Tag: Turkey

  • Missing Ex-ASUU President, Dipo Fasina, Found In Turkey

    Missing Ex-ASUU President, Dipo Fasina, Found In Turkey

    A former President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities Dipo Fasina, popularly known as ‘Jingo’ who was earlier declared missing has been found in Turkey.

    The former ASUU chair was said to have been missing since Saturday, 1 July.

    In a tweet by The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission on Sunday, Fasina was found at the airport and would be on his way to Nigeria on Monday.

    NIDCOM also commended Nigeria’s High Commission in Turkey for the collaborative efforts to locate the scholar.

    NIDCOM wrote: “The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, in collaboration with the Nigerian High Commission in Turkey, has successfully located Prof Fasina, who went missing for a few days at Istanbul Airport while connecting on a flight back home.

    “Mr Fasina, 76, was travelling to Algeria when he was said to have missed his connecting flight from Istanbul, Turkey.”

    “A big thanks to the Nigerian Ambassador to Turkey who immediately sent officials to the Airport to physically locate him in the very busy and huge Istanbul Airport.”

  • AGAIN, fresh Earthquake hits Turkey

    AGAIN, fresh Earthquake hits Turkey

    A shallow magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck the Turkey-Syria border region after it was devastated earlier this month by temblors that killed tens of thousands of people.

    Monday’s aftershock in Turkey’s Hatay province was at a depth of 2km (1.2 miles), the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre said.

    The quake hit the town of Defne at 8:04pm (17:04 GMT) and was strongly felt in the cities of Antakya and Adana, 200km (300 miles) to the north.

    A second magnitude 5.8 centred in Samandag district of Hatay shook the region several minutes later, Turkey’s disaster management agency said.

    Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency said the temblors were felt in Syria, Jordan, Israel and Egypt.

    Hatay province is on the Mediterranean Sea and the disaster agency said the sea level could rise by 50cm (20 inches), warning people to stay away from the coast.

    Syria’s state news agency, SANA, reported six people were injured in Aleppo from falling debris, while the mayor of Hatay said a number of buildings have collapsed, trapping people inside.

    Al Jazeera’s Assed Baig, reporting from Gaziantep, said there were reports of more structures being destroyed in the region. He added there were many aftershocks that were continuing.

    “There are buildings that are standing but have been damaged. The fear is if there are more aftershocks like this, it could bring down those buildings, threatening lives,” Baig said. “Many people here are very scared.”

    Witnesses said Turkish rescue teams were running around after the latest quakes, checking if people were unharmed.

    Some media outlets in Syria’s Idlib and Aleppo regions badly affected earlier this month reported some buildings collapsed and electricity and internet services were interrupted in parts of the region.

    The news organisations said many people fled their homes and were gathering in open areas.

    The Syrian American Medical Society, which runs hospitals in northern Syria, said it treated a number of patients, including several who suffered heart attacks brought on by fear following the temblor.

  • Death Toll Rises Above 35,000 In Turkey, Syria Earthquake

    Death Toll Rises Above 35,000 In Turkey, Syria Earthquake

    The death toll from a catastrophic earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria climbed above 35,000 on Monday, with search and rescue teams starting to wind down their work.

    Officials and medics said 31,643 people had died in Turkey and 3,581 in Syria from last Monday’s 7.8-magnitude tremor, bringing the confirmed total to 35,224.

    When the death toll stood at 28,000 on Saturday, the United Nations relief chief Martin Griffiths told Sky News he expected the number to “double or more” as chances of finding survivors fade with every passing day.

    Supplies have been slow to arrive in Syria, where years of conflict have ravaged the healthcare system, and parts of the country remain under the control of rebels battling the government of President Bashar al-Assad, which is under Western sanctions.
    A 10-truck UN convoy crossed into northwest Syria via the Bab al-Hawa border crossing, according to an AFP correspondent, carrying shelter kits including plastic sheeting, ropes and screws and nails, as well as blankets, mattresses and carpets.

    Bab al-Hawa is the only point for international aid to reach people in rebel-held areas of Syria after nearly 12 years of civil war, after other crossings were closed under pressure from China and Russia.

    The World Health Organization chief met Assad in Damascus on Sunday and said the Syrian leader had voiced readiness for more border crossings to help bring aid into the rebel-held northwest.

    “He was open to considering additional cross-border access points for this emergency,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters.

    Assad said he looked forward to further “efficient cooperation” with the UN agency to improve the shortage in supplies, equipment and medicines, his presidency said.

