Turkiye investigates fatal explosion at munitions factory which killed 5

Update Turkiye investigates fatal explosion at munitions factory which killed 5
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Several ambulances and fire trucks were dispatched to area. (Aytuğ Can Sencar/Anadolu Agency)
Update Turkiye investigates fatal explosion at munitions factory which killed 5
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Several ambulances and fire trucks were dispatched to area. (Aytuğ Can Sencar/Anadolu Agency)
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Updated 10 June 2023
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Turkiye investigates fatal explosion at munitions factory which killed 5

Turkiye investigates fatal explosion at munitions factory which killed 5
  • Investigation launched into cause of explosion

ANKARA: Five people were killed in an explosion at a military factory in Ankara’s Elmadag district early on Saturday. 

The bodies of the victims have been recovered and judicial and administrative investigations into the cause of the explosion are underway. Vasip Sahin, the governor of Ankara province, said initial investigations suggest the blast was caused by a chemical reaction. 

According to the Turkish Ministry of Defense, the explosion occurred in the manufacturing unit of the Machinery and Chemical Industry Corporation (MKE), a subsidiary of the ministry. 

Fatal accidents have previously occurred at the factory, which produces rockets and explosives for the defense and interior ministries.

In 2018, Health and Safety Labor Watch (ISIG), a civil watchdog, issued a report about workplace fatalities at the factory after an explosion on May 24 that year left one worker dead and six others injured. The official investigation blamed the explosion on a technical fault, ruling out sabotage. ISIG criticized the factory for not having sufficient workplace security measures in place. 

On May 20, 2013, an explosion at the factory left two workers dead. 

Petrol-Is, Turkiye’s petroleum, chemical and rubber workers union, has long demanded improved working conditions at the same factory. Workers staged a three-day strike in November 2012 to draw the government’s attention to the situation.

In July 2013, Petrol-Is claimed there were serious issues with the factory, that its technological infrastructure had not been modernized, and that more explosions could occur. Work at the factory was temporarily halted at that time so improvements could be made. 


Lebanon education bosses move to ban book with Israeli flag on cover

Lebanon education bosses move to ban book with Israeli flag on cover
Updated 6 sec ago
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Lebanon education bosses move to ban book with Israeli flag on cover

Lebanon education bosses move to ban book with Israeli flag on cover
  • Legal measures planned against those who committed fraudulent copying, printing, and distortion of textbook

BEIRUT: The Lebanese Ministry of Education has warned schools in Lebanon against adopting copies of the book “National Education and Civic Upbringing” with the Israeli flag on its cover.

The book, which was reprinted by an unidentified publishing house for sale in the markets, had a picture of the UN building printed on its cover with the Israeli flag appearing among the flags of other countries.

The ministry monitored the copying and reprinting of textbooks issued by the Educational Center for Research and Development, including “National Education and Civic Upbringing.”

However, printing and distribution of official schools is restricted to the Educational Center for Research and Development based on the constitution and the Taif Agreement.

The press office of Education Minister Abbas Al-Halabi said that he had decided to take legal measures and prosecute “all those who committed fraudulent copying, printing, and distortion of the unified education textbook and violated the exclusive right of the Educational Center for Research and Development to reproduce the national textbook series.”

The minister called on the security authorities to take action to prevent this, which was mainly caused by the economic conditions, the decline in the value of the Lebanese pound against the dollar, and the failure of any company or publishing house to participate in the tenders designated for printing the national book.

Dr. Hiam Ishaq, head of the Educational Center for Research and Development, told Arab News that legal prosecutions had previously taken place against publishing houses that produced textbooks illegally some time ago, and warnings and rulings were implemented against them.

However, the owner of this publishing house repeated the violation — this time with a grave error related to the existence of an Israeli flag on the cover of the book.

The preparation of the textbook is subject to educational specifications stipulated in the documents of the Educational Center for Research and Development.

Dr. Ishaq said that the National Education textbook ranges from the first grade of basic education to the high school grade.

 “The National Educational Center for Research and Development announces tenders for applicants from publishing houses wishing to print the textbook and the Ministry of Education buys it from them,” Ishaq said.  

“But with the collapse of the Lebanese pound, and the fact that the state deals in the Lebanese pound only, no publishing houses applied this year to print the textbook.

