Author: Daily Sabah With Agencies
A helicopter crash occurred this morning at Muğla Training and Research Hospital in southwestern Türkiye, claiming the lives of four health care personnel. The incident happened around 10 a.m. when an air ambulance helicopter, operated under the Ministry of Health, collided with the top floor of the hospital building during takeoff. Following the impact, the helicopter plummeted into an adjacent vacant area. The helicopter, which had been stationed in Muğla for official duties, was unable to take off the previous day due to adverse weather conditions. This morning, it attempted to depart for Antalya but encountered heavy fog shortly after…
A helicopter crash occurred this morning at Muğla Training and Research Hospital in southwestern Türkiye, claiming the lives of four health care personnel. The incident happened around 10 a.m. when an air ambulance helicopter, operated under the Ministry of Health, collided with the top floor of the hospital building during takeoff. Following the impact, the helicopter plummeted into an adjacent vacant area. The helicopter, which had been stationed in Muğla for official duties, was unable to take off the previous day due to adverse weather conditions. This morning, it attempted to depart for Antalya but encountered heavy fog shortly after…
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan held a meeting with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock in Ankara on Friday. While the Turkish Foreign Ministry did not provide details of the meeting, Germany’s Federal Foreign Office had earlier indicated that discussions would focus on the Syrian peace process. During her visit to Türkiye, Baerbock is accompanied by Tobias Lindner, minister of state, and the Federal Foreign Office’s special coordinator for Syria. Fidan also separately received Tom Fletcher, the U.N. under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, in the Turkish capital. No further details were provided. Türkiye and Germany have been at odds…
Türkiye will not abandon Syria in its transition process following the ouster of Bashar Assad and help its new rulers build a new administration, including improving ties in trade, energy and defense, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said. Speaking to reporters on a return flight from a D-8 meeting in Egypt, Erdoğan also said that Türkiye would support the new Syrian leadership in the fight against terrorist organizations. Türkiye views the YPG as the Syrian offshoot of the PKK, a terror group that has waged a decadeslong terror campaign on Turkish soil, killing at least 40,000 people. But Washington insists the…
Türkiye expects Syria’s new rulers and the PKK/YPG to reach an agreement “among themselves” for the terrorist group’s exit from the northern territories, according to Defense Minister Yaşar Güler. “The PKK/YPG is resisting leaving Ain al-Arab and carrying out attacks in the Hasakah region. The new administration is advising the terrorist group to lay down arms and leave Raqqa and Taqba,” Güler said Thursday at a parliamentary budget meeting in the capital, Ankara. He said Ankara believes the PKK/YPG will leave Sirrin and Ain al-Arab, also known as Kobani, to the new administration in Damascus without disturbing the citizens or…
Türkiye’s border crossings with Syria are unusually busy nowadays in the aftermath of the fall of the oppressive Assad regime in the country’s southern neighbor. A festive mood is ubiquitous among refugees hauling luggage as migration authority clerks process their paperwork for crossings. Some are worried about the situation in the country, which was challenged by more than a decade of war that impacted the economy and left infrastructure in ruins in places. Still, returns gather pace with people eager to reunite with their friends, families and, most importantly, the homes where they were born. So far, more than 7,000…
Türkiye trusts the Syrian National Army (SNA) will eliminate the PKK terrorist group’s Syrian wing YPG in northern Syria after the overthrow of Bashar Assad’s regime earlier this month, a Turkish Defense Ministry official said Thursday. “Our preparations and precautions as part of the fight against terrorism will continue until the PKK/YPG lays down its arms and its foreign fighters leave Syria,” the official, who was speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters in the capital, Ankara. Since 2016, Türkiye has mounted four military operations in northern Syria, citing national security threats. Media reports this week claimed a Turkish assault…
European Union countries and the United States are looking to pressure Türkiye to safeguard the PKK terrorist group’s Syrian wing YPG, their “partner” against Daesh, as the fall of the Assad regime worries the terrorist group, now cornered in the northeast. France is working to find an arrangement between Türkiye and the PKK/YPG in northeastern Syria, its foreign minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, said Wednesday, adding that the YPG had to be part of any political transition process in a new Damascus government. “We are convinced that it is possible to find an arrangement that satisfies the interests of everyone. We are…
Thick fog blanketed various regions of Türkiye on Tuesday, causing disruptions to transportation, reducing visibility and creating picturesque scenes in several cities. Authorities issued warnings to drivers and implemented temporary traffic restrictions to ensure safety. In Istanbul, heavy fog in the Bosporus led to the suspension of maritime traffic in both directions. The General Directorate of Coastal Safety announced the temporary halt of transit ship movements due to limited visibility. In Ankara, dense fog reduced visibility significantly, particularly in elevated areas. Drivers struggled to navigate, maintaining safe distances on the roads. Meteorology officials cautioned residents about frost and persistent fog…
Thick fog blanketed various regions of Türkiye on Tuesday, causing disruptions to transportation, reducing visibility and creating picturesque scenes in several cities. Authorities issued warnings to drivers and implemented temporary traffic restrictions to ensure safety. In Istanbul, heavy fog in the Bosporus led to the suspension of maritime traffic in both directions. The General Directorate of Coastal Safety announced the temporary halt of transit ship movements due to limited visibility. In Ankara, dense fog reduced visibility significantly, particularly in elevated areas. Drivers struggled to navigate, maintaining safe distances on the roads. Meteorology officials cautioned residents about frost and persistent fog…