Turkey Detains 17 People over Protest against US Navy Personnel in Istanbul

People shout slogans as they protest where the USS Mount Whitney (LCC-20), flagship of the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet, is docked in Istanbul, Nov. 3, 2021. (Reuters)
People shout slogans as they protest where the USS Mount Whitney (LCC-20), flagship of the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet, is docked in Istanbul, Nov. 3, 2021. (Reuters)
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Turkey Detains 17 People over Protest against US Navy Personnel in Istanbul

People shout slogans as they protest where the USS Mount Whitney (LCC-20), flagship of the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet, is docked in Istanbul, Nov. 3, 2021. (Reuters)
People shout slogans as they protest where the USS Mount Whitney (LCC-20), flagship of the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet, is docked in Istanbul, Nov. 3, 2021. (Reuters)

Turkish authorities detained 17 people on Wednesday for putting a hood over the head of a visiting US Navy civilian employee in a protest against United States policy in the Middle East, the Istanbul governor’s office said.

The group that carried out the act, the Turkey Youth Union (TGB), shared images on Twitter of the incident, in which a group of people chanted anti-US slogans at their target.

“You are our enemy and you are not wanted here. We will not allow US soldiers to roam free in our lands. Yankee go home,” the group said, criticizing US support for Syrian Kurdish YPG fighters who are considered terrorists by Ankara.

The 17 people detained had targeted a civilian employee of a US Navy ship that “came to our city as part of a port visit”, the governor’s office said in a statement. It did not elaborate on any possible charges against the group.

On Monday, the captain of the USS Mount Whitney vessel said his crew was looking forward to visiting Turkey and “enhancing our relationship with our Turkish allies” as it sailed through the Bosphorus to join NATO activities in the Black Sea.

Russian President Vladimir Putin complained this week about the ship’s presence in the region, and Russia’s Black Sea naval forces practiced destroying enemy targets.

The TGB carried out a similar act in 2014 by putting a hood over the head of US soldiers returning from an exercise in the Black Sea region.

Relations between the United States and Turkey - NATO allies - have been strained in recent years by differences over policy in Syria, Ankara’s purchase of Russian air defense systems as well as its human rights record.



Vatican Cancels Pope’s Weekend Engagements as He Battles ‘Complex’ Infection 

Pedestrians walk past the statue of Pope John Paul II outside the Gemelli hospital where Pope Francis is hospitalized for tests and treatment for an infection in Rome, on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
Pedestrians walk past the statue of Pope John Paul II outside the Gemelli hospital where Pope Francis is hospitalized for tests and treatment for an infection in Rome, on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
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Vatican Cancels Pope’s Weekend Engagements as He Battles ‘Complex’ Infection 

Pedestrians walk past the statue of Pope John Paul II outside the Gemelli hospital where Pope Francis is hospitalized for tests and treatment for an infection in Rome, on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
Pedestrians walk past the statue of Pope John Paul II outside the Gemelli hospital where Pope Francis is hospitalized for tests and treatment for an infection in Rome, on February 18, 2025. (AFP)

Pope Francis, who began his fifth day in hospital on Tuesday for what doctors have described as a "complex" respiratory infection, will not take part in this weekend's Holy Year events, the Vatican said on Tuesday.

The 88-year-old pontiff has been suffering from a respiratory infection for more than a week and was admitted to Rome's Gemelli hospital on Friday.

A planned public papal audience set for Saturday had been cancelled "due to the health condition of the Holy Father", the Vatican said in a brief statement.

A papal mass scheduled for Sunday will still take place, but will be led instead by a senior Vatican official, it added.

The Vatican said on Monday that doctors had changed the pope's drug therapy for the second time during his hospital stay to tackle a "complex clinical situation". They described it as a "polymicrobial infection of the respiratory tract".

Doctors say polymicrobial diseases can be caused by a mix of viruses, bacteria and fungi.

Francis, who has been pontiff since 2013, has had influenza and other health problems several times over the past two years. As a young adult he developed pleurisy and had part of one lung removed, and in recent times has been prone to lung infections.