    UN special envoy to Syria, Geir Pedersen, was also in Damascus on Sunday carrying a message to set aside politics.

    “We are mobilising funding and we are trying to tell everyone to put politics aside,” he said.

    “This is a time to unite behind a common effort to support the Syrian people.”

    Assad had also thanked the United Arab Emirates for providing “huge relief and humanitarian aid” with pledges of tens of millions of dollars in aid as well.

    But security concerns prompted the suspension of some rescue operations, and dozens of people have been arrested for looting or trying to defraud victims in the aftermath of the quake in Turkey, according to state media.

    An Israeli emergency relief organisation said Sunday it had suspended its earthquake rescue operation in Turkey and returned home because of a “significant” security threat to its staff.

    Miraculous tales of survival still emerged, though experts caution that hopes for finding people alive in the devastation dim with each passing day.

    Almost 160 hours after the quake, several more people were rescued, including an eight-year-old boy in Gaziantep, and a 63-year-old woman in Hatay, state media reported.

    The United Nations has warned that at least 870,000 people urgently need hot meals across Turkey and Syria. In Syria alone, up to 5.3 million people may have been made homeless.

    Almost 26 million people have been affected by the earthquake, the WHO said as it appealed Saturday for $42.8 million to cope with immediate health needs after dozens of hospitals were damaged.

    Turkey’s disaster agency said more than 32,000 people from Turkish organisations are working on search-and-rescue efforts, along with 8,294 international rescuers.

    But, in many areas, rescue teams said they lacked sensors and other advanced search equipment, leaving them reduced to carefully digging through the rubble with shovels or only their hands.

    “If we had this kind of equipment, we would have saved hundreds of lives, if not more,” said Alaa Moubarak, head of civil defence in Jableh, northwest Syria.

    Syria’s transport ministry has said 62 aid planes had landed in Syria this week with more on the way in coming days, in particular from Saudi Arabia.

    After days of grief and anguish, anger in Turkey has been growing over the poor quality of buildings as well as the government’s response to the country’s worst disaster in nearly a century.

    Officials say 12,141 buildings were either destroyed or seriously damaged in the earthquake.

    Three people were put behind bars by Sunday and seven more have been detained — including two developers who were trying to relocate to the former Soviet republic of Georgia.

    Officials and medics said 29,605 people had died in Turkey and 3,581 in Syria from last Monday’s 7.8-magnitude quake, bringing the confirmed total to 33,186.

  • Earthquake: US-based Pakistani ‘donates $30m’ for Turkey-Syria victims

    Earthquake: US-based Pakistani ‘donates $30m’ for Turkey-Syria victims

     
    A Pakistani, residing in the United States, anonymously “donated $30 million to the Turkish embassy” for the victims of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria after the natural calamity wreaked havoc claiming the lives of thousands of people and damaging infrastructure in the two countries.

    The catastrophic 7.8 magnitude earthquake in the wee hours of Monday morning jolted parts of Turkey and Syria, as volunteers and governments struggle to ensure relief and rescue to those in need with little hope of finding survivors.

    Donation by the Pakistani, which has been reported by Turkish media, was also confirmed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

    The premier, taking to Twitter, wrote: “Deeply moved by the example of an anonymous Pakistani who walked into Turkish embassy in the US and donated $30 million for earthquake victims in Türkiye and Syria.”

    “These are such glorious acts of philanthropy that enable humanity to triumph over the seemingly insurmountable odds,” he added.

    In a video shared on Twitter, TRT World journalist Yousuf Erim also appreciated the move and said: “Individuals, a Pakistani businessman walked into the Turkish embassy in the United States and anonymously donated $30 million by himself. We don’t know who he is. His identity has not been revealed.”

    Mustafa Tanyeri — who is the editor-in-chief of The Election Post — said Turkey’s Ambassador to Washington Murat Mercan said that a Pakistani businessman alone contributed $30 million to the aid campaign launched in the US.

    This was also reported by TRT World’s reporter Jaffar Hasnain.

    PM Shehbaz on Friday announced that the federal government has allocated Rs10 billion to help Turkey’s earthquake relief efforts, saying that Pakistan will continue to assist the calamity-hit country every day.

    “I believe that the people of Turkey and Syria will come out of this difficulty,” he said, adding that Pakistan assured Turkey of assistance the day when this tragedy took place.

    “A Pakistan Army team was sent the day when the earthquake hit Turkey and the dispatching of the relief goods has begun,” he continued.

    He said that goods weighing 100 tonnes are being sent to Turkey in a truck.

