, and Malatya — to nab 19 suspects after warrants were issued for them.

Seventeen of them were arrested and the operation is ongoing to nab remaining suspects, said the source.

During the searches conducted at the suspects’ homes and workplaces, a blank firing gun, a magazine and a large number of digital materials and books withdrawn from the market were seized.

In 2013, Turkey became one of the first countries to declare Daesh/ISIS a terrorist group.

The country has since been attacked by the terror group multiple times, with over 300 people killed and hundreds more injured in at least 10 suicide bombings, seven bomb attacks and four armed assaults.

In response, Turkey launched anti-terror operations at home and abroad to prevent further attacks.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The largest Muslim advocacy organization in the US urged Hilton Worldwide Holdings on Tuesday to drop plans to build a hotel on the site of a bulldozed mosque in China’s Xinjiang region.

The call by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) came after a report this week by the British daily The Telegraph that China is building a new commercial center, including an upscale Hilton Hotel, on the site where a mosque was initially demolished.

CAIR’s National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell said Hilton has a unique opportunity to take a clear stance against China’s ongoing genocide of Uyghur Muslims and set an example for other prominent corporations.

“Hilton must stand on the right side of history by announcing it will cancel this project and cease any operations in the Uyghur region of China until its government ends its persecution of millions of innocent people,” Mitchell said in a statement.

Since 2017, China has carried out massive and systematic abuses against Muslims living in Xinjiang.

China’s alleged erosion of religious, cultural and human rights for more than 1 million ethnic Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang in the last decade has enraged western countries, prompting sanctions against Chinese officials and firms.

Officials are accused of putting Uyghurs in concentration camps which China defines as re-education and training centers. Beijing vehemently denies rights violations of its citizens.

Source: Anadolu Agency

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern opened on Tuesday the country’s first two-day conference on Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism in Christchurch, where over 50 Muslims were killed in a terrorist attack in 2019.

“He Whenua Taurikura, ‘a country at peace’, will look at how we can all contribute to making our country more inclusive and safe,” she said.

According to a statement, the annual event will promote public conversation, understanding and research on radicalization. “It will look at ways to challenge hate-motivated extremist ideologies and to discuss priorities to address issues of terrorism and violent extremism.”

The conference is being attended by people from the Muslim community, officials, civil society and academia to share their knowledge and experiences.

“I am heartened by the number of people who have given their time to contribute to the event, and share their experiences and expertise,” said Ardern.

“This hui [conference] will help develop options for the National Centre of Excellence, which will focus on generating research and public discussion to prevent and counter violent extremism, understand diversity and promote social cohesion,” said Andrew Little, the lead coordination minister for the government’s response to the Royal Commission’s report on the terrorist attack.

“Our goal is for New Zealand to be a safe country where everyone feels they belong, where all cultures and human rights are valued and celebrated, and where everyone can participate and contribute,” he added.

Brenton Tarrant, an Australian terrorist with a white supremacist ideology, killed 51 people and injured 40 more at the Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic Centre on March 15, 2019. He was sentenced to life in prison last August without the possibility of a parole.

Last December, the prime minister apologized for failings in the lead-up to the massacre, as a royal commission made recommendations to prevent such attacks in the future.

The 792-page report, which took about 18 months to compile, identified deficiencies in the firearms licensing system, as well as “inappropriate concentration of resources” on the part of security agencies.

It made a list of recommendations, including changes to how firearms are managed, establishing a new national intelligence and security agency and a proposal for the police to better identify and respond to hate crimes.

Earlier, the government had reformed its gun laws, and banned military-style semi-automatic weapons as well as parts that could be used to build prohibited firearms.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri on Tuesday said there is an “Arab solidarity” with Egypt’s request to set a time frame on negotiations over the filling of Ethiopia’s Grand Renaissance Dam (GERD).

Shoukri’s remarks came in the Qatari capital Doha where he participated in the meeting of Arab League foreign ministers held to discuss GERD.

The top Egyptian diplomat said his country opposes “infinite” negotiations, adding: “The Egyptian and Sudanese water security is closely linked to the Arab national security.”

On Saturday, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry submitted a letter to the UN Security Council which included an objection to Ethiopia’s intention to filling the dam in July for the second time after doing the first filling last year.

Over the past 10 years, Egypt and Sudan on one side and Ethiopia on the other side accused each other of failing talks and mediation efforts over the dam.

On March 30, Egyptian President Adel-Fattah al-Sisi made a clear warning that “the water of the Nile is a red line, and we will not allow our water rights to be compromised, and any undermining of Egypt’s water (share) will have a reaction threatening the stability of the entire region.”

Ethiopia is insisting on carrying out the second filling stage of the dam in July, in a unilateral move amid a lack of agreement with neighboring Egypt and Sudan.

Egypt has said the dam would reduce the flow of water downstream. Ethiopia maintains the dam would be vital to addressing the country’s acute power shortage.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Anadolu Agency’s Director-General Serdar Karagoz on Tuesday visited the headquarters of Azerbaijan’s official news agency AzerTac in the capital Baku.

Karagoz was welcomed by the Director-General of AzerTac Aslan Aslanov.

“Anadolu Agency, which is celebrating its 101st anniversary, is among the world’s leading agencies,” Karagoz said, adding: “We must stay ahead of the world’s major agencies. We produce content from all over the world and we can sell it to any country.”

Pointing out that most of the news produced by international agencies are made in regions close to Turkey and Azerbaijan, he said: “We must turn our presence in this geography into an advantage.”

“Azerbaijan is a very special country for us. As Anadolu Agency and AzerTac, we must further strengthen our cooperation,” he added.

Highlighting the coverage by Anadolu Agency and the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation of a 44-day conflict in Karabakh last year, Karagoz said: “We announced to the world what happened in Karabakh and Armenia’s attacks on civilians with the right news, with the right photos and footages.”

Meanwhile, speaking on the brotherhood of Turkey and Azerbaijan, he said: “There is no such friendship and brotherhood anywhere in the world and this brotherhood should be taught as a course in universities.”

Also, expressing his pleasure to host Karagoz, Aslanov said Anadolu Agency has always supported AzerTac after Azerbaijan left the Soviet Union.

June 15 is celebrated as a holiday in the history of Azerbaijan, Aslanov said, emphasizing that it is a second holiday for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to visit Azerbaijan’s Shusha city on the same date.

Besides, the sharing of experience between Turkish and Azerbaijani institutions should be further increased, he said.

Earlier, Erdogan paid an official visit to Azerbaijan’s Shusha city and met with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev.

In 1991, the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, or Upper Karabakh, internationally recognized as Azerbaijani territory, and seven adjacent regions.

On Sept. 27, 2020, the Armenian army launched attacks on civilians and Azerbaijani forces and violated several humanitarian cease-fire agreements.

During a subsequent 44-day conflict which ended under a deal signed on Nov. 10, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and nearly 300 settlements and villages from Armenian occupation.

Source: Anadolu Agency