Erdogan Tells Xi He Wants Türkiye-China Ties to Continue Improving

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech on January 17, 2022 REUTERS/Florion Goga//File Photo
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech on January 17, 2022 REUTERS/Florion Goga//File Photo
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Erdogan Tells Xi He Wants Türkiye-China Ties to Continue Improving

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech on January 17, 2022 REUTERS/Florion Goga//File Photo
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech on January 17, 2022 REUTERS/Florion Goga//File Photo

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Thursday that he wanted steps to improve Türkiye-China ties in all areas to continue, Türkiye's presidency said, adding he believed this would benefit both countries, Reuters reported.

In a statement, it said they met at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in the Kazakh capital Astana and discussed the Russia-Ukraine war.

They also discussed the fighting in Gaza, with Erdogan calling for "effective measures" by the international community to prevent either conflict from spreading.



Rescue Teams Search for Missing in Bosnia’s Floods

A damaged car is seen after flood hit the village of Donja Jablanica, Bosnia, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP)
A damaged car is seen after flood hit the village of Donja Jablanica, Bosnia, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP)
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Rescue Teams Search for Missing in Bosnia’s Floods

A damaged car is seen after flood hit the village of Donja Jablanica, Bosnia, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP)
A damaged car is seen after flood hit the village of Donja Jablanica, Bosnia, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP)

Rescuers dug through rubble in the village of Donja Jablanica on Saturday morning in search for people who went missing in Bosnia's deadliest floods in years that hit the Balkan country on Friday.

The N1 TV reported that 21 people died and that dozens went missing in the Jablanica area, 70 kilometers (43.5 miles)southwest of Sarajevo.

The government is due to hold a press conference later.

"There are some villages in the area that still cannot be reached, and we don't know what we will find there," said a spokesperson for the Mountain Rescue Service whose teams are involved in search.

Heavy rain overnight halted search, Bosnian media reported, but as it stopped the search continued. In Donja Jablanica many houses were still under rubble.

Nezima Begovic, 62, was lucky. Her house is damaged, but she came out unhurt.

"I heard people screaming and suddenly it was all quiet. Then I said everyone is dead there," she told Reuters.

Due to flash flooding on Friday a quarry above Donja Jablanica collapsed and rubble poured over houses and cars in the village.

Enes Imamovic, 66, said he was woken by loud noises at around 5 a.m. (0300 GMT) on Friday.

"Everything was white (from the stones and dust that came down from the quarry), My friends' house was gone. I heard screams," Imamovic told Reuters.

The Bosnian Football Association (NFSBIH) has postponed all matches due to floods.

Bosnia's election commission decided to postpone local elections this weekend in municipalities affected by floods, but to carry on with voting elsewhere.

The floods follow an unprecedented summer drought which caused many rivers and lakes to dry up, and affected agriculture and the supply of water to urban areas throughout the Balkans and much of Europe.

Meteorologists said extreme weather changes can be attributed to climate change.