Tag: Turkish president

  • Pakistan sends aid to Turkey to help in Earthquake relief operations

    Pakistan sends aid to Turkey to help in Earthquake relief operations

    Pakistan has send aid along with rescue and relief teams to it’s close ally Turkey after powerful earthquakes devastated the southern region of the country early on Monday morning.

    “On the instructions of Chief of Army Staff General Syed Asim Munir, Pakistan Army has dispatched two contingents; Urban Search and Rescue Team comprising rescue experts, sniffer dogs, search equipment and a Medical team comprising Army doctors, nursing staff and technicians along with 30 bedded mobile hospital, tentage, blankets and other relief items,” Radio Pakistan has reported.

    The aid contingents have been flown to Adana, Turkiye via special PAF aircraft, to undertake relief efforts for Turkish people while working in close coordination with the Turkish Government, AFs and their Embassy in Islamabad.

    “The contingents will stay there till the completion of relief and rescue operations.”
    The National Disaster Management Authority in a tweet wrote, “NDMA dispatched humanitarian assistance to the earthquake hit Turkiye through PAF C-130 aircraft from Nur Khan Air Base.”

    Pakistan on Monday said it will send two C-130 planes carrying relief and 36 search and rescue personnel.

    Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said early on Monday that 45 countries had offered help with search and rescue efforts.

    The confirmed death toll in Turkey and Syria has soared above 4,300.

  • ‘Stay out of our domestic affairs,’ French minister tells Pakistan and Turkey

    Turkey and Pakistan should not meddle in France’s domestic affairs, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin has said after Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan denounced French President Emmanuel Macron’s “anti-Islam” agenda and called for a boycott of French goods.

    The comments from Erdogan and Imran were the latest expression of anger in the Muslim world over blasphemous images being displayed in France of the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him).

    Erdogan, in his statement, also questioned Macron’s mental health, prompting Paris to recall its ambassador in Ankara.

    Joining Erdogan, Imran also denounced Macron’s remarks on the publication of caricatures, calling them “encouragement of Islamophobia”.

    “By attacking Islam, clearly without having any understanding of it, President Macron has attacked and hurt the sentiments of millions of Muslims in Europe and across the world,” the premier had said.

    “It should shock each one of us that foreign powers are meddling with what is going on in France,” Darmanin told France Inter radio earlier this week, adding he was referring to Turkey and Pakistan, where parliament passed a resolution urging the government to recall its ambassador from Paris.

    The National Assembly (NA) on Monday unanimously passed a resolution condemning the caricatures and the “resurgence of Islamophobic acts” in some countries.

    “Turkey should not meddle with France’s domestic affairs,” Darmanin added.

    The row has its roots in a knife attack outside a French school on October 16 in which a man of Chechen origin beheaded Samuel Paty, a teacher who had shown pupils blasphemous caricatures of Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) in a civics lesson on freedom of speech.

    Macron, who met representatives of France’s Muslim community on Monday, has pledged to fight “Islamist separatism”, saying it was threatening to “take over” some Muslim communities in France.

  • Saudi Arabia suggests citizens ‘boycott everything Turkish’ after Erdogan’s accusations

    Saudi authorities called upon citizens to “boycott everything Turkish” following a statement by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan where he accused some Gulf countries of pursuing policies that were destabilising the region, Gulf News reported.

    “The boycott of everything Turkish, whether on the level of import, investment or tourism, is the responsibility of every Saudi — trader and consumer — in response to the continued hostility of the Turkish government against our leadership, our country and our citizens,” Saudi Arabia’s Chamber of Commerce head Ajlan Al Ajlan said.

    In addition to accusing some Gulf countries of targeting Turkey and following policies that led to instability, the Turkish president had, during an address to the country’s General Assembly, also said: “It should not be forgotten that the countries in question did not exist yesterday, and probably will not exist tomorrow; however, we will continue to keep our flag flying in this region forever, with the permission of Allah.”

    Relations between Saudi Arabia and Turkey have been thorny especially since the brutal murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi that took place in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018.

    Erdogan has said the order to murder Khashoggi came from “the highest levels” of the Saudi government but has never directly blamed Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is widely believed to be behind the gruesome murder.

    Earlier this week, Turkey indicted six Saudi suspects in Khashoggi’s murder case. None of the suspects are in Turkey and will be tried in absentia. Twenty Saudi nationals are already on trial in an Istanbul court for Khashoggi’s killing.

    The indictment came weeks after a Saudi court overturned five death sentences issued after a closed-door trial in Saudi Arabia that ended last year, sentencing them to 20 years in prison instead.

    Recently, Erdogan also condemned the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain’s decision to normalise ties with Israel. After the announcement of normalisation of ties between UAE and Israel, Erdogan had warned Turkey could suspend diplomatic relations with the Gulf state in response.

