Greece keeps denying the presence of the Turkish minority in the Western Thrace region, with people living in the region facing severe discrimination every day, according to a local Turkish leader.

Cigdem Asafoglu, head of the Friendship, Equality, Peace Party (DEB), told Anadolu Agency that the Turkish minority in Western Thrace faces discrimination in all areas of life, stressing that the main goal of her party is to fight discrimination suffered by the Muslim Turkish community in the region.

Saying that the level of discrimination can easily be seen if any person compares Turkish neighborhoods with Greek ones in Gumulcine, Asafoglu stressed: “The infrastructure in Turkish neighborhoods is very poor. The infrastructure is much better in Greek neighborhoods.”

“There is also discrimination in the recruitment of public servant,” she added.

Criticizing how the Greek media has made Turks, Türkiye, Turkish institutions and organizations, and people fighting for the cause of Turkishness into a target, Asafoglu underscored that she was also subjected to discrimination and got threatening messages because of some of her statements on the issue.

Explaining that a 16-year-old Turkish teenager from Iskece was hospitalized on Aug. 26 after being beaten by 20 Greeks, Asafoglu said: "Maybe that attack was not a racist attack, but the phrase 'Dirty Turk, we will kill you next time' uttered during the attack revealed the subconscious thoughts of the perpetrators."

According to local media reports, on Aug. 24, 16-year-old O.T. in Western Thrace tried to help a friend who was arguing with a large group. Just two days later, in the evening, O.T.’s path was cut off by a group of 20 Greeks. The attackers shouted insults at O.T., beat the teenager, and hospitalized him. Following the incident, O.T.'s family filed a criminal complaint.

History of discrimination, repression

Greece's Western Thrace region – in the country’s northeast, near the Turkish border – is home to a substantial, long-established Muslim Turkish minority numbering around 150,000.

The rights of the Turks of Western Thrace were guaranteed under the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, but since then the situation has steadily deteriorated.

After a Greek junta came to power in 1967, the Turks of Western Thrace started to face harsher persecution and rights abuses by the Greek state, often in blatant violation of European court rulings.

The Turkish minority in Greece continues to face problems exercising its collective and civil rights and education rights, including Greek authorities banning the word “Turkish” in the names of associations, shuttering Turkish schools, and trying to block the Turkish community from electing its muftis.

In addition to violating longstanding treaties, these policies are also often in blatant violation of European Court of Human Rights rulings.

Denial policy

Ozan Ahmetoglu, head of the Iskece Turkish Union (ITB), also told about Greece's policy of denying the identity of the Turkish minority in Western Thrace and the legal struggle they are waging against it.

Telling how Athens prefers the phrase “Muslim minority” to “Turkish minority” to describe the ethnic Turks in Western Thrace, Ahmetoglu underlined that the Greek government has long “ignored the identity of the group.”

"As Western Thracians, we say that we’re Turks, but Greece doesn’t accept this and denies the existence of a Turkish minority in Western Thrace,” he said.

“We’re facing serious discrimination here. Because the denial of Turkish identity brings many problems.”

Greece also closes its eyes to the problems faced by the Turkish Muslim minority in Western Thrace as well as their identity, he said, adding that this is the fundamental problem in the region as even his group was closed by a court decision since it includes the word “Turkish” in its name.

"The official status of our association has been taken away from us. We first fought this decision with domestic law and then applied to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

“The ECHR found us right and now it’s been 14 years since its decision. In these 14 years, still Greece, unfortunately, continues not to implement the ECHR ruling," he said.

"This creates an undemocratic environment. There should be a translator who speaks Turkish in government offices. This was once in force in the Iskece courts, but now no longer," he added.

Speaking Greek a must

Turks from Western Thrace who did not want to use their names out of concern that they might be discriminated against or face problems told Anadolu Agency that they were afraid to speak Turkish in their daily lives.

A Western Thracian who owns a business in the center of Gumulcine told how he was chided by Greek customers because he spoke Turkish in his shop.

A Turkish high school student said that some Greek classmates stopped talking with him because he spoke Turkish at school, so he started avoiding it.

The student said: "I even spoke Greek with my family on the phone next to my Greek friends. Actually, this may be wrong, but I don't want to lose my friends again."

