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Turkey Sends Medical Aid to Countries in Fight Against Covid-19

Turkey Sends Medical Aid to Countries in Fight Against Covid-19

21.04.2020
Turkey has sent aid, medical supplies, and protective equipment to countries badly hit by the coronavirus epidemic, such as the UK, Italy, Spain, and several Balkan countries.
The Turkish Defense Ministry announced on April 10th that a Turkish military cargo plane carrying medical aid arrived in the UK.

“I hope that the friendly UK people will come out of this tragedy with minimal losses,” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan noted in a letter to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Erdoğan emphasized that the military cargo plane was sent to demonstrate solidarity with Turkey’s friend and ally the United Kingdom.

Along with the UK, Turkey also sent medical aid to five Balkan countries including Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Kosovo. Supplies were also sent to Ukraine.

Turkey also sent medical aid to Libya and Somalia. “At the direction of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as part of the preventative measures against the Covid-19 virus, medical supplies were sent to our Libyan brothers and our military training cooperation and consultancy teams who are on duty in the region,” Turkey’s National Defense Ministry said on Twitter.

Previously, Turkey sent aid, including masks, hazmat suits, goggles, and disinfectants to Italy and Spain. The crates containing the supplies carried messages reading: “With love to the people of Spain and Italy, from Turkey” and the words of the 13th-century Sufi mystic Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi: “There is hope after despair, and many suns after darkness.”​​

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Turkey is facing its own coronavirus crisis – so why is it sending medical supplies to the UK?

Turkey is facing its own coronavirus crisis – so why is it sending medical supplies to the UK?
April 23, 2020 12.21am AEST

Yaprak Gürsoy
Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, Aston University

Amid a global rush to find medical equipment for healthcare workers on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic, the UK has ordered 84 tonnes of personal protective equipment (PPE) from Turkey.
But, for no apparent reason, the shipment was delayed, amid mounting controversy over the UK’s dependence on international suppliers for protective equipment. At least part of the shipment did eventually arrive on a plane from Turkey on April 22.

Turkey has also sent out medical supplies prepared by its Ministry of Defence in the form of aid to nearly 30 countries across the globe, including the UK, Italy and Spain.
Meanwhile, Turkey is struggling with its own coronavirus health crisis and possible shortage of PPE. As of April 22, the country had reported 95,591 cases of COVID-19 and 2,259 deaths, according to data collated by John Hopkins University.
The Turkish Medical Association has warned of problems surrounding the availability of PPE and conveyed fears among healthcare workers that they may run out of equipment. Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, was criticised by the head of the opposition Good Party, which questioned aid to Italy and Spain at a time when the Turkish government was asking for donations from citizens to help combat the disease at home.

Despite these questions, Turkey has continued to ship PPE to other countries. Ankara may be trying to boost its manufacturing sector and its economy during the pandemic. But there are also a deeper historical and political reasons behind this recent generosity.

Status through compassion
Before the pandemic began, Turkey was stuck in a complex crisis with political, economic and international dimensions. The main foreign and domestic policy agenda was the imbroglio in Syria and ongoing battle over Idlib. At home, Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party had lost municipal elections in Istanbul and Ankara in 2019 and the economy had been under stress at least since the 2018 exchange rate fluctuation.

But with the pandemic these crises have been all but forgotten. The new global agenda gave a rare opportunity to Erdoğan’s government to promote its strength at home and reconcile its image abroad.
The logo of the Turkish presidency was attached to the boxes, indicating the significance of this move for Erdoğan’s image. Some of the aid packages also contained a quote from the 13th-century Sufi mystic Mevlana Rumi – who is known for his peaceful Islamic teachings – linking the recent gesture to a long tradition of compassion in Islam.

The idea of mercy is important in Turkey’s collective identity – and the way the country thinks about itself. Epitomised in the words “peace at home, peace in the world” by the founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, benevolence sporadically surfaces in Turkey’s relations with other countries as a benign way to restore self-worth.

Drawing on Islamic thought, compassion can also be practised in international relations to redeem dignity and gain respect. In Islam, God is compassionate and kind – acts in his name should follow the same practice. Being a good Muslim is connected to sharing wealth, helping those who are in need and giving alms. Evoking these beliefs, Rumi’s quote on hope would strike a chord with many Turks who feel pride in helping others.

In the past two decades, under Erdoğan’s rule, Turkey has relied on similar sentiments to become a regional power in international relations, extending its influence in the Middle East and Africa. Craving higher status, Turkey has used global aid to increase its soft power in the Muslim world and beyond. This aid has been distributed in particular to Muslim nations in need, through the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency and Islamic NGOs, backed by the Directorate of Religious Affairs.

The new COVID-19 assistance to European countries and others combines this policy with a new kind of power politics. It is, in part, a peaceful attempt to restore Turkey’s status and image at a time when they were particularly tarnished by the situation in Syria.

