Asylum requests in the Netherlands rose by 80% in 2021, the country’s statistical authority announced Monday. 

A total of 24,740 asylum seekers submitted a first asylum application last year, according to a report by Statistics Netherlands.

It noted that this is the highest number since the 2015 refugee crisis, adding the number of applications increased especially in the last two quarters of 2021.

The report said the number of asylum requests in 2020 was low due to international travel restrictions as a preventative measure to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The number of asylum requests in 2020 totaled 13,720, it said.

It added that a total of 22,540 people wanted to seek refuge in the Netherlands in 2019, which was 10% fewer than in 2021.

In 2021, Syrians took first place in asylum requests with 8,380, followed by Afghans with 3,005.

It added that 10,120 refugees arrived in the Netherlands in 2021, 2.5 times more than the number in 2020.

In 2019, the number of refugees who came to the Netherlands totaled 4,180./aa

Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera said Monday that the impact of last week’s floods from Tropical Storm Ana has been huge and devastating.  

He said Malawi will need help from both local and international partners to recover.

“Mozambique suffered more than we have, so we understand that we’re not the only ones in need of help. All the same, we’re asking our partners for support. We cannot manage on our own,” said Chakwera, who on Monday flew across the disaster areas to assess the damage caused by the storm.

According to the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA), the storm has affected 845,685 people from 187,930 households in 17 districts, where 32 have been reported dead and 147 injured.

Another 20 people have been reported missing in the southern districts of Chikwawa and Mwanza.

DoDMA Commissioner Charles Kalemba said it is a miracle that thousands of people were not killed as the flood damage was extensive.

“Things have been so overwhelming, but then everything is working out because there are concerted efforts on the ground which are needed,” Kalemba told Anadolu Agency.

Chakwera said it is clear that climate change and the adverse effects that have come with it have been devastating on Malawi.

“I am struggling to find the words to describe this disaster. There are places where people are yet to receive help because they have become inaccessible,” he said.

The Malawi leader said after assessing the damage that his ministers, who were sworn in on Sunday, will meet to discuss the budget for the next financial year to start in April instead of June as usual.

“Our budget will reflect the urgent need to rebuild the country,” he said.

The president dissolved his entire Cabinet on Jan. 24, before the floods hit. He has since sworn in 21 ministers and nine deputy ministers.

Chakwera has been under pressure from the civil society to remove the entire Cabinet due to corruption allegations. He has since issued a stern warning to the new ministers against corruption.

“Corruption comes in many forms, and the opportunities to succumb to it in this country abound, but you must resist it at every turn,” he said.

He said he also expects regular and timely reports on the progress the ministries are making.

“I expect those reports to be presented to me directly and for me to be the one that directs you on whether any contents in your reports should be shared with anyone else,” Chakwera said./aa

Genocide experts and US State Department officials warn of an imminent genocide of Muslims and other minorities in four Indian states, Uttar Pardesh, Uttrakhand, Tripur, and Assam, if the international community does not restrain the Hindu nationalist led Modi government.

Speaking at a webinar organized by the US-based Justice for all held on 9 January 2022, titled ‘Save India from Fascism,’ Dr Gregory H. Stanton urged listeners to act before it was too late. Standon is a former Research Professor in Genocide Studies and Prevention at George Mason University in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, and is best known for his work in genocide studies.

He is the founder and President of Genocide Watch, the founder and director of the Cambodian Genocide Project, and the Chair of the Alliance Against Genocide. From 2007 to 2009, he was the President of International Association of the Genocide Scholars.

‘Justice for All’ focuses on the rising trend of Islamophobia worldwide. Explaining the reasons for the Webinar, Imam Malik Mujahid said that documentation, mobilization, and grassroots actions were keys to responding to the impending genocide of Muslims by Hindu religious leaders in India.

Imam Abdul Malik Mujahid is the founder of Justice For All and one of the 500 Most Influential Muslims in the world eight times in a row. He is Chair Emeritus of the Parliament of the World’s Religions.

In her remarks, Nadine Maenza, commissioner of USCIRF, expressed her deep concerns over the persecution of Christians and minorities in India and promised to issue reports on the ground reality in India. Nadine is a noted speaker, writer, and policy expert with more than two decades of experience advocating for working families and a champion for international religious freedom.

Nadine is also the President of Patriot Voices, where she provides her expertise to shape the organization’s particular emphasis on public policies that support working families. Drawing on her extensive network and coalition-building experiences, she has helped build unique coalitions on issues such as paid family leave, health care, tax reform, and international religious freedom.

