Tag: Turkey

  • Khan says Pakistan ke teen hissay hongay, Shehbaz warns him not to cross limits

    Khan says Pakistan ke teen hissay hongay, Shehbaz warns him not to cross limits

    Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif warned Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Thursday, saying that his recent remarks on Pakistan make him “unfit for public office”.

    Khan in an interview with Sami Ibrahim for Bol News programme ‘Tajzia’ said that if Pakistan goes bankrupt, then the country will have to face denuclearisation, predicting that the country would then be divided into three parts.

    Do your politics but don’t dare to cross limits & talk about division of Pakistan

    PM Shehbaz tweeted: “While I am in Turkey inking agreements, Imran Niazi is making naked threats against the country. If at all any proof was needed that Niazi is unfit for public office, his latest interview suffices.”

    “Do your politics but don’t dare to cross limits and talk about [the] division of Pakistan,” he warned the PTI chairperson.

    Pakistan will have to face de-nuclearisation, the country would then be divided into three parts

    Imran Khan in an interview aired on Wednesday said that the establishment needs to make the right decisions and if they don’t, “the army will be destroyed”.

    Khan questioned what would happen if the country went bankrupt, saying the army will be the worst hit. And if Pakistan goes bankrupt, then according to Khan, Pakistan will have to face de-nuclearisation, predicting that the country would then be divided into three parts.

    Khan said that the current political situation was an equal problem for the establishment and the country.

    He said, “If the establishment doesn’t make the right decisions then I can assure you in writing that the army and they will be destroyed. Pakistan is going towards default. If right decisions aren’t made, then the country will be on a suicidal path.”

    Imran also added that as prime minister, he didn’t have absolute power. “Everyone knows where the real power lies.”

  • FIA Cyber Crime Wing arrests two Pakistanis involved in ‘secretly filming women in Turkey’

    FIA Cyber Crime Wing arrests two Pakistanis involved in ‘secretly filming women in Turkey’

    The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has arrested two Pakistanis involved in criminal activities in Turkey.

    The two accused — Muhammad Junaid and Ameer Khan — were arrested during two separate operations. They are allegedly involved in ‘transportation of illegal immigrants’ and secretly filming and sharing videos of Turkish women on social media.

    “Their criminal act created an uproar and anger in the Turkish society and severely damaged goodwill which Turkish people have for their Pakistani brethren,” the FIA statement added.

    Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has also taken notice and ordered strict action against the accused. The statement further added that a crackdown has been launched against all agents involved in trafficking.

    “Pakistani Perverts” and “Pakistani Get Out” hashtags trended on Turkish social media in April after videos of Turkish women made by Pakistanis were shared on social media.

    Read more- Fact check: Has Turkey tightened visa policy for Pakistanis?

  • After Saudi Arabia, PM Shehbaz set to visit Turkey

    After Saudi Arabia, PM Shehbaz set to visit Turkey

    The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif will visit Turkey next week as his first visit to Ankara after assuming office in April.

    The Foreign Office (FO) Spokesperson Asim Iftikhar, in a briefing, said: “The prime minister would be visiting Turkey next week, and we would be sharing with you more details containing elements, specific elements, and engagements envisaged during this visit.”

    Prior to this, PM Shehbaz held two foreign trips to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

    Following his visit, it was announced that Saudi Arabia is finalising the extension of the $3 billion deposit to Pakistan.

    On the other foreign engagements, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari visited Davos, Switzerland, to attend World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting (May 23-26), with Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar and Federal Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman accompanying him.

  • Turkey: Food prices surged by 89 per cent, transportation costs increased by 106 per cent

    Turkey: Food prices surged by 89 per cent, transportation costs increased by 106 per cent

    Turkey’s inflation rate skyrocketed to almost 70 per cent last month, creating a substantial challenge for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose unusual economic strategies are frequently blamed for the country’s economic woes.

    Erdogan, defying economic conventional wisdom, insists that major interest rate cuts are essential to reduce spiralling consumer costs.

    Turkey’s consumer price index (CPI) climbed by 69.97 per cent on a year-on-year (YoY) basis in April 2022, compared to 61.14 per cent in March 2022, according to the national statistics agency, indicating a massive increase.

    The transportation industry saw the largest price rises in April, up 105.9 per cent, while food and non-alcoholic drinks cost increased by 89.1 per cent.

    Likewise, lira’s depreciation has quadrupled the cost of energy imports, and international investors are progressively fleeing the formerly emerging economy. Energy price hikes and production constraints have been worsened by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the coronavirus outbreak.

    According to economists, Turkey’s yearly inflation rate – the highest since Erdogan’s ruling AKP party took office in 2002 – is entirely due to Erdogan’s unusual economic thinking.

    Read more: Transporters continue to overcharge ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr

    Erdogan has pushed the supposedly independent central bank to reduce interest rates. Despite strong inflation, the bank maintained its benchmark interest rate for the fourth month in a row in April, yielding to criticism.

  • PM Shehbaz might meet Turkish President Erdogan in Saudi Arabia

    Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif, who is currently in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is likely to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, states Geo News’ sources.

    Erdogan, who also reached KSA yesterday conveyed a message to PM Shehbaz to meet him. The message reads, “I would like to meet you.”

    The premier is on a three-day visit while the Turkish president is on a two-day visit. Shehbaz held a brief meeting with Madina’s governor, where both the leaders exchanged views on bilateral relations.

