ISTANBUL: A tour bus tipped over Saturday on a serpentine mountain road in Turkey, killing 24 people as it fell off a cliff and hit a car, Turkish authorities said.
The governor of Mugla province, Amir Cicek, said the driver is among the dead and the accident may have been caused by a failure in the bus’s braking system. He said investigations were continuing to determine the exact cause.
Cicek said the bus flipped over on a bend in the road and fell 15 meters (50 feet) down a cliff as it was traveling from the coastal province of Izmir to Marmaris, a popular tourist destination.
He said 10 people remain in critical condition and all the passengers were Turkish.
The deputy governor of Mugla province, Kamil Koten, told Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency that most of those killed were women.
Anadolu said the bus was in a convoy of six, carrying mostly women and children for a Mother’s Day event.
Tour bus tips over in Turkey, killing at least 24 people
Tour bus tips over in Turkey, killing at least 24 people
More than 80 countries condemn new Israeli rules in West Bank, invoke the ‘New York Declaration’
- Surrounded by nations’ representatives, Palestinian envoy Riyad Mansour reads statement at UN HQ denouncing the measures as ‘contrary to Israel’s obligations under international law’
- Critics say the steps — including expansion of Israeli settlements, legalization of outposts, direct land purchases by settlers, removal of oversight — amount to de facto annexation
NEW YORK CITY: More than 80 countries and several international organizations on Tuesday condemned what they described as unilateral decisions and measures taken by Israeli authorities with the aim of expanding their “unlawful” presence in the occupied West Bank.
Surrounded by more than 80 representatives of the nations and groups, Riyad Mansour, the permanent observer of the State of Palestine to the UN, read a joint statement in which they said: “Such decisions are contrary to Israel’s obligations under international law and must be immediately reversed.”
Israel this month approved significant new measures that tighten its control of the occupied West Bank, focusing in particular on accelerating the process of registering land in a part of the territory known as Area C as “state property.”
The new steps, which critics say amount to de facto annexation, include the legalization of outposts, expansion of Israeli settlements, authorization for direct land purchases by settlers, and the removal of oversight on such transactions.
In their statement, the countries and organizations stressed their “strong opposition to any form of annexation.”
They continued: “We reiterate our rejection of all measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem.
“Such measures violate international law, undermine the ongoing efforts for peace and stability in the region, run counter to the comprehensive plan, and jeopardize the prospect of reaching a peace agreement ending the conflict.”
They reaffirmed their determination “to take concrete measures in accordance with international law, and in line with the relevant UN resolutions and the July 19 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, to help realize the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, and to counter the illegal settlement policy in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and policies and threats of forcible displacement.”
This stance is reflected, they said, in the 2025 New York Declaration, a UN-endorsed initiative proposed, following a conference in July 2025, by France and Saudi Arabia with the aim of reviving efforts to achieve a two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and Palestine.
“We reiterate that a just and lasting peace on the basis of the relevant UN resolutions, the Madrid terms of reference, including the principle of land for peace, and the Arab Peace Initiative, ending the Israeli occupation that began in 1967 and implementing the two-state solution — where two democratic states, an independent and sovereign Palestine and Israel, live side by side in peace and security within their secure and recognized borders on the basis of the 1967 lines, including with regard to Jerusalem — remains the only path to ensure security and stability in the region,” they added.