A friend and an ally
Assistance to and cooperation with the UK also has special meaning. The UK has been a critical ally of Turkey in the past few years. When Erdoğan faced a military coup in July 2016, the British government was among the first to condemn it. The events surrounding the coup left an emotional imprint on Turkish politics and there is longstanding gratitude to those – like the UK – who stood by Erdoğan at a traumatic moment.

Seen from this angle, it’s unsurprising that Ankara would want to reciprocate in this time of distress. Tellingly, the cargo plane that carried aid to the UK on April 10 also delivered a personal letter from Erdoğan expressing solidarity with the UK and wishing the British prime minister, Boris Johnson, a speedy recovery.
The aid packages, and readiness to supply PPE, gives Turkey an opportunity to reconcile its battered global image while strengthening old alliances. This example of “reverse aid” from East to West also signifies economic and political opportunities for states seeking higher status and power.

Countries like Turkey may find they now have a chance to reinvent themselves in cooperation with the West. Using peaceful means to gain respect on the global stage would not only be beneficial for them but would also give hope for a brighter future in global politics.

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Pakistan: 200-year old temple returned to Hindus

Pakistan: 200-year old temple returned to Hindus

8th Feb 2020

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA): Pakistan’s government has handed over a 200-year old temple to the country’s Hindu minority, local media reported on Saturday.
Located in the remote Zhob district of the southwestern Balochistan province, the temple had been illegally occupied in 1947 following the partition of United India, which prompted a mass-scale migration to and from Pakistan and India.
For the past 30 years the four-room temple was also used as a government school, but it was vacated last year, and the school was relocated, English daily Dawn reported.

The keys to the temple were handed over to Hindu community leaders by Maulana Allah Dad Kakar, a local religious scholar, and leader of Jamiat Ulema Islam – a mainstream religious party ­– at a ceremony held outside the building.
Saleem Taha, Zhob’s deputy commissioner, apologized for the 72-year delay in handing over the temple to the Hindu community, but made assurances the building would be restored to its original condition, Dawn reported.

The move – hailed by the Hindu community ­– comes on the heels of an Indian Supreme Court ruling last November handing over the site of the historic Babri Mosque to Hindus for the construction of a temple following a prolonged legal battle. The mosque was destroyed by Hindus decades ago.
Pakistan’s move is part of government plans to reclaim and restore 400 temples across the country illegally occupied by land grabbers and return them to Hindus.
Hindus, the largest minority in Pakistan, make up 4% of the country’s more than 200 million population.

Pakistan is home to several sites revered by Hindus. The Katas Raj temple in the northeastern Chakwal district and Sadhu Bela temple in southern Sukkur district are the two most-visited rites by Hindus across the world.
Last November, Pakistan also opened a key border crossing for Indian Sikhs to visit the birthplace of Baba Guru Nanak, the founder of their religion.
[Photo: Shri Varun Dev Mandir is one of hundreds of Hindu temples located in Manora Island in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. Photo by Sam4u1w/Creative Commons]

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UK: Muslim worhipper stabbed during prayers forgives his attacker

UK: Muslim worhipper stabbed during prayers forgives his attacker
23rd Feb 2020

By Ahmed J Versi
London, (The Muslim News): A Muslim worshipper who was stabbed in the neck during late afternoon (Asr) prayers, on Thursday, has forgiven his attacker. Raafat Maglad who is in his 70s was taken to hospital for treatment to stab injuries, victim had suffered a 1.5cm wound to his neck. He was later discharged following treatment.

29-year-old Daniel Horton of no fixed abode has been charged with grievous bodily harm. He appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Saturday. He was remanded in custody by District Judge Nina Tempia to appear at Southwark Crown Court on 20 March.

The Metropolitan Police said it was not treating the unprovoked knife attack as terror-related.
The attack on Muaddin (one who calls people to prayer) took place at Regent’s Park Mosque in London.
Maglad forgave his attacker. At a press conference he told reporters: “I forgive him. I feel very sorry for him.”
“What is done is done, he is not going to return.
“As a Muslim I didn’t put any hatred in my heart. What is done is done.
“He is a human being and this is my faith. What happened to me is my faith,” he said.

Maglad, who is originally from Sudan, described what had happened: “We were praying and I just felt somebody hit me from behind. He didn’t say anything. I just felt blood flowing from my neck and that’s it, they rushed me to the hospital. Everything happened all of a sudden.”

A video posted on social media showed a white man in a red-hooded top and jeans being pinned to the floor in the mosque by police, who were arresting him.
“A 29-year-old man, who is believed to have been attending prayers, was arrested inside the mosque on suspicion of attempted murder. He has been taken into custody at a central London police station. The incident is not being treated as terror-related at this time,” the Metropolitan Police had said in a statement Friday.
The Met’s Chief Superintendent for the central-west borough, Helen Harper, said: “I would like to thank everybody in the mosque who helped to detain the man before he was arrested and continue to help my officers with their inquiries. I’m extremely relieved the injuries suffered by the victim do not appear to be life-threatening.”