    The prime minister urged the people, welfare organisations and businessmen to take part in the fund collection drive. He also requested the chief ministers to help in this regard.

    “A committee has been formed to send funds to Turkey. 1,486 tonnes of relief goods are being sent to Turkey and Syria,” he added.

    The premier said that 13 centres have been established in Pakistan for the collection of funds, adding that donations will also be collected in educational institutions across the country.

    Meanwhile, International aid was also trickling into parts of Turkey and Syria on Saturday where rescuers toiled to pull children from rubble in quake-hit areas.

    A winter freeze in the affected areas has hurt rescue efforts and compounded the suffering of millions of people, many in desperate need of aid.

    At least 870,000 people urgently needed food in the two countries after the quake, which has left up to 5.3 million people homeless in Syria alone, the UN warned.

    Aftershocks following Monday’s 7.8-magnitude tremor have added to the death toll and further upended the lives of survivors.

    The United Nations World Food Programme appealed for $77 million to provide food rations to at least 590,000 newly displaced people in Turkey and 284,000 in Syria.

    Of those, 545,000 were internally displaced people and 45,000 were refugees, it said.

  • FG Sympathizes with Turkey Over Earthquake Disaster

    FG Sympathizes with Turkey Over Earthquake Disaster

    By Joyce Remi-Babayeju

    The The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq on behalf of the Government of Nigeria has commiserated with the Turkish Government over the earthquake disaster which occurred in the country on Monday.

    Farouq who paid a condolence visit to the Turkish Ambassador to Nigeria H. E. Hidayet Bayraktar on Friday described the earthquake and its aftermath as devastating and prayed for God’s strength in their trying time.

    “We received with sadness, the news of the devastating earthquake in your country. On behalf of the Federal government, we are here to commiserate with you in this trying time. It is a natural disaster and unforeseen. We pray that families of the victims affected by the earthquake and especially those of the dead will find strength to bear the loss. This is very sad and devastating.’

    “The President , His Excellency President Muhammadu Buhari sends his condolences and prayers at this time. Once again, accept our condolences as we pray for the peaceful repose of lives lost in the disaster.”

    Ambassador of Turkey to Nigeria, His Excellency Hidayet Bayraktar, appreciated the government of Nigeria and the Minister for their condolences and prayed for continued peaceful collaborations between the two countries.

    The Minister was accompanied on the cindolence visit by the Permanent Secretary, Dr Nasir Sani Gwarzo and other management staff on the ministry.

  • Earthquake: Death Toll Exceeds 7,800 in Turkey, Syria

    Earthquake: Death Toll Exceeds 7,800 in Turkey, Syria

    Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday declared a state of emergency in 10 provinces devastated by two earthquakes that killed more than 7,800 people and left a trail of destruction across a wide area of southern Turkey and neighbouring Syria.

    A day after the quakes hit, rescuers working in harsh conditions struggled to dig people out of the rubble of collapsed buildings.

    As the scale of the disaster became ever more apparent, the death toll looked likely to rise considerably. One United Nations official said it was feared thousands of children may have been killed.

    And residents in several damaged Turkish cities voiced anger and despair at what they said was a slow and inadequate response from the authorities to the deadliest earthquake to hit Turkey since 1999.

    “There is not even a single person here. We are under the snow, without a home, without anything,” said Murat Alinak, whose home in Malatya had collapsed and whose relatives are missing. “What shall I do, where can I go?”

    Monday’s magnitude 7.8 quake, followed hours later by a second one almost as powerful, toppled thousands of buildings including hospitals, schools and apartment blocks.

    Tens of thousands of people were injured or left homeless in cities in Turkey and northern Syria.

    Winter weather has hampered rescue and relief efforts and made the plight of the homeless even more miserable. Some areas were without fuel and electricity.

    Aid officials voiced particular concern about the situation in Syria, already afflicted by a humanitarian crisis after nearly 12 years of civil war.

    The death toll in Turkey rose to 5,434, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said, adding that 31,777 people were injured. In Syria, the toll was at least 1,832, according to the government and a rescue service in the insurgent-held northwest.

    Erdogan on Tuesday declared 10 Turkish provinces a disaster zone and imposed a state of emergency there for three months. This will permit the government to bypass parliament in enacting new laws and to limit or suspend rights and freedoms.