Zahir Adil, a Boston-based director of Save India from Fascism Project, urged Hindus and other religious groups to come forward to defeat forces calling for Muslim genocide in India.

Hena Zuberi, the Director of Justice For All, who oversees Justice For All’s campaigns, urged the audience to join advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill to stop the Rohingya, Muslim Indian, and Uyghur genocide. She hosts the Justice For All Now Show, a talk show on Peace and Justice.

Thousands of people from across the globe participated in the Webinar. The pro-genocide groups tried to disrupt the Webinar several times through their IT cell in India and the US by hacking the system but failed. They were keen to get hold of the participants’ internet ID list to harass them later. However, the firewalls around the Webinar prevented them from getting into success.

IT experts say that Hindu fascist supporters in Google, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube might have contributed to the increased efforts to disrupt the Webinar. Among Hindu Americans, many individuals, Temples, and organizations owe their allegiance to the unwritten constitution of RSS and the BJP and regularly fund militant groups and religious leaders in India.

The Webinar was in response to the policies of the Modi government and the recent Hindu religious conferences calling for a genocide of Muslims in India. Hindu priests have given a target of killing a minimum of two million Muslims and have pledged millions of dollars to the executioners of the killing.

Experts believe that Hindu Americans may finance the genocide in India through their financial network of laundering US dollars to India. One hundred US dollars are equivalent to 7,500 Indian Rupees.

During his presentation, Dr Stenton questioned the media policy of using ethnic cleansing over genocide. What is happening in India is the final stage before launching a full-scale genocide led by mobs under the government’s protection. The involvement of India’s Prime Minister Modi in the Gujarat genocide in 2002 offers a model to Hindu mobs to repeat the murders, he explained./ amust 

Canada on Saturday announced its intention to appoint a special representative on combatting Islamophobia as part of the country's anti-racism strategy, five years after a deadly mosque shooting in Quebec.

“This year, on the eve of the five-year anniversary of this act of terror (mosque attack in Quebec City), the Government of Canada stands with and supports Muslim communities across Canada and reaffirms its commitment to take action to denounce and tackle Islamophobia and hate-fueled violence,” the government said in a statement.

Underlining that Islamophobia is a reality for Muslims across Canada and around the world, it noted that building a more inclusive country and combatting discrimination is a must.

“The special representative appointment ... will be an additional step in the government's ongoing work through Canada's Anti-Racism Strategy to tackle Islamophobia in all its forms,” said the statement, noting that this had been recommended during a National Summit on Islamophobia held in July 2021.

Sharing the statement on social media, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pointed out the need to end Islamophobia in the country.

“Islamophobia is unacceptable. Full stop. We need to put an end to this hate and make our communities safer for Muslim Canadians. To help with that, we intend to appoint a Special Representative on combatting Islamophobia,” he said.

Canada last year declared Jan. 29 a National Day of Remembrance for six people that were killed and 19 wounded in the 2017 Quebec City mosque shooting rampage./aa

At least 18 people have died due to landslides and flooding in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, the governor said on Sunday.

"I am following with great sadness the damage caused by heavy rains in (São Paulo)," João Doria wrote on Twitter in a post with photos taken during a flight over the affected region. "My condolences to the families and friends of the 18 people killed," he added.

Five of the dead, from Várzea Paulista, belonged to one family, according to the news website G1. In Embu das Artes, three members of one family died. It has been raining heavily in São Paulo over the past few days. Brazil's most populous state, with more than 40 million people.

Three weeks ago, at least 10 people were killed by landslides and floods in the neighboring state of Minas Gerais.

Inclimate weather may also have led to a tragic accident in which a rock broke off from a cliff and crashed onto a tourist boat on the Furnas reservoir, killing 10 people.

Earlier, the state of Bahia, bordering Minas Gerais to the northeast, had experienced the worst flooding in more than 30 years./GPA

At least four people died and thousands were left without power as Storm Malik swept through northern Europe over the weekend, destroying houses and cars, closing bridges and causing flooding while halting transport.

Storm Malik was advancing in the Nordic region on Sunday, bringing strong gusts of wind, and extensive rain and snowfall in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden.

Malik reached the Nordic region and northern Germany late Saturday after moving in from Britain where it caused havoc with material damage and transport chaos, hitting Scotland particularly bad.

In Scotland, a boy and a 60-year-old woman were killed Saturday by falling trees as strong winds battered northern parts of Britain.

