Turkey strongly criticized on Friday "unfounded" assumptions in the US State Department's recently published 2021 Trafficking in Persons report. 

A Foreign Ministry statement said the document confirms Turkey's increased battle against human trafficking.

The ministry criticized "allegations made by some NGO reports, which are of dubious reliability" and based on "unfounded assumptions."

"Turkey makes every effort to prevent human trafficking, punish criminals and protect victims of crime," said the statement, while citing the country's Human Rights Action Plan.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced March 2 the human rights plan, unveiling 11 principles set to be carried out during the course of two years.

It is designed as a "broad-based" plan to strengthen rights protections, individual freedoms and security, judicial independence, personal privacy, transparency and property rights as well as protect vulnerable groups and enhance administrative and social awareness of human rights.

Regarding US claims of using child soldiers in armed conflicts, "we completely reject the allegations that ascribe responsibility to Turkey," it said.

Washington on Wednesday added Turkey and 15 other countries to the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) list -- a designation included in the State Department’s annual Trafficking in Person (TIP) report that ranks countries in various tiers in accordance with their efforts to eliminate trafficking.

The list includes Afghanistan, Burma, Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Mali, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, Turkey, Venezuela and Yemen.

"Turkey is a party to major international resolutions on the protection of children's rights, including those adopted by the UN, and its track record on the matter is spotless," said the ministry.

Referring to the US report as "the most striking example of hypocrisy, double standards," the Foreign Ministry cited the US' "open support, weapons aid to the PKK-PYD-YPG terrorist organization, which forcibly recruits children in terror acts in Syria and Iraq."

It also referred to UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict Virginia Gamba's report on June 21, saying it underlines the "so-called 'Syrian Democratic Forces', under the directives of the terrorist PKK/YPG, committing many violations and serious crimes such as forcibly recruiting children, kidnapping, deprivation of liberty, and use of schools for military purposes."

"Despite this, the fact that no reference is made to this organization (SDF) in the (US) report is another oddity," it said.

Saying that "ignoring serious crimes committed by this separatist terror organization (PKK/YPG), which the US has partnered with in Syria, provided training and weapons," the statement noted that "abducting and giving weapons to children not only in Syria but also in many parts of Iraq including Mahmur and Sinjar" by the PKK/YPG terrorists was also ignored in the US report.

"Making such baseless accusations against its ally Turkey, in which it cooperates closely on many regional issues, is a grave contradiction and is never acceptable," it said.

Turkey vowed to "resolutely continue its efforts to prevent the crime of human trafficking," in line with conventions it follows.

The CSPA prohibits the issuance of licenses for direct commercial sales of military equipment to listed countries, apart from preventing them to be included in several US programs, including International Military Education and Training, Foreign Military Financing, Excess Defense Articles and Peacekeeping Operations./aa

Donald Bolen, a member of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and Catholic Archbishop of Regina, Friday said the allegations of the burning of children in residential schools were "shocking" while he had never heard such an incident before, but the issue should be investigated.

In an online interview with Anadolu Agency, Bolen delivered remarks on the tragic events unfolding recently, colonization, assimilation of indigenous children, and future steps to be taken to ensure reconciliation.

“There was a mentality of colonization at the time that governed, the government proposed residential schools which took children from their homes very early, and many churches, including the Catholic Church, were complicit with that plan,” said Bolen, adding that children as young as 4 years old were deprived of their family, language, culture, and spirituality.

Underlining that there was a “history of abuse” towards indigenous people, Bolen continued: "It is a painful part of history and the people of Canada. The government and the churches need to own that history now, and to do our part, to make things better, and to create a different kind of society.”

“Schools were opened to educate indigenous children but it was an education by assimilation, it was an education which forced a different culture other than their own upon them and many of those children, when they returned to their homes, did not belong in their own culture, language, spirituality,” he said, and stressed that what happened ran contrary to the gospel of Christianity and its deeper values.

The archbishop went on to note that the events stemmed from colonization and the “arrogant attitude of the colonizing powers” which viewed the European cultures as better and normative, and sought to draw the indigenous people to these cultures, if necessary by force.

