Turkey News Gazette

Turkey, after days of strict anti-coronavirus restrictions, is gradually reopening and returning to normal.

The measures that included curfews as well as lockdowns, brought several changes in everyone’s lifestyle, especially parents and children. While the little ones had more time at home and could not go outdoors as often as before; mothers and fathers too had to adapt to the “new normal.”

Ahead of the June 1 Global Day of Parents, Anadolu Agency spoke with parents in the Turkish capital of Ankara about their worries, fears, how they dealt with the pandemic as parents, and what do they expect once it is over.

For Hasret Aydemir, 38, the biggest concern was that her five-year-old son, Aras Emir, will have to stay away from nature due to restrictions. But, she made alternate arrangements.

“We ensured that our son stays healthy … ventilated our house more frequently, and started growing vegetables in our house,” she said. “I can say that our son has grown as a self-confident boy.”

Huseyin Aydemir, Hasret’s husband, said they reduced the use of technology in front of their child and read a lot about the virus to protect the family.

“We tried to provide a regular and fun learning environment to Aras … once the pandemic ends we will socialize as much as we can by attending book clubs, taking dance lessons, sending our son to football and piano courses, going to restaurants, cafes, and all other activities we can think of,” he said.

“We accepted this process with both its pros and cons, loved the life even at its worst and dealt with the epidemic by reading whatever we could find. The world becomes more beautiful when you read.”

– Less social interaction

Sevil Sonel, 32, said she worries for her over 2-year-old son’s social development.

“The pandemic has changed our lives … We haven’t been in crowded places for a long time, and this eventually affects how my son perceives the world,” she said. “We are yearning for freedom as a family. We missed going on a vacation with other family members, and spending long hours with our loved ones.”

She said that once the pandemic is over, she will take her son to a music concert, and dance and sing in excitement.

Sevil’s husband said besides the social interaction, they were always worried about their son’s health.

“We tried to create an extra hygienic environment for our son by applying COVID-19 precautions and keeping our social distance with other people,” said Bahri Sonel.

“We’ve missed spending time with nature, picnicking,” he said, adding that he wants to meet and spend time with friends and family, and attend cultural activities once everything is back to normal.

– ‘Our girl would lose touch with her peers’

Sevgi Koseren, 34, said she was uneasy with the fact that Maya, her six-year-old daughter, has been away from school for so long.

“Losing contact with peers affects you negatively,” she said.

Kaan Koseren agreed with his wife. “We were worried that our daughter would grow an antisocial personality, and would have breakdowns in her relationships as she could not go out home most of the time.”

Besides, both the parents were extra careful about cleanliness and tried explaining to their daughter what coronavirus is, and how one can avoid getting infected.

Like others, Kaan also wants to take the family on vacations as soon as possible. “I want to take my wife and daughter on holiday abroad, to movies and, of course, to Besiktas [Turkish football team] matches,” he said.

Sevgi added: “The thing we’ve missed the most is traveling. So, traveling, going to cinema, and picnicking come first in our to-do list for the post-pandemic period.”

Source: Anadolu Agency

Muslims in Myanmar from various ethnic backgrounds have formed the Muslims of Myanmar Multi-ethnic Consultative Committee (MMMCC) to restore democracy and justice in the country and protect the legitimate rights of all Muslim ethnic groups in the country, according to official sources.

The committee will work to achieve five basic objectives, including “to clarify and obtain assurances from the National Unity Government (NUG) regarding the policies towards Myanmar Muslims, Rohingya and other ethnic groups,” it said Saturday in a statement on its official Facebook page.

The NUG was established in April by members of the National League For Democracy (NLD) party led by Myanmar’s State Counsellor and de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi in opposition to military rule.

Myanmar’s military staged a coup on Feb. 1 this year, overthrowing the democratically elected NLD party government led by President Win Myint and Suu Kyi and raising discontent among the people.

The military also launched a brutal crackdown against anti-coup demonstrators as they once perpetrated against the minority Rohingya Muslims in August 2017. Nearly 900 civilians, including 70 children, have been killed so far, according to media reports.

The MMMCC will “carry out firm resistance against the dictatorship and work towards a federal democratic country which gives equal rights to every citizen by joining hands with an alliance that shares similar values and objectives,” according to its statement.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, MMMCC spokesperson Ko Kyaw Win said the committee is “inclusive” of all ethnic Muslim minorities including Rohingya.

– Controversial 1982 Citizenship law

“This committee’s aims and objectives are first to identify the policy of the National Unity Government towards the Muslim population across Burma,” said Win, using another name for Myanmar.