A female high school student from Gumulcine said she was talking to her friends in Turkish at school when she was told by nearby Greek students: "This isn’t Türkiye. If you want to speak Turkish, go to Türkiye."

Events of 1988 in Western Thrace

In response to a Greek court decision to close groups with the word Turk in their names, on the grounds that "there are no Turks in Greece," on Jan. 29, 1988 Turks in Western Thrace held a mass protest march.

Two years after the protest began, some fanatical nationalist Greeks launched mass attacks against Turks in Gumulcine and Iskece.

The Turkish minority of Western Thrace holds commemoration events every year on Jan. 29 as part of the National Day of Resistance and Solidarity for their internationally guaranteed rights.

AA

The price of Bitcoin declined almost 7% on Tuesday as higher-than-expected inflation in the US caused fears that the Federal Reserve could adopt a tougher stance in its monetary policy.

The world's largest crypto by market size saw its price hit $20,678 at 12.31 p.m. EDT. It was trading around $20,755 for a 7.3% daily loss at 1.55 p.m. EDT.

The price climbed to $24,918 on Aug. 11 -- its highest in two months, while it has since failed to surpass the resistance level of $25,000.

Ethereum, the world's biggest altcoin by market value, dove to $1,590 but recovered to $1,632 for a 6.1% daily decline.

The value of the cryptocurrency market stood at just above $1 trillion at 1.55 p.m. EDT -- a daily decrease of 4.6% -- as some altcoins saw a more than 8% decline in value.

The sudden decline in the crypto market came with losses in the US stock market, especially the tech-heavy Nasdaq, of which cryptocurrencies are highly correlated to in recent months.

The Nasdaq was down 473 points, or 3.86%, to 11,794 at the time.

Consumer inflation in the US posted an annual gain of 8.3% in August, coming in higher than the market estimate of an 8.1% annual increase, according to Labor Department figures.

That triggered worries that the Fed could adopt a more hawkish approach in its monetary policy after its two-day meeting on Sept. 21, which may push liquidity in the markets even lower.

AA

Six irregular migrants, including two babies and three children, lost their lives on Tuesday when Greek forces pushed them back to Turkish territorial waters in the Aegean, said the Turkish Interior Ministry.

The Turkish Coast Guard found the lifeless bodies of six irregular migrants, including one woman, and rescued 66 migrants on four life rafts off the coast of Marmaris, the ministry said in a written statement.

The rescued migrants told Turkish Coast Guard officials that they were pushed back to Turkish territorial waters by Greek forces while they were traveling on four life rafts.

Turkish Coastal Guard units were immediately dispatched to the scene with a helicopter, a coast guard aircraft, and a coast guard boat.

Thanks to their rescue efforts, 66 migrants were rescued, it said.

Seven of those rescued were holding on to a semi-submerged life raft, but the dead bodies of six irregular migrants, including one woman, two babies, and three children, were also retrieved, it added.

Ankara and global rights groups have repeatedly condemned Greece’s illegal practice of pushing asylum seekers back into Turkish waters and denying them entry to Greece, saying it violates humanitarian values and international law by endangering the lives of vulnerable migrants, including women and children.

Türkiye has been a key transit point for asylum seekers wanting to cross into Europe to start new lives, especially those fleeing war and persecution.

aa

The bodies of five people have been recovered after a four-storey residential building collapsed in Jordan's capital, authorities said, adding that 14 more were injured and others remained trapped.

The toll from Tuesday's collapse in the city's Jabal al Weibdeh district "has risen to five dead and 14 injured", security spokesman Amer al Sartawy said in a statement.

He had earlier told state TV that civil defence forces were being supported by teams from the regional security command and the gendarmerie, and that rescue efforts were ongoing.

A source at the civil defence service said there remained "a number of people trapped in the collapsed building", without providing an exact figure.

Rescue workers could be seen searching the rubble of the collapsed building before they carried out a woman on a stretcher.

Investigation has launched

Prime Minister Bisher al Khasawneh inspected the damaged building along with the ministers of interior, health and information, an AFP news agency correspondent said.

Government spokesman Faisal al Shaboul told reporters at the site that Khasawneh had ordered the mayor of Amman and other officials to investigate the cause of the collapse.

