Day: June 15, 2021

Researchers from the Institute of Marine Sciences at Turkey’s Middle East Technical University (METU) will use a research ship to investigate the effects of “sea snot” or mucilage at the lowest point in the Sea of Marmara at 1,210 meters.

The Bilim-2 (Science-2) vessel collects data from 100 stations in the Sea of Marmara as part of the Marmara Sea Integrated Modeling System (MARMOD) Project which has been conducted since 2017 by the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization under the coordination of the METU Institute of Marine Sciences.

Scientists from METU will focus their research in the dark depths of the Marmara Sea, especially on the formation of hydrogen sulfide.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Mustafa Yucel, deputy director of the METU Institute of Marine Sciences, said samples taken by a water measuring device from 100 different stations, including the Istanbul and Canakkale straits, are analyzed in the laboratory of the Bilim-2 ship.

Yucel said they have recently focused their work on the examination of the samples at the METU Institute of Marine Sciences laboratory in Erdemli district in Mersin province and on a modeling study to create a high-resolution digital twin of the Sea of Marmara as part of the MARMOD Project.

Underlining the importance of the creation of the digital twin, Yucel said: “By looking at this twin, it will be decided to what extent the reduction of the loads in the sea will affect the cleanliness. Therefore, the creation of the digital twin will affect the decisions to be made for the breathing of the Sea of Marmara.”

He said their current findings suggest that the mucilage settles 40-50 meters from the sea surface.

“Thus, the signals of our devices cannot pass under the sea. We see that mucilage production continues in the sea and the agglomeration is in the sea. It is observed that the mucilage rises from the bottom of the sea.”

– Importance of mucilage cleaning on sea surface

Pointing to the importance of mucilage cleaning on the sea surface, Yucel said: “The cleanliness of the surface is of course important. Especially the caked material piled on the shore must be cleaned.”

“Also, it is seen that mucilage production across the Sea of Marmara continues. We are working on what needs to be done to make the sea breathable. We think that recovery will take a long time.”

He also said that deoxygenation is a big problem for the Marmara Sea.

He said they also obtained data that the waste in the Marmara Sea is natural organic waste, adding they received preliminary information from the analysis that an outside intervention such as an unknown waste was not made into the Marmara Sea.

The Marmara Sea Action Plan Coordination Committee will hold its first meeting Tuesday, the country’s environment and urbanization minister said on Twitter.

Murat Kurum said the meeting will take place in the Dolmabahce presidential working office in Istanbul at 2 p.m. local time (1100GMT).

Source: Anadolu Agency

The abuse of elderly people constitutes a violation of the right to life, the most basic human right, said the director of an elderly care center.

“Elder abuse may not be revealed unless there is physical violence and attempted murder, as in other cases of violence.

“Elder abuse means violating the most basic human right, the right to life of the elderly,” Dr. Emine Ozmete, the head of the Center on Aging Studies Implementation and Research at Ankara University, told Anadolu Agency on the occasion of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day has been observed every year as an annual international UN observance day on June 15 since December 2011.

The main purpose of the day is to take action to effectively prevent and protect older people from physical and psychological abuse, including neglect.

Ozmete, also the dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at Ankara University, described elder abuse as a multidimensional phenomenon with physical, emotional, and economic aspects.

“Elder abuse is to abuse, harm, and inflict pain on the elderly person physically, emotionally, or spiritually,” Ozmete said.

She noted that in addition to violent behavior, elder abuse also includes being exposed to attitudes of age discrimination or other types of stereotypes.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “around 1 in 6 people 60 years and older experienced some form of abuse in community settings during the past year.”

“Rates of elder abuse are high in institutions such as nursing homes and long-term care facilities, with two in three staff reporting that they have committed abuse in the past year,” WHO noted.

– Elder abuse during COVID-19 pandemic

For the last two years, the day has been under the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of elderly people.

WHO said rates of elder abuse have increased during the outbreak that has affected the whole world since December 2019.

“It is estimated that the existing rates of elderly neglect and abuse are on the rise and new abuse cases have emerged as everyone stays together at homes for longer periods amid the pandemic,” Ozmete said.

She added that “there have been limitations in building evidence on this because this type of phenomena, including abuse, discrimination, and violence, are usually hidden between two or a few people in the household so it is difficult to measure and reveal elder abuse.

