Families of children abducted or forcibly recruited by the YPG/PKK terror group continue their sit-in protest in Turkey’s southeastern Diyarbakir province, calling on their sons and daughters to lay down arms and surrender to security authorities.

The protest began on Sept. 3, 2019 in Diyarbakir province when three mothers said their children had been forcibly recruited by YPG/PKK terrorists. The sit-in outside the office of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), which the government accuses of having links to the YPG/PKK, has been growing every day.

Sevgi Cagmar, one of the protesting mothers, said she had not heard of her son, Yavuz, for the past six years, saying the HDP tricked his son into joining the terror group.

"I am not leaving this place until my son is back. I will continue this protest to the end," she said.

"My son, if you see or hear me, come and surrender to our security forces. I am waiting for you here."

Suleyman Aydin, whose son Ozkan was abducted in 2015 at the age of 15, said all participants were determined to continue their sit-in protest against the terror group and its affiliates.

Aydin said underage children of Kurdish families were sent to the mountains to join the ranks of the terror group, whereas children of HDP officials were enjoying their time in European countries.

"They are deceiving you. Come back so this longing end," he said.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and the EU - has been responsible for the deaths of some 40,000 people, including women, children and infants./aa

The health status of Australia's Great Barrier Reef has officially declined from "significant concern" to "critical" for the first time, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) announced this week. It said climate change is now the biggest threat to natural World Heritage sites, including the world's largest and most spectacular coral reef.

According to the new report, one-third of the 252 natural World Heritage sites are now threatened by climate change. Previously, invasive species were listed as the top threat.

Shrinking glaciers, coral bleaching and increasingly frequent and intense fires and droughts are just some of the devastating effects of climate change on these ecosystems. Many of these effects may have irreversible consequences on ecosystems, including species decline and extinction.

The Great Barrier Reef must contend with ocean warming, acidification and extreme weather to stay alive amid record heat waves. It has lost half of its coral to climate change since 1995, with its status now listed as "critical" — the most urgent designated status in the classification system of the UNESCO advisory board.

Sites listed as critical are "severely treated and require urgent, additional and large-scale conservation measures," the report said.

Three mass coral bleaching events in just the last five years have only exacerbated the reef's health problems and devastated the populations of marine species that rely on it. Warming waters threaten another mass bleaching event in 2021, with the time between bleaching events expected to shrink even further.

While some issues, like overfishing and habitat destruction, can be managed, the greatest threat — climate change — cannot be addressed at the site level. Additionally, the report warns that plans to protect the reef long-term have been slow to implement, failing to stop or reverse the reef's deterioration.

"Right now the federal government is shirking their responsibility to act as the custodian for the Great Barrier Reef and it's just appalling," Australian Marine Conservation Society Great Barrier Reef Campaigner David Cazzulino told Reuters. "We need a national climate change policy that has the future of our reef firmly at its heart. Which means limiting warming to 1.5 degrees, getting to net-zero emissions as soon as possible, well before 2050, and having a plan to get to 100% renewable energy, which we know is possible, will create a better society for all of us and create thousands of clean jobs in the process."

In addition to the Great Barrier Reef, four other Australian world heritage sites — the Blue Mountains, the Gondwana rainforests, the Ningaloo Coast and Shark Bay — have also deteriorated and received lowered statuses. Overall, more sites have deteriorated than improved since 2017.

IUCN found that just half of World Heritage sites have effective or highly effective protection and management. Overall, it found that the outlook for these sites is not improving, despite individual examples of success in some cases.

"Natural World Heritage sites are amongst the world's most precious places, and we owe it to future generations to protect them," said Bruno Oberle, IUCN's director-general. "As the international community defines new objectives to conserve biodiversity, this report signals the urgency with which we must tackle environmental challenges together at the planetary scale."

Before 2020 comes to a close, Jupiter and Saturn will be so close that they will appear to form a "double planet." The great conjunction, as the planetary alignment has come to be known, hasn't occurred in nearly 800 years.

When their orbits align every 20 years, Jupiter and Saturn get extremely close to one another. This occurs because Jupiter orbits the sun every 12 years, while Saturn's orbit takes 30 years — every couple of decades, Saturn is lapped by Jupiter, according to NASA.

However, 2020's conjunction is especially rare — the planets haven't been observed this close together since medieval times, in 1226.