    The government will open up hotels in the tourism hub of Antalya to temporarily house people impacted by the quakes, said Erdogan, who faces a national election in three months’ time. (Reuters)

  • Death Toll Rise to Over 4,300 As Tragic Earthquake Rocks Turkey, Syria

    Death Toll Rise to Over 4,300 As Tragic Earthquake Rocks Turkey, Syria

    Rescuers in Turkey and Syria worked overnight and in near-freezing temperatures to comb through rubble in search of survivors after a powerful earthquake and aftershocks collapsed thousands of buildings, killed more than 4,300 people and raised the specter of a new humanitarian disaster in an area of the world already racked by war, a refugee crisis and deep economic troubles.

    The initial magnitude 7.8 earthquake hit at 4:17 a.m. local time on Monday, according to the United States Geological Survey, and was also felt in Cyprus, Egypt, Israel and Lebanon. Hundreds of aftershocks, including an unusually strong 7.5 magnitude tremor, struck Turkey in the aftermath, the U.S.G.S. said. The series of shocks was the deadliest to hit the country in more than 20 years.

    On both sides of the border, residents jolted out of sleep by the pre-dawn quake rushed outside on a cold, rainy and snowy winter night, as buildings were flattened and strong aftershocks continued.

    Rescue workers and residents in multiple cities searched for survivors, working through tangles of metal and giant piles of concrete. A hospital in Turkey collapsed and patients, including newborns, were evacuated from a handful of facilities in Syria.

    In the Turkish city of Adana, one resident said three buildings near his home collapsed. “I don’t have the strength anymore,” one survivor could be heard calling out from beneath the rubble as rescue workers tried to reach him, said the resident, journalism student Muhammet Fatih Yavus.

    Farther east in Diyarbakir, cranes and rescue teams rushed people on stretchers out of a mountain of pancaked concrete floors that was once an apartment building.

    The quake, felt as far away as Cairo, was centered north of Gaziantep, a Turkish provincial capital.

    It struck a region that has been shaped on both sides of the border by more than a decade of civil war in Syria. On the Syrian side, the swath affected is divided between government-held territory and the country’s last opposition-held enclave, which is surrounded by Russian-backed government forces. Turkey, meanwhile, is home to millions of refugees from that conflict.

    The opposition-held regions in Syria are packed with some 4 million people displaced from other parts of the country by the fighting. Many of them live in buildings that are already wrecked from past bombardments. Hundreds of families remained trapped in rubble, the opposition emergency organization, called the White Helmets, said in a statement.

    Strained health facilities and hospitals were quickly filled with wounded, rescue workers said. Others had to be emptied, including a maternity hospital, according to the SAMS medical organization.

    “We fear that the deaths are in the hundreds,” Muheeb Qaddour, a doctor, said by phone from the town of Atmeh.

    Turkey sits on top of major fault lines and is frequently shaken by earthquakes. Some 18,000 were killed in powerful earthquakes that hit northwest Turkey in 1999. The U.S. Geological Survey measured Monday’s quake at 7.8. At least 20 aftershocks followed, some hours later during daylight, the strongest measuring 6.6, Turkish authorities said.

    Buildings were reported collapsed in a wide area extending from Syria’s cities of Aleppo and Hama to Turkey’s Diyarbakir, more than 330 kilometers (200 miles) to the northeast. Nearly 900 buildings were destroyed in Turkey’s Gaziantep and Kahramanmaras provinces, said Vice President Fuat Oktay. A hospital collapsed in the Mediterranean coastal city of Iskanderoun, but casualties were not immediately known, he said.

    “Unfortunately, at the same time, we are also struggling with extremely severe weather conditions,” Oktay told reporters. Nearly 2,800 search and rescue teams have been deployed in the disaster-stricken areas, he said.

    “We hope that we will get through this disaster together as soon as possible and with the least damage,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wrote on Twitter.

    Countries from Taiwan to Russia to Germany offered to send help, whether medical supplies, search teams or money.

    In Turkey, people trying to leave the quake-stricken regions caused traffic jams, hampering efforts of emergency teams trying to reach the affected areas. Authorities urged residents not to take to the roads. Mosques around the region were being opened up as a shelter for people unable to return to damaged homes amid temperatures that hovered around freezing.

    The quake heavily damaged Gaziantep’s most famed landmark, its historic castle perched atop a hill in the center of the city. Parts of the fortresses’ walls and watch towers were leveled and other parts heavily damaged, images from the city showed.

    In Diyarbakir, hundreds of rescue workers and civilians formed lines across a mountain of wreckage, passing down broken concrete pieces, household belongings and other debris as they searched for trapped survivors while excavators dug through the rubble below.

