Author: Altan Eren

The European Union exported some 319,000 tons of plastic waste to Turkey in 2022, making it the bloc’s largest plastic waste destination, according to a report by BBC’s Turkish service, citing the latest figures released by Eurostat. The report said Turkey imported 319,000 tons of plastic waste, accounting for 29 percent of all such waste exported by the EU. This positions Turkey ahead of other major importing countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia, which accounted for 17 percent and 15 percent, respectively. The EU exported 1.1 million tons of plastic waste to countries outside the union in 2022. This export…

The third İzmir International Meeting of Mediterranean Cinemas (MEDCINE) will be held between Nov. 8 and 13. Within the scope of the festival, films from 20 Mediterranean countries will be on the screen. In cooperation with the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality, Institut Français, Chamber of Architects İzmir branch and Intercultural Art Association, the festival events will be held in İzmir Art, İzmir French Cultural Center, İzmir Architecture Center and Ahmed Adnan Saygun Art Center, and the screenings will be open to the public. “Our world does not want war but peace and tolerance. Art is peaceful. It allows us to see…

The government and notaries public have reached an agreement on how to submit contracts to the Hellenic Cadastre on Friday, preventing a blockage in property transfers due to the abstention announced by notaries who opposed the the digitization of notarial acts that will come into effect on January 1, arguing that the paper contract, signed in person, is “the only valid constituent type of legal transaction.” As part of the agreement, notaries will draw up the contracts as currently provided for, but will be obliged to submit them digitally to the Hellenic Cadastre, together with a summary and by extracting…

As demands from partners and allies in the wider region start to arrive in Athens, Greece is organizing missions and supplying humanitarian aid to relieve the civilians in the Gaza Strip more actively. Indicatively, a ship capable of offering secondary medical services has been requested from Athens. Exclusive sources specifically state that a ship is being sought for the purpose of treating and housing a restricted number of patients till they recover. Rome has taken a leading role at this level, as Italy has already decided to deploy a floating hospital off Gaza. In the absence of a floating hospital,…

Türkiye has dispatched its initial aircraft to deliver assistance to earthquake-stricken Afghanistan, becoming the first nation to offer aid at a critical time. “The first plane took off this morning. The second plane will also take off tomorrow. The first international aid that arrived there was directed and sent by Türkiye,” said Okay Memis, head of the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), on Monday. The aircraft carried relief items, including 200 tents, 500 blankets, and medical supplies, which have reached Herat city, according to Memis. On Saturday, a 6.2 magnitude earthquake rattled the Zinda Jan and Ghorian districts of…

Erdogan and World War I-era military commander Mustafa Kemal Ataturk have become the seminal figures of modern Turkey, their contrasting styles and visions defining the shape of society and the country’s place in the world. Dubbed “reis” (“chief”) by supporters, Erdogan is now Turkey’s longest-serving leader, overseeing a massive modernisation drive that has sustained his popularity in poorer and more religiously conservative provinces since 2003. Meaning the “father of all Turks”, the surname Ataturk was bestowed on Mustafa Kemal by Turkey’s parliament after the field marshal drove out foreign armies and built a new, staunchly secular republic from the Ottoman Empire’s…

ANKARA — Turkey, Ukraine and Bulgaria agreed to set up a trilateral mechanism to clear floating mines in the Black Sea amid warnings that Russia may use sea mines to target Ukraine shipments, the Turkish Defense Ministry announced Thursday.  “Operational procedures and the scope of the mechanism will be decided in meetings due to be held in the upcoming days,” a high-level Turkish Defense Ministry official told journalists, without elaborating further. The ministry said the three-way mechanism was agreed on during Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler’s meeting with his Bulgarian counterpart Todor Tagarev and Romanian State Secretary for Defense Simona Cojocaru on…

The G-20 leaders held bilateral meetings in India’s capital on Saturday. UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak met his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong and the two sides signed a new strategic partnership, focused on economy and security. “This new agreement with Singapore will take us even further in delivering our priorities and ensure that, as we map the future of the world economy, we are doing so alongside our closest partners,” Sunak said in a statement. In addition to enhanced economic cooperation, the new UK-Singapore Strategic Partnership will strengthen security cooperation, science and technology innovation, and research and development, the statement said.…

The host nation of this year’s Group of 20 summit has two official names: India and Bharat. The first was inherited from the country’s former British overlords; the other derives from Sanskrit and emanates an ancient sanctity. There was much social media fluttering, therefore, when a dinner invitation went out to conference guests from the “President of Bharat,” rather than the expected and globally familiar appellation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi prefers the Sanskrit, as do the Hindu nationalists who form his core support. Indeed, the word echoes in that of his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. There have been relatively recent…

China on Monday slammed a joint statement by the US, Japan and South Korea on Taiwan and disputed South China Sea. Beijing “expresses strong dissatisfaction and has lodged solemn representations with relevant parties after the leaders of the US, Japan and South Korea smeared and attacked China on the Taiwan question and South China Sea issue,” said Wang Wenbin, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman. US President Joe Biden, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said last Friday they are opposed to China’s “dangerous and aggressive behavior” supporting “unlawful maritime claims” while agreeing to expand…