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  • Prominent Turkish-Azeri businessman detained in İstanbul over Gülen links

    İstanbul police on Sunday detained Mubariz Mansimov Gurbanoğlu, a prominent Turkish-Azeri businessman, as part of an investigation into the Gülen movement, the pro-government Hürriyet newspaper reported.

    The financial crimes unit of the İstanbul police carried out a morning raid to detain Gurbanoğlu. The police also searched his residence, according to the report.

    The Turkish government accuses the faith-based movement of staging an attempted coup in July 2016, although the movement strongly denies any involvement.

  • European rights court rejects Turkey’s appeal of Kavala verdict

    The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has rejected an appeal from the Turkish government of a ruling on jailed businessman Osman Kavala in December, declaring it final.

    Kavala was accused of attempting to overthrow the government by orchestrating and financing the 2013 Gezi Park protests.

    “In the absence of facts, information or evidence showing that Mr. Kavala had been involved in criminal activity, he could not reasonably be suspected of having attempted to overthrow the Government by force or violence,” the court had said, calling on authorities to facilitate his release.

    It also had said in the ruling that it supported Kavala’s assertion that his detention was aimed at silencing him, adding that it was “likely to have a dissuasive effect on the work of human rights defenders.”

    In mid-February, Kavala was acquitted of charges in the Gezi Park trial along with nine other defendants.

    However, his detention since November 2017 did not end then, and he was rearrested on charges related to a 2016 coup attempt.

    In March, an investigation accusing Kavala of espionage was launched by Turkish prosecutors.

    President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called the jailed businessman as the “Turkish Soros,” referring to Hungarian-American philanthropist George Soros, who is a target of international conspiracies on organizing public protests.

  • Treasurer Josh Frydenberg tested for coronavirus after coughing fit in parliament

    Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has been tested for COVID-19 and is in self-isolation after having a coughing fit in parliament.

    Treasurer @JoshFrydenberg is spending what was meant to be Budget Night in self-isolation awaiting the results of a COVID-19 test. Having last year claimed the budget “was back in the black” he is now set to deliver the biggest deficit in Australia’s history. #auspol @SBSNews pic.twitter.com/zEuaZUyRkP

    — Brett Mason (@BrettMasonNews) May 12, 2020

    In a socially distanced parliament on Tuesday, Mr Frydenberg struggled to suppress a coughing fit as he discussed data revealing the economic effects of the coronavirus.

    “Today while delivering my ministerial statement I had a dry mouth and cough,” Mr Frydenberg said in a statement issued a few hours after the incident.

    “The Deputy Chief Medical Officer advised me that out of an abundance of caution it was prudent I be tested for COVID-19.”

    Mr Frydenberg said he would await the test results, expected tomorrow, in isolation.

    While delivering the economic update which revealed coronavirus would wipe the equivalent of $50 billion from the economy, Mr Frydenberg was forced to stop for about three minutes as he coughed and lost his voice.

    He coughed into his hand several times before touching his face and the despatch box, going against medical advice to cough and sneeze into your elbow to limit the spread of germs.

    After delivering his address, Mr Frydenberg remained in the House of Representatives chamber for Question Time.

    Several federal politicians have already returned positive COVID-19 tests, including Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton and Centre Alliance Senator Rex Patrick.sbs

     

  • Amnesty International calls on Merkel for Osman Kavala

    Amnesty International has called on Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel to take initiative for the release of Turkish businessman and philanthropist Osman Kavala, ahead of her meeting on Friday with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Istanbul.

    Kavala should be released, and Amnesty International honorary chairman Taner Kılıç should be acquitted, Amnesty International’s Senior Researcher on Turkey Strategy, Andrew Gardner told German news agency DPA.

    “Concrete steps to end the repression against human rights defenders must be the focus of talks between Angela Merkel and the Turkish president,” Gardner said.

    Osman Kavala is charged with attempting to overthrow the government and masterminding the Gezi Park protests of 2013, the biggest anti-government protests in Turkey’s history, and has been in prison since November 2017.

    Kavala remains in prison despite a European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruling last month, after a Turkish court declined to release the philanthropist.

    Kavala’s next hearing will be held on Jan. 28, along with 15 other prominent civil society figures.

    Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades also called on Merkel to relay to Erdoğan a message to immediately stop Turkey’s illegal activities in Cyprus’s exclusive economic zone, news site Duvar reported.