“However, this incident has undoubtedly caused a great deal of concern, and we are working as swiftly as possible to establish the circumstances. No other suspects are being sought at this time.”
There were conflicting reports as to whether the attacker was known in the mosque or not. Some worshippers said they had seen him before and others not.
A Spokesman of the mosque told The Muslim News the attacker was not “a regular” to the mosque” and that he may have spoken to Maglad once or twice in the past.

In a statement, the mosque said: “There was an incident today at London Central Mosque where an unknown individual attacked and stabbed the muezzin during Asr prayer around 3 p.m.”
“The attacker was apprehended by the worshippers until the police arrived and arrested him. The muezzin did not sustain any life-threatening injuries but was seriously injured and is being treated at the hospital.

“We await further information from the police regarding the incident. Our thoughts and prayers are with the muezzin and his family.”
Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan in several tweets that every Londoner “is entitled to feel safe in their place of worship, and I want to reassure London’s communities that acts of violence in our city simply will not be tolerated. As Mayor, I’ll continue to protect all Londoners’ right to practise their faith freely & safely, but Govt need to act quickly to provide the funds & reassurance London’s faith communities deserve. I’ve written to the Home Secretary to share my concerns. Places of worship should be sanctuaries – a safe haven.

“No-one should be scared to attend mosques, churches, synagogues or temples. I’ll be showing my solidarity with Muslim Londoners by praying at London Central Mosque today.I’m deeply concerned by this incident at London Central Mosque. Every Londoner is entitled to feel safe in their place of worship & I want to reassure London’s communities that acts of violence in our city will not be tolerated. The Met are providing extra resources in the area.”
Harun Khan, Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain, said: “We condemn this attack. Our thoughts and prayers are with the muezzin and those at London Central Mosque, its leaders and congregants.”

“It is deeply distressing to hear of an attack of this nature, with worshippers being targeted in a mosque, a place of spiritual sanctuary.
“Regardless of the motive of the attacker, we must remain calm but vigilant, as we aim to balance the importance of retaining mosques as open spaces and the security of worshippers. In this light, we will be reissuing our safety advice to mosques across the country.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson posted a brief statement on the incident on Twitter.
“I’m deeply saddened to hear of the attack at the London Central Mosque. It’s so awful that this should happen, especially in a place of worship. My thoughts are with the victim and all those affected.
”Regent’s Park Mosque is one of the largest in the U.K., with 6,000 Muslims a week praying there.

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Arab Saudi umum tiada solat tarawih di masjid tahun ini

Arab Saudi umum tiada solat tarawih di masjid tahun ini
Agensi | Diterjemahkan oleh: Madiha Abdullah
April 14, 2020 21:56 MYT

RIYADH: Arab Saudi mengumumkan tiada solat tarawih di masjid pada bulan Ramadan yang akan datang ini, lapor Al Riyadh.

Sebaliknya, rakyat diminta menunaikan tarawih di rumah sahaja.

“Semoga Allah SWT menerima solat tarawih yang dilakukan tidak kira sama ada di masjid atau rumah, kerana ini adalah untuk kepentingan bersama,” kata Menteri Hal Ehwal Islam, Dr Abdul Latif Al Sheikh.

Sejak 19 Mac lalu, negara itu tidak lagi membenarkan solat lima waktu dan solat Jumaat dilakukan di masjid secara berjemaah, sebagai sebahagian daripada usaha untuk menyekat penyebaran COVID-19.

Arab Saudi, yang melaksanakan perintah berkurung sejak minggu lalu, setakat ini telah mencatat 4,934 kes positif dan 65 kematian.

Jumlah itu merupakan yang tertinggi dalam kalangan enam negara anggota Majlis Kerjasama Teluk, yang mencatat lebih 14,000 kes positif dan lebih 100 kematian.

Angka itu dijangka mencecah 200,000 dalam beberapa minggu akan datang, memaksa langkah drastik diambil seperti menghentikan penerbangan antarabangsa dan menggantung ibadat umrah.

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Umat Islam diminta tangguh persiapan haji dan umrah – Arab Saudi

Umat Islam diminta tangguh persiapan haji dan umrah – Arab Saudi
Rabu, 1 April 2020 9:41 AM

Kesihatan umat Islam seluruh dunia menjadi keutamaan ketika pandemik Covid-19 menular.
ARAB Saudi meminta umat Islam di seluruh dunia menunggu sehingga situasi mengenai pandemik koronavirus lebih jelas sebelum merancang untuk mengerjakan haji, kata Menteri Haji dan Umrah Dr Mohammed Saleh bin Benten kepada stesen TV negara itu pada Selasa.
Awal bulan ini, Arab Saudi menghentikan sementara ibadat umrah berikutan kebimbangan terhadap Covid-19 yang menular ke bandar-bandar dan tanah suci Makkah, satu langkah yang tidak pernah dilakukan sebelum ini sekali gus menimbulkan tanda tanya berhubung ibadat haji tahunan.