“Previously, UNICEF printed textbooks for the past two years, but it informed us that this year it had no budget for this matter.

“It used to ask students in public schools who received textbooks for free to recycle them by giving them to students who would move to the same grade, with the exception of practical books that could not be recycled.

“In light of the chaos, publishing houses decided to print the textbooks and sell them, and this is against the law and violates intellectual property and the legal right to production.”

According to Ishaq, the National Educational Center for Research and Development is turning to the e-book for publication— a project that has moved to the application stage.

“The problem lies in the fact that not all public-school students have a device to use this application, and we may resort to a PDF version of the lessons required of the students.”

 


Aswan governorate launches tourism app for ‘the best winter resort in the world’

Aswan governorate launches tourism app for ‘the best winter resort in the world’
Updated 41 min 4 sec ago
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Aswan governorate launches tourism app for ‘the best winter resort in the world’

Aswan governorate launches tourism app for ‘the best winter resort in the world’
  • Attia claimed that Aswan is “one of the best governorates in the field of tourism, and the best winter resort in the world”
  • The new app, he explained, allows tourists to access “all necessary information, such as tourist places, hotels, and hospitals”

CAIRO: The Egyptian Governorate of Aswan in Upper Egypt has rolled out a new app to serve tourists.
According to Aswan Gov. Major General Ashraf Attia, the application been well-received so far. “It has significantly contributed to facilitating (tourists’) trips, saving both time and effort,” he said in a video published by the Information and Decision Support Center of the Council of Ministers and on his official Facebook page.
Attia claimed that Aswan is “one of the best governorates in the field of tourism, and the best winter resort in the world.”
The new app, he explained, allows tourists to access “all necessary information, such as tourist places, hotels, and hospitals.”
He continued: “The reaction we have received from tourists who have downloaded the application has been overwhelmingly positive, particularly during meetings with tourists in floating or fixed hotels, or during tours. The program has achieved great success.”
Bassem Halaqa, the head of the Tourism Workers Syndicate, highlighted the assistance the application has provided to Russian tourists, who currently make up the majority of visitors to Egypt, saying it had “significantly eased navigation” around Aswan.
“It underscores the importance of Russian tourists in supporting and revitalizing the tourism sector due to the close geographical proximity between Russia and Egypt, the availability of economical flights, and balanced prices for the services they receive,” he said.
Halaqa noted that Russia is cold for most of the year, and Egypt serves as a “warm haven” for Russian tourists.
“They particularly enjoy Aswan and the beaches of the Red Sea in Hurghada or Sharm El-Sheikh,” he said. “Some (like) to take day trips to visit the antiquities in Aswan and Luxor or travel to Cairo and Giza.”
Halaqa said that proposals to allow closed residential buildings to be converted into hotels are currently under consideration at the Ministry of Tourism. The initiative will focus not only on luxury tourism, but on two- and three-star accommodation as well, he added.


US exhibit of sphinx with African features angers Egyptian experts

US exhibit of sphinx with African features angers Egyptian experts
Updated 48 min 1 sec ago
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US exhibit of sphinx with African features angers Egyptian experts

US exhibit of sphinx with African features angers Egyptian experts
  • An exhibition at the Leiden Museum in the Netherlands recently caused a stir by linking hip-hop music with pharaonic coffins and statues, aiming to show the influence of ancient Egypt on artists of African descent

CAIRO: A statue of a sphinx featuring a head with African characteristics has sparked anger in Egypt after it was placed on display at a leading US museum.

The installation, crafted by American artist and activist Lauren Halsey, is on show at the Metropolitan Museum in New York as part of an exhibit that opened in April 2023 and is due to close in October.

Leading Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass described the sculpture as “a distortion of history and a complete falsification.”

“It is a shame that the museum, which is well-versed in the history of Egypt, allowed its trustees to carry out this farce,” he told Arab News.

Mahmoud Darwish, professor of archaeology at Minya University, said: “Unfortunately, there has been no move to address the controversy.”

The 36-year-old Halsey plans to display the artwork at various locations in the US, Darwish added.

Hussein Dakil, an archaeology expert, said the controversy raises questions about the “cloning” of ancient artifacts.

He said the practice violates Egyptian law, but cannot be enforced internationally.

However, Dakil said that international agreements such as the 1972 UNESCO World Heritage Convention could offer a framework for resolving such issues.

