ANKARA: Turkey has issued a new arrest warrant for a convicted crime boss who fled prosecution abroad and then began publishing videos alleging grave crimes committed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's allies.
The chief public prosecutor's office in Ankara issued the arrest warrant for Sedat Peker on Wednesday as he prepared to issue the eighth in a series of YouTube videos that have received millions of views each.
The Anadolu state news agency said Peker was now also suspected of involvement in a terror group led by a US-based Muslim preacher that Turkey blames for a failed coup against Erdogan in 2016.
The accusations thrown by Peker at Erdogan's allies -- including a former prime minister, top officials and their relatives -- range from corruption and drug trafficking to rape and assassinations.
The videos have focused heavily on Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, whom Peker alleges had offered him protection and then tipped him off about new impending charges, allowing him to flee abroad.
Peker, 49, began recording his videos after police raided his home in Turkey in April and allegedly mistreated his family.
He says he now lives in the United Arab Emirates.
None of the allegations has been proven and those involved have protested their innocence.
But the political scandal sparked by the videos comes at an inopportune time for Erdogan, who is losing ground in opinion polls because of a depreciating currency and runaway inflation.
Addressing the allegations directly for the first time on Wednesday, Erdogan vowed to stand "side by side" with Soylu, a nationalist who is seen as one of Turkey's most popular and powerful officials.
"We have crushed criminal organisations one by one for 19 years," Erdogan said Wednesday.
"We follow criminal gang members wherever they may flee to in the world."
Turkey seeks arrest of crime boss at heart of video scandal
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Turkey seeks arrest of crime boss at heart of video scandal
- Ankara chief public prosecutor issued an arrest warrant for Sedat Peker on Wednesday
- Accusations thrown by Peker at Erdogan's allies range from corruption and drug trafficking to rape and assassinations
Qatari emir meets US congress members
- Two sides discussed ways to strengthen relations between Qatar and the US
DOHA: Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani met a delegation of US Congress members on Sunday during their visit to Doha.
The visitors were Democrats Salud Carbajal, Ami Bera and Juan Vargas (California) and Derek Kilmer (Washington) and Republicans Dave Joyce (Ohio) and Lance Gooden (Texas), the Qatar News Agency reported.
The two sides discussed ways to strengthen relations between Qatar and the US, strategic cooperation in various sectors, and regional and global developments.
The talks came a day after Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani spoke to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres about the situation in Gaza.
During a phone call, they discussed joint mediation efforts to end the war, the release of prisoners and detainees, and getting humanitarian aid to all areas of the enclave.
Qatar has played an intermediary role throughout the war in Gaza. Along with the US and Egypt, it was instrumental in helping negotiate the brief halt to the fighting in November that led to the release of dozens of hostages.
Israel lacks ‘credible plan’ to safeguard Rafah civilians, says Blinken
- Blinken said Biden determined to help Israel defend itself and shipment of 3,500 2,000-pound and 500-pound bombs was only US weapons package being withheld
WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday defended a decision to pause a delivery to Israel of 3,500 bombs over concerns they could be used in the Gazan city of Rafah, saying Israel lacked a “credible plan” to protect some 1.4 million civilians sheltering there.
Speaking to ABC News’ This Week, Blinken said that President Joe Biden remains determined to help Israel defend itself and that the shipment of 3,500 2,000-pound and 500-pound bombs was the only US weapons package being withheld.
That could change, he said, if Israel launches a full-scale attack on Rafah, which Israel says it plans to invade to root out fighters of the ruling Hamas militant group.
Biden has made clear to Israel that if it “launches this major military operation to Rafah, then there are certain systems that we’re not going to be supporting and supplying for that operation,” said Blinken.
“We have real concerns about the way they’re used,” he continued. Israel needs to “have a clear, credible plan to protect civilians, which we haven’t seen.”
Rafah is hosting some 1.4 million Palestinians, most of them displaced from elsewhere in Gaza by fighting and Israeli bombardments, amid dire shortages of food and water.