Wind gusts of more than 100 mph (160 kph) have been reported in parts of Scotland, causing widespread disruption to transport and power cuts to tens of thousands of homes.

Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon warned that another storm due to hit the region on Sunday may be "more severe for parts of Scotland” than anticipated.

A construction crane lay after crashing in central Malmo after a powerful winter storm swept through northern Europe over the weekend, Sweden, Jan. 30, 2022. (TT via AP)

In Denmark, excessively strong winds with heavy rain caused the temporary closure of several bridges on Saturday including the key Oeresund road and rail bridge connecting Copenhagen and the Swedish city of Malmo.

Danish media reported that a 78-year-old woman died from severe injuries after falling in strong winds. In neighboring Germany, local media reported that a man was killed on Saturday after being hit by a billboard that was loosened by the storm.

Flooding in many parts of Denmark caused substantial material damage. Several traffic crashes caused by falling trees and flying debris were reported to the police.

Southern parts of Sweden were badly hit, too, and thousands of households were without electricity by Sunday afternoon. Ferries to the Baltic Sea island of Gotland were canceled because of strong winds.

Severe damage to houses, cars, and boats, among other things, was reported in Norway while heavy snowfall throughout Finland caused road crashes and disrupted bus and train traffic in parts of the country./GPA

The PKK terrorist group and its Syrian wing, the YPG, continue to forcefully abduct children and indoctrinate them, violating international law and hindering the children from seeing or contacting their families.

According to information Anadolu Agency (AA) has obtained from the Migration Directorate, efforts are continuing for children abducted by the PKK and other terrorist groups to be recognized as victims of human trafficking. Within this scope, the directorate has described 15 forcefully recruited children, two of which are Syrians, as victims of human trafficking.

The children who were around the ages of 9-17 during their horrendous experience within the PKK, have explained the practices and methods the terrorist organization uses to deceive the children into the group.

A Syrian child who joined the PKK at the age of 14 and fled the terrorist group said that the PKK engaged in several activities in Syria’s Aleppo province. Saying that he was convinced by his friends to take part in the PKK’s “meetings,” the child said the PKK told them they would receive training in order for them “to grow up” in Derik and would then return.

A group of the children were sent to the area and received training for one and a half months. Yet, after the training, when the children tried to go back to their homes, the PKK said that they are now recruited in the PKK and could not leave.

“You will be guerrillas, forget your families,” the child was told.

Together with two other children, he was sent to Iraq’s Gara region, where the PKK has a strong presence, and was able to flee the group during his time in Metina.

“We were staying in a cave in Zap and Metina. There, they gave us political and military training.”

He continued to say that the PKK severs the ties of its members and their families while also indoctrinating them that Turkey was their biggest enemy.

“They told us that Turkey is our biggest enemy. They were making propaganda so that members would not reach their families and their freedom,” he said, indicating that he was happy about his decision to leave the group and calling on others to lay down their arms and return as well.

Meanwhile, local sources told AA that the YPG recently recruited another 15-year-old boy in the city of Hassakeh, northeastern Syria.

On Jan. 26, YPG terrorists kidnapped Muhammed Azad Hasan, who was born in 2007 in Hassakeh, to recruit him in its "child fighter" squad, according to local sources.

The family of the boy has called for his release on social media.

The terror group kidnapped at least 19 children between Oct. 1 and Dec. 15 last year, according to a Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) report published on Dec. 16.

The terrorist group's recruitment and exploitation of children in the conflict-hit country has also been reflected United Nations reports.

On Jan. 16, 2020, the U.N. Human Rights Council shared findings that YPG/PKK terrorists are using children as fighters in Syria.

Though the PKK/YPG initially signed a pledge with Geneva Call – a Swiss humanitarian organization that works to "protect civilians in armed conflict" – to stop the use of child soldiers in 2014, its use of child soldiers has only increased since then.

Late last year, parents of children who were kidnapped by the YPG staged a protest in front of the U.N. headquarters in Qamishli, northeastern Syria. Around 30 people gathered to demand action after several children, reportedly girls, were forcefully recruited by the YPG terrorists, a group primarily backed by the United States under the guise of fighting against Daesh.

Since its foundation, the PKK has forcibly taken at least one child from families that fail to "pay taxes" in support of the group. To fill its ranks, the PKK has continuously raided villages and kidnapped young adults from the ages of 15 to 20 through violent means. In addition to forced conscription, the PKK also carries out propaganda campaigns that mainly target university students. The terrorist group's approach has remained largely consistent, according to statements by captured or surrendered members of the organization.

