Author: Cemil Aydin

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced the successful culmination of Operation Cage-18, a coordinated anti-crime initiative conducted across 37 provinces that resulted in the dismantling of 39 national and international organized crime syndicates, with 257 suspects apprehended. Taking to his social media, Yerlikaya reaffirmed the government’s unwavering commitment to ensuring public peace by dismantling criminal networks regardless of their scale or influence. “Operation Cage-18, executed simultaneously in 37 provinces, led to the dismantling of 39 organized crime structures, including nine national and local crime groups and 30 criminal factions aiding these organizations by providing weapons and other resources,” stated Minister Yerlikaya.…

Yemen’s Houthi militia on Thursday claimed to have launched a batch of long-range ballistic missiles toward Israel in revenge for the Israeli attacks on the Palestinian enclave of Gaza Strip. The missiles were targeting various sensitive targets inside Israel, including the military bases in Eilat, Houthi military spokesman Yehya Sarea said in a statement aired by the group’s al-Masirah TV. “We will continue targeting Israel until it stops its aggression on Gaza,” the spokesman added. This is the sixth cross-border attack claimed by the Yemeni Houthi rebels since the Israel-Hamas conflict broke out on Oct. 7. On Wednesday, the Houthis…

The Israeli government’s 12-month budget deficit surged to 47.2 billion shekels (12.28 billion U.S. dollars), or 2.6 percent of its GDP, according to the country’s Finance Ministry on Wednesday. The deficit figure, which refers to the period between November 2022 and October 2023, was affected by the Israel-Hamas conflict broke out on Oct. 7, compared to the 27.4-billion-shekel 12-month deficit reported a month ago. For a year-over-year comparison, the Israeli budget recorded a surplus of 8 billion shekels between November 2021 and October 2022. In October alone, Israel’s monthly budget expenditures increased by 32.3 percent year-on-year to 54.9 billion shekels,…

As a permanent member of the UN Security Council and a responsible member of the international community, China will continue to maintain close communication with relevant parties and do its utmost to protect civilians, ease the situation, resume peace talks and realize peace, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday. Spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the remarks at a regular press briefing when asked about China’s upcoming measures as the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict reached the one-month milestone on Tuesday. Noting one month may be a short period of time for most people, but the past month has been excruciatingly long…

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has highlighted the pressing need for institutional reforms within his ministry, asserting that such changes are crucial for enhancing the efficiency of Türkiye’s diplomatic efforts. During an address during the budget planning talks at the parliament on Nov. 21, Fidan emphasized the importance of specialization in diplomacy “Even with excellent diplomats, assembling them together may not necessarily result in outstanding diplomacy. Hence, there is a necessity for intensive institutional work – a continuous and systematic reform process,” he stated. Identifying a critical area requiring attention, Fidan spoke about what he termed as “the feeling of temporariness” that pervades within…

Another family has joined the protest against the PKK in front of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) headquarters in southeastern Diyarbakır province, which has been ongoing for 1,525 days. Ziyamet Altunbey joined the sit-in for her son Fırat who was abducted in Istanbul in 2014 at the age of 17. Saying that she could not contact her son since that day, Altunbey called on him to return and surrender to security forces. “I want my child from the HDP and PKK. Give me my son. I won’t leave here without my child,” the grieving mother said. Another mother, holding a…

Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said Sunday that the number of tourists visiting Antalya this year has exceeded 15 million, surpassing the figures for 2019, often dubbed as a “golden year” for a key sector of the Turkish economy. “Both income and the number of tourists are above the 2019 figures, which was the peak year for tourism before the pandemic. This is quite pleasing,” Ersoy told Anadolu Agency (AA). Ersoy, who was in the Mediterranean resort city for the last stop of the Culture Road Festival, noted that according to nine-month data for the tourism sector nationwide, revenue of…

Turkish citrus farmers and consumers find themselves trapped in a dilemma as the prices of fruits skyrocket from the orchard to the counter due to a complex web of factors, including labor costs, transportation and market dynamics. Burak Karabucak, the head of a citrus producers’ association in the southern province of Adana, lamented the stark difference in prices, revealing that tangerines, which sell for 3 to 5 Turkish Liras in orchards, can escalate to 20 to 30 liras in markets and grocery stores. Karabucak pointed to elevated expenses such as fuel, labor, packaging and transportation as major contributors to the surge. Faced with a record…

Former President Donald Trump is expanding his support in Florida as he seeks to bury the presidential ambitions of Gov. Ron DeSantis in their shared home state. Trump in recent days was endorsed by U.S. Sen. Rick Scott and state lawmaker Randy Fine, a longtime DeSantis ally who has advised him on Israel. He’d already secured the support of the majority of the state’s Republicans in Congress. And more Florida Republicans may soon follow. DeSantis is still a powerful governor who enacted policies long sought by conservatives and moved a traditional swing state increasingly to the right. But as the first nominating contests of…

Thousands of villagers in the mountains of northwestern Nepal slept outdoors Saturday night in the bitter cold after an earthquake killed at least 157 people and damaged or destroyed most homes. Most of the houses in villages in Jajarkot district either collapsed or were severely damaged by the sudden earthquake Friday night, while the few concrete houses in towns were also damaged. “We are waiting to cremate the bodies of our villagers and have been trying to take care of the people who were injured in the earthquake,” said Lal Bahadur Bika, a resident of Chiuri village, pointing to 13 bodies wrapped in white…