Author: Cemil Alan

Naval warships of China and Russia carried out joint exercises around Japan from August 15 to 17. Following monitoring by Japan’s Ministry of Defense (MoD), their activities were confirmed in a ministry announcement on August 17. In all, 11 Chinese and Russian naval vessels sailed north simultaneously on August 17. Their path took them from the Pacific Ocean through Japanese waters between the main island of Okinawa and Miyako Island. Thereafter, they passed into the East China Sea, the Joint Staff Office of MoD announced the same day. This is the first time that warships from China and Russia were confirmed to pass between Okinawa Island and Miyako Island at the…

Health experts have warned of a serious outbreak of an illness at a tourist hotspot in Turkey. Almost 250 cases of gastrointestinal illness were noted by the NHS amongst holidaymakers, according to the latest figures. And it’s believed that the Salmonella Enteritidis strain is a common source of the infections, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) says. Many of the people who had contracted severe infections had been staying in hotels in the popular Antalya region of Turkey. Wales Online reports that an investigation was launched after 241 cases were found, with many of the people staying in ‘all inclusive’ hotels where food…

BEIJING/MOSCOW (Bloomberg): China’s embassy in Moscow blasted what it called a “brutal” handling by Russian authorities of a denial of entry to the country by several Chinese citizens. “Russia’s brutal and excessive law-enforcement activities in this incident have seriously violated the legitimate rights and interests of the Chinese citizens,” the embassy said in a post Friday on WeChat, the popular Chinese social-media outlet. The embassy said that five of its nationals were “repeatedly questioned for four hours” at a checkpoint when they attempted to cross the Russia-Kazakhstan border on July 29. Their entry was denied, with their tourist visas being…

Turkey has withdrawn from hosting the United Nations’ Cop16 biodiversity summit in 2024, citing three large earthquakes in February that devastated parts of the country. The nature summit, which will be the first since governments agreed this decade’s biodiversity targets at Cop15 in Montreal last December, had been scheduled to take place in Turkey in October next year to discuss progress on the agreement. In a statement, the UN convention on biological diversity announced that Turkey had withdrawn due to “a force majeure situation”, inviting other countries to offer to host the conference. It is hoped the scheduled dates – 21 October to 1…

Berlin (25/7 – 16.67) The table is set for the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast to remain a geopolitical hotspot. Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO), eastern Tajikistan, is the home to the Pamir Mountains, also called “the roof of the world”, whose sharp mountain ranges and deep valleys resemble a lunar landscape. A far-flung frontier, situated in a troubled neighborhood, next to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan and China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, GBAO is a geopolitical treasure tethered to exterior interests: the authoritarian central Tajik government in Dushanbe, Chinese economic and military interests, and Russia, which historically frames the Pamirs as a part of its…

The head of MI6 has accused China’s government and its leader, Xi Jinping, of being “absolutely complicit” in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in a rare public address in Prague. Sir Richard Moore, who has been chief of the British Secret Intelligence Service since 2020, also offered comment on the extraordinary mutiny in June by the mercenary Wagner group led by Yevgeny Prigozhin. Shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine, Xi and Vladimir Putin signed a “no limits” partnership between their countries. After the war began, China’s government sought to present itself as a neutral peacemaker, and there have been signs of Xi’s dissatisfaction with events, but…

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES — Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ended a Persian Gulf trip aimed at securing investments by signing agreements worth more than $50 billion in the United Arab Emirates, Emirati state media said Wednesday. His tour, which also included stops in Qatar and Saudi Arabia, saw Erdogan preside over the signing of lucrative deals to boost the ailing Turkish economy. Turkey is battling a currency collapse and soaring inflation that have battered its economy. Ankara has recently repaired relations with Gulf states including the UAE and Saudi Arabia after years of rivalry following the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings.…

ANKARA — Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan offered condolences to his Greek counterpart, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Wednesday after the deadly train crash in Greece. According to the Turkish Presidency, Erdogan — in his message to Sakellaropoulou and Mitsotakis — said he was “deeply saddened” by the loss of lives and wished a speedy recovery to those injured in the collision. At least 36 people died in the collision of a freight train and a passenger train carrying hundreds of people and in the ensuing fire near the Greek city of Larissa late Tuesday. More than…

Turkey has suffered severely from the two major earthquakes on Feb. 6, 2023. The death toll is a record high, exceeding 45,000. Physical damage from the earthquakes will cost at least $20 billion, as the number of buildings destroyed has been steadily revised upwards. GDP growth will be 2.0-2.5% less than forecast before the disaster, adding nearly $20 billion to the cost. The combined economic losses due to damaged assets and slower growth expectations may end up being much higher than $40 billion when the government releases a detailed and reliable disaster loss report covering human resources. Outside figures already suggest the total…

At least six members of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) including a prominent commander were killed and 15 others injured in a blast that took place in Afghanistan’s Khost province on Thursday. Sources reported that six TTP militants were killed and 15 others injured in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast in Khost province. The identities of the slain commanders were revealed to be Abdul Manan, Alam Khan Mudakhel, Kajir, and three others unidentified. The attack comes days after a senior Pakistani delegation traveled to Kabul, and met with Mullah Abdul Ghani Bradar, the Action Deputy Prime Minister of the Taliban, and…