Kira-kira 2.5 juta jemaah haji dari seluruh dunia biasanya berkumpul di Makkah dan Madinah pada musim haji, yang mana pada tahun ini ia dijadualkan bermula pada Julai. Haji juga adalah sumber pendapatan yang besar bagi kerajaan Arab Saudi.

”Arab Saudi bersedia sepenuhnya untuk memberi khidmat kepada jemaah haji dan umrah,” kata Mohammed Saleh kepada stesen TV Al-Ekhbariya.
“Tetapi melihat keadaan semasa, ketika kita bercakap mengenai pandemik global… kerajaan cenderung untuk melindungi kesihatan umat Islam dan rakyat justeru kami meminta saudara-saudara Islam di semua negara untuk menangguh dulu sebelum membuat persediaan haji sehingga situasinya jelas.”
Selain menangguhkan umrah, Arab Saudi juga menghentikan semua penerbangan penumpang antarabangsa dan minggu lalu menyekat pintu masuk dan keluar ke beberapa bandar raya, termasuk Makkah dan Madinah.

Ziarah dan musim haji menjadi satu perniagaan besar untuk Arab Saudi dan tulang belakang rancangan untuk meningkatkan bilangan pelawat di bawah agenda reformasi ekonomi Putera Mahkota, Mohammed bin Salman.
Membatalkan haji tidak pernah berlaku sebelum ini pada zaman moden, tetapi menghadkan kehadiran dari kawasan berisiko tinggi telah berlaku sebelum ini, termasuk dalam tahun-tahun kebelakangan ini semasa wabak Ebola.
Setakat ini, Arab Saudi dilaporkan telah mencatatkan lebih dari 1,500 kes koronavirus yang dan 10 kematian. Secara global, lebih dari 825,000 orang telah dijangkiti dengan lebih dari 40,000 kematian direkodkan. -AlJazeera

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Turkish drones – a ‘game changer’ in Idlib

Turkish drones – a ‘game changer’ in Idlib

Ahead of Erdogan-Putin summit, Syrian opposition forces take strategic Idlib positions backed by Turkish drone power
3 Mar 2020

Over the past five days, Syrian opposition forces have gained ground in northwest Syria with the help of Turkish air support.
Since December, Syrian government forces backed by Russia and Iran have advanced on the northwest province of Idlib, the last stronghold of the Turkish-backed opposition. But after last week, Turkey deployed dozens of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs or drones), as well as heavy artillery in the area, and opposition factions managed to take back some territory.

Turkey-backed fighters recapture key town in Syria’s Idlib
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Erdogan threatens ‘imminent’ Turkish operation in Syria
Opposition commanders told Al Jazeera their forces took control over a number of villages in the area of Jabal al-Zawiya in southern Idlib province, stopping the advance of government forces towards the M4 highway, linking Latakia to Aleppo.
According to Yousef Hamoud, spokesperson of the opposition Syrian National Army, the fighters arrived on Monday on the outskirts of the city of Kafranbel, which was taken by government forces on February 25.
In the east, after the opposition took back the town of Saraqeb and the government lost control over the strategic M5 highway linking Damascus to Aleppo.

Hamoud said government forces with new reinforcements of Iran-backed militias and Russian regular forces and mercenaries have launched a counter-offensive and managed to enter Saraqeb’s eastern neighbourhoods.
The Russian defence ministry said in a statement posted on its Facebook page that it has deployed Russian military police units to the city.
Another opposition commander told Al Jazeera clashes in Saraqeb continue, but rebels were holding their ground with the support of Turkish drones.
On Sunday, Turkey announced it was launching operation Spring Shield targeting Syrian government forces in northwest Syria, but opposition commanders told Al Jazeera the actual offensive started as early as Thursday and intensified after the killing of 34 Turkish soldiers in southern Idlib.
On Saturday, a deadline given by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad to withdraw from areas it had taken over in northwest Syria since December expired.

A game-changer’
Although Turkey has supported the Syrian opposition in its fight against the Syrian government, this is the first time it has deployed UAVs in the battle against Damascus. That along with air raids by fighter jets flying along the Syrian-Turkish border and heavy artillery has changed significantly the dynamics on the ground.
“Turkish drones flying over Syrian airspace is a tactical game-changer,” said Can Kasapoglu, director of Security and Defence Studies Program at Istanbul-based think-tank EDAM.

“There are some high grounds and some choke points that can change the overall military balance [such as] Saraqeb, Neirab, Atarib. Turkish drone power can make a tactical difference in these flashpoints of the Syrian [war],” he explained.