“Then we expect the NUG government to abolish the controversial 1982 Citizenship Law, which has denied the centuries-old legitimacy of ethnic Muslims,” he said, calling it “a Nazi-type law.”

“We also expect equal rights and basic human rights guarantees for the Muslim population in Burma under a new Myanmar.”

Expressing a commitment to work with the anti-coup platform, he said: “We will be assisting the NUG government to be recognized by the international community. We are already involved in this revolution, risking our people’s lives.”

Citing data, Win claimed the Muslim population in Myanmar is around 6-7 million, with Rohingya accounting for about 30%.

“The rest are Pashu, Panthe, Pathi and many other ethnic Muslim minorities. Our estimated total population is more than 10% of the population of Myanmar,” he added.

– NUG to cooperate with UN top court

In a separate statement issued Sunday, the NUG assured that it will cooperate with the UN top court, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), where a genocide case is being heard against the Myanmar military for killing and torturing Rohingya Muslims.

Since Aug. 25, 2017, nearly 24,000 Rohingya Muslims have been killed by Myanmar’s state forces, while more than 34,000 Rohingya were thrown into fires and over 114,000 others were beaten, according to a report by the Ontario International Development Agency (OIDA).

“The National Unity Government is taking every step to cooperate with the International Court of Justice…to ensure that we comply with Myanmar’s international legal obligations,” said the statement.

Claiming the NUG as the “lawful government of Myanmar,” the statement also gave assurances of addressing the Rohingya issue.

“We are very concerned about the difficult situation of the Rohingya, especially those who fled to Bangladesh,” it said.

According to Amnesty International, more than 750,000 Rohingya refugees, mostly women and children, fled Myanmar and crossed into Bangladesh after Myanmar forces launched a crackdown on the minority Muslim community in August 2017, pushing the number of persecuted people in Bangladesh above 1.2 million.

Underlining human rights as the only “acceptable basis” for a shared future, it added: “We will continue to work closely with the Court and all relevant stakeholders for the benefits of the country and all people in Myanmar.”

Source: Anadolu Agency

At least 14 students who were abducted last month from a private university in Kaduna State have been released, according to officials

Kaduna State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs Samuel Aruwan said that students who were kidnapped by bandits from The Green Field University on April 20 were handed over to their families.

They were among 19 students taken hostage, while five were found dead near the school on April 23.

The bandits demanded a ransom to free the students but the Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai rejected those demands.

In Kaduna, 937 people were killed in attacks by bandits in 2020 and 1,972 are missing.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Turkish security forces neutralized two YPG/PKK terrorists in northern Syria, the National Defense Ministry said on Saturday.

The terrorists were preparing to launch an attack in the Operation Euphrates Shield zone when they were neutralized by Turkish commandos, the ministry said on Twitter.

Security forces will continue to take all measures to ensure peace and stability in the region, it added.

Turkish authorities often use the word “neutralized” in statements to imply the terrorists in question surrendered or were killed or captured.

Since 2016, Turkey has launched a trio of successful anti-terror operations across its border in northern Syria to prevent the formation of a terror corridor and enable the peaceful settlement of residents: Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive Branch (2018), and Peace Spring (2019).

While the terrorist presence in these areas has been largely eradicated, terror groups have made periodic efforts to shatter the peace in the region.

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. The YPG is the PKK’s Syrian offshoot.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The EU’s border agency is facing legal action from its Court of Justice {ECJ) for alleged violations of the rights of asylum seekers.

The Court shared a case number on Twitter, the first-time that FRONTEX will face a ruling before ECJ in 17 years of existence.

The ECJ will examine the file on the case and notify litigants if the case has been accepted within two-and-a-half-months

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, lawyers in the case noted the significance of ECJ sharing the case record number and said it shows the importance the Court attaches to the issue.

Last week, lawyers from human rights organizations — “Front-Lex,” “Progress Lawyers Network” and “Greek Helsinki Monitor” — filed a petition for FRONTEX’s trial on behalf of two refugees.

It was stated that two people from Burundi and Congo, a woman and an unaccompanied child, wanted to seek asylum on the Greek island of Lesbos but were sent back to the sea after allegedly being subjected to violence.

Also noted was that the asylum seekers were allegedly attacked, robbed, detained and forcibly pushed back to the sea on a primitive raft without food or water.

The asylum seekers were reportedly subjected to other push-back incidents previously while seeking protection from the EU.

International human rights organizations, international media and non-governmental organizations assisting asylum seekers have published numerous reports and items that Greece is forcibly pushing back refugees into the Aegean Sea, and FRONTEX is providing de-facto support for push-backs.