    Turkey has had diplomatic relations with Israel for decades, but under President Erdogan, has positioned itself as a champion of the Palestinians.

  • Turkey with Pakistan on Kashmir: president

    Turkey with Pakistan on Kashmir: president

    President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has assured Turkey’s support for Pakistan’s stance on the Kashmir dispute, President Dr Arif Alvi has said.

    According to a statement by the President’s Office, the two counterparts held a telephonic conversation in which they “exchanged Eidul Azha greetings” besides discussing the Kashmir issue and the coronavirus pandemic.

    President Alvi said that occupation regimes were continuing their “extreme repression” in Palestine and Indian occupied Kashmir even during the coronavirus pandemic.

    “[The] Turkish president assured that his country would continue to support Pakistan’s stance on Kashmir as both brotherly countries have similar goals.”

    Erdogan also invited Alvi to visit Turkey after the end of the pandemic.

    While congratulating Erdogan on the reopening of Istanbul’s historical Hagia Sophia as a mosque after nearly nine decades, President Alvi “reiterated Pakistan’s steadfast support to Turkey on its legitimate interests and assured that Pakistan will continue its policy to provide Turkey with all possible support”.

    The Turkish leader also called Prime Minister Imran Khan and the two leaders shared their views on a range of issues.

    The prime minister too felicitated Erdogan on reopening of the Hagia Sophia for prayers and told him that “millions of Pakistanis watched it live on television”, according to a tweet by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

    During their conversation, Prime Minister Imran recalled Erdogan’s visit to Pakistan for the sixth session of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council (HLSCC) in February and reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to “further fortify bilateral cooperation” in all areas.

    “Pakistan deeply appreciates Turkey’s steadfast support for the just cause of Kashmir, which President Erdogan reaffirmed during his address to the joint session of parliament in February 2020,” the PMO said.

    Erdogan’s contact with the Pakistani leadership comes days before the world marks one year since India revoked the semi-autonomous status of occupied Kashmir and split it into two federal territories, causing further determination in New Delhi’s ties with Islamabad.

  • Twitter slammed in China, Turkey, Russia after removing ‘manipulative’ accounts

    Twitter has removed over 200,000 handles for spreading pro-China and Russia messages while also boosting support for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

    https://twitter.com/TwitterSafety/status/1271186240323432452?s=20

    The company said “a core network” of 23,750 highly active Chinese accounts had been removed, along with another 150,000 “amplifier accounts”.

    Amplifier accounts share content to increase engagement that increases word-of-mouth exposure.

    Twitter said the Chinese network had links to an earlier state-backed operation dismantled last year by Twitter, Facebook and Google’s YouTube, which had been pushing misleading narratives about political dynamics in Hong Kong.

    Twitter said 23,750 accounts were the main focus while other accounts were identified as helping to boost the messages.

    Twitter also revealed it has shut down more than a thousand Russian-based misinformation accounts.

    In an official statement on fake Turkish Twitter accounts, they said that “those accounts were fake profiles designed to support the president and were single-handedly managed by a central authority”.

    However, Erdogan’s Communications Director Fahrettin Altun denied the allegations through his official Twitter handle while stating that it was an “attempt to smear the Turkish government and a popular political movement, which was unacceptable”.

    In general, the entire network was involved in a range of manipulative and coordinated activities. They were tweeting predominantly in Chinese, Russian and Turkish languages and spreading geopolitical narratives for political agendas.

    Last week, Twitter also accused United States (US) President Donald Trump of making false claims in some of his posts, although the platform has come under fire for not removing coronavirus misinformation.

    Earlier this week, the company said it was trialing a new “read before you retweet” pop-up aimed to promote “informed discussions”.

    A message will appear on articles that users share without actually following the link to the article.

  • Fate of Muslims not in UN Security Council members’ hands: Erdogan at Kuala Lumpur Summit

    Fate of Muslims not in UN Security Council members’ hands: Erdogan at Kuala Lumpur Summit

    Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday said that the fate of the world’s 1.7 billion Muslims was no longer in the hands of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

    According to Anadolu Agency, speaking at the opening ceremony of the Kuala Lumpur Summit in the Malaysian capital, Erdogan reiterated that the world was bigger than the five permanent UNSC members, whose veto power could prove catastrophic for smaller nations.

    “The world is bigger than five” is a famous slogan repeatedly used by Erdogan to criticise the permanent council members that are China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US).

    He also said that Turkey did not bow to pressure to silence it, including a coup attempt, economic terror and slander. “As they try to silence Turkey, we insist on calling attention to Palestine, Gaza, the Rohingya, Libya, Somalia, and Syria.”

    Earlier at the opening ceremony, Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani as well as the host, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, delivered speeches.

    Hundreds of government officials, businessmen, representatives of civil societies and experts from different sectors across the Muslim world, except Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, are taking part in the summit.

    Islamabad reportedly decided not to participate in the moot after being told so by Riyadh.