In its more than 40-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union – has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.

To end the threats the terrorist group poses to Turkey and the atrocities on local people, Ankara has carried out several anti-terror operations while continuing to ensure the security of the people in northern Syria.

In just this past week, the Turkish military eliminated five terrorists from the YPG who opened fire and were attempting to infiltrate the area controlled by the military in northern Syria, the Defense Ministry said Saturday.

In a statement posted on Twitter, the ministry said the terrorists opened harassment fire on Turkish troops and tried to enter the Operation Peace Spring zone.

Turkey carried out Operation Peace Spring in 2019 against the YPG in northern Syria's Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ain regions to prevent a terror corridor from being created along its southern border, as well as to bring peace and stability to the region.

After the completion of the operation, Turkish officials focused on ensuring the security of the region and creating the necessary conditions for the return of civilians displaced by terrorism./aa

United Nations experts said in a new report that nearly 2,000 children recruited by Houthi rebels died on the battlefield between January 2020 and May 2021, and the Iranian-backed rebels continue to hold camps and courses encouraging youngsters to fight.

In the report to the U.N. Security Council circulated Saturday, the experts said they investigated some summer camps in schools and a mosque where the Houthis disseminated their ideology and sought to recruit children to fight in the seven-year war with Yemen’s internationally recognized government, which is backed by a Saudi-led coalition.

"In one camp, children as young as 7 years of age were taught to clean weapons and evade rockets,” the four-member panel of experts said.

The experts said they documented 10 cases where children were taken to fight after being told they would be enrolled in cultural courses or were already taking such courses, nine cases where humanitarian aid was provided or denied to families "solely on the basis whether their children participated in fighting or to teachers on the basis of whether they taught the Houthi curriculum," and one case where sexual violence was committed against a child who underwent military training.

The panel said it received a list of 1,406 children recruited by the Houthis who died on the battlefield in 2020 and a list of 562 children recruited by the rebels who died on the battlefield between January and May 2021.

"They were aged between 10 and 17 years old," the experts said, and "a significant number" of them were killed in Amran, Dhamar, Hajjah, Hodeida, Ibb, Saada and Sanaa.

Yemen has been engulfed in civil war since 2014 when the Houthis took Sanaa, the capital, and much of the northern part of the country, forcing the government to flee to the south, then to Saudi Arabia. A Saudi-led coalition that included the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and was backed at the time by the United States, entered the war months later, in 2015, seeking to restore the government to power.

The conflict has since become a regional proxy war that has killed tens of thousands of civilians and fighters. The war has also created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, leaving millions suffering from food and medical care shortages and pushing the country to the brink of famine.

In recent weeks, shifting front lines on the ground have resulted in escalating attacks following gains by UAE-backed forces in the contested province of Marib, which the Houthis have been trying to take for more than a year. Coalition airstrikes followed two Houthi attacks inside the UAE using missiles and drones, killing three in strikes near the Abu Dhabi international airport.

The panel of experts said the Houthis have continued their aerial and maritime attacks on Saudi Arabia, with targets close to the border most at risk and usually attacked several times a week with a combination of unmanned drones and short-range artillery rockets. But the rebels also continue to strike deep inside Saudi Arabia less frequently using longer-range drones as well as cruise and ballistic missiles, they said.

In the Red Sea, the experts said, waterborne improvised explosive devices were used to attack commercial vessels at anchor in Saudi ports, in some cases more than 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) from Yemeni shores. "It appears almost certain that those devices were launched from a `mothership,' which would have towed the devices for most of the journey,” they said.

"The purpose of these attacks was primarily political, i.e. the Houthis want to push Riyadh towards accepting a political settlement beneficial to them,” the experts said. "This contrasts sharply with the use of missiles and un-crewed aerial vehicles within Yemen, the aim of which is often to attain maximum lethality.”

The 303-page report said violations of international humanitarian and human rights law are "the norm rather than the exception” in the Yemen conflict, citing arbitrary arrests and detentions, enforced disappearances, torture and ill-treatment "committed by all parties.”

Migrants continue to be particularly vulnerable to abuses and human rights violations, the experts said, and in Houthi-controled areas, detention and the judicial system are used "to quell any opposition or perceived dissent, especially by journalists, women and religious minorities.”

The annual U.N. report, covering the year to Dec. 5, 2021, said the Houthis and paramilitary forces loyal to them continue to violate a U.N. arms embargo.