Jordan's Deputy Prime Minister Tawfiq Kreishan told state TV that "among the reasons for the collapse of the building is that it is old and dilapidated".

Surrounding buildings were being evaluated, he added.

A judicial source speaking on condition of anonymity told AFP that the prosecution had launched a probe into the incident.

Jabal al Weibdeh is among the oldest districts of Amman, dating back to the early 20th century and inhabited by a large number of expatriates.

Source: AFP

Saudi authorities have arrested a man who claimed to have travelled to the Muslim holy city of Mecca to perform an Umrah pilgrimage on behalf of the late Queen Elizabeth II.

The man, a Yemeni national, on Monday published a video clip of himself on social media at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Islam's holiest site, where non-Muslims are forbidden.

In the clip, he held up a banner saying: "Umrah for the soul of Queen Elizabeth II, we ask God to accept her in heaven and among the righteous."

The footage was widely circulated on Saudi social media, with Twitter users calling for the man's arrest.

Saudi Arabia forbids pilgrims to Mecca from carrying banners or chanting slogans.

And while it is acceptable to perform Umrah on behalf of deceased Muslims, this does not apply to non-Muslims like the queen, who was supreme governor of the Church of England, the mother church of the worldwide Anglican communion.

Perpetrator arrested

Security forces at the Grand Mosque "arrested a resident of Yemeni nationality who appeared in a video clip carrying a banner inside the Grand Mosque, violating the regulations and instructions for Umrah," said a statement carried by state media late on Monday.

"He was arrested, legal measures were taken against him and he was referred to the public prosecution."

The Umrah is a pilgrimage that can be undertaken at any time - distinct from the Hajj, which takes place once annually and usually draws millions from around the globe.

The queen died on Thursday and her funeral is planned for September 19.

Source: agencies

Türkiye has become a prominent hub of opportunity for many German companies amid challenges posed by fragile supply chains, Thilo Pahl, general manager of the overseas Turkish Chamber of Commerce told German newspaper Handelsblatt.

“The global crisis of the supply chain surprisingly makes Türkiye a favourite place for German importers and exporters,” Pahl said in the report, published on Tuesday.

He emphasised that Türkiye, due to its favourable geographical location next to EU member countries, is becoming more and more important for the logistics sector.

The ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict has recently compelled some companies to move their operations to the country, said Pahl. 

"There is a potential to create an expanded trade corridor from Asia to Europe via Türkiye."

Tobias Bartz, CEO of German shipping company Rhenus, also said that western companies want to move their operations from Asia to regions near Europe. 

"Türkiye, with its very young and well-educated population, is the ideal place for production and trade," Bartz told Handelsblatt.

Türkiye's exports volume on the rise

Many companies now prefer running their operations from locations where deliveries via train or trucks are possible in case of an emergency, the report added. 

The Turkish economy has responded quickly to this new emerging need.

The report also noted that Turkish entrepreneurs have successfully filled the gaps in the global supply chain with Turkish products despite the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Export volume in Türkiye has increased significantly in recent years despite the crises in the world and persistent inflation.

The volume of foreign direct investments stood at $464 million before the Ukraine war started in February. 

This figure reached $1.7 billion last June, according to the Central Bank of Türkiye.

Source: agencies

An Indian Muslim journalist despite securing bail from the Supreme Court after spending nearly two years in jail on charges of conspiring to incite riots in a northern state will remain behind bars, a police official has said.

Siddique Kappan is required for investigation in another case being probed by India’s Enforcement Directorate, said Santosh Verma, an official of the Lucknow Jail. 

“Kappan will continue to remain in jail as a case being probed by the Enforcement Directorate is still pending," according to him, as reported on Tuesday by the Press Trust of India.

"We are confident that he will be free soon as we have complete faith in our legal system," his wife Raihanath Kappan told Anadolu Agency. They expect that he will be granted bail in this case when it is heard on September 19.

The journalist, who worked for a regional Malayalam news website, was granted bail by the Supreme Court on Friday after being detained by police in northern Uttar Pradesh state in 2020 on his way to report on the death of a lower-caste Dalit teenager days after she was gang raped.

