Day: August 21, 2021

As many as seven people were arrested in Turkey’s south for their suspected links to the Daesh/ISIS terror group, police said on Saturday.

The police department in Mersin province said in a statement that they carried out an operation against the terror group, and the suspects were arrested at various addresses.

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

The country has since been attacked by the outfit 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

Some 379 more Turkish nationals departed from Afghanistan’s capital Kabul with two A400M transport aircraft of the Turkish Air Force late Saturday.

Efforts to evacuate Turkish citizens from the war-torn country are underway at the Hamid Karzai International Airport.

The unexpected power grab by the Taliban has triggered a rush to flee Afghanistan, including civilians who assisted foreign soldiers or groups and now fear retribution.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The Turkish president in a phone call with the German chancellor on Saturday warned of a possible wave of migration if necessary measures are not taken in Afghanistan and Iran.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Angela Merkel discussed the developments in Afghanistan, particularly the issue of migrants, along with regional issues and bilateral relations, according to a statement by Turkey’s Communications Directorate.

Erdogan stressed that a new wave of migration is inevitable if necessary measures are not taken in Afghanistan and Iran.

Turkey, hosting 5 million asylum seekers, cannot handle an additional burden of migration from Afghanistan, he added.

“It is essential to prevent a humanitarian tragedy in the face of migration from Afghanistan and provide urgent assistance to these people in Afghanistan and neighboring countries,” he noted.

Turkey also had talks with Iran and increased the measures along the Iranian border, Erdogan said, adding that Europe has important duties to resolve the issue of irregular migration from Afghanistan as soon as possible before it turns into a crisis.

The new government to be established in Afghanistan should be inclusive, representing all Afghan people, he said, stressing that it is important to start talks between the Taliban and Afghan leaders in Kabul on peace and security issues.

Meanwhile, referring to the developments in Afghanistan, Erdogan said: “Turkey can continue to take the responsibility for the security and operating of the Kabul airport under relevant conditions.”

Source: Anadolu Agency

Turkey has raised security measures along its border with Iran through further reinforcements deployed in the region against irregular migration, said authorities on Saturday.

Speaking to the reporters, Mehmet Emin Bilmez, the governor of the eastern Van province, said: “Since July 13, with reinforcements deployed from other provinces, security measures have been kept at a high level at the borderline.”

Examining the construction of a modular wall being built in eastern Van and Agri provinces to prevent the entrance of irregular migrants into Turkey through the Iranian border, Bilmez said: “In addition to the wall, the law enforcement officers keep the border under control day and night.”

After the latest developments, reinforcements from other provinces were sent to the region as part of support to the gendarmerie along the borderline, he noted.

Also, the security general directorate provided support to the region with 50 armored vehicles and 35 personnel, the governor added.

Our gendarmerie, police, and border units are working in harmony and making use of all sorts of technology, unmanned aerial vehicles, and thermal cameras,” Bilmez said.

Meanwhile, Col. Ilker Ertugrul, the commander of the border brigade, said they are spending efforts to protect the 295-kilometer (183-mile) Iranian border with six battalions, three commando battalions, and armored vehicles.

The infrastructure and superstructure works of 58 observation towers and 45 communication towers have been completed, Ertugrul added.

The construction of modular wall work is being carried out in three phases in a 64-kilometer (39-mile) section of the region, he stressed, saying the construction of two additional border police stations and electro-optic tower works in the region is underway.

The work for the wall has been completed in the 6-km (3.7-mi) section of the second phase, while in the third phase, construction of around a length of 200 meters (656 feet) of the wall has started, he added.

Also, Deputy Commander of the Provincial Gendarmerie Col. Osman Delen said: “We are resolutely implementing the measures we have taken to prevent irregular migration flows, together with 54 elements comprising security guards, commandos, and internal security teams just behind the border units.”

Source: Anadolu Agency

The number of tourists visiting Issyk-Kul lake, the world’s tenth-largest lake, located in Kyrgyzstan’s northern mountains, has surged in recent years, with the warm water and white sandy beaches attracting both domestic and international visitors.

The world’s seventh-deepest splendor lake, located in the northern Tian Shan mountains of Cholpon-Ata town in the landlocked Central Asian country, is attracting a growing number of tourists, local businessmen told Anadolu Agency.

Sergei Ilcihsin, the owner of a business that organizes boat tours in the lake, said their business is improving because of the increased number of tourists in recent years.

During the pandemic, people realized the importance of clean water and air, as well as ecology, said Cholpon Kaybildayeva, who owns a restaurant near the lake.

Cholpon-Ata, a resort town on the northern shore of Lake Issyk-Kul, is only 260 kilometers (161 miles) from the capital Bishkek.

“The Lake Issyk-Kul is our pearl,” surrounded by snow-capped mountains with warm water. “We need to invest more in infrastructure to protect the environment,” Kaybildayeva suggested.

To accommodate people flocking to the lake area throughout the summer, the town has several large and small sanatoria, hotels, and guesthouses.

There are flights to the town from neighboring countries during the summer season, including Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Russia.

Issyk-Kul Lake is 182 kilometers long and up to 60 kilometers wide, with a total size of 6,236 square kilometers (2,408 square miles). It is located at an elevation of 1,607 meters (5,272 feet) and has a depth of 668 meters (2,192 feet).

Mohammed Osmankulov, a local tourist, commended the lake’s beauty while emphasizing the importance of maintaining the lake’s cleanliness at all costs.

“Lake Issyk-Kul is a gift to Kyrgyz people by Allah,” he said.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke over the phone with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, according to Turkey’s Communications Directorate on Saturday.

Erdogan and al-Kadhimi discussed the two countries’ relations and regional issues.

During the meeting, Turkey is content with the positive course of bilateral relations in the commercial, military, and intelligence fields, Erdogan said, adding that the cooperation in fighting terrorism should be strengthened.

Erdogan also stressed that the PKK terror group continues its existence in Qandil, northern Iraq, as well as in the Mahmur and Sinjar regions, which are directly under the control of the central government.

In a recent operation held in these regions used by the terrorist PKK and its affiliates, Turkey targeted only the members of the terror group, as it has always done before, he said.

The target was not a hospital or health center as claimed by the terrorist organization, but one of the organization’s shelters, Erdogan noted.

The PKK terror group often uses bases in northern Iraq, just across Turkey’s southern border, to hide and plot terror attacks in Turkey.

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

Turkey and Pakistan are set to co-produce a television series on the life of Salahuddin al-Ayyubi, a revered Muslim general popularly known in the West as Saladin.

Having welcomed the project offer from Pakistan’s Ansari & Shah Films, producer Emre Konuk, owner of Turkey’s Akli Films, announced on Saturday that they have reached an agreement.

“A happy news on a blessed Friday night! Contract signed between Akli Films and Ansari&Shah Films about ‘Sultan Selahaddin Ayyubi,’” Konuk tweeted.

He wished that the international, joint project is beneficial “to our country and our art world.”

The series, featuring actors from Turkey and Pakistan, will be shot in Turkey and is planned to have three seasons.

Konuk said he was happy to realize the project, despite being aware of the difficulty in portraying “this great person who left his mark in history and all over the world.”

Saladin defeated the crusaders and recaptured Jerusalem in 1187.

Source: Anadolu Agency