  • NCPC promises to explore more Holy Sites in Turkey

    NCPC promises to explore more Holy Sites in Turkey

    By Joyce Remi-Babayeju

    The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission NCPC, Rev. Yakubu Pam has promised that NCPC would explore more Holy Sites in Turkey.

    Rev. Pam made the promise during a courtesy call by the Turkish Afrosume International Tour Operators yesterday at the NCPC corporate headquarters in Abuja.

    He emphasized that the Pilgrims Commission Act empowers it to explore Holy sites around the world.
    He said, “the Commission is saddled with the responsibility of coordinating and superintending Christian pilgrimage activities in Nigeria to Holy sites around the world and NCPC has successfully explored and carried out Pilgrimages in many Holy sites and look forward to doing more.”

    He disclosed that the Commission explored the Kingdom of Jordan last year.
    “We are into exploration of new holy sites around the world, we did it with Jordan, it was successful, Jordan is now part of pilgrimage programme of the Commission” he added “ Turkey is next, we are happy we have started the process of exploration of new holy sites in Turkey.”

    The NCPC Scribe confirmed that Turkey has holy sites that Nigerian Christians would love to explore such as the Church in Antioch where Christians were first called Christian, the house of Apostle Paul, the history of the seven churches and most of the book of Revelation was in Turkey.
    Rev. Pam commended the diplomatic relationship between Turkey has with Nigeria and he believes that the relationship will further be strengthened by Pilgrimage and Tourism between the two countries.
    Leader of the Turkish delegation Ms. Idil Saguni said they were in the Commission as a follow up visit to further strengthen and continue the process that had earlier started while the Executive Secretary was in Turkey and to also look at the possibility of NCPC coordinating a pilgrimage to Turkey.
    Saguni affirmed the safety of the pilgrims , adding that her group is one of the known largest tour operators in Turkey.

  • Zelensky says Turkey ready to become Guarantor of Ukraine’s security

    Zelensky says Turkey ready to become Guarantor of Ukraine’s security

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted that he had discussed steps toward peace in Ukraine with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

    During the conversation, Zelensky noted the high level of organisation in negotiations of Ukrainian and Russian delegations in Istanbul.

    The Ukrainian leader said he appreciates the readiness of Turkey to become a guarantor of Ukraine’s security.

    Ukraine and Russia concluded their fresh round of face-to-face peace talks in the Turkish city of Istanbul on Tuesday.

    At the negotiations, Kiev proposed to sign a new international treaty on security guarantees, which enshrines obligations for the guarantor countries to provide Ukraine with military assistance in the event of an attack.

  • Nigeria, Turkey To Strengthen Security And Defence Ties – Buhari

    Nigeria, Turkey To Strengthen Security And Defence Ties – Buhari

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday said Nigeria will partner with the Republic of Turkey in dealing with the current security challenges facing the nation.

    According to the presidency, this is in furtherance of sustained efforts at keeping Nigerians safer.

    Speaking at a bilateral meeting with Recep Tayyip Erdogan, his Turkish counterpart shortly before the official commencement of the 3rd Turkey-Africa Partnership Summit in Istanbul, President Buhari acknowledged that Turkey had garnered a lot of experience dealing with security challenges of various kinds and Nigeria will latch onto that experience.

    President Buhari said: “Turkey has practical experience dealing with challenges over the years and Nigeria stands to gain from that.”

    Giving assurances that the relationship between the two states will continue to grow for the mutual benefits of both countries, President Buhari said he was pleased with the Turkish offer of support in the area of security and peace in Nigeria.

    “I wish to express my appreciation for the special invitation for this meeting and to express my happiness with your offer of assistance in dealing with the challenges facing us.

    ‘‘I await the reports of officials and the ministers as they hold meetings with their counterparts. I assure you that I will endorse all their positive recommendations,” President Buhari assured Erdogan.

    Earlier, the Turkish leader said that he was happy to receive President Buhari shortly after he paid an official visit to Nigeria.

    “Turkey understands the challenges facing Nigeria and its needs, and we are ready to assist you to meet those needs especially in the area of defence.

    ‘‘I am happy Nigeria is stepping up cooperation with other nations in areas of defence and health, and we are ready to cooperate with you on these areas and more,” said President Erdogan.

    Turkey, which has growing recognition in the world as a military power and had successes to show in Iraq, Syria, Libya and lately Azerbaijan said it welcomed the Nigerian government’s decision to buy naval ships from their shipyard, noting that discussions are ongoing on how to strengthen the capacity of the Defence Industries Corporation (DICON) in Kaduna in line with an agreement signed during President Erdogan’s last State Visit.