Day: May 3, 2023

The deputy defense ministers of Trkiye, Russia, and Ukraine are expected to hold a meeting in Istanbul on Friday to discuss the extension of the Black Sea grain deal, set to expire later this month, the Turkish defense chief said. "We discussed the grain initiative in our meetings. In this context, as a result of the acceptance of our proposal by both parties, it is planned for the deputy defense ministers of Trkiye, Ukraine, and Russia to meet in Istanbul on Friday, May 5," National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar told reporters in the province of Kayseri in central Trkiye. Various issues, particularly the Black Sea grain deal, will be discussed during the meeting, he added. The deal is set to expire on May 18. "It is our hope that the grain deal will continue undisturbed because this agreement is very important for regional peace and stability, as well as for countries in need. "In this context, we can say that the parties are willing to extend the deadline. It is our wish that this initiative be extended without any problems," Akar said. Trkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine signed a deal in Istanbul last July to resume grain exports from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports, which were paused after the Russia-Ukraine war began in February 2022. A Joint Coordination Center with officials from the three countries and the UN was set up in Istanbul to oversee the shipments.

Source: Anadolu Agency

In an emotional arrival, a German shepherd puppy set paw in Mexico on Wednesday after being flown there by Trkiye in honor of Proteo, the famed Mexican rescue dog who died while searching for survivors in the rubble of Feb. 6 earthquakes. The Mexican Defense Ministry, which trains search and rescue canines for work both at home and abroad, has yet to name the future hero dog, but put three possibilities up for a public vote: Proteo 2 (honoring his predecessor), Arkadas ('friend' in Turkish), or Yardim ('help' in Turkish). Mexico said Trkiye's gift of the capable young pup shows that 'humanitarian aid knows no limits or borders.' The Mexican army plans to train the puppy for search and rescue missions. Proteo, a specially trained 9-year-old canine, who served with a Mexican search and rescue team in Adiyaman, Trkiye, died this February in the line of duty, from exhaustion due to the long trip and extended duty in the quake zone, said his trainer. But before his sacrifice, Proteo helped locate and save at least one woman and one man from the earthquake rubble. He was later honored in a ceremony and buried in his home country, Mexico.

Source: Anadolu Agency

New Zealand on Wednesday announced increasing its support for Ukraine and extended the deployment of its defense forces for another year. In a statement, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Defense Minister Andrew Little said the deployment of 95 New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) personnel training and supporting Ukrainian armed forces has now been extended until June 30, 2024. 'For more than a year, New Zealand has stood with the people of Ukraine as they have been subject to a brutal, unrelenting, and illegal invasion by Russia,' Hipkins said during his visit to the Salisbury Plain Army Training Area outside of London, where NZDF personnel are based. New Zealand also announced around NZ$5.3 million (approximately over $3.3 million) of additional humanitarian support for Ukrainians. 'Since February last year, New Zealand has taken significant and unprecedented actions to support Ukraine, including the deployment of NZDF troops into Europe and passing the Russia Sanctions Act that has enabled us to impose targeted sanctions for the first time outside of the UN framework,' said the prime minister. So far, New Zealand has contributed NZ$78 million (approximately over $48 million) of financial and military support to Ukraine and imposed sanctions on 1,500 Russian and Belarussian individuals and entities, according to the statement. 'Unfortunately the conflict appears set to continue for some time. We and like-minded partners will not back off and allow Russia to impose their might on the innocent people of Ukraine,' Hipkins said. According to Defense Minister Andrew Little, 440 NZDF personnel were deployed to support Ukraine, with 279 directly involved in the artillery and infantry training delivered in the UK and they trained over 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers. However, he clarified that NZDF personnel in Europe will not enter Ukraine. New Zealand sanctions Russian, Iranian officials Meanwhile, New Zealand Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced further sanctions against 18 entities and nine individuals supporting Russia's war against Ukraine. 'These sanctions cover senior leaders of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), Russia's internal security and intelligence service, the FSB itself, as well as other Russian individuals and entities who develop and procure weapons, technology and communication systems, and provide services such as transport and insurance - all vital to Russia's ability to wage war,' she said. 'Iranian individuals and entities are also being sanctioned for providing direct military support to Russia for its illegal war in Ukraine," Mahuta added.

Source: Anadolu Agency

In its outreach to Asia Pacific, NATO will open its first Asian office in Japan, a media report claimed on Wednesday. The one-person liaison office in Tokyo, said Nikkei Asia in a report, 'will allow the military alliance to conduct periodic consultations with Japan and key partners in the region, such as South Korea, Australia and New Zealand as China emerges as a new challenge, alongside its traditional focus on Russia.' It added that NATO has already 'circulated a draft proposal among its 31 members' regarding the opening of the office which was 'first' discussed by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg when the latter visited Japan in January. Tokyo and NATO are also working to upgrade their cooperation, aiming to sign an Individually Tailored Partnership Programme (ITPP) before the NATO Summit in Lithuania in July, the report added. NATO has liaison offices at the UN in New York, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Vienna in Europe, Georgia, Ukraine, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, and Kuwait. Japan is already part of the US-led Quad, a loose security alliance with Australia and India as other two members against China's expanding economic and military influence in the wider Asia-Pacific region. While the NATO chief advocated strengthening ties with the Asia-Pacific region, China has pushed back such attempts. 'China firmly opposes certain elements clamoring for NATO's involvement in Asia-Pacific, or an Asia-Pacific version of NATO on the back of military alliances,' Beijing told the UN Security Council last June while discussing the Ukraine conflict. China's top diplomat Qin Gang said in March during his maiden news conference that the US 'Indo-Pacific Strategy' is in fact an 'attempt to gang up to form exclusive blocs, to provoke a confrontation by plotting an Asia-Pacific version of NATO.' Last month, NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg welcomed Japan's decision to open a "dedicated diplomatic mission" to the military alliance. Speaking at a press conference in Brussels with Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, Stoltenberg said that no other partner is "closer and more capable" than Japan. "We welcome very much that you have decided to open a dedicated diplomatic mission to NATO," said Stoltenberg, praising the partnership between NATO and Japan.