Erdogan, Putin discuss Syria as Turkey demands truce in Idlib
According to Kasapoglu, Turkey had previously used armed drones in Syria during its 2018 operation Olive Branch against the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).
But this is the first time the Turkish army has used its Turkish-made ANKA-S and Bayraktar-TB2 on such a scale and with such intensity, he said. In his estimate, dozens of UAVs have been deployed.
The drones have not only hit positions and convoys of the Syrian government forces and its allies along the front line, but they have also penetrated deep into Damascus-controlled areas and reportedly targeted military airports near the cities of Aleppo and Hama.
According to Kasapolgu, they also managed to destroy a number of anti-aircraft systems the Syrian government deployed.

On Monday, the Turkish news agency Anadolu quoted the Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar as saying that Turkish forces destroyed two Syrian Su-24 fighter jets, two drones, 135 tanks, and five air defence systems and “neutralised” more than 2,500 fighters loyal to the Syrian government. The term neutralised is used for the killing, wounding, or capturing of pro-al-Assad forces.
Turkish drones have also successfully targeted high-ranking officers in both Syrian government forces and allied militias.

Sources told Al Jazeera Arabic that on Saturday at least 10 high-ranking commanders of the Syrian government’s forces and its ally, Hezbollah, were killed by a Turkish drone while meeting near the town of Zerba in southern Aleppo province.
In a separate incident, in the Talhia area near the town of Taftinaz, at least nine Hezbollah fighters were killed along with dozens of others from militias supported by Iran, as well as a number of Syrian soldiers and officers, Lebanese media reported.
Turkey has confirmed the downing of one of its drones. The Syrian news agency SANA reported at least three have been shot down.

Erdogan-Putin summit
Although the Turkish drone power has enabled the Syrian opposition to launch a counter-offensive against the Syrian government and stop its advance, it may not be enough to change significantly the status quo on the ground in northwest Syria.
“Assad lost the psychological advantage after the deployment of the Turkish drones and artillery. The regime forces cannot fight under such fire, which temporarily paralysed them,” said Kirill Semenov, a Moscow-based Middle East analyst. “But it’s unlikely that the opposition will be able to re-capture the positions it lost.”
He expressed doubt about the numbers of casualties and destroyed military assets released by the Turkish ministry and said al-Assad’s losses are “big but not critical”.

Is the European Union facing a new refugee crisis?
One of the factors that seems to have enabled the Turkish drone-led offensive has been Russia’s decreased military activity in the northwest. A Syrian opposition commander confirmed to Al Jazeera that Russian air raids have been relatively few over the past few days.
Last week, pro-Iranian media has accused Moscow of effectively abandoning Syrian government forces and Iranian militias on the Saraqeb front line.
According to Semenov, Russia and Turkey have an agreement, according to which the Turkish army can use drones over the de-escalation zone in Idlib, which is why Russian forces have avoided taking action against them. It is also possible that Russia wanted to avoid a major escalation with Turkey at this point, he added.
The Turkish government has also been explicit in its public rhetoric, saying it will target only Syrian regime forces and avoid a confrontation with Russia.

Kasapolgu pointed out the Turkish army has focused its artillery and drone power on the front in eastern Idlib, where Syrian government forces and Iranian militias have been fighting; at the same time, the offensive has been less intensive in the south where the Russian-backed Fifth Division has been deployed. The deployment of Russian military police to Saraqeb, however, could force the Turkish army to hold back on its fire.
These developments come as Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin are scheduled to meet in Moscow on March 5 to discuss the situation in Syria. In recent weeks, there have been multiple meetings between Turkish and Russian delegations and phone calls between members of the two governments.

According to Marwan Kabalan, the director of policy analysis at the Arab Centre for Research and Policy in Doha, Qatar, with its latest escalation in Syria, Turkey wants to pressure Russia into a new deal on northwest Syria before the March 5 meeting.
“The Turks are going to the summit with a much stronger position on the ground than they had a few days ago,” he said. “My understanding is that the Russians and the Turks will reach a new deal.”
In his view, Ankara is afraid of the Syrian government taking over the M4 and M5 highways and leaving a small strip of land for the three million displaced Syrians devoid of economic prospects and infrastructure, effectively turning it into “another Gaza” that would have to be financially supported by the Turkish government.

For this reason, Erdogan will likely pressure Putin to agree to a new de-escalation zone and a joint administration of the M4 and M5 highways, Kabalan said. If such agreement is reached, the Turkish offensive will likely subside after March 5, he added.
Follow Mariya Petkova on Twitter: @mkpetkova

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33 tentera Turki terbunuh di Idlib, Syria

33 tentera Turki terbunuh di Idlib, Syria

ISTANBUL: Serangan udara tentera Syria di wilayah Idlib semalam mengakibatkan 33 tentera Turki terbunuh.

Gabenor wilayah Hatay di tenggara Turki, Rahmi Dogan, berkata kadar kematian meningkat mendadak berbanding yang diumumkan sebelum ini.