“Countries, including Egypt, can demand compliance with the UNESCO convention, offering a potential solution for removing and preventing such replicas,” he said.

This is not the first time that the intersection of contemporary culture and ancient Egyptian artifacts has raised eyebrows.

An exhibition at the Leiden Museum in the Netherlands recently caused a stir by linking hip-hop music with pharaonic coffins and statues, aiming to show the influence of ancient Egypt on artists of African descent.

Photos of Beyonce as Queen Nefertiti and a video of Rihanna dancing in front of the pyramids have also sparked a backlash.

The latest controversy comes on the heels of a Netflix documentary about Cleopatra featuring a dark-skinned actress in the title role.

The Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities condemned the casting, saying that Cleopatra was “light-skinned with Greek features,” and criticized the film as an attempt to endorse an “Afrocentric” perspective.

 

 


Lawsuit filed to halt Mubarak sons from contesting elections

Lawsuit filed to halt Mubarak sons from contesting elections
Updated 51 min 46 sec ago
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Lawsuit filed to halt Mubarak sons from contesting elections

Lawsuit filed to halt Mubarak sons from contesting elections
  • The lawsuit accuses them of illicit gains, and seeks the recovery of smuggled funds from across the world
  • Apart from preventing their candidacy, Ismail’s legal action calls for the recovery of funds that have allegedly been smuggled abroad

CAIRO: Abdel Salam Ibrahim Ismail, director of the National Center for Citizenship and Human Rights Support, has filed a lawsuit aimed at preventing Alaa and Gamal Mubarak, the sons of Egypt’s late President Hosni Mubarak, from running for any high-ranking office in the country.
The lawsuit accuses them of illicit gains, and seeks the recovery of smuggled funds from across the world.
Ismail said that he filed an urgent lawsuit in which he demanded the cancelation of the justice minister’s decision to refuse to open a probe against Mubarak’s sons, in accordance with Article 44 of Law 20 of 1977.
Apart from preventing their candidacy, Ismail’s legal action calls for the recovery of funds that have allegedly been smuggled abroad.
He said that these funds belong to the Egyptian people and should be reclaimed, whether they are in the form of real estate, liquid assets or deposits in Egyptian or foreign banks.
Ismail added that these funds should be handed over to the Ministry of Finance to contribute to the state’s general treasury.
He said his lawsuit is driven by a sense of responsibility toward safeguarding the Egyptian people’s money.
“This request of mine has nothing to do with the approaching presidential elections in 2024, but rather a citizen’s care for the Egyptian people’s money that was plundered by symbols of Mubarak’s state,” Ismail said.
However, Ammar Ali Hassan, a researcher in political sociology, raised doubts in a post on X, pointing out that neither Alaa nor Gamal Mubarak had applied for any political positions.
“What would happen if the court permitted them to run for office, potentially opening the door to their political participation,” he said.
The legal saga traces its roots back to May 2015 when an Egyptian court sentenced Mubarak and his sons to three years in prison.
They were also fined about 126 million Egyptian pounds ($4 million) and ordered to return about 21 million Egyptian pounds.
This ruling followed their conviction for embezzling public funds in the widely known “presidential palaces” case.
The court of cassation upheld the ruling, making it final in January 2016.
A legal expert, who chose anonymity, highlighted the complexities in the case.
He said Law 22 of 2014, enacted during the era of interim President Adly Mansour, stipulates that anyone running for the presidency must not have been convicted of a felony or a crime against honor or trust, even if their reputation has been restored. The interpretation of this law remains a point of contention among legal experts.


Turkish authorities warn unregistered Syrians to leave Istanbul

Turkish authorities warn unregistered Syrians to leave Istanbul
Updated 55 min 18 sec ago
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Turkish authorities warn unregistered Syrians to leave Istanbul

Turkish authorities warn unregistered Syrians to leave Istanbul
  • The government needs ‘new strategy because current harmonization plan not paying off,’ analyst says

ANKARA: Against a backdrop of increasing anti-migrant sentiment in Turkiye, the Ministry of Interior has instructed unregistered Syrian residents of Istanbul that, unless they leave the city by Sunday Sept. 24, they will face “severe sanctions.” Syrians who had previously registered in other Turkish provinces are required to return to their original places of registration.

