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Tens of Thousands Hold Anti-Israeli Protest in Istanbul

Holding a huge Palestinian flag, thousands demonstrate to show solidarity with the Palestinian people amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group in the Gaza enclave, at the Galata Bridge in Istanbul on January 1, 2024. (AFP)
Holding a huge Palestinian flag, thousands demonstrate to show solidarity with the Palestinian people amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group in the Gaza enclave, at the Galata Bridge in Istanbul on January 1, 2024. (AFP)
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Tens of Thousands Hold Anti-Israeli Protest in Istanbul

Holding a huge Palestinian flag, thousands demonstrate to show solidarity with the Palestinian people amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group in the Gaza enclave, at the Galata Bridge in Istanbul on January 1, 2024. (AFP)
Holding a huge Palestinian flag, thousands demonstrate to show solidarity with the Palestinian people amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group in the Gaza enclave, at the Galata Bridge in Istanbul on January 1, 2024. (AFP)

Tens of thousands marched in Istanbul Monday to protest "murderer" Israel's war in Gaza and the killing of Turkish soldiers by outlawed Kurdish militants in Iraq.

The rally, called by a foundation which counts Bilal Erdogan, the son of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, among its members started after crowds performed morning prayers at Istanbul's iconic mosques, including Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque.

Protesters waving Turkish and Palestinian flags rallied to the Galata Bridge on the Bosphorus chanting: "Murderer Israel, get out of Palestine" and "Allahu Akbar" (God is the greatest).

Tens of thousands of people joined the rally "Mercy for our martyrs and a curse on Israel", the official Anadolu news agency reported.

Erdogan has lashed out repeatedly at Israel for the scale of death and destruction caused by its response to Hamas' unprecedented October 7 cross-border attack.

He has accused Israel of "state terrorism" and said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was "no different" from Adolf Hitler.

The nearly three-month war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas's bloody October 7 attacks on Israel, which killed around 1,140 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Fighters also took around 250 people hostage that day, most of whom remain in Gaza, according to Israeli officials.

Israel vowed to destroy Hamas in response, launching a punishing offensive in the Gaza Strip that has reduced vast areas to a ruined wasteland and killed at least 21,822 people, mostly women and children, according to the territory's health ministry.

The Israeli army says 172 of its soldiers have been killed inside Gaza, with the war showing no signs of stopping.

The Turkish army said 12 soldiers were killed in late December in two separate attacks launched by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in northern Iraq.

Türkiye regularly conducts ground and air operations in northern Iraq against the positions of the PKK, listed as a terror group by Ankara and its Western allies.

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South Korea's Opposition Party Vows to Impeach Acting President

FILED - 04 November 2022, South Korea, Seoul: South Korean Prime Minister Duck-Soo Han meets with representatives of the South Korean and German business communities at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. Photo: Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa
FILED - 04 November 2022, South Korea, Seoul: South Korean Prime Minister Duck-Soo Han meets with representatives of the South Korean and German business communities at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. Photo: Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa
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South Korea's Opposition Party Vows to Impeach Acting President

FILED - 04 November 2022, South Korea, Seoul: South Korean Prime Minister Duck-Soo Han meets with representatives of the South Korean and German business communities at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. Photo: Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa
FILED - 04 November 2022, South Korea, Seoul: South Korean Prime Minister Duck-Soo Han meets with representatives of the South Korean and German business communities at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. Photo: Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa

South Korea’s main liberal opposition party said Tuesday it will seek to impeach acting leader Han Duck-soo, as Seoul grapples with the turmoil set off when impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol made a short-lived declaration of martial law.
The country’s political parties are now tussling over how to run investigations into that decision, as well as separate allegations against Yoon's wife, The Associated Press reported.
The opposition Democratic Party, which has a majority in parliament, wants independent investigators, and gave Han until Tuesday to approve bills appointing them.
Impeaching Han would further deepen political chaos and worries by neighboring countries. Han, the country’s No. 2 official, has taken over the president's powers since Yoon’s impeachment. If he’s impeached too, the finance minister is next in line.
The Democratic Party has slammed Han for vetoing several opposition-sponsored bills, including a controversial agriculture bill. It also urged Han to quickly appoint justices to vacant seats on the Constitutional Court, which is reviewing Yoon’s impeachment and will determine whether to dismiss or reinstate him.
Filling the Constitutional Court’s three empty posts could make conviction more likely, as it requires the support of six of the court’s possible full nine members.
The Democratic Party demanded that Han approve bills calling for special prosecutors to investigate Yoon for rebellion over his marital law decree, and his wife for corruption and other allegations, by Tuesday.
Han didn’t put the bills on the agendas for Tuesday’s Cabinet Council meeting, calling for the ruling and opposition parties to negotiate more.
Democratic Party floor leader Park Chan-dae responded that there's no room for negotiations about a Yoon investigation, and that his party would begin steps toward an impeachment at once.
“We’ve clearly warned that it’s totally up to Prime Minister Han Duck-soo whether he would go down in history as a disgraceful figure as a puppet of rebellion plot leader Yoon Suk Yeol or a public servant that has faithfully carried out the orders by the public,” Park told a televised party meeting.
South Korean prosecutors and other officials are separately probing whether Yoon committed rebellion and abuse of power, but he’s ignored requests by investigative agencies to appear for questioning and allow searches of his office.
Yoon’s defense minister, police chief and several other senior military commanders have already been arrested over the deployment of troops and police officers to the National Assembly, which prompted a dramatic standoff that ended when lawmakers managed to enter the chamber and voted unanimously to overrule Yoon's decree.
The governing People Power Party said that the opposition's impeachment threats are interfering with Han’s “legitimate exercise of authority." Floor leader Kweon Seong-dong, a Yoon loyalist, said the Democratic Party’s “politics of intimidation have reached their peak.”
An impeachment vote would face legal ambiguities. Most South Korean officials can be impeached with a simple majority of parliament, but impeaching the presidents takes two-thirds. The rival parties differ on which standard would apply to an acting president.
The Democratic Party controls 170 of the National Assembly's 300 seats, so it would need support from members of other parties including Yoon's own to get a two-thirds majority.
The Constitutional Court has up to six months to determine Yoon's fate. If he's thrown of office, a national election to find his successor must take place within two months.