The death toll in Israel’s military operation in Gaza has now passed at least 35,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.
The war was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7 in which some 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 people taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel says 620 soldiers have been killed in the fighting.
Dubai laboratory develops AI technology to detect Legionella bacteria
- The AI system works by pinpointing live colonies of the bacteria
DUBAI: Dubai Central Laboratory has developed an artificial intelligence technology able to detect Legionella pulmonary bacteria, the first of its type in the Middle East region, the Emirates News Agency reported on Sunday.
The system works by pinpointing live colonies of the bacteria, which causes a variety of acute respiratory infections, and delivers examination results with an accuracy rate in quantifying bacterial counts of 99 percent, the report said.
The technology also streamlines work processes by reducing reliance on laboratory supplies, leading to faster completion times.
“This revolutionary method of detecting Legionella pulmonary bacteria is among the latest to be accredited globally by the European Water Testing Network. It also has a certificate of recognition from AOAC International,” Hind Mahmoud Ahmed, director of the Dubai Central Laboratory Department, said.
“The technology is very accurate and quick to produce results, typically needing 48 hours as opposed to the 14 days that traditional methods require.”
Laboratories conduct more than 100,000 tests every year to ensure the safety of various goods sold in Dubai.
UN chief calls for ‘immediate’ Gaza ceasefire, hostage release
- Israeli strikes on Gaza continued Sunday after it expanded evacuation order for Rafah operation
- Gaza war tearing families apart, rendering people homeless, hungry and traumatized, says UN chief
KUWAIT CITY: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday urged an immediate halt to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, the return of hostages and a “surge” in humanitarian aid to the besieged Palestinian territory.
“I repeat my call, the world’s call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages and an immediate surge in humanitarian aid,” Guterres said in a video address to an international donors’ conference in Kuwait.
“But a ceasefire will only be the start. It will be a long road back from the devastation and trauma of this war,” he added.
Israeli strikes on Gaza continued on Sunday after it expanded an evacuation order for Rafah despite international outcry over its military incursion into eastern areas of the city, effectively shutting a key aid crossing.
“The war in Gaza is causing horrific human suffering, devastating lives, tearing families apart and rendering huge numbers of people homeless, hungry and traumatized,” Guterres said.
His remarks were played at the opening of the conference in Kuwait organized by the International Islamic Charitable Organization (IICO) and the UN’s humanitarian coordination organization OCHA.
On Friday, in Nairobi, the UN head warned Gaza faced an “epic humanitarian disaster” if Israel launched a full-scale ground operation in Rafah.
Gaza’s bloodiest-ever war began following Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel that resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel launched a retaliatory offensive that has killed more than 34,971 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
UN chief calls for ‘immediate’ Gaza ceasefire, hostage release
- UN chief: ‘The war in Gaza is causing horrific human suffering, devastating lives, tearing families apart and rendering huge numbers of people homeless, hungry and traumatized’
KUWAIT CITY: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday urged an immediate halt to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, the return of hostages and a “surge” in humanitarian aid to the besieged Palestinian territory.
“I repeat my call, the world’s call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages and an immediate surge in humanitarian aid,” Guterres said in a video address to an international donors’ conference in Kuwait.
“But a ceasefire will only be the start. It will be a long road back from the devastation and trauma of this war,” he added.
Israeli strikes on Gaza continued on Sunday after it expanded an evacuation order for Rafah despite international outcry over its military incursion into eastern areas of the city, effectively shutting a key aid crossing.
“The war in Gaza is causing horrific human suffering, devastating lives, tearing families apart and rendering huge numbers of people homeless, hungry and traumatized,” Guterres said.
His remarks were played at the opening of the conference in Kuwait organized by the International Islamic Charitable Organization (IICO) and the UN’s humanitarian coordination organization OCHA.
On Friday, in Nairobi, the UN head warned Gaza faced an “epic humanitarian disaster” if Israel launched a full-scale ground operation in Rafah.
Gaza’s bloodiest-ever war began following Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel that resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel launched a retaliatory offensive that has killed more than 34,971 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
