Tag: Ankara

Turkey launches vaccination drive with China’s Sinovac after trials there showing 91.25% efficacy

  ISTANBUL, Turkey (AFP) — Turkish doctors and nurses rolled up their sleeves on Thursday as the nation of 83 million people launched a coronavirus vaccination drive with China’s Sinovac jab. Health Minister Fahrettin Koca received the first shot of CoronaVac live on television after formally approving the vaccine Wednesday despite contradictory data about its efficacy rate. Preliminary studies involving more than 7,000 volunteers in Turkey showed CoronaVac to be 91.25 percent effective. But a […]

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Turkey says east Med ship will return after maintenance

ANKARA, Turkey (AFP) — Turkey said on Monday that an energy exploration vessel that had pulled out of waters claimed by Greece was only undergoing routine maintenance and would return soon. The Oruc Reis seismic survey ship has been unsettling the strategic eastern Mediterranean region since Turkey sent it along with a small navy flotilla into disputed seas on August 10. Greece responded by staging navy drills with France and several EU allies near ones Turkey […]

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As neighbours build dams, Iraqis watch twin rivers dry up

by Haydar Indhar Agence France-Presse DIWANIYAH, Iraq (AFP) — With its neighbours activating new dams, Iraq’s historic twin rivers could run dry — unless new infrastructure projects and tense talks with Turkey and Iran bear fruit. Nowhere is the effect on the country more palpable than in Basra, Iraq’s only coastal province. Here, the Tigris and Euphrates — on which millions of Iraqis rely to farm — meet at the Shatt al-Arab waterway before spilling […]

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Stunning upset as President Erdogan’s AKP party suffers defeat in Turkey’s two main cities

  by Raziye Akkoc / Luana Sarmini-Buonaccorsi Agence France Presse ANKARA, Turkey (AFP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party suffered a major upset on Monday after local election results showed it lost the capital Ankara and Istanbul after a decade and half in power. Losing the country’s two major cities would be a stunning defeat for Erdogan, a former Istanbul mayor himself, whose ability to win at the ballot box has been unparalleled […]

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Three rail workers detained after Turkish rail crash

ANKARA, Turkey (AFP) — A Turkish court on Monday placed three railway workers in pre-trial detention after they were accused of negligence leading to last week’s fatal rail crash in Ankara. Nine people were killed and almost 90 injured after a high-speed train crashed into a locomotive. Those detained — a signalman, a switchman and a controller working for the state railway authority — face charges of reckless manslaughter and causing injury, the Anadolu state news […]

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Ankara train crash leaves nine dead, 86 injured

by Raziye Akkoc and Luana Sarmini-Buonaccorsi Agence France Presse ANKARA, Turkey (AFP) — Nine people were killed and nearly 90 injured after a high-speed train crashed into a locomotive in the Turkish capital on Thursday, officials said, becoming the latest rail disaster to hit the country. The accident comes less than six months after 24 people were killed in a train crash in northwestern Turkey in a series of several fatal accidents in recent years. […]

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Erdogan wins increased powers as rival concedes defeat

by Stuart Williams with Raziye Akkoc in Ankara Agence France-Presse ISTANBUL, Turkey – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday celebrated winning sweeping new powers in a decisive election victory, as his main rival accepted the outcome despite complaints over an unequal campaign that alarmed the EU. A night of triumph for Erdogan saw the man who has dominated Turkey for the last 15 years declared winner of Sunday’s presidential poll without needing a second […]

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Turkey condemns ‘unacceptable’ EU comments on Greece, Cyprus

  ANKARA, Turkey (AFP) — Turkey on Friday condemned a statement by European Union leaders bitterly critical of Ankara’s policies towards bloc members Cyprus and Greece, raising tensions just days ahead of a key summit. “The statement that was issued contained unacceptable comments against our country that serve the interests of Greece and the Greek Cypriots,” foreign ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy told reporters in response to Thursday’s EU statement. EU President Donald Tusk and European Commission […]

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Turkey detains top medical group members over Syria criticism

by Raziye AKKOC Agence France-Presse ANKARA, Turkey (AFP) – Turkey on Tuesday detained all the top members of the country’s main medical association, including its chief, after they criticized Ankara’s offensive against Kurdish militia in Syria. The arrests came after the Turkish Medical Association (TTB), which represents 80 percent of the country’s physicians, issued a statement saying that conflicts lead to “irreparable problems” and that “war is a man-made public health problem”. The TTB ended its statement […]

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Turkey urges Russia, Iran to stop Syria offensive on Idlib

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AFP) – Turkey on Wednesday called on Russia and Iran, the two chief allies of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria, to halt an air offensive on the rebel-held Idlib province near the Turkish border. Ankara has been working closely with Russia and Iran to end the Syrian conflict over the last months but has stepped up pressure on Moscow and Tehran as the bombardments on Idlib intensified. “Iran and Russia should fulfil their responsibility. […]

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US lifts laptop ban on flights from Istanbul: airline

Ankara, Turkey (AFP) — The United States lifted Wednesday a ban on carrying large electronic devices such as laptops in the cabin of US-bound flights from Turkey’s main international airport, Turkish Airlines and local media reported. “Dear Passengers, #WelcomeOnBoard to our US-bound flight. Please fasten your seatbelts and enjoy your own electronic devices,” Turkish Airlines, the country’s flag carrier, said on Twitter late Tuesday. The ban’s lifting comes after Turkey began using sophisticated tomography imaging devices for X-ray […]

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Pro-Kurdish party’s ex-leader tried on ‘terror’ charges in Turkey

ANKARA, Turkey (AFP) — The former co-leader of Turkey’s third largest political party went on trial in Ankara on Tuesday on charges of disseminating “terror propaganda” for outlawed Kurdish militants. Figen Yuksekdag and the other co-leader of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), Selahattin Demirtas, were detained in November and have been held in jail ever since. Their incarceration alarmed the European Union and raised further concerns over use of the state of emergency imposed in […]

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