Day: December 10, 2021

Turkey rescued a total of 92 asylum seekers who were illegally pushed back by Greece into Turkish waters, the Turkish Coast Guard Command said Thursday.

Coast guard teams rescued the asylum seekers in rubber boats at three locations off the coast of Dikili and Cesme districts in Izmir province, it said.

All of the asylum seekers were transferred to provincial migration offices.

Turkey and human rights groups have 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.

It already hosts 4 million refugees, more than any other country in the world, and is taking new security measures on its borders to humanely prevent a fresh influx of migrants.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The rate of unemployment in Turkey was 11.2% in October, marking a 0.2 percentage point decrease from September, the latest official data revealed on Friday.

The number of unemployed people aged 15 and over fell by 75,000 to nearly 3.7 million, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat).

“The youth unemployment rate in the 15-24 age group was 20.1% with a 0.8 percentage point decrease compared to the previous month,” TurkStat said.

The labor force participation rate stood at 52% with a 0.1 percentage point increase.

The number of employed people in Turkey increased by 180,000 to over 29.6 million, placing the employment rate at 46.2% with a 0.2 percentage point increase.

“According to the distribution of employment by sector; 17% was employed in agriculture, 21.5% was employed in industry, 6.1% was employed in construction, and 55.4% was employed in services,” it said.

In October, the number of agricultural employment increased by 33,000 people, while industry and services sectors added 58,000 and 211,000 jobs, respectively.

The rate of unregistered employment, which indicates the share in total employment of employment not affiliated with a social security provider, was 29.5% with a 2.3 percentage point fall compared to the same month of the previous year.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Turkey’s new telecommunication satellite Turksat 5B will be launched by the US aerospace company SpaceX on Dec. 19, the Turkish transport and infrastructure minister said on Friday.

The satellite, produced by Airbus, was transferred from France to the US on Nov. 29, Adil Karaismailoglu said during a news conference in the capital Ankara.

The new satellite, he said, will be the most powerful satellite of the country that will increase the band capacity and it can serve not only Turkey but also neighboring countries.

The satellite was produced with contribution from Turkey’s domestic industry, Karaismailoglu stated.

The satellite, which is expected to serve for 35 years, has the new generation electric-powered impulsion system, he added.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Global regulation of cryptocurrencies should be comprehensive, consistent and coordinated, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Thursday.

Noting that crypto assets and associated products and services have grown rapidly in recent years, the international financial institution said interlinkages with the regulated financial system are increasing.

“Policymakers struggle to monitor risks from this evolving sector, in which many activities are unregulated. In fact, we think these financial stability risks could soon become systemic in some countries,” it said. “Uncoordinated regulatory measures may facilitate potentially destabilizing capital flows.”

The IMF listed challenges in the crypto market, including identification, monitoring, operational and financial integrity risks, and inadequate reserves and inaccurate disclosure for some stable coins.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Fitch Ratings said Thursday it downgraded the rating of Chinese real estate developer Evergrande and its subsidiaries, Hengda and Tianji.

The global rating agency said the downgrades to restricted default (RD) reflect the non-payment of the companies coupons.

“The non-payment is consistent with an ‘RD’ rating, signifying the uncured expiry of any applicable grace period, cure period or default forbearance period following a payment default on a material financial obligation, “it said in a statement.

“Failure to make coupon payments within the grace period is consistent with Fitch’s definition of an ‘RD’ rating,” it noted.

Source: Anadolu Agency