عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

Türkiye Detains Nearly 1,000, Including Alleged Kurdish Militants, Following Suicide Bomb Attack 

Members of the Turkish Police Special Forces stand guard in front of the Interior Ministry following a bomb attack in Ankara, Türkiye October 1, 2023. REUTERS/Cagla Gurdogan
Members of the Turkish Police Special Forces stand guard in front of the Interior Ministry following a bomb attack in Ankara, Türkiye October 1, 2023. REUTERS/Cagla Gurdogan
TT
TT

Türkiye Detains Nearly 1,000, Including Alleged Kurdish Militants, Following Suicide Bomb Attack 

Members of the Turkish Police Special Forces stand guard in front of the Interior Ministry following a bomb attack in Ankara, Türkiye October 1, 2023. REUTERS/Cagla Gurdogan
Members of the Turkish Police Special Forces stand guard in front of the Interior Ministry following a bomb attack in Ankara, Türkiye October 1, 2023. REUTERS/Cagla Gurdogan

Police detained almost a thousand people in raids across Türkiye on Tuesday, including dozens with alleged links to Kurdish militants and an opposition news anchor, days after a suicide bomb attack in the Turkish capital. 

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said police carried out raids in 16 Turkish provinces, detaining 55 people suspected of being part of the “intelligence structure” of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK. At least 12 other suspected PKK members were rounded up in a separate operation in five provinces, Yerlikaya wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. 

The PKK claimed responsibility for the suicide attack, according to a news website close to the group. The group has led a decades-long insurgency in Türkiye and is considered a terror organization by the United States and the European Union. Tens of thousands of people have died since the start of the conflict in 1984. 

A 73-year-old news anchor was also detained Tuesday after questioning details of the official account of the attack on opposition broadcaster Halk TV. 

Aysenur Arslan was detained in her home after prosecutors accused her of “terrorist propaganda” and “praising criminal activity” for comments made during her television program on Monday morning. 

Press freedoms in Türkiye have eroded during President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ’s tenure, according to international monitors. 

Much of the media has oriented itself to support Erdogan, while the few broadcasters that regularly criticize his policies are hit with fines or blackouts by the Turkish media watchdog RTUK. Türkiye ranked 149th out of 180 countries in press freedom index of Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in 2022. 

The interior minister later said that an additional 928 people suspected of holding unlicensed firearms or being connected to firearms smuggling were arrested during the operation, but he did not immediately make it clear if the suspects arrested for illegal firearms were suspected of connections to the PKK. 

He added that over 840 firearms were confiscated during the operation. 

On Sunday, a suicide bomber detonated an explosive device near an entrance to the Interior Ministry hours before Erdogan was set to address Parliament as it returned from its summer recess. A second would-be bomber was killed in a shootout with police. 

Two police officers were slightly wounded in the attack. The suspects arrived at the scene inside a vehicle they seized from a veterinarian in the central Turkish of Kayseri after shooting him in the head, officials said. 

Turkish authorities identified one of the assailants as a PKK militant. Hours later, Türkiye’s Air Force carried out airstrikes on suspected PKK sites in northern Iraq, where the group's leadership is based. The Defense Ministry said a large number of PKK militants were “neutralized” in the strikes. 

Yerlikaya did not clarify whether the people rounded up on Tuesday were suspected of direct involvement in Sunday’s attack.

Most Viewed

 
 
World

France’s Mayotte Struggles to Recover as Cyclone Overwhelms Hospitals

This aerial view shows damaged buildings in the city of Mamoudzou, on the French Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte, on December 21, 2024, after cyclone Chido hit the archipelago. (AFP)
This aerial view shows damaged buildings in the city of Mamoudzou, on the French Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte, on December 21, 2024, after cyclone Chido hit the archipelago. (AFP)
TT
TT

France’s Mayotte Struggles to Recover as Cyclone Overwhelms Hospitals

This aerial view shows damaged buildings in the city of Mamoudzou, on the French Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte, on December 21, 2024, after cyclone Chido hit the archipelago. (AFP)
This aerial view shows damaged buildings in the city of Mamoudzou, on the French Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte, on December 21, 2024, after cyclone Chido hit the archipelago. (AFP)

One week after its worst cyclone in nearly a century, and a day after a testy presidential visit, France’s impoverished Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte is still grappling with counting the dead, restoring essential services and aiding a beleaguered population.