“Tentera yang cedera dirawat di Hatay, kerugian besar dialami sejak ketegangan selain kira-kira 42 tentera Turki dilaporkan terkorban di Idlib.

“Konflik semakin tegang apabila Turki menggesa regim Syria untuk berundur dari Idlib sementara Russia menuduh Turki membantu pengganas di Syria,” katanya.

Majlis Keselamatan Pertubuhan Bangsa-bangsa Bersatu (UNSC) semalam melaporkan Moscow sedia melakukan gencatan senjata, berikutan kebimbangan selepas menyaksikan perang Idlib berlarutan sejak sembilan tahun lalu.

Agensi berita rasmi SANA memaklumkan, ada pertempuran sengit antara tentera dan kumpulan pengganas di Saraqeb.

Kira-kira 950,0000 penduduk terpaksa menyelamatkan diri akibat serangan tentera kerajaan itu, sekali gus meningkatkan kebimbangan mengenai krisis pelarian.

Ketika ini, Turki menjadi tempat berlindung 3.6 juta pelarian Syria sehingga membebankan negara itu menyediakan kemudahan untuk mereka dan difahamkan lebih 500,000 pelarian tidur dalam kesejukan melampau di utara Syria.

Pengarah Eksekutif Majlis Keselamatan Tabung Kanak-Kanak PBB Bersatu (UNICEF), Henrietta Fore, merayu semua pihak supaya bersetuju mengadakan gencatan senjata.

“Berjuta kanak-kanak Syria menangis kelaparan dan kesejukan, cedera, ketakutan dan terpisah dari keluarga. Kita mesti membantu mereka dan keluarga, pilihlah keamanan sejagat,” katanya.

Pengerusi Jawatankuasa Penyelamat Antarabangsa PBB, David Miliband, berkata adalah penting bagi anggota UNSC yang bersidang hari ini untuk meluluskan resolusi mengadakan gencatan senjata.

Rabu lalu, sembilan daripada 15 anggota UNSC menggesa Setiausaha Agung PBB, Antonio Guterres, untuk meningkatkan usaha mengembalikan keamanan di Idlib.

Kuasa veto Rusia, lazimnya disokong China, sering merencatkan usaha PBB membawa keamanan di Syria. – AGENSI

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A doctor in Idlib: ‘It cannot get more evil than this’

A doctor in Idlib: ‘It cannot get more evil than this’
A Syrian doctor working on the front lines details the personal and human toll of the country’s nine-year war.
by Zakaria Zakaria
13 Feb 2020

The Syrian town of Maaret al-Numan lies on a key highway connecting the capital, Damascus, to Aleppo. A former anti-government protest hotspot, it has suffered months of bombardment by Syrian government forces who eventually captured the strategic location late last month. In 2011, Maaret al-Numan was one of the first towns in Idlib province – the opposition’s last standing stronghold – to rise up against President Bashar al-Assad’s rule. It was captured by rebels fighting against al-Assad’s forces in 2012.

Now, as the Syrian army advances in its battle on Idlib, civilians are the worst affected. Recounting the years of war, one doctor in Maaret al-Numan shares his story.
My name is Dr Tarraf. I was born in Al-Mash’had, one of the urban slums of Aleppo, on February 1, 1982 – the day the terrifying Hama Massacre began. Over 27 days, Syrian soldiers razed the city, killing 20,000 people, to put down a rebellion against the rule of President Hafez al-Assad, the father of current President Bashar al-Assad.
My family is originally from a small village in Idlib province called Haas, about 10 kilometres (six miles) west of Maaret al-Numan. We moved back there in 1995 because our small apartment was not large enough for our growing family.
I was the second child in a large household of six boys and two girls. One of my brothers, Mustafa, has managed to move to Germany to start a new life. I call him the only survivor of the family.
Of the remaining five boys, two have been lost to Syria’s war, two have had their lives and studies put on hold because of the fighting and detentions, and I no longer make plans for the future.

Dr Tarraf in surgery at Maaret al-Numan hospital [Photo courtesy of Dr Tarraf]
My work as a doctor has become unbearably exhausting – both physically and mentally – since the regime launched its Idlib operation last spring. At the time, I worked at two hospitals, Kafr Nabl surgery hospital and Maaret al-Numan central hospital. These facilities were the closest to the regime’s front line, and came under intense bombing for a long period of time. There was a constant stream of casualties coming to the hospital. The medics literally did not get a chance to rest.
The choice
I remember one of the worst days, August 28, 2019, when the main vegetable market in Maaret al-Numan was targeted by an air raid from a Syrian army jet. We had six operating rooms in the hospital, and only eight doctors. Soon after the air raid, injured people began streaming in, along with dead bodies. Within five minutes all the operating rooms were full. I was the last surgeon to get there.
I walked in to find two patients, both needing immediate help. As a doctor, I had to choose which one to treat and which to transfer to another hospital some 30 minutes away – something we do when there are limited resources and many cases to attend to. The first patient was a man in his thirties who was in hemorrhagic shock. The other was a three-year-old-boy who was bleeding from shrapnel in his chest; he was also in shock.