"Most types of U.N.-crewed aerial vehicles, waterborne improvised explosive devices and short-range rockets are assembled in Houthi-controlled areas using locally available materials, as well as commercial components, such as engines and electronics, which are sourced from abroad using a complex network of intermediaries in Europe, the Middle East and Asia,” the panel said.

The experts said evidence shows that weapons components and other military equipment "continue to be supplied overland to the Houthi forces by individuals and entities based in Oman.”

Oman, which borders Yemen, remains neutral in the war and is the only regional country other than Iran to maintain relations with the Houthis.

The United States and Saudi Arabia have accused Iran of supplying weapons to the Houthis in violation of the arms embargo. The experts reported the seizure of some Iranian-made weapons, but Iran denies any involvement in providing weapons to the rebels./AP

"Mübadele" (population exchange) is an archaic word for younger generations but the elderly descendants of those forced to leave Greece for Turkey under an agreement nearly a century ago remember it vividly and sometimes bitterly.

On Jan. 30, 1923, the population exchange agreement by the then young Republic of Turkey, recovering from World War I and the war with Greece, was formally implemented, paving the way for some 2 million people to leave the countries they called home for centuries.

For Turks who left Greece in the following years, the exchange was a bittersweet experience. On one hand, they felt relief resettling in a country their ancestors left centuries ago, a place they were culturally and historically associated with. But it was also a troubling occasion, having to leave a country they had built their lives in and had become accustomed to, although the rising Greek nationalism in the final years of the Ottoman Empire that once dominated the Balkans, made life difficult for ethnic groups.

Ali Özgüler, 96, was born three years after the population exchange that took his family from Greece to Kırklareli, a northwestern Turkish province bordering Bulgaria. His father and grandparents took the long route through Bulgaria to reach Turkey, "aboard an ox-drawn cart," Özgüler said. The family settled in the Lüleburgaz district of Kırklareli where Özgüler was born and has never left. A farmer and father of two, Özgüler’s memories are blurred but he vividly remembers bits and pieces from his childhood as well as the stories his father Ağuş told him about the exchange. "They went through a great ordeal while traveling here and after they settled," Özgüler said. "My father got married here and lived his life as a farmer, in a farm once owned by a Greek man, who left for Greece during the exchange. My family adjusted to life here and did not leave for anywhere else," he told Anadolu Agency (AA) on Saturday.

The family had little to make a living with when they arrived and Özgüler said the Republic of Turkey gave them land and cows. "I long wanted to visit the village where my father was born in Greece, but never had the opportunity," he laments.

Özgüler said though they started a new life in Turkey, poverty affected them badly, especially during the World War II years when Turkey suffered from the impact of a war in which it did not participate. "There was hunger everywhere. People were picking and eating grass. I remember wearing (primitive) shoes without soles because we had no money to buy new shoes. We used to wear cotton sacks on our feet instead. I remember traveling for two days to sell the wheat we cultivated to buyers in other places," he recounts.

Though most were relocated to cities closer to Greece, people who arrived through the population exchange also found themselves in faraway places, like Adana, more than 1,700 kilometers (1,056 miles) away from Greece. Selma Kırançeşme’s family was among these people. Kırançeşme, who now heads a "mübadil" (exchanged people) association in the southern Turkish province, is among those with pride in the resettlement. "Atatürk made these people a great favor by taking them to their homeland," she said, referring to the founder of modern Turkey who himself was born in Thessaloniki (Salonica), Greece. "He has a special place in our memories," she told AA.

Kırançeşme and others who settled in Adana hail from the Greek island of Crete where a massive number of Turks were relocated from, to a wide area stretching from Çanakkale and Bursa in the west to Adana and Hatay in the south. Kırançeşme’s father was just a 1-year-old when his family moved to Mersin first, before setting up new lives in neighboring Adana. "The lives of Turks were in danger in Crete after the War of Independence in Turkey. A Greek man alerted the people of my grandparents’ village about an imminent raid (by Greek forces). They were living in an inner part of the island and moved to somewhere on the coast. Some lived in tents on the beaches, waiting for months for ships to take them to Turkey," she said.

Traveling to Turkey was another chapter of the flight. "Every family was entitled to take possessions weighing 500 kilograms (1,102 pounds) at most to the vessels and were charged with fees for extra possessions, something most families could not afford. They had to leave with few possessions from a place they spent most of their lives. This was traumatizing," she said. But a more harrowing experience for families was having to leave their family members behind. "Every vessel had a certain capacity for passengers and when they were filled, people were not allowed to board. Some families placed their children into the vessels first and waited for the next vessels, for months. My grandmother was among those children. In some cases, siblings only found each other some 50, 60 years later. I met the grandchildren of my uncle only four years ago. We also found descendants of my grandfather’s uncle years later in the (southwestern) town of Bodrum,” she said.