In recent months, Turkish authorities have intensified their efforts to crack down on illegal migrants in Istanbul, which currently hosts more than 500,000 Syrian refugees, the most of any city in Turkiye. Many of the refugees were registered in locations outside of Istanbul, but came to the city in search of employment.

Syrians who fled the provinces in which they were registered after the devastating earthquake in February and were subsequently granted travel permits to Istanbul are exempt from the ministry’s orders.

Sinem Adar, an associate at the Center for Applied Turkey Studies in the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, noted that similar restrictive measures have been imposed in the past.

“In 2019, the Ministry of Interior told Syrian refugees who were not registered in Istanbul to return to the districts where they were initially registered,” she told Arab News. “The fact that a similar measure is now being implemented — four years later — is a sign that the earlier efforts were not successful.”

As of Sept. 14, Turkiye is home to approximately 3.2 million Syrians with temporary protection permits, down 19,100 from the previous month’s figures.

According to Adar, public pressure and its own policies mean Turkiye’s ruling government is keen to repatriate at least some of the Syrian refugees as soon as possible.

“Ankara has been trying to create a safe zone in Northern Syria,” Adar says, “while also attempting to foster a reconciliation with Bashar Assad.”

Turkish President Recep Erdogan promised ahead of elections back in May that he would repatriate a million Syrian refugees. He has also unveiled plans for the development of new residential, agricultural and industrial projects — financed by Qatar — in northwest Syria, where Turkish troops are stationed, to accommodate the resettlement of Syrian refugees from Turkiye over the next three years.

This initiative — dubbed “The Aleppo Model” — will also encourage businesses in Turkish provinces bordering Syria to engage in commercial activities within Syrian safe zones, thereby generating employment opportunities for local residents. However, progress remains sluggish due to the protracted reconciliation process between Ankara and Damascus.

“Unfortunately, a Syrian’s fate relies on procedural arbitrariness,” Omar Kadkoy, a migration policy analyst at Ankara-based think tank TEPAV, told Arab News. “The mere fact that a documented Syrian is present in a province other than that (in which they were initially registered) does not constitute sufficient grounds for deportation (in either) domestic or international law. The authorities, however, could arbitrarily link one’s presence outside the province of registration to other activities, like being a threat to the public, for which deportation could qualify as a legal procedure. So, an apprehended Syrian relies on luck instead of rule of law to appeal the decision.”

Official statistics show that around 554,000 Syrian refugees have returned to their homeland voluntarily, but Adar said it is difficult to discern whether they all truly chose to return, as there have been allegations of refugees being pressured to sign up for “voluntary” return, as well as reports of increased deportations. “Forced return cannot be excluded,” she said.

As many in Turkiye grow increasingly resentful of the large number of refugees in the country amid its ongoing economic crisis, Syrian refugees are once again being made scapegoats by nationalist campaigns ahead of local elections in March 2024. “Gitmeliler” (They Should Go) has been trending on social media site X.

According to analyst Kadkoy, this is a recurring theme. Similar events occurred before the local elections in 2019, he noted.

“The public are living through the effects of unorthodox monetary policy, the pandemic and the recent earthquake on the economy, and blame Syrians for the economic woes,” he said.

The government, in response, “tightens measures against Syrians as a quick relief. This is insufficient and unsustainable,” he continued.

“The local elections are six months away. We are likely to see similar measures in other provinces as well. These measures are short-term fixes.”

He said the government “must seriously discuss and work on a new strategy because the current harmonization plan is not paying off.”

The analyst added: “This is particularly important since the prospects of large-scale voluntary repatriation are rather low without political transition in Syria.”

Adar underscored the delicate balancing act the ruling Justice and Development Party faces as it attempts to address societal discontent by returning some refugees to Syria while maintaining harmonious relations with Turkiye’s Arab population.

Several Turkish journalists and a number of other citizens have been detained recently for their anti-refugee social media posts, accused of inciting hatred and hate speech. Three journalists were arrested on Saturday morning.

“Ramping up measures against Syrian refugees while simultaneously punishing anti-refugee views is a strategy aimed at appealing to various interests,” Adar said.

The recent serious assault of Kuwaiti tourist Mohammed Al-Ajmi in the northeastern city of Trabzon, which left him comatose with four broken teeth, was a reminder of rising anti-Arab sentiment in the country, stoked by the influx of Syrian refugees.