    Foreign Office (FO) Spokesperson Asim Iftikhar said that the prime minister will have bilateral interaction with the Saudi leadership, with a particular focus on advancing economic, trade and investment ties, and creating greater opportunities for the Pakistani workforce in KSA.

    Erdogan met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Thursday to mend relations between the two countries in his first visit since the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

    It is pertinent to mention that ties between the two nations were strained after Khashoggi was killed in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in 2018.

  • Israeli President visits Turkey to mend ties, Turkey calls it a ‘turning point’

    Israeli President Isaac Herzog met with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday for a one-day rare visit to Turkey in an effort to mend fractured ties between the two countries.

    Erdogan described the Israeli president’s visit as “historic” and “a turning point” in Turkish-Israeli relations. He said the country is ready to cooperate with Israel in the energy sector, revealing that the Turkish foreign and energy ministers will soon visit Israel.

    In a statement in Hebrew, Herzog said it is a great honour for both countries to lay the foundations of developing friendly relations between them.

    It is pertinent to mention that Ankara has close ties with Hamas. Despite the rare visit, Turkey has ruled out abandoning its commitment to supporting Palestinian statehood.

    Talking about Palestine, Erdogan said, “I underlined the importance we attach to the historical status of Jerusalem and the preservation of the religious identity and sanctity of Masjid Aqsa.” In response, the Israeli president said, “We must agree in advance that we will not agree on everything, that is the nature of relations with a past as rich as ours.”

    This is the first visit of the Israeli president to Ankara since 2007. In 2018, Ankara recalled its diplomats and ordered Israel’s envoy out of the country.

    The visit was made after Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s interview in which he called Israel a “potential ally” of the Kingdom.

    In 2020, two Gulf countries— Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates normalised ties with Israel.

  • Twitter receives record number of govt requests to remove content, including India’s

    Twitter receives record number of govt requests to remove content, including India’s

    Twitter has revealed that a record number of requests have been made from several governments around the world to remove content from the social media platform between January and June 2021.

    According to the platform, 95 per cent of the demands came from five countries which include Japan, Russia, Turkey, India and South Korea.

    The company said that in July 2021, it had seen a surge in government demands to take down content posted by journalists and news outlets.

    In a report, they said that 43,387 legal demands for the removal of content from 196,878 accounts were made in the six months. It is the largest number of such requests in a reporting period since Twitter started releasing its transparency reports in 2012.

    Sinead McSweeney, Twitter’s vice president of global public policy and philanthropy, said, “We’re facing unprecedented challenges as governments around the world increasingly attempt to intervene and remove content. This threat to privacy and freedom of expression is a deeply worrying trend that requires our full attention.”

    Previously, Twitter faced high-profile tussles with governments from India to Nigeria over content moderation and regulation.

  • Turkish President Erdogan says open to fix ties with Israel

    Turkish President Erdogan says open to fix ties with Israel

    After years of a fraught relationship, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has indicated mending ties with Israel.

    A joint pipeline to bring eastern Mediterranean Sea gas to Europe was started by Turkey’s rival Greece and Israel which was backed by then-President Donald Trump’s administration. At the time, Turkey strongly opposed the project but last week it was reported that Washington no longer backed the pipeline project.

    Following this, Erdogan said he was in talks with Israel on an old idea to bring Mediterranean gas to European clients via Turkey. “We can still do that,” he said.

    This is not the first time that Turkey has expressed the desire to be on good ties with Israel. In 2020, the President said the country would like to have better ties with Israel but it is impossible to accept their Palestine policies.

    In recent years, Ankara has repeatedly condemned Israel’s occupation in the West Bank and its treatment of Palestinians.

    Erdogan and Israeli Prime Minister (PM) Benjamin Netanyahu have often exchanged angry remarks, but both countries continue to trade with one another.

  • Video: Sarah, Falak capture Alyana’s first ‘flying’ experience, share special moments from Turkey

    Video: Sarah, Falak capture Alyana’s first ‘flying’ experience, share special moments from Turkey

    Celebrity couple Sarah Khan and Falak Shabir are currently vacationing in Istanbul Turkey. The Zindagi duo shared their special moments while travelling on their social media handles.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBn-jfr-ykg

    Adding to Alyana’s list of firsts, is her debut plane ride with her parents.

    This is their first family trip together.

    Falak recently expressed his amusement at a photo of Katrina Kaif and Vicky Kaushal circulating the internet that is actually a doctored version of Sarah and Falak’s wedding picture.

  • US President Biden invites Pakistan for virtual summit on democracy, leaves China and Turkey out

    United States (US) President Joe Biden has invited 110 countries, including Pakistan, for a virtual summit on democracy. The summit is expected to take place on December 9 and 10.

    According to a list posted on the US State Department website, America’s top rival China and North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) ally Turkey are missing from the list.

    Surprisingly, US traditional Arab allies Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are also not invited. From the Middle East region, only Israel and Iraq are excepted to join other countries for the meeting.

    The conference was a campaign pledge by Biden, who has placed the struggle between democracies and “autocratic governments” at the heart of his foreign policy, reports Dawn. However, the second edition of this meeting will take place in person next year.

    While announcing the summit in August, the White House said the meeting would “galvanise commitments and initiatives across three principal themes: defending against authoritarianism, fighting corruption, and promoting respect for human rights”.