The man of religion further said the leaders of indigenous people, accompanied by some bishops, would have an opportunity to meet with Pope Francis in December, hoping he would issue an apology and visit Canada.

“I can't speak for the mind of Pope Francis but when he came to Bolivia few years ago he extended an apology to the indigenous peoples of the Americas. … We know that that is in his heart but how he will respond is for him,” he said. “If a problem has taken a hundred years, 120 years to make, it is not going to be solved in a few days, nor by one visit.”

Asked about the burning of churches in Canada in the past few days, he said such acts were an “expression of deep anger” within the community, and it was not known if churches were set on fire by indigenous people.

“We know that there is a great anger right now and a need to express that anger but we hope that anger leads to dialogue, and to constructive ways of building relations, to engaging in the calls to action together, and not the burning of churches, which does not help us forward,” he said.

“We need to work to take steps to make amends to rebuild relationships, we need to stand in solidarity with indigenous people in their rightful pursuit of justice. We need to listen, we need to respect, take their leadership in how we can work together, that is the way to get from truth to reconciliation, it is a long journey,” he concluded./aa

A man in Las Vegas, Nevada state has been arrested on suspicion of hate crimes involving a neighboring Muslim family.

In one instance, caught on video and photos, 68-year-old Ricky Unwich can be seen smearing bacon on the family's doorknob and the railing outside their apartment, and attaching bacon to the back of their car. Unwich can be seen yelling profanities outside the family's door, and later admitted to police that he smeared the bacon, "because they are Muslim".

Unwich also told police he believed Muslims perpetrated the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Police say the dispute between the neighbors dates back to January, when Unwich complained that the Muslim family was being noisy.

From there, police say they were called to the apartment complex multiple times. Unwich accused the family of being terrorists; in text messages he accused them of breaking a chandelier in his home, despite the fact they had never been inside, and accused them of molesting a juvenile who lives with Unwich.

All that, the family reported to police, despite the family's attempts to make peace with him, and even cooking him meals. The family told police they fear Unwich was going to eventually become violent.

Unwich is under arrest on three counts of committing a hate-bias crime as well as counts of harassment and stalking./aa

Roughly 135,000 active duty US service members have been the victim of sexual assault since 2010, a Pentagon report released on Friday said as US President Joe Biden called for sexual assault cases to be removed from the military's chain of command.

The number of those who have been victims of sexual assault includes 65,400 women and 69,600 men. The report from the Independent Review Commission on Military Sexual Assault (IRC) also found that some 509,000 active duty service members have been the subject of sexual harassment.

"These hundreds of thousands of Service members who experienced sexual harm are clear evidence that culture has not changed, and that leaders have failed to 'move the needle,' as Chairman Milley recently acknowledged," the report says, referring to Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley and a lack of progress on addressing sexual assault in the military.

Biden said the investigation and prosecution of sexual assault cases should now be removed from the military chain of command's purview, and should instead be handled by independent military lawyers.

The president also called on Congress to implement "necessary reforms and promote a work environment that is free from sexual assault and harassment for every one of our brave service members."

"Sexual assault is an abuse of power and an affront to our shared humanity. And sexual assault in the military is doubly damaging because it also shreds the unity and cohesion that is essential to the functioning of the U.S. military and to our national defense," Biden said in a statement.

"Yet, for as long as we have abhorred this scourge, the statistics and the stories have grown worse. We need concrete actions that fundamentally change the way we handle military," he added.

The changes Biden outlined are from the IRC's report./aa

Canada's unprecedented heatwave this week saw a record temperature of 49.6C (121.2F), extending as far south as the Antarctic, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said Friday, warning that climate change “is the defining challenge of our time.”

“The most immediate and direct consequence was that the village of Lytton, which witnessed record temperatures for three consecutive days, was devastated by fire on Thursday, Canada's National Day,” said WMO spokeswoman Clare Nullis at a UN briefing in Geneva.

"We have seen heart-wrenching images of the village from the ground, and the smoke from the fires is visible from satellites in space."

Nullis said the unprecedented event had multiple major impacts.

It has caused heat stress in people, animals, and vegetation, impacted air quality -- pollutants due to hot stable air -- and increased forest fire risk.