Syrian government air raids have destroyed many civilian structures, including Dr Tarraf’s home, pictured here [Photo courtesy of Dr Tarraf]
It was a terrifying moment in which I had to make a choice; one which would help one patient but might lead to another dying on the way to the referral hospital. I had no other choice but to choose, so I chose the child.
It was a difficult choice. But I thought about my two-year-old son. I saw that child as if he were my own, and so I chose to help him. I started treating him, I opened his abdomen, tried to stitch blood vessels. But after 15 minutes we, unfortunately, could not save him, and the anesthesiologist declared him dead. I went out of the operating room to find that the man was still there, still waiting for an ambulance, as they were in high demand.
I got back to work, trying to save him as well. I started a blood transfusion in the waiting room; I opened his abdomen and made thoracentesis. But unfortunately, the man also died after 30 minutes of trying to help him.
I had just left the operating room, frustrated and exhausted, when a local man asked me about the patient. I told him he had died. He then asked me about the child, and I told him he was dead, too. He then told me: “You know, doctor. The two were a man and his son.”
It was one of the worst, most traumatising, moments of my life. I will never forget it because I failed to save both the man and his son.
Saying goodbye
At the hospital, there were so many critical cases in urgent need of help. So I would always be under pressure and suffer from insomnia.
More than a month before that August day was another horrifying moment. It was after sunset on July 10 when Maaret al-Numan hospital came under attack. The facility was badly affected and the electricity generator was damaged.
I was the doctor on duty and, along with other colleagues, decided we needed to evacuate the hospital and all the patients. But the most worrying part was when we had to evacuate the newborn incubators. The hospital had six of them. All those babies needed to remain there; but we knew the regime might target the hospital again, so they had to be moved. We continued with the evacuation, but some of the babies died along the way.
Some of the patients, about 10 percent, refused to be evacuated. It was a very difficult moment. But as medics we decided to stay with them, accepting the potential risk of being hit a second time by the air raids. Two hours later, regime helicopters dropped barrel bombs on the town of Maaret al-Numan. The hospital received dozens of injuries. We managed to save most of them because we stayed.

Dr Tarraf with his children [Photo courtesy of Dr Tarraf]
After the regime’s latest campaign in Idlib, I sent my family to the Turkey-Syria border where it is safer, while I remained working in hospitals in Idlib.
But for months before, every time I went to the hospital, I would say goodbye to my family as if I would never see them again. There was always the thought that I would go to the hospital and never come back.
It was mentally exhausting, because we had to work under constant bombing. Whenever I heard jets in the sky, I would think the hospital would be the next target. That put those of us in the medical field under enormous psychological pressure. And it made my family and loved ones worry constantly. They contact me every once in a while to make sure I am not hurt. Especially my parents, who have already lost two sons, Yusuf and Huzaifa.
Losing brothers
When we were young, our family did not have much. But my parents tried their best to provide a decent life for my siblings and I.
Although all eight of us were very good at school, life began to get harder when my brothers and I started college. My father’s salary was hardly enough to cover basic family needs. My eldest brother, Yusuf, went to medical school in 1999 and I did the same in 2000. My father started to borrow money, and those debts began to accumulate. With more college bills as the years continued, my family remained in debt until my brother and I graduated from college and started to work overtime shifts in hospitals in addition to our specialisation internships.
In 2011 the Syrian revolution started. Yusuf was by then a doctor at the Tishreen Military Hospital, near Damascus. He was a resident doctor specialising in general surgery and I was in my last year of a urology specialisation at the Al-Muwasat Hospital in Damascus. Our brother Huzaifa was in his last year at medical school.

Dr Tarraf with his father and brothers [Photo courtesy of Dr Tarraf]
Soon after, Yusuf left Damascus and moved to Idlib. Then he left his government job and started to help people in our hometown, where people were being shot during protests and later killed by regime bombardment. I remained in Damascus until I finished my thesis and got my degree.
Then, Huzaifa was arrested in late 2012 at the university campus in Damascus. I did my best to get him out and paid huge amounts of money to get him released. I reached out to an intermediary involved in these types of transactions. However, when he found out Huzaifa was a doctor he said he could not help.
“It is easier to secure the release of a [opposition] militant or a protester from prison than doctors,” he told me.
We found out two months later that Huzaifa had been tortured and killed in custody.
I moved back to Haas, our village, and the revolution had by then become militarised. Yusuf and I remained firm in our commitment to revolutionary principles by helping people in the field hospitals. Another one of our brothers, Qutaiba, was arrested during his last year of civil engineering college but later released, after which he decided to go back to the village and never dared to return to university.
Our youngest brother, Ubayda, finished high school and got into computer engineering college, but he did not dare to continue after his first year because he was afraid of being arrested. So we all remained in the village. All besides Mustafa, who went to college, where he started to study communication engineering, and then managed to move to Germany to continue his studies.
The village was bombed
In 2016, Haas was bombed. The regime targeted a complex of schools on October 26 in what later came to be called “the Massacre of Pens”, since the regime deliberately targeted the schools complex and all the roads nearby. Most of the victims were children in elementary school.