“It has been difficult to speak on the basis of evidence that the rate of elder abuse has increased during the pandemic. A limited number of studies could be conducted on this subject.”

– Turkey protects its elderly

Turkey’s elderly population, aged 65 years and over, reached nearly 8 million as of the end of 2020, according to the country’s statistical authority.

Ozmete underlined that during the pandemic, Turkey has provided a high level of protection for its elderly people with all its resources and institutions.

Giving examples of Turkey’s work in this field, she noted: “Quarantine organizations have been established by the Family and Social Services Ministry for the elderly who are sick or have contact with the outside. The elderly were followed in these quarantine establishments. The Health Ministry firstly vaccinated people aged 65 and over, protecting them against the disease.”

“With Vefa Support Program run by the Interior Ministry, the needs of all citizens, especially the elderly staying at home, were met,” she added.

Source: Anadolu Agency

England football team included Aaron Ramsdale in the EURO 2020 squad to replace injured Dean Henderson.

In a statement, the English Football Association, said that Henderson of Manchester United, who could not take part in training due to a hip injury, was removed from the squad.

Sheffield United goalkeeper Ramsdale, 23, who was in the candidate squad, has been called up, the association said.

He will be quarantined for a while as part of COVID-19 measures before joining the national team.

Starting EURO 2020 with a 1-0 win against Croatia in Group D on June 13, England will face Scotland in the second match on Friday, June 18.​​​​​​​

Source: Anadolu Agency

Turkey rescued a total of 55 asylum seekers in the Aegean Sea on Monday after they were illegally pushed back by Greek authorities into Turkish territorial waters, according to a security source.

Acting on a tip, the Turkish Coast Guard rescued 44 asylum seekers from two rubber boats off the coast of Dikili in western Izmir province, said the source, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

In another operation off Cesme district, authorities rescued 11 asylum seekers from a rubber boat and took them to the coast.

After routine checks, they were taken to the provincial migration authority.

Turkey has repeatedly condemned Greece’s illegal practice of pushing back asylum seekers, saying it violates humanitarian values and international law by endangering the lives of vulnerable migrants, including women and children.

Turkey has been a key transit point for asylum seekers aiming to cross into Europe to start new lives, especially those fleeing war and persecution

Source: Anadolu Agency

A wanted Daesh/ISIS terrorist was brought to Turkey after he was nabbed in an operation led by Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) in Syria, said a security source on Tuesday.

The MIT initiated efforts to nab the terrorist Kasim Guler, codenamed Abu Usame al Turki, after it learnt that he was plotting a large-scale terrorist attack by crossing into Turkey from Syria, said the source, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

The terrorist, who is responsible for activities in Turkey, was in the red category of the Interior Ministry’s wanted terrorists list.

The wanted list is divided into five color-coded categories, with red as the most wanted, followed by blue, green, orange, and gray.

After a period of surveillance, the MIT nabbed the terrorist in Syria and brought to Turkey for interrogation, said the source.

It was learned that the terrorist was preparing to enter Turkey illegally with arms and explosives.

Guler is the first Daesh/ISIS terrorist who is caught from the red category and many organizational documents as well as secret information were obtained following his arrest, according to the source.

The terrorist moved to the Afghanistan-Pakistan region between 2008- 2010, and operated in conflict areas, and joined Daesh/ISIS in 2014.

Guler, who was said to be in senior positions within the organization, was also the so-called financial officer of the terror group in Russia, Europe and Turkey.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The Turkish government on Tuesday discussed several strategies to further improve Syrian refugees’ access to vocational training in order to enhance their employability skills.

The latest status of the projects as well as new initiatives for the integration of Syrian refugees were discussed in a meeting chaired by Mahmut Ozer, the deputy education minister responsible for vocational and technical education, said a National Education Ministry statement.

Improvements in the vocational training program for employment and social and economic adaption programs, as well as initiatives to improve access of Syrian refugees to vocational training facilities, were also evaluated, the statement said.

Ozer explained that in the last three years, they have focused on social and economic integration through vocational and technical education and that they have also initiated international projects.

Syrian students get education once a week at vocational training centers and on other days, they receive skills training in businesses, he noted.

