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Türkiye Rejects US Condolences over Blast

Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu. (AFP)
Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu. (AFP)
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Türkiye Rejects US Condolences over Blast

Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu. (AFP)
Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu. (AFP)

Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu on Monday said that Türkiye rejected the condolences message from the US embassy following the deadly explosion in Istanbul that killed six people and left tens wounded.

“We have received the message, but we will not accept and are rejecting condolences from the US embassy,” Soylu told journalists, as quoted by the Russian RTarabic.

“We know who supports terrorism in north Syria, and we know the message they want to deliver to Türkiye through this bombing,” he added.

Soylu also blamed the United States, saying a condolence message from the White House was akin to “a killer being first to show up at a crime scene.”

Türkiye has been infuriated by US support for Syrian Kurdish groups.

The Turkish official pointed the finger at Syria-based Kurdish YPG group as the people behind the bombing attack, claiming that “the terror plot came from Ayn al-Arab” – the district in northern Syria where the predominantly Kurdish city of Kobani is located.

The bombing killed six people and wounded 81 others in the popular shopping street of Istiklal Avenue on Sunday shortly after 4:00 pm (1300 GMT).

There has been no claim of responsibility.

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Germany’s President Dissolves Parliament, Sets National Election for Feb. 23

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier dissolves the German parliament, the Bundestag, during a statement to the media, after Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a confidence vote, at Bellevue palace in Berlin, Germany December 27, 2024. (Reuters)
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier dissolves the German parliament, the Bundestag, during a statement to the media, after Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a confidence vote, at Bellevue palace in Berlin, Germany December 27, 2024. (Reuters)
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Germany’s President Dissolves Parliament, Sets National Election for Feb. 23

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier dissolves the German parliament, the Bundestag, during a statement to the media, after Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a confidence vote, at Bellevue palace in Berlin, Germany December 27, 2024. (Reuters)
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier dissolves the German parliament, the Bundestag, during a statement to the media, after Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a confidence vote, at Bellevue palace in Berlin, Germany December 27, 2024. (Reuters)

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Friday ordered parliament dissolved and set new elections for Feb. 23 in the wake of the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's governing coalition.

Scholz lost a confidence vote on Dec. 16 and leads a minority government after his unpopular and notoriously rancorous three-party coalition collapsed on Nov. 6 when he fired his finance minister in a dispute over how to revitalize Germany’s stagnant economy.

Leaders of several major parties then agreed that a parliamentary election should be held on Feb. 23, seven months earlier than originally planned.

Since the post-World War II constitution doesn’t allow the Bundestag to dissolve itself, it was up to Steinmeier to decide whether to dissolve parliament and call an election. He had 21 days to make that decision. Once parliament is dissolved, the election must be held within 60 days.

In practice, the campaign is already well underway. Polls show Scholz’s party trailing the conservative opposition Union bloc led by Friedrich Merz. Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck of the environmentalist Greens, the remaining partner in Scholz’s government, is also bidding for the top job — though his party is further back. If recent polls hold up, the likely next government would be led by Merz as chancellor in coalition with at least one other party.

Key issues include immigration, how to get the sluggish economy going, and how best to aid Ukraine in its struggle against Russia.

The populist, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany, or AfD, which is polling strongly, has nominated Alice Weidel as its candidate for chancellor but has no chance of taking the job because other parties refuse to work with it.

Germany’s electoral system traditionally produces coalitions, and polls show no party anywhere near an absolute majority on its own. The election is expected to be followed by weeks of negotiations to form a new government.

It’s only the fourth time that the Bundestag has been dissolved ahead of schedule under Germany’s post-World War II constitution. It happened under Chancellor Willy Brandt in 1972, Helmut Kohl in 1982 and Gerhard Schroeder in 2005. Schroeder used the confidence vote to engineer an early election narrowly won by center-right challenger Angela Merkel.