Source: Anadolu Agency

UN Humanitarian Affairs Coordinator Martin Griffiths arrived in Sudan on Wednesday amid clashes between the Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). "Just arrived in Port Sudan to reaffirm the UN's commitment to the Sudanese people," Griffiths said on Twitter. The UN official hailed humanitarian efforts provided in Sudan amid the ongoing fighting. "In awe of the unwavering dedication of the humanitarian community and local volunteers doing their best to help," he said. Griffiths, however, didn't provide further details about his mission in Sudan or with whom he would meet. At least 550 people have been killed and more than 4,900 injured in the fighting between the Sudanese army and RSF since April 15, according to Sudan's Health Ministry. The two warring rivals are set to start a 7-day cease-fire midnight Wednesday. A disagreement had been fomenting in recent months between the army and the paramilitary force regarding the RSF's integration into the armed forces, a key condition of Sudan's transition agreement with political groups. Sudan has been without a functioning government since October 2021, when the military dismissed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok's transitional government and declared a state of emergency in a move decried by political forces as a 'coup.' Sudan's transitional period, which started in August 2019 after the ouster of President Omar al-Bashir, is scheduled to end with elections in early 2024.

Source: Anadolu Agency

To mark a Buddhist holiday, the military junta has pardoned over 2,100 prisoners in Myanmar, local media said. The junta announced Wednesday that it has pardoned a total of 2,135 prisoners in an amnesty to mark the Buddhist Vesak holiday, Myanmar Now news website reported. 'The act was intended to bring peace of mind and was carried out in consideration of humanitarian grounds,' said Lt. Gen Aung Lin Dwe, secretary of the military council. Junta's move also came when China's Foreign minister Qin Gang visited Myanmar on Tuesday, where he met military ruler Min Aung Hlaing in Nay Pyi Daw. The freed prisoners were detained under a penal code, which carries a maximum three-year sentence. Last month, at least 98 foreigners were among around 3,100 prisoners released by the junta in Myanmar, which has been under military rule since February 2021. The Myanmar military, locally known as Tatmadaw, launched a coup in February 2021 to uproot the National League for Democracy (NLD) government and install a junta regime. The NLD has since been disbanded while at least 3,240 people have been killed by the regime's forces during the post-coup period.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The UK on Wednesday launched a new anti-fraud strategy in a bid to better protect the public from scammers. "Fraud now accounts for over 40% of crime. It costs us nearly £7 billion ($8.7 billion) a year and we know these proceeds are funding organised crime and terror. What's more, new technologies are making these scams easier to do and harder to police," Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in a statement. He said that they will outlaw "SIM farms," technical devices that allow criminals to scam texts to thousands of people at the same time. 'We will work with Ofcom to stop more cases of number 'spoofing', where scammers impersonate UK numbers and trick people into thinking they're speaking to banks, telephone companies or other legitimate businesses,' Sunak said. The government will also ban 'cold calls on all financial products, so that anyone who receives calls trying to sell them products such as crypto currency schemes or insurance will know it's a scam,' he added. Sunak said they will launch a new National Fraud Squad led by the National Crime Agency and the City of London Police - backed by 400 new posts.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Dozens of people have been arrested in a series of coordinated raids across Europe against the Ndrangheta criminal organization, German media reported on Wednesday. Hundreds of police officers took part in the large-scale operation in six EU countries, including Germany, Italy, France and Belgium, public broadcaster ARD reported, citing security sources. The operation, codenamed 'Eureka,' was the biggest international police action to date targeting the southern Italy-based Ndrangheta mafia group, according to the sources. Police have so far arrested around 100 mafia members and their supporters, who were involved in drug trafficking, illegal arms trade and money laundering. The Ndrangheta mafia group is believed to have smuggled large quantities of cocaine from South America to Europe, mostly using large commercial container ports in Belgium and the Netherlands. The group's money laundering network was primarily operating from Germany, Belgium and Portugal, and invested in restaurants and real estate in several countries, according to the investigators.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on Tuesday exchanged fire in the capital Khartoum, accusing each other of violating the 72-hour cease-fire which ends at midnight on Wednesday. In a statement late on Tuesday, the Sudanese army said the situation is stable in all of Sudan except for sporadic clashes with RSF in some areas of Khartoum. The statement added the cease-fire was violated by RSF fighters by shelling locations, including residential areas. For its part, the RSF blamed the Sudanese army for violating the humanitarian cease-fire, claiming that it is fighting "coup forces" within the Sudanese army which contain elements from the former regime. At least 550 people have been killed and thousands of others injured in fighting between the two rival generals in Sudan - army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and paramilitary RSF commander Mohammed Hamdan 'Hemedti' Dagalo - since April 15, according to Sudan's Health Ministry. A disagreement had been fomenting in recent months between the army and the paramilitary force over RSF integration into the armed forces, a key condition of Sudan's transition agreement with political groups. Sudan has been without a functioning government since October 2021, when the military dismissed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok's transitional government and declared a state of emergency in a move decried by political forces as a 'coup.' Sudan's transitional period, which started in August 2019 after the ouster of President Omar al-Bashir, was scheduled to end with elections in early 2024.

Source: Anadolu Agency