    Merkel and Erdoğan are expected to discuss the Eastern Mediterranean crisis and Turkey drilling for natural gas, as well as the crises in Libya and Syria.Osman Kavala

  • Turkish court rules keep ousted Diyarbakır mayor in pre-trial detention

    A Turkish court on Monday ruled to continue the pre-trial detention of Selçuk Mızraklı, the former mayor of the predominantly Kurdish city of Diyarbakır, who is standing trial for alleged membership in a terrorist organization, the Artı Gerçek news website reported.

    Monday’s hearing was the second in Mızraklı’s trial in which he faces up to 15 years in prison.

    During the hearing, his lawyer, Mehmet Emin Aktar, accused the prosecutor of acting upon evidence that does not comply with legal norms.

    Mızraklı, who attended the hearing via the IT Voice and Image System (SEGBİS), reiterated his earlier claim that the case was politically motivated.

    “In many countries, politically motivated prosecutions are remembered as dark stains on the countries’ history. You should not take the easy way out by conforming to the will of the political power. Everyone is responsible for this. You cannot say ‘I was misled’,” he said.

    A group of observers who attended the hearing were prevented by police from making a public statement in front of the courthouse after the proceedings ended.

    Mızraklı was elected Diyarbakır mayor on March 31, 2019. Along with several other Kurdish mayors, he was removed from office by Turkey’s Interior Ministry in August.

    The one-and-a-half page indictment consists of the testimony of an informant as well as references to events and demonstrations Mızraklı attended as evidence of terrorism.

    The Interior Ministry has removed 13 Kurdish mayors since the local elections last year, citing alleged links to terrorism. The controversial practice was also widely implemented during Turkey’s two-year-long state of emergency following an attempted coup in 2016, with the removal of scores of Kurdish mayors, many of whom also stood trial on terrorism-related charges after their ousting.

  • Businessman makes U-turn after complaining about state of Turkish economy

    Abdullah Kiğılı, Turkish businessman and the owner of a well-known Turkish clothing brand, has backed away from earlier remarks complaining about the state of Turkey’s economy, the Diken news website reported on Monday.

    In an interview with the pro-government Hürriyet daily, Kiğılı said his earlier comment of “We have never seen a bigger crisis” was made some four months ago and that his views have changed.

    “In 100 days, the sector has seen things that neither me nor anyone else would have dared to imagine,” Kiğılı said. “Interest on bank loans has dropped as promised, and inflation has been going down.”

    The prominent retailer had given an interview to the Capital magazine that was published in December in which he had predicted that the retail sector had entered a most difficult period and that half the men’s clothing brands as well as 5 percent of the stores in all shopping malls would go out business.

    “Some of my comments were taken out of context,” the businessman told Hürriyet. “Besides, it was an assessment that I had made months ago.”

  • Hail storm sweeps through Canberra, damaging countless cars and smashing windows

    Hail as big as golf balls and ferocious winds of up to 117 kilometres per hour have torn through Canberra in a storm that had residents running for cover.

    More than 1,000 homes lost power, with outages reported in Florey, Griffith, Deakin and Kambah, and dozens more suburbs across the territory.

    Since midday, the ESA had received a record number of requests for assistance, more than 1,900, with ACT Ambulance Service attending to two people for minor injuries sustained during the storm.

    That was more than double what the service had received in the preceding two years.

    ESA Commissioner Georgeina Whelan said they had withdrawn personnel from the firegrounds just over the ACT border where bushfires have threatened the territory in recent weeks.

    “Obviously we have been stood up for weeks now in response to the threat of bushfires to the west of the ACT,” Ms Whelan said.

    “And based on the information we had received from the Bureau of Meteorology, both last night and this morning, we had withdrawn a number of our assets off the fireground and then we redirected a number of those assets along with our SES capability that we had pre-emptively stood up.

    “We were responding to a number of the requests for assistance within a matter of minutes.”

    Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Ms Whelan said the damage to the ACT had been “quite considerable”, with the areas most impacted including Belconnen, the city, the Australian National University and the inner south.

    A specialist intelligence gathering helicopter was flying over Canberra in the storm’s aftermath conducting a damage assessment from the sky.

    “A combination of aerial surveillance and our damage teams will be out there on the ground assessing and prioritising the tasks — it will take us some time to get to all of those particularly challenging jobs,” Ms Whelan said.

    The Bureau of Meteorology had issued a warning for “damaging, locally destructive winds, large, possible giant hailstones and heavy rainfall” due to hit the ACT at about 12:30pm, and advised residents to move cars undercover and stay indoors.

    The BOM later reported wind gusts of 116 kilometres per hour.