Widespread outrage

On September 14, 2020, a 19-year-old Dalit woman was gang raped in the state's Hathras area, resulting in serious injuries and her death two weeks later. 

The incident triggered widespread outrage and protests across the country.

The caste system in India divides Hindus into four main categories – Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and the Shudras. Outside of this are Dalits, who are regarded as "untouchables" or socially excluded from upper caste Hindus.

The state authorities alleged that Kappan and the co-accused were travelling to Hathras with the purpose to disrupt the area's harmony. 

They also alleged that he had close ties to the Popular Front of India, a Muslim organisation accused by the federal government of having ties to "terrorist" outfits, which the organisation denies.

Source: AA

The nephew of late Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi has been detained and held at an unknown location without access to the outside world, according to a report by the former leader's oldest son, Ahmed.

Ahmed Morsi said in a tweet on Sunday that his cousin Khaled Said Morsi, was "forcibly disappeared" by Egyptian authorities on 6 September.

"The current regime hasn't had its fill of [persecuting] the Morsi family… may God protect you Khalid," he said.

Ahmed added that Khalid's older brother, also called Mohammed Morsi, had been in detention for nine years.

Former President Mohammed Morsi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, won Egypt's first and only democratic presidential election in 2012.

However, he was overthrown one year later in a military coup led by Egypt's current president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, and died in an Egyptian courtroom in 2019 after suffering years of medical neglect in prison.

Since the 2013 coup, Morsi's relatives have suffered continued persecution and harassment at the hands of Egyptian authorities.

His family was not allowed to bury him at his home village in Sharqiya province in 2019 and his wife was prevented from attending his funeral, which took place in Cairo.

Morsi's son, Osama, was detained by authorities in 2016 after drawing attention to his father's mistreatment in prison in an open letter to the UN.

Another son, Abdullah, died of a heart attack at the age of 24 in 2019 according to initial reports but his lawyers later said that he had been injected with a lethal substance.

The New Arab

The Algerian government has announced a new controversial draft to regulate journalism in the country, as rights groups warn of a deterioration in freedom of speech in the North African state.

Late on Sunday, the Algerian ministerial council discussed a new draft that will oblige printed and online newspapers to declare their funding sources. 

If passed, the draft will ban Algerian newspapers and websites from receiving funds from abroad or from "suspicious sources."

The Algerian parliament is expected to vote on the new journalism law in the upcoming weeks.

"The draft is based on the logic of protecting journalists and aims to advance the media sector," said President Abdelmadjid Tebboune during the meeting.

Last week, the National Council of Algerian Journalists voiced dissatisfaction with the government's law after it was excluded from the drafting process.

"The marginalisation is an unjustified paradox and a repetition of old methods that used to exclude independent unions," said the council.

International rights groups have consistently called out the current Algerian regime for targeting journalists and activists and sabotaging the country's path to democracy after pro-reform protests.

Algeria is ranked 134th (out of 180) in the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) 2021 World Press Freedom Index.

Algerian authorities are holding at least 280 activists and dozens of journalists in detention, mostly for defamation of politicians or because of publications on social networks.

In April, the renowned Algerian Francophone newspaper Liberté closed its doors after a long battle against the authorities' censorship.

In addition to the crackdown on freedom of speech, financial hardships in the last twenty years have pushed many titles, such as Le Matin, La Tribune and the weekly La Nation, to close over a drop in advertising revenue and sales. 

El-Watan, the most widely printed Francophone newspaper in Algeria, recently released a statement predicting that its closure is only "a question of time" due to rising political pressure and the economic situation it faces.

The New Arab

The National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT) has accused the National Television Corporation of a "serious deviation" from the principle of separating management from the editing process.

The union accused the station yesterday of "taking advantage of this public institution for propaganda purposes in favour of the current regime." It also complained about the "exclusion" of journalists and activists who refuse to follow such an editorial line. "This is a clear violation of the independence of National Television."

According to the journalists' union, the government's silence in this matter indicates its complicity and intention to convert the public media institution into a propaganda mouthpiece for the president and his regime by emptying it of the content that reflects the aspirations of the people. "This is a serious situation, characterised by ambiguity in vision and the taking of individual decisions, which have created tension within the institution."

MEM