Cyclone Chido wreaked devastation across the archipelago. Already stretched thin, hospitals are overwhelmed with patients suffering not only from cyclone-related injuries but also from dehydration, malnutrition and disease.

At Mayotte’s main hospital in the capital, Mamoudzou, doctors faced a cascade of crises.

“We lost 40% of patient rooms, about 50 to 60 beds,” said Dr. Roger Serhal, chief of the obstetrics and gynecology department. “There are so many patients coming to the hospital, and we don’t have space to admit them.”

As Chido battered the archipelago last weekend with 220 kph (136 mph) winds, Serhal and his team delivered three babies, including by cesarean section.

The hospital’s structural damage has forced staff to triage patients, prioritizing the most severe cases. Though the official death toll remains 35, according to the French Interior Ministry on Saturday, the number of seriously injured has risen to 78, with 2,432 others sustaining minor injuries. Health Minister Geneviève Darrieussecq has warned that any estimates are likely major undercounts “compared to the scale of the disaster.”

Emergency aid was being delivered by air and sea. Since the cyclone, 31 tons of food and 108 tons of water have arrived, with an additional 1.6 million liters of water expected Monday aboard a container ship, according to the Interior Ministry.

The hospital is operating at 50% capacity, while 109 patients have been evacuated to mainland France for urgent care. Three advanced medical posts have been established on Grande-Terre, Mayotte’s main island, to address the surge in need.

The storm has devastated entire neighborhoods. Many people ignored warnings, thinking the storm wouldn’t be so extreme. Even worse, many migrants avoided shelters out of fear of deportation, authorities said, adding there could be hundreds or possibly thousands of fatalities.

Doctors fear that the lack of clean water and electricity — compounded by overcrowded living conditions — is setting the stage for a health crisis. “Patients are coming because their illnesses are untreated, there’s no water, and no electricity. We’re concerned about epidemics, like the cholera outbreak we stopped just months ago,” said Dr. Vincent Gilles, the hospital’s emergency medical director.

The hospital staff continues to work tirelessly, but resources are running dangerously low. “If we have rain it will be catastrophic,” Serhal said.

Among the patients struggling to recover is Saindou Mohamadi, 54, who fractured his arm and sprained his ankle during the storm that left his home completely destroyed.

Speaking from his hospital bed, Mohamadi expressed despair for his family. “My mother is sick, I’m sick, and my child is sick,” he said. “They need to eat, but I’m the one who takes care of the food, and now we have nothing.” With six children to support, Mohamadi is among countless residents left homeless and destitute.

“I’m not alone,” he said. “There are many of us who have lost everything — our houses, our food. I want the government to care about us, to give us food and a place to sleep.”

Mayotte, a densely populated archipelago of over 320,000 people, is also home to an estimated 100,000 migrants, many living in precarious conditions.

The poorest overseas region of France and, by extension, the European Union has long struggled with systemic neglect and underinvestment. Around 75% of its population lives in poverty, and the archipelago’s infrastructure was ill-equipped to withstand a disaster of this magnitude. Chido’s destruction has compounded these challenges, leaving many residents with little faith in the government’s ability to provide timely and adequate relief.

Efforts to deliver emergency aid, including airlifts of water and food, are underway, but the scale of the need is staggering. Mayotte’s airport remains closed to civilian flights due to damage, further complicating logistics.

French President Emmanuel Macron, during his visit on Friday, acknowledged the gravity of the situation and pledged to rebuild but faced criticism from residents frustrated by the slow pace of aid.

Calling the archipelago “totally devastated,” Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau painted a bleak picture — with some 70% of the population gravely affected by the catastrophe, and many left homeless and vulnerable. For now, the island’s residents and its overstretched medical staff are left to confront the daunting aftermath of Chido, one day at a time.