A group of Syrian orphan children in southeastern Turkey donated their savings to help flood and forest fire victims in the country. 

Zainab al-Tahhan, 5, one of the Syrian orphans in Sanliurfa province, brought her penny bank to the Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) in order to support the Turkish people who suffered from the recent fire and flood disasters.

Another nine children staying at the Damascus Orphanage in Sanliurfa were impressed by al-Tahhan's exemplary behavior and donated their savings to the foundation.

Nearly 2,000 Turkish liras (around $236) from their penny banks were sent to the victims by the foundation officials.

-Get well soon, Turkey

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, another donor, Dujana Bunni, said he was very upset when he saw the fire and flood news on television.

Expressing that he wanted to do a small favor for the Turkish people who have been supporting them for years, Bunni said: "I sent my penny bank through the foundation to help people affected by the fires and floods. Get well soon, Turkey."

Behcet Atila, head of IHH Sanliurfa, thanked the children for their support and contributions.

Atila added that this move made them very emotional and happy.

Floods caused by heavy rains hit the region in the north on Wednesday, leaving 48 people dead in the province of Kastamonu.

Meanwhile, the country battled forest fires in the south in a short time, and they are now under control.

At least eight people have been killed, according to official figures, since fires started in southern and southwestern Turkey on July 28.

Turkey currently hosts nearly 4 million Syrians, making it the top refugee hosting country in the world. It is also providing protection and humanitarian assistance to nearly 6 million people in northern Syria./aa

A court in Bosnia and Herzegovina sentenced former Serb soldier Rade Garic to 20 years in prison Monday for committing war crimes during the 1990s. 

The court in the capital Sarajevo said that Garic, as a member of the Republika Srpska Army (VRS), was involved in the murder, detention, torture, rape and exile of Bosniak civilians in Vlasenica in 1992.

It also said that Garic took an active role in the army’s systematic attacks in Srebrenica, where more than 8,000 Bosniak men were brutally murdered in July 1995.

Garic's trial began in October 2018. 

Srebrenica genocide

More than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were killed when Bosnian Serb forces attacked Srebrenica in July 1995, despite the presence of Dutch peacekeeping troops.

The Serb forces were trying to wrest territory from Bosnian Muslims and Croats to form a state.

In the spring of 1993, the UN Security Council declared Srebrenica a “safe area.” However, troops led by Gen. Ratko Mladic, who was later found guilty of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, overran the UN zone.

Dutch troops failed to act as Serb forces occupied the area, killing some 2,000 men and boys on July 11 alone.

About 15,000 residents of Srebrenica fled to the surrounding mountains, but Serb troops hunted down and killed 6,000 more people.

Bodies of victims have been found in 570 different places in the country.

In 2007, the International Court of Justice in The Hague ruled that genocide had been committed in Srebrenica.

On June 8, 2021, UN tribunal judges upheld a verdict sentencing Mladic to life in prison for genocide, crimes against humanity, extermination, and other war crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina./agencies

Anticipating a major influx of irregular migrants from the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan, European states will establish an “initiative with transit countries” to protect their arrival on the continent, the French president announced Monday.

As common Afghans scrambled towards safety and chaotic scenes emerged from the tarmac of Kabul airport a day after the Taliban seized control of the capital city, Emmanuel Macron said Europe needs to protect itself from irregular migrants.

Terming the events a “historic turning point” in a televised speech after chairing a special defense council meeting on Afghanistan earlier in the day, Macron said the current destabilization of security poses a risk of causing an “influx of irregular migratory flows into Europe.”

While observing that Afghans face “terrible and immense challenges in the coming weeks and months,” Macron said “eventually the fate of Afghanistan is in her hands” and France will remain in solidarity alongside Afghan women.

While France is doing and will continue to do its duty to protect those who are most threatened, he noted that Europe also needs to “anticipate and protect” against “significant irregular migratory flows that would endanger those who use them and feed trafficking of all kinds.”

Following talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other European heads of state, Macron announced a new initiative that must be built urgently to “fight against irregular flows, [achieve] solidarity in the effort, the harmonization of protection criteria, and the establishment of cooperation with transit and host countries like Pakistan, Iran and Turkey."

Macron received harsh criticism following his remarks and was compared to far-right leader Marine Le Pen and her anti-immigrant stand. A #EmmanuelLePen hashtag became trending on French Twitter.

Later, Macron defended himself by saying his statements on Afghanistan were falsified.

"France is doing and will continue to do its duty to protect those who are most threatened," he tweeted.

The neighboring countries of Pakistan and Iran are already hosting major refugee populations, a consequence of over four decades of conflict in Afghanistan.

The exact details of the mechanism are likely to be announced in the coming days. The European Union in 2016 struck a similar deal with Turkey in the aftermath of the conflict in Syria to ensure that refugees do not flood European territory. Under the agreement, Ankara was paid 6 billion euros in aid to limit new migratory routes from opening, prevent the number of asylum seekers and irregular migrants from attempting to enter Europe and resettle Syrian refugees.

Macron noted that terrorist groups continue to remain present in Afghanistan, seeking to take advantage of the destabilization. He warned that it should not once again become the sanctuary of terrorism that it was. He added that France will continue to actively fight against Islamist terrorism under all circumstances and will coordinate and cooperate with Russia, the US and Europe for international peace, stability and fight against a common enemy of terrorism./agencies

France's controversial "anti-separatism" law, which has been criticized for singling out Muslims, will allow the state more leeway to target Muslims, a French journalist Fateh Kimouche warned on Monday.

Kimouche, the founder of the Al Kanz website, which focuses on Islam and Muslim-related issues, alleged that French President Emmanuel Macron is suffering from an "Islamophobic fallacy," in which he is unable to distinguish between terrorists and Muslims.

Talking to Anadolu Agency, he opined that Macron opted to punish Islam after a series of terror incidents carried out by Daesh/ISIS terrorists in the country, stressing that the law is designed to confront Muslims, not terrorists.

He drew attention to the law, which has resulted in an upsurge in Islamophobic discourse in the mainstream media and on social media, as well as the smearing of writings on mosque walls and mayors dismissing imams (prayer leaders).

Furthermore, Kimouche added, “now, the state has a free space to attack any Muslim, any Muslim-operated business or religious institutions under the pretext of respect to the republican principles, which based on equivocal principles.”

Underlining that many international media outlets including Financial Times and New York Times, and organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW) have heavily criticized the law, he noted that the reactions on the law further angered Macron.

Anti-separatism law

The bill was passed by the National Assembly last month, despite strong opposition from both rightist and leftist lawmakers.

The government claims that the legislation is intended to strengthen France's secular system, but critics believe that it restricts religious freedom and marginalizes Muslims.

The bill has been criticized for targeting France's Muslim community – the largest in Europe, with 3.35 million members – and imposing restrictions on many aspects of its members' lives.

The law allows officials to intervene in mosques and associations responsible for their administration, as well as control the finances of Muslim-affiliated associations and NGOs.

It also restricts the educational choices of Muslims by making home schooling subject to official permission.

Under the law, patients are prohibited from choosing their doctors based on gender for religious or other reasons, and "secularism education" has been made compulsory for all civil servants.

France has been criticized by international organizations and NGOs, especially the UN, for targeting and marginalizing Muslims with the law./agencies