Day: February 26, 2023

A truck convoy from Pakistan carrying aid for quake victims arrived in Türkiye on Saturday, the Pakistani embassy said.

“A 21-truck convoy carrying 275 ton relief assistance goods from Pakistan arrived at Malatya, one of worst hit cities by earthquake, this afternoon,” said the embassy in a statement, adding the trucks are mainly carrying winter tents, blankets and other essential relief goods.

The embassy said that an air bridge was established between the two countries when the twin earthquakes hit southern Türkiye on Feb. 6.

“As of now, 20 flights have brought relief assistance goods to Turkiye. A ship carrying earthquake relief goods is also scheduled to leave Pakistan for Turkiye soon,” it added.

The convoy was received by Mataya’s deputy mayor Hakan Ezgi and Pakistan's Deputy Ambassador Abbas Sarwar Qureshi and other officials.

“Pakistan and Turkiye have a glorious history of supporting each other under all circumstances. As per the wishes of the Prime Minister and people of Pakistan, relief assistance shall keep coming from Pakistan to brotherly Turkiye till complete recovery and rehabilitation,” said Qureshi.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif last week said his country will dispatch 100,000 winter tents to Türkiye by the end of this month.

According to the latest official figures, over 44,218 people were killed in the powerful earthquakes in southern Türkiye.

Source: Anadolu Agency

On Feb. 26, Azerbaijan will observe the 31st anniversary of the Khojaly tragedy, the mass killing of Azerbaijani civilians by Armenian forces in the town of Khojaly.

To mark the event, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry issued a statement calling the 1992 Khojaly genocide one of the "gravest crimes" committed against the civilian population during the decades-long aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan.

The ministry said the Khojaly tragedy, the "indiscriminate killing" of the civilian population, is only a part of the policy of "ethnic hatred racial discrimination and systematic violence," implemented by Armenia against Azerbaijan for many years at the state level.

The statement also published a list of the international documents, violated by Armenia during its aggression against Azerbaijan.

The ministry said that it is possible to open an international investigation against Armenia under the international law, adding that to date none of those involved in the massacre was brought to justice in Armenia.

The ministry recalled incriminating remarks by Armenia’s then Defense Minister and ex-President, Serzh Sargsyan, who told British journalist Thomas de Waal that "before Khojaly, the Azerbaijanis thought that ... the Armenians were people who could not raise their hand against the civilian population. We were able to break that (stereotype)."

According to the Justice for Khojaly project, at the end of 1987, then Armenian Soviet Republic openly laid claim to the territory of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast of the Azerbaijani Soviet Republic.

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, in Oct. 1991, Khojaly, a district located in the mountainous Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, home to some 7,000 people, was completely surrounded by Armenia's armed forces.

On the night of Feb. 25-26, following massive artillery bombardment, Armenia's military together with former USSR’s 366th Motorized Infantry Regiment occupied Khojaly.

According to the Justice for Khojaly, of 7,000 Khojaly residents, 5,379 were deported and 613 people, including 63 children, 106 women and 70 elderly citizens, were murdered by the Armenian occupation forces.

Besides, 1,275 residents were taken hostage and tortured, 487 were injured, while the fate of 150 captives, including 68 women and 26 children remains unknown.

The actions of the Armenian armed forces tore families apart. Eight families were completely wiped out, 130 children lost one parent and 25 children lost both parents.

Commemorations of Khojaly tragedy

According to the Azerbaijani authorities, the parliaments of 18 countries, 24 US states, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Organization of Turkic States adopted a number of documents, condemning the mass killing of civilians in Khojaly and characterizing it as a "crime against humanity and an act of genocide."

Memorials dedicated to the Khojaly tragedy have been erected in several cities of Azerbaijan, including capital Baku, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany, Israel, Mexico and Türkiye.

Meanwhile, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry expects that measures taken at the national level, also effective from the point of view of international law, will serve to end impunity and bring to justice those responsible for "serious crimes committed during Armenia's aggression against Azerbaijan."

"There has to be a legal assessment on the Khojaly genocide and those who committed this terrible tragedy should receive its proper punishment.

"We engrave the victims of the Khojaly tragedy in our national memory and honor their reminiscence. Rest in Peace!" it said.

Source: Anadolu Agency

US President Joe Biden has ruled out sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine “for now.”

In an interview with ABC News on Friday, Biden said: “Look, we're sending him what our seasoned military thinks he needs now. He needs tanks, he needs artillery, he needs air defense, including another HIMARS.”

“There's things he needs now that we're sending him to put them in a position to be able to make gains this spring and this summer going into the fall,” he added, referring to Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy.

Asked about the potential provision of F-16s to Ukraine, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Thursday that "F-16s are not a question for the short-term fight. F-16s are a question for the long-term defense of Ukraine."

Source: Anadolu Agency

The terrorist organization PKK/YPG is being financed in Sweden, according to the Swedish Security Service (SAPO) on Saturday.

Susanna Trehorning, deputy head of counter-terrorism at SAPO, said in an interview with the state television SVT that the PKK/YPG receives significant financial support in their country, without specifying the amount.

Trehorning also mentioned that they are constantly working to identify those who commit crimes, and they recently arrested someone who was extorting businesses for the terrorist organization PKK/YPG.

Oscar Stenstrom, Sweden's chief negotiator for NATO membership, had previously stated on Jan. 29 in an interview with the state radio SR that organized crime groups in Sweden finance the PKK, and unlike Finland, the PKK has more sources of financial support in Sweden.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, 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

Voting has ended in Nigeria as election officials begin counting ballots in polling units across the country.

Nigerians filed out to cast votes early Saturday for new president, Federal House of Representatives and Senate.

