Day: August 12, 2022

Daily electricity consumption in Türkiye decreased by 1.9% on Thursday compared to the previous day, totaling 1.03 million megawatt-hours, according to official figures of Turkish Electricity Transmission Corporation (TEIAS) on Friday.

Hourly power consumption peaked at 49,451 megawatt-hours at 03.00 p.m. local time (1200 GMT), data from TEIAS showed. The country’s electricity usage dropped to the lowest level of 34,986 megawatt-hours at 07.00 a.m. local time (0400 GMT).

Electricity production amounted to 1.03 million megawatt-hours on Thursday, marking a decrease of 0.96% compared to Wednesday.

Electricity production from natural gas power plants constituted 26.9% of total generation, while imported coal plants and wind plants contributed 18.8% and 15.6%, respectively.

On Thursday, the country’s electricity exports amounted to 12,575 megawatt-hours and imports totaled 23,769 megawatt-hours.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The trade volume on Türkiye’s spot natural gas market showed an increase of 513% to million 86.62 Turkish liras on Thursday, Türkiye’s Energy Exchange Istanbul (EXIST) data showed on Friday.

Total trade on Wednesday amounted to 14.13 million liras.

On Wednesday’s spot market, 1,000 cubic meters of natural gas cost 17,346.46 liras, while the cumulative natural gas trade volume amounted to around 4.99 million cubic meters.

Türkiye received 129.32 million cubic meters of pipeline gas on Wednesday.

US$1 equals 17.96 liras at 02.10 p.m. local time (1110 GMT) on Friday.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Rights groups and the press in Greece are worried over the confirmed surveillance of an opposition party leader and two journalists by the country’s intelligence agency, according to a researcher at the Human Rights Watch.

“We are seriously alarmed over the confirmed surveillance of (journalists) Thanasis Koukakis, Aris Malichoudis and the leader of the opposition PASOK-KINAL party, Nikos Androulakis,” Eva Cosse told Anadolu Agency, following a major scandal that rocked Greek politics over the past week.

Amid growing concerns on media freedom in Greece, Cosse said, government interference and harassment of independent outlets is becoming more common.

In a televised address to the nation, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Monday acknowledged that Androulakis was wiretapped by the state’s intelligence agency, but denied he knew about the surveillance.

The announcement followed the resignation of National Intelligence Service (EYP) head Andreas Kontoleon and the prime minister’s General Secretary Grigoris Dimitriadis last Friday.

The scandal erupted last week when Kontoleon told a parliamentary committee that his agency had been spying on journalist Koukakis.

A parliamentary probe was launched after Androulakis complained to top prosecutors about an attempt to hack his cellphone with Israeli-made Predator tracking software.

It is against this backdrop that the HRW urges Greek authorities to investigate and publicly identify those responsible for the surveillance and take all necessary measures to prevent such incidents in the future, she added.

“The authorities need to make sure journalists have a safe working environment and are not intimidated and surveilled.”

Moreover, Panayote Dimitras, spokesperson of the Greek Helsinki Monitor rights group, said the wiretapping of the journalists and party leader, with prosecutor consent, was inconceivable in a country where there is rule of law.

He argued that Prime Minister Mitsotakis’ claim that he did not know of the surveillance of Androulakis was either untrue or a sign of incompetence.

“In either case, in a rule of law state, he — and not the secretary general — should have resigned,” Dimitras said.

“But, Greece in such issues proves not to be a rule of law state and we will not be surprised if the prime minister not only does not resign but comes out a winner in the next election, since the opposition has been chronically weak,” he added.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF), on the other hand, referred in particular to the spying on financial journalist Koukakis and Stavros Malichudis.

It noted that while Kontoleon admitted to wiretapping Koukakis in 2020, the now-former intel chief did not say why.

“The lack of transparency about the reasons for placing Koukakis under surveillance has raised questions about the measure’s legality.

“In the absence of solid grounds for suspecting a national security threat, such surveillance would constitute a serious press freedom violation,” the RSF said.

“RSF deplores this treatment of journalism as a threat to national security.”