    Hilary Wardhaugh, who was at the National Library of Australia when the hail started to fall, described it as an “unbelievable” sight.

    “My friend and I were going to go outside and have our lunch and then we came out and saw it was raining and then the hail started,” she said.

  • Şırnak’s Cizrespor football team to withdraw from league due to discrimination

    Cizrespor, a football team from the southeastern Kurdish city of Şırnak, has announced that it will withdraw from the 3rd division league due to discriminatory behavior on the part of referees during matches and the Turkish Football Federation’s discriminative approach to the team.

    The official statement, tweeted on Sunday, has cited the “racist approach” of the referees during games.

    In February 2019, Cizrespor footballers and managers were physically assaulted by an angry nationalist mob in Antalya.

    Team Chairman Maruf Sefinç said the referees always favor the rival teams, even breaking the rules.

    Diyarbakır’s Amedspor and its players have experienced similar discriminatory behavior in recent years.

  • ‘Social media is a garbage dump,’ Turkish president says

    Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Monday said that social media has become an uncontrolled platform where people are swindled, lynched and abused, describing it as a “garbage dump,” the pro-government Hürriyet newspaper reported.

    “We need to strengthen our people’s ties to real life,” Erdoğan said during a speech at an opening ceremony.

    “Keeping our electronic systems and data safe is just as important as the safety of our borders,” he said.

    Erdoğan made the comments at the opening ceremony of the National Computer Emergency Response Center (USOM).

    He said he believes the center will enhance Turkey’s preparedness against all kinds of cyber attacks.

    A December 2019 report by the Freedom of Expression Association (İFÖD) said Turkish authorities blocked access to a total of 288,310 websites between 2006 and October 2019.

    The report also noted Turkey’s requests that Twitter remove content or block accounts. Ankara introduced 5,099 such requests between 2012 and 2018, leading all other countries and surpassing Russia’s 385 by far.turkishminute

  • Joko Widodo uses historic speech to call for greater action to tackle climate change

    Indonesia’s President has used an historic address to Australia’s Parliament to call for both countries to do more to address climate change and lower carbon emissions.

    Joko Widodo delivered his speech in the official Indonesian language, Bahasa, describing Australia as Indonesia’s closest friend.

    He said Australia and Indonesia needed to become anchors for sustainable development and environmental protection across the region.

    “To prevent forest and land fires and commitment to lowering carbon emission and develop renewable energy and other green technologies,” Mr Widodo said.

    His speech called for both nations to join forces in the battle against identity politics, to improve human rights, foster greater tolerance and stop terrorism.

    “We must continue to advocate the values of democracy, human rights, stop intolerance, stop xenophobia, stop radicalism and stop terrorism,” the President said.

    “Identity politics is a trap to democracy, a threat to adversity and a threat to tolerance.

    “These threats will become more actual exploitation for short-term political interests, resulting in hatred, fear and even social conflict.

    “These democratic and diverse countries, we must work hard, side by side together, to defend the values of democracy, tolerance and adversity and to look at the clash of civilisation.”

    Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Mr Widodo made joint remarks together outside the House of Representatives but journalists were unable to ask either leader questions.

    Mr Widodo arrived in Australia for a brief visit just days after the Indonesian Parliament ratified a free trade agreement with Australia.

    That deal will come into force in 60 days, with high hopes among Australian farmers it will lead to greater exports of agricultural products.

    Australian universities will have greater access to the Indonesian education sector under the agreement.

    Mr Morrison confirmed his Government would look at ways to simplify visa application processes for Indonesians visiting Australia.

    That is a change Mr Widodo has been seeking in a bid to stop Indonesians having to fill out a 17-page visa application form and pay $140.

    Australians visiting his country can do so visa-free for a limited period.

    “Our Home Affairs Minister here in Australia will be engaging with his Indonesian counterpart to proceed to look at how we can simplify and streamline the issues of entry to Australia,” Mr Morrison said.

    Senators crammed into the Lower House so politicians from both chambers could listen to Mr Widodo’s speech in the House of Representatives.

    Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull was in the chamber, as were the heads of Australia’s defence, cyber and spy agencies.

    “By continuing to work together, we can build the region’s resilience and make our people safer and our economies stronger,” Mr Morrison told the House of Representatives.

    “Our ambitious comprehensive strategic partnership, which was finalised 18 months ago, gives Australia framework for even closer ties.

    “We now have a plan of action to take the next steps in our relationship — from trade and investment to defence, counter-terrorism, maritime security, ocean sustainability and education, to name only some — and even today we add energy and the future of fuel sources for our nations to this long list.”