Day: June 20, 2021

Greece should avoid using the EU as a trump card against Turkey and embrace the current positive momentum, Turkey’s foreign minister said on Sunday.

“Only Turkey and Greece can solve the outstanding problems, not the EU,” Mevlut Cavusoglu said in an interview to Greek daily To Vima.

The foreign minister is on a two-day visit to Greece, with meetings scheduled in Western Thrace and Athens.

Cavusoglu expressed his satisfaction at reviving most of the channels for dialogue.

He said that he is always optimistic about good neighborly relations between Turkey and Greece.

“As two neighbors, we are destined to live in the same geography. Therefore, we should define our relationship with cooperation rather than conflict. It is in our hands to determine our destiny and the way forward,” he said.

He stressed the talks he holds in Greece will serve to prepare the ground for a meeting to be held at the NATO Summit between Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and drew attention to the importance of sustainable constructive dialogue in bilateral relations.

The minister said that Turkey is ready to discuss any controversial issue with Greece.

“However, Greece should give up the ‘Map of Seville’. Neither the US nor the EU endorses this map. I must reiterate that it is a mistake made by the Greeks to think that Turkey will be limited to the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts only.”

Under the so-called Seville map the small Greek islands near the Turkish shore are seen as having huge continental shelves, supposedly superseding the shelf of the large Turkish mainland.

It represents Greek and Greek Cypriots’ maximalist maritime jurisdiction claims in the Eastern Mediterranean, which has no legal validity, and was declared legally invalid both by the US and EU.

– ‘Political will on EU side’

Cavusoglu underlined that his country is willing to develop a trust-based positive agenda in Turkey-EU relations.

“Yes, there are grounds for such an agenda. We see political will on the EU side, with the exception of some member states that tend to abuse membership solidarity and veto power,” he asserted.

Noting that this momentum should not be lost, Cavusoglu said: “The positive agenda should be based on concrete and meaningful steps that are mutually agreed upon.”

Pointing to the need to adopt a more holistic geopolitical perspective on this issue, he said that Turkey’s accession to the EU is the “most important geopolitical investment” that the EU can make for Europe and beyond.

– Oruc Reis vessel activities

Cavusoglu highlighted that Turkish seismic research vessel Oruc Reis carries out its activities at locations within the continental shelf of Turkey.

“We are determined to protect the rights of both Turkey and Turkish Cypriots in the face of the unilateral and maximalist claims of Greece and Greek Cypriots.”

Recalling their calls for dialogue to alleviate the tense situation in the Eastern Mediterranean, Cavusoglu emphasized that these calls were ignored by Greece.

Ankara has sent several drill ships to explore for energy resources in the Eastern Mediterranean, asserting its own rights in the region, as well as those of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

Turkey, which has the longest continental coastline in the Eastern Mediterranean, has rejected maritime boundary claims of Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration and stressed that the excessive claims violate the sovereign rights of both Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots.

Noting that the Turkey-Libya agreement on maritime boundaries signed in 2019 was signed by two sovereign states based on international law, Cavusoglu stressed that this agreement was also approved by the Libyan Government of National Accord.

In November 2019, Turkey and Libya signed pacts on security cooperation and maritime boundaries. Turkey has also aided Libya’s UN-recognized government against attacks by militias loyal to Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar.

– Aegean Sea

Cavusoglu stated that they respect the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and the sovereign rights of each country.

“The Aegean Sea has its own features. The delimitation of the continental shelf and the Exclusive Economic Zone are not the only problems between the two countries. The reality is that in a theoretical situation where we would only confine the continental shelf and the EEZ, we would not be able to solve all the outstanding problems and we would continue to have problems. That’s what we want to avoid,” he said.

He went on to say that the breadth of territorial waters in the Aegean is a prominent issue, adding that Turkey does not categorically reject territorial waters up to 12 nautical miles “where conditions allow.”

The Black Sea or the Ionian Sea is an example of such an approach, he said.

“However, with 12 nautical miles of territorial waters in the Aegean Sea, freedom of navigation will be seriously affected from the outset. We cannot allow such an extension.

“The dispute over the 1923 Lausanne Peace Treaty and the 1947 Peace Treaty over the legal status of islands, islets and reefs and demilitarized Greek islands cannot be isolated or ignored,” he added.

“As I said, our ultimate goal is to solve all the problems with Greece and not just save the day, but reach a permanent solution.”