The vocational training centers also support students with one-third of the minimum wage during the four-year education, he added.

Currently, 3,000 of around 150,000 students in these centers, accounting for approximately 2%, are Syrians, Ozer said, noting that their goal this year is to increase this rate to 10%.

He emphasized that significant progress has been made in the access of school-age Syrian children to education, adding that many projects have been successfully implemented to increase the school enrolment rates at all levels.

Ozer also underlined that the number of Syrian students studying in Turkey surpasses the total number of students in many European countries.

Syria has been ravaged by a civil war since early 2011 when the regime cracked down on pro-democracy protesters. Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than 10 million remain displaced, according to UN estimates.

Turkey hosts more than 3.6 million refugees – more than any country in the world

Source: Anadolu Agency

Turkey’s main opposition leader on Tuesday said the Turkish nation is longing for justice.

“When you go to the ballot box, you will either be a partner in corruption or you will vote for justice. Don’t you dare. Those who violated rightful share, do not vote for CHP (Republican People’s Party). We do not need ill-gotten votes, but rather ‘halal’ (legitimate) votes,” Kemal Kilicdaroglu told his party’s parliamentary group.

He noted that the Turkish nation is now longing for justice, adding: “We need justice.”

“If a country’s prisons are overcrowded, if 25-30 people live in 10-people wards, there is a problem,” he said.

“If the rulers of the state have moved away from justice, let alone bringing justice if they are riveting injustice, then there is a problem in this country,” added Kilicdaroglu.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Presidents of the world’s leading broadcasting unions discussed COVID-19 and the role of public broadcasters in creating more open societies in a post-COVID world on Monday.

As part of the 3rd ABU-RAI DAYS 2021 event organized by the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) and Italian national public broadcaster Radiotelevisione Italiana (RAI) entitled “A new world out of COVID: Can Public Service Media help to create more open, inclusive and tolerant societies?”, an online panel was held with the participation of the heads of two broadcasting unions.

The opening panel speakers were the president of the ABU and Director General of the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT), Ibrahim Eren, and European Broadcasting Union President and Chief Executive Officer of France Televisions Delphine Ernotte Cunci.

The panel discussed the role of public broadcasters in the formation of more open, inclusive and tolerant societies in the post-pandemic period.

This year, the ABU-Rai Days initiative aims to bring media representatives from Asian and European media outlets together to discuss the future of public broadcasting in a post-COVID world.

Speaking at the panel, Eren said Turkey’s national public broadcaster TRT is on duty 24/7.

“Public broadcasting has three main responsibilities: informing, educating and entertaining. As TRT, we have been successfully fulfilling this role with our TRT EBA channels, TV series and news sources since the beginning of the pandemic,” he said.

Eren pointed out that traditional media is considered much more reliable than social media in obtaining information during the pandemic.

Stating that the crisis paved the way for an environment of tolerance, he said the pandemic is valuable in terms of sharing the knowledge and experience of public broadcasters.

He also drew attention to public broadcasters’ responsibilities not just towards society, but also from the institutional point of view, Eren said TRT responds quickly to every possible crisis and fulfills its human-oriented approach not only socially but also institutionally.

The panel also focused on the effects of concepts such as tolerance and openness on public broadcasting and the responsibilities of institutions to societies during the closure and gradual normalization processes carried out all over the world during and after the coronavirus.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Turkey has administered over 35.6 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines since it launched a mass vaccination campaign in mid-January, according to official figures released on Tuesday.

More than 21.7 million people have received their first doses, while over 13.9 million have been fully vaccinated, said the Health Ministry count.

The ministry also confirmed 5,955 new coronavirus cases, including 532 symptomatic patients, across the country in the last 24 hours. The number of new cases on Monday was 5,626.

Turkey’s overall case tally is now over 5.34 million, while the nationwide death toll has reached 48,879 with 84 new fatalities.

As many as 4,186 more patients won the battle against the virus, raising the total number of recoveries past 5.21 million.

Over 57.4 million coronavirus tests have been done to date.

The latest figures put the number of COVID-19 patients in critical condition at 886.

To fight the spread of the virus, Turkey currently has a curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. on 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 176.3 million cases reported worldwide, according to the US-based Johns Hopkins University.

Source: Anadolu Agency