Arrival in Turkey was another challenge for "mübadils." "Most of them did not know Turkish and had a hard time adjusting to their new lives in their homeland," Kırançeşme said. "The first generation was shut-in people who did not have much social contact with people in their new country. The community had consanguineous marriages in the first years, for instance," she said. "They went through a great deal of pain but did not convey it to their children," she added.

"The population exchange was painful but it was a necessity under those circumstances. Turks in Crete were in danger of genocide without the exchange. Atatürk did a great favor to these people. Our ancestors used to tell us that the Greeks were taunting families waiting on Crete's beaches by saying that ‘Atatürk will not come to get you.’ But they waited and waited and the ships finally came. Out of gratitude, most families named their newborn sons Kemal and daughters Kemaliye," Kırançeşme says.

Though it is a distant memory for many, with few survivors from the early days of the exchange, the population exchange is still remembered every year with a series of events across the country. In the western province of Izmir, located across the Turkish side of the Aegean Sea where Greece is littoral to, the anniversary was an occasion to remember the plight of past generations. The Izmir Metropolitan Municipality hosted the events over the weekend, including panels, exhibitions and screening of films about the exchange.

In Istanbul's Büyükçekmece district, the local municipality hosted events to mark the anniversary, including a symbolic reenactment of the exchange, with actors donning the costumes of the era arriving to the shore-side district on the Marmara Sea with boats. People also left flowers at sea from Mimar Sinan port, where Turks departed for the population exchange decades ago. The municipality also hosted a photo exhibition with photos of the first arrivals. "We mark the day in Mimar Sinan area, formerly known as Kallikrateia. More than 2,000 Greeks left for Greece from here and Turks come here, to this port, then," Büyükçekmece Mayor Hasan Akgün told Ihlas News Agency (IHA) on Sunday.

Akgün said Greeks who left Büyükçekmece set up a new town in Greece under the name of Nea Kallikrateia or New Kallikrateia and years later, Büyükçekmece became a sister municipality with Nea Propontida, where the Greek town is located. Lefteris Emmanouilidis, a descendant of a Greek family relocated from Büyükçekmece during the exchange, was among guest of events. "I came here to find the house where my father was born and was pleased to attend this event to commemorate these people," he said./Daily Sabah

Harsh weather characterized by heavy snowfall and blizzards dominated Turkey’s eastern regions where the winter is usually most severe in the country. After days of snowfall, some roads are still closed while people struggle to clear the snow piling up every day after they shovel it off of their roofs and vehicles.

Extreme temperatures disrupted daily life in the region, from Erzurum in the north to Hakkari in the south. On Saturday night, the lowest temperature was recorded in the province of Erzurum, at minus 23 degrees Celsius (minus 9.4 degrees Fahrenheit) while the forecast for Sunday indicated mostly cloudy weather with sporadic snowfall in the province, as well as provinces of Erzincan and Ağrı. Iğdır is expected to be “hottest,” so to speak, in the region, as the forecast for the province indicates 3 degrees Celsius for Sunday (37.4 degrees Fahrenheit).

Authorities repeatedly warned locals against temperatures as well as the heightened risk of avalanches, the danger of icicles dropping from eaves and other risks associated with bad weather.

In the eastern province of Muş, villages are embattled with a thick layer of snow which shut down access to small houses and structures used as barns and stables. Locals took out shovels to clear the snow. Yukarıyongalı, some 50 kilometers (31 miles) away from central Muş, is among those villages. The village of 700 people had its main road cleared by crews from Muş governorate. But in places where the heavy snowplowers could not access, it was up to the locals to dig out their houses which had almost disappeared under the snow. “We rarely have a day without snowfall, blizzard and storm,” Eyyüp Omur told Demirören News Agency (DHA) as he joined fellow villagers to remove the white piles which buried the building. “All houses with one floor are buried. We dig tunnels through snow to get in and out. We also go to each house through ‘snow tunnels’ between them,” he said.

Ahmet Özçelik, another villager, says their stables were affected in particular and they had to dig out tunnels to feed their animals, as he shoveled the snow to get inside a 50-meter (164-foot) long tunnel./agencies