– Cyprus issue

Speaking on the Cyprus issue, Cavusoglu said that the vision of the Turkish side is to establish a working relationship between the two states on the Island on the basis of sovereign equality and equal international status.

“We should all learn from the failures of the past. Insisting on old UN Security Council resolutions can only get us into a vicious circle,” he said.

He stressed that therefore the parties need to “chart a new path forward” with a realistic, constructive and open-minded approach.

Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long struggle between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the UN to achieve a comprehensive settlement.

The island has been divided since 1964, when ethnic attacks forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety. In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aiming at Greece’s annexation led to Turkey’s military intervention as a guarantor power. The TRNC was founded in 1983.

The Greek Cypriot administration, backed by Greece, became a member of the EU in 2004, although most Greek Cypriots rejected a UN settlement plan in a referendum that year, which had envisaged a reunited Cyprus joining the EU.

* Writing by Jeyhun Aliyev from Ankara

Source: Anadolu Agency

Turkey held a “successful organization” for the first annual meeting of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum (ADF) with full in-person participation, said the Turkish foreign minister on Sunday.

Speaking at his closing speech of the three-day high-level event, Mevlut Cavusoglu said it became one of the first and biggest international events during the pandemic and it was held under compliance with all health measures.

Around 8,000 PCR tests were conducted each day of the event.

“I think it will be a model for events of this scale in the future,” Cavusoglu added.

Thanking all participants “who enriched this forum with different perspectives,” he said: “Our goal during the forum was not to repeat the spoken words, not to repeat what is known. We wanted to go beyond our ‘speech notes’ in terms of diplomacy.”

Antalya Diplomacy Forum has seen a high turnout from the leaders and foreign ministers of different countries, with Cavusoglu holding more than 50 bilateral meetings. A total of 11 heads of state and government, 45 foreign ministers, and attendance at ministerial level were part of the forum, according to the minister.

“This means that one out of every five foreign ministers in the world was here,” he said.

Additionally, the event was attended by about 60 representatives of international organizations and high-level personalities, many Turkish and foreign guests from the business and academic world, and 256 young people in total, including undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students from more than 50 universities.

Two leaders’ sessions, 15 panels, 25 side events, including ADF Talks, and two youth forums were organized.

Noting that today “most of the problems that occupy the global agenda are experienced in the Mediterranean Basin,” where the forum took place, Cavusoglu said there is room for all voices and all ideas in the region.

“Today it is in our hands to turn the Mediterranean into a sea of ​​friendship,” he said. “For this, we need innovative diplomacy and new approaches.”

“We hope that the Antalya Diplomacy Forum will be a place where everyone who seeks creative solutions to international problems can take part. Hopefully, Antalya Diplomacy Forum will become a long-term platform,” he concluded.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Foreign artists living in Turkey came together in Istanbul to hold a concert to mark World Refugee Day on Sunday.

The concert, organized by the International Refugee Rights Association, took place at the Cemil Candas Sisli Municipality City Cultural Center.

Murat Polat, the concert’s music and art director, said the show was broadcast live on the Refugee TV YouTube channel.

“We began with an idea of ​​how we can create a positive image about refugees in the society,” he said, adding that each of the artists sang popular songs from their country. Those included Malik Nour (Syria), Danial Ajdari (Iran), Enzo Ikah (Congo), Keily Fidel (Cuba) and Sarah Atkinson (Canada).

– ‘I can express my art better in Turkey’

Ajdari, a musician who is in Turkey for six years, told Anadolu Agency that he can express his art better in Turkey.

Moldovan singer Leonida Timus, who has been living in Istanbul for five years, said Turkey is her second home. “Turkey is truly an incredible country. It embraces all foreigners. It treats us as its own children,” she said.

Canadian Sarah Atkinson stressed that Turkey means a lot to her. “To me, homeland means a feeling of security, knowing that you belong somewhere and feeling that that place belongs to you,” she said.

“I hope we can all work and commit ourselves to creating a world where all of us are free and safe in their homeland, in the places where we’ve been born and in the places, where we come from,” she added.

According to the UN Refugee Agency, the number of people fleeing wars, violence, persecution, and human rights violations rose by 4% in 2020 to nearly 82.4 million people.

Turkey has been the country hosting the largest number of refugees in the world since 2014. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called upon developed countries to do more for refugees than just sending humanitarian aid.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Expressing concern over “rising sexual violence” in the Indian-administered Kashmir, Pakistan has urged the world to take cognizance of the alleged sexual crimes against Kashmiri women.