"Alignments between these two planets are rather rare, occurring once every 20 years or so, but this conjunction is exceptionally rare because of how close the planets will appear to one another," Rice University astronomer Patrick Hartigan said in a statement. "You'd have to go all the way back to just before dawn on March 4, 1226, to see a closer alignment between these objects visible in the night sky."

Aligning with the solstice on December 21, 2020, the two planets will be just 0.1 degrees apart — less than the diameter of a full moon, EarthSky says. The word "conjunction" is used by astronomers to describe the meeting of objects in our night sky, and the great conjunction occurs between the two largest planets in our solar system: Jupiter and Saturn.

The planets will be so close, they will appear to overlap completely, creating a rare "double planet" effect.

How to watch the great conjunction

During the last great conjunction in 2000, Jupiter and Saturn were so close to the sun that the event was difficult to observe. But skywatchers should have a clearer view of the celestial event this time around. The great conjunction will be shining bright shortly after sunset, low in the southwestern sky, as viewed from the Northern hemisphere, NASA says.

Through the entirety of December, skywatchers will easily be able to spot the two planets. For the next three weeks, you can look up each evening to watch them get closer and closer in the sky.

Jupiter currently appears brighter than any star in the sky. Saturn is slightly dimmer, but still just as bright as the brightest stars, with a recognizable golden glow.

Saturn will appear just to the east of Jupiter, and will even look as close to the planet as some of its own moons. Unlike stars, which twinkle, both planets will hold consistent brightness, easy to find on clear nights.

The event is observable from anywhere on Earth, provided the sky is clear. "The further north a viewer is, the less time they'll have to catch a glimpse of the conjunction before the planets sink below the horizon," Hartigan said.

The planets will appear extremely close for about of month, giving skywatchers plenty of time to witness the spectacular alignment throughout the holiday season. The event aligns with the December solstice, marking the shortest day of the year in the Northern hemisphere.

This will be the "greatest" great conjunction for the next 60 years, until 2080. Hartigan said that, following that conjunction, the duo won't make such a close approach until sometime after the year 2400.

Turkey’s state-run aid agency has reached disabled people around the world by donating a total of 5,330 pieces of medical equipment and prosthetics in the last five years. 

TIKA has supported the various needs of people with disabilities in different geographies of the world, from Asia to Europe and from Africa to Latin America, according to a statement by the aid agency.

In the last five years, support in the form of 358 pieces of medical equipment was provided for the visually impaired in various countries, 195 pieces for the hearing impaired and 4,777 pieces for the orthopedic disabled.

Balkans program

TIKA launched a program called “I am overcoming my disability with Turkey” first in Bosnia and Herzegovina and then in Albania, Kosovo and Macedonia.

The program includes special education applications and social and cultural activities for students who need special education. Teacher training activities for this area include vocational training programs given to individuals with special education needs and ensuring their participation in these programs.

As part of the program, a vocational workshop for hearing impaired students and a multi-sensory stimulation room for children with autistic spectrum disorders were established in Romania’s capital Bucharest.

Work for the disabled in Palestine

Long-term power outages in Gaza pose a major problem for patients who have to use medical equipment that depends on energy.

TIKA supported their treatment by installing a solar power system in the homes of 30 patients in need of special care who have experienced this problem.

In addition, 30 people of all ages who suffered hearing loss due to various reasons, especially Israel's attacks, were given devices through a project carried out by the Es-Selame Association in Gaza and supported by TIKA.

A total of 50 battery powered wheelchairs were also distributed to Palestinians with special needs, including five in each province in the West Bank.

Asian-Caucasus Studies

As part of TIKA's support for disabled people, sports and office equipment was provided to the Herat Paralympic Federation in Afghanistan, and the sports equipment warehouse belonging to the federation was renovated.

In Kyrgyzstan, the aid agency renovated the education department which operates within Balikci City No. 10 State School in the Issik Lake District for children with disabilities.

In Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, a total of six handicapped elevators were built in the underpasses of the Philharmonic, Academy of Sciences and Pushkin Square located on Rustaveli Street.

New prosthetic machines were also provided to the Social Rehabilitation Center For the Disabled, which serves all civilian and military citizens in need in Georgia.

Studies in other regions

TIKA has provided a total of 400 packages of hygiene supplies to disabled and orphaned families, hospitals and public institutions as part of the fight against the novel coronavirus in Guinea, West Africa.

In Mexico, one of the Latin American countries, a conference hall and some special areas of the Center for the Disabled associated with the governorship of Mexico City were renovated and the central campus was modernized./aa