Source: Anadolu Agency

The lifting of Title 42, a controversial pandemic-era program of the US that led to the rapid expulsions of nearly 2 million migrants and asylum seekers, is an opportunity for nations to have a sense of shared responsibility, according to Guatemala’s foreign minister.

Noting that the migration issue was among the topics discussed during the recent Summit of the Americas, Mario Bucaro told Anadolu Agency in an exclusive interview in Ankara that migration should be “orderly, safe, regular and, of course, optional.”

“So the lifting of Title 42 also presents an opportunity for the countries to have a sense of shared responsibility, and we join efforts so that this direction has an impact and we can save lives in a very difficult moment for the world as well,” Bucaro said.

US President Joe Biden had planned to end Title 42 on May 23, but on May 20, a federal district court judge issued an injunction blocking its termination. The Biden administration is appealing the injunction.

Some 1.7 million people are estimated to have been removed in the two years since President Donald Trump introduced the program in 2020 in a bid to thwart the spread of the coronavirus.

Being a transit route for migrants for a long time, Bucaro said his country has a long tradition of “guaranteeing the dignified return of our nationals who return after a migration process.”

As Türkiye faces similar migration challenges, he said “Guatemala is in the best disposition to collaborate with Türkiye, trying to share all the best practices that these massive return efforts have allowed us.”

He underlined that today his country has “one of the most advanced” laws on combating human trafficking groups, adding a human trafficker can face sentences ranging from 30 to 50 years when a migrant dies.

“And in this sense, Guatemala and Türkiye will also continue collaborating on important issues such as refugees and the necessary elements to be able to adapt our legislation so that the steps taken today, I reiterate, can guarantee the dignity of those who are migrating,” he said.

Türkiye ‘fundamental mediator’ to bring hope

Congratulating Türkiye for being a bridge between Russia and Ukraine, the foreign minister said the Turkish government and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made “fundamental mediating” on the issue of “bringing hope to the world.”

“Guatemala is a nation of peace, and the presence of our president, accompanied by his delegation in Kyiv, was precisely to invite the parties, as Türkiye has done, to seek active mediation and especially put an end to this conflict that is causing this food crisis that we understand today,” Bucaro said.

He described the Türkiye-brokered deal on grain exports on July 22 as “very important,” and added: “We celebrate the passage of several ships, and it is a serious thing, and it is through the mediation of Türkiye.”

He said it is also time to support Ukraine to be able to carry out the exports, which are also destined for the Americas and the Caribbean.

Regarding the Russian war’s effects on the Guatemalan economy, he said his country is “one of the most resilient economies” in the Americas, but it is also important for them to guarantee the export and import of grains and fundamentally the issues of logistics chains, which are fundamental, “since that we have two ports and two seas that also ensure these exports.”

Fight against cartels

Asked how the war against cartels is continuing after the recent attack by Mexico’s Jalisco New Generation cartel on President Alejandro Giammattei’s convoy in a small village at the border between Guatemala and Mexico, the foreign minister said his country works hand-in-hand with Mexico as well as the US in intelligence sharing.

The Central American country extradited more than 80 drug cartel leaders to the US and drug seizures in the country have increased “exponentially” under President Giammattei’s government, Bucaro said.

“We collaborate a lot in the dismantling, especially of gangs, of traffickers, of people, but especially also in lawsuits for trafficking, where we have a very active collaboration,” he said. “And this, of course, is also providing a parameter for us to begin prospecting for new elements of collaboration that we can develop, such as the protection of our border.”

The border between Guatemala and Mexico is “one of the most important borders” and the issue is not only that the migrants are passing through the border but also some other elements, he said. That is why, he added, both nations have been opening new controlled cargo border points to guarantee the presence of the authorities in these places.

Relations with Türkiye

Nothing that Türkiye and Guatemala are celebrating 148 years of relations, he said there are two more deals on their way about diplomacy, protocol, and culture, and “soon” his country will be closing some fundamental agreements also in economic matters for small and medium-sized companies.

He also said that he finds “extremely positive” the fact that Ankara became a non-regional observer member of the Central American Integration System in 2015.

“The role of Türkiye as well, and the presence it has had as an observer has been essential in terms of cooperation,” he said, adding today borders are no excuse for them to unite.

Source: Anadolu Agency