That increased the possibility of landslides caused by glacier melting in mountains, damages, malfunctioning of infrastructure and transport systems unprepared for such high temperatures as well as many other social and economic risks.

Heatwave not just in North America

"The heatwave is not just in North America but is being witnessed in other parts of the world," said Nullis.

"Siberia, which last year saw extended and exceptional heat, is also being hit by heat and renewed wildfires."

Nullis said the WMO has now recognized a new record high temperature for the Antarctic continent of 18.3C (64.94F) on Feb. 6, 2020 at the Esperanza station, which Argentina runs.

"Verification of this maximum temperature record is important because it helps us to build up a picture of the weather and climate in one of Earth's final frontiers," said Nullis.

She quoted WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas as saying: "Even more so than the Arctic, the Antarctic has few weather and climate observations and forecasts, even though both play an important role in driving climate and ocean patterns and in sea-level rise."

Nullis said the WMO, however, rejected an even higher temperature of 20.75C (69.35F), reported on Feb. 9, 2020, at an automated permafrost monitoring station of Brazil on Seymour Island.

Climate change and temperature rise have spurred a surge in reports of international, hemispheric, and regional weather and climate extremes, especially for heat, Nullis noted.

The global annual mean temperature is approximately 1.2C (34.16F) warmer than pre-industrial times.

“We are far off track from reducing global greenhouse gas emissions sufficiently to avert significant impacts of climate and extremes and limit temperature rise to within 1.5C of the pre-industrial reference in line with the Paris Agreement,” says the WMO./aa

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AA) - A suicide bomber blew himself up at a busy coffee shop in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Friday evening, an official said.

The attack took place at the Juba intersection not too far away from Somalia's national intelligence and security agency headquarters in Mogadishu.

A police officer told Anadolu Agency over the phone that a man wearing a suicide vest was involved in the attack that targeted a busy coffee shop.

"It was a rush hour when the suicide bomber blew himself up and a lot of people were inside the restaurant," a police officer told Anadolu Agency.

He added that there are multiple casualties but he has not confirmed any numbers.

"I'm hearing that at least six people were killed dozen others wounded but can't confirm it," the police officer noted.

Meanwhile, local media has reported at least eight fatalities due to the attack.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack but Somali-based al-Qaeda affiliated group al-Shabaab has been behind recent attacks in the Horn of African country targeting military, government officials, and African Union peacekeeping mission forces in Somalia.

American sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson has been suspended for one month after failing a drug test, the US Anti-Doping Agency said on Friday.

The 21-year-old tested positive for a “main psychoactive constituent of cannabis, marijuana, and hashish,” the agency said in a statement.

Richardson has “accepted a one-month suspension … for an anti-doping rule violation for testing positive for a substance of abuse,” the statement said.

The ban, which comes into effect from June 28, the date of her provisional suspension, leaves her set to miss the Olympics starting in Japan later this month.

“Richardson’s competitive results obtained on June 19, 2021, including her Olympic qualifying results at the Team Trials, have been disqualified,” the agency said.

“Beyond the one-month sanction, athlete eligibility for the Tokyo Games is determined by the USOPC (US Olympic & Paralympic Committee) and/or USA Track & Field eligibility rules.”/aa

Bosnia and Herzegovina has finalized arrangements to bid farewell to 19 more identified victims of the Srebrenica genocide at the 26th anniversary of Europe's worst genocide since World War II.

Every year on July 11, newly identified victims of the genocide – which claimed the lives of over 8,000 people – are buried in a memorial cemetery in Potocari, eastern Bosnia. Thousands of visitors from various countries will attend the funeral service and burials.

After this year’s funeral, the number of burials in the cemetery will rise to 6,671.

Azmir Osmanovic, only 16 when he was killed, will be the youngest victim to be buried this year. Husein Kurbasic, the oldest, was 63.

More than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were killed after Bosnian Serb forces attacked the UN "safe area" of Srebrenica in July 1995, despite the presence of Dutch troops tasked with acting as international peacekeepers.

Srebrenica was besieged by Serb forces who were trying to wrest territory from Bosnian Muslims and Croats to form their own state.

The UN Security Council had declared Srebrenica a "safe area" in the spring of 1993. However, Serb troops led by Gen. Ratko Mladic – who was sentenced to life for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide – overran the UN zone.

