Author: Makbule Safet

The measure of a person cannot be accurately measured in times of ease when there are no challenges to confront, no mountains to climb. The measure of a person can only be accurately experienced in times of difficulty, sometimes in serious difficulty, and with challenges that are even unimaginable. And when you happen to come upon such a person who has survived, even thrived in the face of unspeakable abuse and cruelty, and they remain steadfastly in the game of life, well, this person needs to be made an example of. Of what is possible. Of how you can turn…

“We grew up here… it’s our village,” says one local farmer. “But safety comes first. You cannot live with this insecurity all the time.” When floodwaters gushed through the Greek farming village of Metamorfosi in September, residents fled. Now they want to relocate their entire community, terrified it cannot survive another bout of extreme weather driven by climate change. Metamorfosi nearly disappeared beneath the water as Storm Daniel, which wrought havoc across the Mediterranean, struck the central Thessaly region on 4-7 September, turning it into an inland sea. Sixteen people were killed, including a man and his mother in Metamorfosi…

Summer signing Arda Guler has had bad luck with injuries ever since joining Real Madrid in the summer. As such, the 18-year-old is yet to make a single appearance for his new team, and a report from SPORT has mentioned that the young footballer has decided to take advantage of the international break to achieve full fitness. The report adds that for the aforementioned, Guler has opted to travel to Istanbul for his treatment. Injuries have plagued the young footballer consistently since his €20 million signing from Fenerbahce and currently, the prospect of the highly anticipated debut of the Turkish…

1973-2023. Half a century after the Athens Polytechnic Uprising, the political culture that this pivotal event created remains a matter of intense controversy, both politically and in the public discourse and understanding of history. How do we move from myth to a political valuation? How can this past become history? And can we separate the generation that lived through these events from the imprint it left in time? First of all, can we imagine the course of Greece without this crucial moment? What would be the course of the country if the Polytechnic Uprising had not taken place? Would dictator…

A Ukrainian citizen, suspected of embezzling $1.17 million from Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence, was apprehended in Athens, Greece. The individual, whose identity remains undisclosed, was reportedly detained in Athens on November 13th. The arrest is the result of an investigation that uncovered the suspect’s collaboration with others in diverting funds. It is reported that the suspect served as the director of a company during the period in question. From March 2nd to May 10th of the previous year, the suspect purportedly appropriated funds that a company had received as an advance payment for military procurement from Ukraine’s Defense Ministry. At…

Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has slammed the European Commission’s annual report assessing its long-stalled bid to join the European Union, saying it was unjust and biased. The report, published on Wednesday by the EU’s executive arm, accused Ankara of “serious backsliding” on democratic standards, the rule of law, human rights and judicial independence. “We categorically reject unfounded claims and unjust criticisms, particularly on the political criteria and the Chapter on Judiciary and Fundamental Rights,” the Turkish ministry said in a statement on Thursday. The Commission also said Turkey did not comply with the principles of the rule of law,…

Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, have reached an agreement to jointly support the Palestinian people in their struggle for independence. This agreement was reached during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Joint Arab-Islamic Extraordinary Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday, according to a statement from Jokowi’s office on Sunday. “We also agreed to remind the world of the urgency to resolve the root cause of the problems by realizing a two-state solution,” Jokowi remarked. He urged member countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to unite and make utmost…

Ukrainian soldiers successfully repelled attacks along the war frontline at Avdiivka on Tuesday as a new offensive from Russian soldiers erupted near the eastern Ukraine town, officials said. “I can add that our defenders on the Avdiivka front repelled all the attacks of the enemy, no losses of lines and positions were sustained,” colonel Oleksandr Shtupun, the spokesperson of the joint press centre of defence forces, said. He confirmed an escalation of Russian military offensive actions on the same front. He said Ukrainian forces repelled attacks in Keramika, Ocheretyne, Berdychiv, Stepove, Lastochkyne, Tonenke, Avdiivka, and Pervomaiske in Donetsk oblast. Around three Russian battalions launched a ground…

ANKARA — Turkey’s Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek announced Tuesday that he had kicked off his new Gulf tour in the United Arab Emirates as Ankara scrambles to lure foreign funds to ease its foreign currency crunch. In Abu Dhabi, the first leg of the tour, Simsek held a “productive” meeting with UAE Investment Minister Mohammed Hassan Al Suwaidi, the Turkish finance chief wrote on social media. Simsek then traveled to Doha, where he met with his Qatari counterpart Ali Bin Ahmad Al-Kuwari. On the second leg of his trip, Simsek also touted investment opportunities to more than 200 international investors and businessmen at…

Berlin (06/11 – 58) UN Special Rapporteur of Human Rights Defenders, Mary Lawlor, has once again called on the authorities of Tajikistan to release imprisoned Tajik journalists and bloggers. Mary Lawlor posted on her social media account, formerly Twitter, that during a meeting with Tajikistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Jonibek Hikmat, in New York on October 24, she reiterated her call for the Tajik authorities to release the convicted human rights defenders and journalists, including Daler Imomali, Abdullo Gurbati, and Ulfatkhonim Mamadshoeva. Last year, in Tajikistan, eight journalists and bloggers were sentenced to various prison terms, ranging from 7…