The family home in Haas was destroyed in an air raid [Photo courtesy of Dr Tarraf]
Many medics were killed, too. My brother Yusuf was in the village and rushed to the place that had been targeted because he wanted to help those in need of medical assistance. The regime planes targeted the same place deliberately and he was among the victims.
Regime forces always do that. They would target a location with air raids and when people come to help any survivors, they would target the place again several minutes later. And a third time as well.
Our house had been targeted repeatedly throughout the entire revolution, but with the help of my brothers we had always managed to fix it. The last time it was targeted it was destroyed completely, as was my house.
Now, I have no plans for the future. We live day by day, here. I cannot even think of tomorrow. Just today another battle started a few hours ago, with non-stop air raids and artillery shelling, injuries constantly coming to the hospital in the city of Idlib, where I now work.
My worst fear is for the future of Syria. Syria is turning into the worst possible thing a state can be: A failed state plus a dictatorship, combined under occupation. It cannot get any more evil than that.
This account, as told to journalist Zakaria Zakaria, has been edited for clarity and brevity.

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Malaysia mengkritik keputusan Kerajaan India meluluskan undang-undang kontroversi berkaitan kerakyatan negara itu yang disifatkan menindas penduduk Islam

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia mengkritik keputusan Kerajaan India meluluskan undang-undang kontroversi berkaitan kerakyatan negara itu yang disifatkan menindas penduduk Islam.

Perdana Menteri, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, berkata perkara seumpama itu tidak pernah dibuat Malaysia dan jika ia dilaksanakan di sini, ramai akan menderita.

“Kamu tahu apa akan berlaku (jika undang-undang sama dilaksanakan di negara ini), akan berlaku kekacauan, ketidakstabilan dan semua orang akan menderita,” katanya ketika ditemui pemberita selepas melawat pusat media Sidang Kemuncak Kuala Lumpur 2019 di sini, hari ini.

Beliau juga kesal Kerajaan India sanggup meluluskan undang-undang berkenaan biarpun ditentang dengan pelbagai protes dan gesaan rakyatnya yang meminta ia ditarik balik.

“Saya kecewa melihat India yang mengaku sebagai negara sekular, kini mengambil tindakan menafikan kewarganegaraan sesetengah masyarakat Islam,” katanya.

Pada 11 Disember lalu, Parlimen India meluluskan rang undang-undang kontroversi untuk memberi kerakyatan kepada pendatang haram bukan Islam dari negara tertentu, ketika ratusan anggota tentera dikerahkan ke wilayah Timur Laut yang berdepan protes ganas.

RUU itu akan membenarkan Kerajaan India memberi kewarganegaraan kepada berjuta pendatang haram yang memasuki negara itu dari tiga negara jirannya sebelum 2015, tetapi ia dikecualikan untuk umat Islam.

Dr Mahathir berkata, Malaysia adil dalam memberikan kewarganegaraan kepada mereka yang layak dan memenuhi syarat ditetapkan.

“Saya lihat kita sudah menerima bahawa orang India yang datang ke negara ini, orang Cina, kita beri mereka kewarganegaraan,” katanya.

Mengenai cadangan penubuhan stesen televisyen membabitkan tiga negara Islam, Perdana Menteri berkata, ia akan membolehkan kempen Islamofobia yang dikaitkan dengan naratif keganasan oleh umat Islam, dihentikan.

“Hasil perjumpaan saya dengan Erdogan (Presiden Turki, Recep Tayyip) dan Imran Khan (Perdana Menteri Pakistan, Imran Khan), kami berpendapat terlalu banyak propaganda anti Islam.

“Apa yang penting, kita jelaskan apa yang berlaku, apa sebenarnya agama Islam. Sama ada Islam itu agama keganasan atau tidak. Ini kerjasama kita, harap boleh buat, harap negara lain bersama kita dalam kempen di seluruh dunia untuk membuang persepsi bahawa orang Islam adalah pengganas,” katanya.

Pada 26 September lalu, Imran Khan mengumumkan pelan tiga negara itu mewujudkan saluran televisyen berbahasa Inggeris khusus bagi mengetengahkan imej positif mengenai Islam menerusi paparan pelbagai rancangan bagi memperbetul berita dan maklumat palsu yang memburuk-burukkan agama suci itu.

Pengumuman dibuat Imran Khan selepas bertemu Erdogan dan Dr Mahathir dalam satu acara sampingan sempena sesi ke-74 Perhimpunan Agung Pertubuhan Bangsa-bangsa Bersatu (UNGA) di New York, Amerika Syarikat.