Greek authorities, however, continue to deny the reports despite statements from witnesses and video footage proving “push-back” cases.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The head of Libya’s Presidency Council, Mohamed al-Menfi, arrived in Tunisia on Saturday on a 3-day visit to the North African country.

Menfi was welcomed upon arrival by Tunisian President Kais Saied, the Tunisian Presidency said in a statement.

According to the statement, Saied and Menfi will hold talks later in the day on bilateral cooperation and ways of boosting strategic partnership between the two neighbors.

The two sides will also discuss a host of issues of mutual concern, the statement said.

Last week, Tunisian Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi visited Libya, where he signed trade cooperation agreements between the two countries.

Tunisia has faced a severe economic crisis over the past two years exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Turkish weightlifter Dilara Ucan claimed gold in the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) Junior World Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Ucan contested in the women’s 81-kilogram category lifting 99 kg in snatch, according to Turkey’s Weightlifting Federation on Saturday.

She also claimed bronze in clean and jerk lifting 123 kg.

Ucan overall came second lifting a total of 222 kg.

Turkey bagged 17 medals in the tournament so far.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Israel should no longer be able to “get away with murder” and must be held accountable for the crimes it has committed over the past 75 years, not just the last two weeks, according to Irish parliamentarian Gino Kenny.

“Israel needs to be answerable for the crimes that they committed, and not only in the last two weeks, for the last 75 years. They have to face accountability because Israelis literally get away with murder,” the Irish politician known for his pro-Palestine views said in an interview with Anadolu Agency.

He hailed Ireland’s stance on the Palestine issue, which recently passed a resolution making it the first EU country to define Israel’s actions in the occupied Palestinian territories as “de facto annexation.”

“Now, we all know that this has gone on for decades, annexation and occupation. So, it’s welcomed that the government has stated that this is a policy of Israel,” Kenny said.

He stressed that there is immense support for Palestinians and their right to self-determination in Ireland.

“Obviously, the Palestinian issue has always been very close to the heart to most our people; we understand what they’re going through when we, on a daily and a weekly basis, we see kind of the brutality,” the lawmaker said.

“Palestinians have every right to resist the occupation. This is nothing new.”

Calling for more European countries to follow Ireland’s example, he slammed the EU for its silence over Israel’s brutality against Palestinians, in contrast to the furor raised by the bloc over the Ryanair incident involving Belarus.

“[…] The European Union is literally [a group of] toothless and spineless cowards,” he said.

Kenny also outlined the steps he believes the international community should take over the aggression carried out by the “apartheid state” of Israel, pointing to the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement as a particularly effective tool.

He emphasized the need for immediate action against Israel, saying that the time for words has passed and “those who do not act will be complicit in the occupation.”

At least 288 Palestinians were killed in Israel’s recent attacks on the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank, including 69 children and 40 women, with more than 8,900 others injured, according to official Palestinian figures.

An Egyptian-brokered truce that took effect in the early hours of May 21 ended Israel’s 11-day aerial onslaught on the Gaza Strip, which has left behind a trail of death and destruction in the besieged Palestinian territory.

Source: Anadolu Agency

An office-bearer of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNWRA) has apologized for his statement that the recent Israeli airstrikes on Gaza appeared to be carried out with “sophistication” and “precision.”

“I am not a military expert, but I also have the impression that there is a huge sophistication in the way that the Israeli military strikes struck over the last 11 days,” UNRWA’s Gaza director Matthias Schmale told Israel’s Channel 12 on Sunday. “Yes they didn’t hit, with some exceptions, civilian targets, but the viciousness, the ferocity of those strikes was heavily felt.”

He added: “… so I think the precision was there but there was unacceptable and unbearable loss of life on the civilian side.”

Schmale’s remarks were strongly condemned by Palestinian rights groups, as well as Turkey whose Foreign Ministry termed them “incorrect, unfortunate and extremely dangerous.”

The UN official has since apologized for his comments. “[…] I deeply regret that my comments about the precision of IDF strikes are being misused to justify what cannot be justified. Killing children breaks the rules of war and must be independently investigated. There must not be impunity!,” he said on Twitter.

In another tweet, he wrote: “Recent remarks I made on Israeli TV have offended & hurt those who had family members & friends killed & injured during the war that has just ended. I truly regret to have caused them pain.”

An Egyptian-brokered truce that took effect in the early hours of May 21 ended Israel’s 11-day bombardment on Gaza Strip.

The onslaught in Gaza and the West Bank killed at least 288 people, including women and children, and left behind a trail of destruction. Health centers, media offices, as well as schools were among the structures targeted.

The head of the UN Human Rights Council has said that the Israeli airstrikes may constitute war crimes.

Source: Anadolu Agency