On the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, Islamabad on Saturday urged the international community to join hands for bringing an end to “all forms of violence, exploitation and human rights violations” in conflict zones.

“On this Day, we must not forget the brave people of the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), who have been facing egregious human rights violations at the hands of Indian occupation forces,” said a Foreign Ministry statement.

“Life continues to be a double-edged sword for the women, girls and children living in IIOJK. They not only have to survive under occupation with their fundamental rights curtailed and suppressed, but also endure the threat of sexual violence and rape used to silence the people of IIOJK from demanding their legitimate right to self-determination, guaranteed under relevant UN Security Council resolutions,” the statement added.

Recalling the “horrendous mass rape” of Kashmiri women in the Kunan and Poshpora villages of Jammu and Kashmir on Feb. 23, 1991, it said that “yet the situation continues to remain dire.”

Citing reports of several human rights groups, including the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in favor of its argument, Islamabad contended that the sexual violence against all genders as well as children has drastically increased since India scrapped the Himalayan valley’s long-standing semi-autonomous status in August 2019.

The picturesque Kashmir valley has been a bone of contention between Hindu-majority India and Muslim-dominated Pakistan since they got independence from Britain in 1947.

Ever since, the two nuclear-armed neighbors have fought three full-fledged wars, two of them on Kashmir, in 1948 and 1965.

Source: Anadolu Agency

ANKARA (AA) – Turkey’s national women’s volleyball team defeated South Korea to qualify for the 2021 FIVB Volleyball Women’s Nations League semifinals.

Turkey won their eleventh match 23-25, 25-20, 17-25 and 18-25 on Saturday.

They will face Brazil in their fifteenth match in the tournament on Sunday in Rimini, Italy.

Source: Anadolu Agency

A diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a motor neuron disease, is the most crucial step in the treatment process because it shares symptoms with other neurological diseases, a neurologist told Anadolu Agency before Global ALS Awareness Day on June 21.

“There are many diseases that show similar symptoms with motor neuron disease,” said Dr. Fikret Aysal of Medipol Mega University Hospital in Istanbul.

“Many microbial diseases, infectious diseases, metabolic diseases, sometimes poisonings and some diseases related to the immune system may have similar symptoms with motor neuron disease,” he said, stressing the importance of a diagnosis.

“We need to make sure if it’s really the motor neuron or something else,” he said, adding that patients take tests until doctors make sure the symptoms are related to ALS.

“We search for a long time until we make sure,” he said. “After we are sure about the diagnosis, there are various treatment options and approaches that provide comfort to the patients and relieve their distress.”

But he also said today’s modern medicine does not provide a 100% cure.

– What is ALS?

Aysal said the death of motor neurons in the brain stem or the spinal cord is the reason for the disease.

“They die for an unknown reason. They degenerate,” he said.

Neurons control muscles that enable people to walk, speak, breathe and eat. If the nerves do not activate muscles, they would gradually weaken.

According to Aysal, ALS usually starts with weakness in one hand or one leg, then spreads to both hands, both legs or both arms, or it can start with one leg and spread to the hands.

It can also start with the face or the tongue as the patient may experience difficulty in swallowing or even talking, he said “Over time, it also affects other muscles.”

– What causes ALS?

The exact cause of ALS remains unclear, said Aysal, but toxic, metabolic, infective factors along with other variables are believed to play a role.

Asked whether genetic factors play a role, he answered: “Only about 5% of ALS is genetic.”

He said ALS is mostly seen in those over the age of 50 although there are also some rare cases in people in their 20s or 30s.

– Raising awareness

The ALS Global Day is held annually on June 21 to put a spotlight on the disease and draw the government’s and public’s attention.

Since there is no definitive treatment or cure, Aysal said awareness campaigns, such as the 2014 ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, are important to give hope to patients, loved ones and doctors.

“But there are various symptomatic approaches that will provide comfort to the patients during this process and relieve their distress,” he stressed.

Although ALS is classified as a rare disease, there are 140,000 new cases diagnosed worldwide each year, according to the International Alliance of ALS/MND associations.

Among famous people who were diagnosed with ALS is English physicist Stephen Hawking, who died in March 2018 at the age of 76 after living with ALS for more than 50 years.

Source: Anadolu Agency