Voting was scheduled to start by 8.30 a.m. and accreditation ended by 2.30 p.m., according to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

INEC Chairman Mahmoud Yakubu said voting in parts of southern Edo State was suspended due to some irregularities.

"There were some issues regarding violence in Esp State. We have resolved to suspend the House of Representatives election in the area. Elections there will now be held simultaneously with the governorship poll on March 11," Yakubu announced at a press conference in the nation's capital Abuja.

An election official, Suleiman Abdulsalam said voting dragged to evening time because many voters were still on the queue.

"We have instruction to accredit voters who are on the queue between 8:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. and allow them to vote," he told Anadolu.

Source: Anadolu Agency

EU on Saturday shared the details of the 10th package of sanctions against Russia for its war in Ukraine.

Some 87 individuals and 34 entities were added to the sanctions list.

Those sanctioned “are instrumental in the continuation of this brutal war, including those responsible for military activities, for political decisions, who are polluting the public space with disinformation and malicious narratives, adding to the military warfare also through information warfare,” said EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell in a statement.

“We are also targeting those involved in inhumane deportations and forced adoption of Ukrainian children to Russia, as well as those responsible for the development of drones that are targeting Ukrainian civilians and civilian infrastructure,” he added.

Borrell reiterated that the bloc will continue to support Ukraine and “increase pressure on Russia for as long as it takes.”

“Four Iranian individuals involved in the elaboration and supply of drones used by Russia against Ukraine are sanctioned,” the statement added.

EU member states approved new sanctions against Russia late Friday with new trade bans and export controls on products and technologies that can be used for civilian and military purposes.

The sanctions also have additional restrictions on countries and entities providing drones to Russia.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Russia is unaware of what Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis meant when he said Russia and Ukraine are holding "non-high-level" talks in Geneva, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Saturday.

Zakharova stressed in a comment on Telegram that earlier presidential advisor Vladimir Medinsky, appointed as the head of the Russian negotiating team with Ukraine "clearly and unambiguously" stated that he knows nothing about any talks.

Zakharova said Switzerland lost its neutral status when joined "illegal, unilateral anti-Russian sanctions," and therefore cannot serve as a mediator, including by providing its platforms for the negotiating process.

"I would also like to remind that by his Sep. 30, 2022 decree, V(olodymyr) Zelenskyy legislatively prohibited holding talks with the Russian leadership," said Zakharova.

The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a law Sept. 30 prohibiting holding peace talks with Russia as long as Vladimir Putin serves as president.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The EU announced additional sanctions against individuals from Russia's Wagner paramilitary group Saturday for “human rights abuses” in three African countries.

Eight individuals and seven entities tied to the group were added to the bloc's sanctions list for asset freezes and travel bans in the Central African Republic, Mali and Sudan, according to a statement from the European Council.

Wagner's security arm, which remains an issue of great concern in West Africa, was already sanctioned by the bloc in 2021.

The latest measures are “in view of the international dimension and gravity of the group’s activities, as well as its destabilizing impact on the countries where it is active,” it said.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Wagner’s activities are a threat to people in countries where it operates and the EU.

“They endanger international peace and security as they do not operate within any legal framework. The EU is determined to continue taking tangible action against breaches to international law,” he said.

Those sanctioned came under the EU's Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime for activities in the Central African Republic and Sudan while one person came under the EU sanctions regime specifically applied to Mali.

Subjected to the EU sanctions in Mali is the head of Wagner's forces in the country, where the EU said Wagner's fighters “have been involved in acts of violence and multiple human rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings.”

French President Emmanuel Macron has expressed concerns about the actions of Wagner in Mali, in particular about alleged crimes against certain communities such as the Fulani.

Others sanctioned in the Central African Republic are high-profile Wagner members, including the security advisor to President Faustin Archange Touadera and the spokesperson of the group in the country.

Also hit were gold and diamond companies linked to Wagner in the Central African Republic and in Sudan in “view of their role in illegally trading gold and diamonds looted by force from local traders.”

Meanwhile in Ukraine, sanctions targeted two commanders of Wagner Group forces actively involved in the capture of the town of Soledar in January.

The measures also bar “EU citizens and companies from making funds available to all those on the latest list.”

Source: Anadolu Agency

The First G20 Finance Ministers meeting in India ended Saturday with a difference of opinions about the Ukraine war.

India had to release a chair summary and outcome document instead of a joint statement after the meeting in Bengaluru.

Most member countries strongly deplored the aggression by Russia against Ukraine and demanded a complete and unconditional withdrawal, according to the summary that said those conditions were not agreed to by Russia and China.

They also stressed that the war is causing immense human suffering and exacerbating existing fragilities in the global economy.

At a G20 summit held in Indonesia last year, there were similar differences regarding the war.

“India’s assumption of the presidency of the G20 summit has received huge support and said that weak countries are looking forward to solutions from this summit,” said Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharam after the meeting.

A statement by the Indian Finance Ministry said the chair summary and outcome document is a significant achievement by the G20 under India's presidency on subjects ranging from the global debt crisis, Multilateral Development Bank reforms, climate finance, global approach to cryptos, digital public infrastructure, financial inclusion, financing cities of tomorrow and taxation.

Member countries also offered condolences for the devastating earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria.

“We are deeply anguished by the tragic loss of life and destruction across south-eastern Turkiye from the devastating earthquakes on 6 February 2023, and stand in solidarity with the Turkish people. We also convey our deepest sympathy to the Syrian people, who were likewise affected by the catastrophic earthquakes,” said the summary and outcome document.

“We extend our condolences to the bereaved families. We appreciate the humanitarian assistance already being provided and call upon members and multilateral institutions to continue providing all possible assistance for recovery and reconstruction,” it said.

Source: Anadolu Agency