The Dutch troops failed to act as Serb forces occupied the area, killing about 2,000 men and boys on July 11 alone. Some 15,000 Srebrenica people fled into the surrounding mountains but Serb troops hunted down and killed 6,000 of them in the forests.

The bodies of the victims of the genocide were found in 570 different parts of the country./aa

Eight bodies have been pulled out and 46 irregular migrants were rescued off the eastern coast of Tunisia, local authorities said on Friday.

“Navy units of the (Tunisian) National Guard retrieved on Wednesday and Thursday eight bodies off the coast of El Aabed in the Sfax governorate," Brig. Gen. Hussam al-Jabali, spokesman for the General Administration of the National Guard, told Anadolu Agency.


He said the naval units were able to rescue 46 irregular migrants of African nationalities after their boat broke down off the coast of Sidi Mansour.

Since 2011, irregular migration has increased in Tunisia, but its pace has recently escalated due to economic and political crises in the country./aa

The drive to get rid of plastic bags and end single-use plastics, due to the harm they do to nature, is taking the global spotlight on Saturday on the occasion of International Plastic Bag Free Day.

People around the world will take part in online campaigns aiming to raise awareness on the long-term effects of plastics on the environment and human health as well as joining challenges such as ending the use of plastic bags, as part of the International Plastic Bag Free Day, an annual and global initiative marked on June 3.

While environmentalists and concerned citizens offer to look for more eco-friendly alternatives instead of using plastic bags, reusable and recyclable options are also encouraged to minimize the negative effects.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency on the occasion of the day, Recep Karaman, the head of the Street Waste Collectors Association, said that following the beginning of the free plastic bag ban in 2019, there is a significant drop in the plastic bag waste rate in the total amount of waste across Turkey.

"The ratio of plastic waste among the total waste in Turkey is 15% while nearly 10 million tons of plastic was produced in the country," he noted.

The charge of plastic bags drives people to also using their stuff more carefully as well as reducing waste rate amounts, Karaman added, recommending people to use more environmental-friendly options instead of plastic bags.

"It would be better to use paper bags instead of plastic bags, considering the effect of plastic bags on nature," he said, and stressed that free plastic bag bans contributed to raising environmental awareness among people.

Amid the downtrend in plastic waste, however, he noted that the waste of hygiene and cleaning products was on the rise for a short time at the beginning of the pandemic in Turkey.

"COVID-19 has also changed the way people see the recycling industry. The packaging for pharmaceuticals and all health-related needs was provided with packaging that we collect and recycle," Karaman concluded, thanking the Environment Ministry for its support to the waste collection and recycle industry.

We protect environment by collecting waste

Ramazan Gezer, a street collector in the capital Ankara, also shared his experience on the plastic waste in the streets.

Referring to regulations about waste, he said that as collectors, they no longer come across too much plastic bag waste on the streets.

Defining his role as an environmental cleaner, Gezer said street collectors also make an important contribution to the country's economy due to the recycling of waste they collect.

"In addition, we also protect the environment by collecting waste and these plastics, which are likely to mix with the soil and nature (otherwise)," he added.

It takes many years to decompose plastics in the environment, Gezer stressed, saying they also play role in preventing possible dangers, caused by waste, that pose risks to human health as well as environmental health.

"If there is an increase in the use of plastic, it will not be easy to collect, it will spread to the environment and our country will become a garbage dump," he added, asking: "Why should plastic and garbage be included in the soil when you can live in clean nature?"

He suggested that people should resort to alternative ways of use rather than using plastic in general and plastic bags in particular.

"Street waste collectors pick up 75% of the waste across the country and it is a fact in Turkey," he concluded, and noted: "For the future of our children, we both protect our environment and contribute to the economy of our country."

Plastic waste not only endangers the livelihoods of those relying on marine resources, but it also causes a raft of health issues for people who consume seafood infested with toxic micro and nanoplastic, according to a report by the UN Environment Program in March.

Due to environmental concerns, many countries around the world, including China, Kenya, Germany, Brazil, and Turkey, have taken steps towards reducing the use of plastic bags through bans or taxes in place./aa