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Turkiye probes opposition mayor’s ‘falsified’ university degree

Turkiye probes opposition mayor’s ‘falsified’ university degree
The opposition mayor is the subject of a further five investigations, two of which were opened last month. (AP)
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Updated 22 February 2025
AFP
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Turkiye probes opposition mayor’s ‘falsified’ university degree

Turkiye probes opposition mayor’s ‘falsified’ university degree
  • Ekrem Imamoglu will be questioned Wednesday over ‘falsification of an official document’
Updated 22 February 2025
AFP
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ISTANBUL: Turkiye has begun investigating allegations that Istanbul’s opposition mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, already the subject of a clutch of other legal proceedings, falsely obtained his university degree, the official Anadolu news agency said Saturday.
Imamoglu, who Friday submitted his candidacy to stand for the social democratic Republican People’s Party (CHP) main opposition for the next presidential election, will be questioned Wednesday over “falsification of an official document,” Anadolu said.
The stakes are high for Imamoglu as constitutionally, any presidential candidate must have a higher education degree.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has faced similar claims from opponents — which he denies.
Following allegations by a journalist, the Istanbul municipality last September published a photocopy of a business management diploma which Imamoglu received from Istanbul University in 1995.
The opposition mayor, who was last year re-elected having in 2019 won control of Turkiye’s largest city from Erdogan’s ruling Islamist-conservative Justice and Development Party (AKP), is the subject of a further five investigations, two of which were opened last month.
Regularly targeted by Erdogan, likewise a former mayor of Istanbul, Imamoglu was sentenced in December 2022 to a jail term of two years and seven months and banned from political activities for “insulting” members of Turkiye’s High Electoral Committee, a sentence he has appealed.
A vocal opponent of the president, Imamoglu denounced what he termed judicial “harassment” last month on leaving an Istanbul court where he had been questioned as part of an investigation opened after criticism of the city’s public prosecutor.

Topics: Turkiye Ekrem Imamoglu

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Syrian national dialogue to begin on February 25

Syrian national dialogue to begin on February 25
Updated 23 February 2025
Reuters
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Syrian national dialogue to begin on February 25

Syrian national dialogue to begin on February 25
Updated 23 February 2025
Reuters

DAMASCUS: Syria’s new authorities will hold a national dialogue conference starting on February 25 to discuss a new path for the nation after the overthrow of Bashar Assad in December, two members of its preparatory committee said on Sunday.
Foreign capitals will be closely watching the conference as part of a political process in Syria that they say needs to be inclusive of its ethnically diverse and multi-religious population as they consider suspending sanctions on the country.
Holding the conference has been a key pledge of former Al Qaeda affiliate Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) which took control of Damascus on December 8 in a stunning offensive that prompted then-president Assad to flee to Russia, ending more than 50 years of his family’s autocratic rule.
The preparatory committee’s seven members consulted with some 4,000 people across Syria over the last week to gather views that would help shape a constitutional declaration, a new economic framework and a plan for institutional reform, the committee told reporters on Sunday.
HTS-appointed President Ahmed Sharaa has said the conference was part of an inclusive political process to draft a constitution, which he said could take up to three years, and then hold elections, which he said could take four years.
The conference is scheduled for two days but could be extended if necessary, committee member Hassan Dugheim said, and a new government expected to be formed next month would also benefit from the conference’s recommendations.

Topics: Fall of Assad Syria

Russia’s top diplomat to visit Turkiye Monday: sources

Russia’s top diplomat to visit Turkiye Monday: sources
Updated 23 February 2025
AFP
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Russia’s top diplomat to visit Turkiye Monday: sources

Russia’s top diplomat to visit Turkiye Monday: sources
  • Sergei Lavrov will hold talks in Ankara with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan
  • Turkiye wants to play a leading role in bringing an end to Russia-Ukraine hostilities
Updated 23 February 2025
AFP

ISTANBUL: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will visit Turkiye on Monday, which marks the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Turkish diplomatic sources said Sunday.
Lavrov will hold talks in Ankara with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan, the source said, adding that the men will discuss the war in Ukraine, among other things.
Turkiye, a member of NATO, wants to play a leading role in bringing an end to hostilities, as it tried to do in March 2022 by twice hosting direct negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv.
Receiving his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan asserted that his country would be an “ideal host” for talks on Ukraine involving Moscow, Kyiv and Washington.
Moscow and Washington have already begun a direct dialogue in recent weeks, against a backdrop of rapprochement between US President Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
Russian and American officials met in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to begin rebuilding their relations, a meeting denounced by Zelensky, who fears an agreement on Ukraine reached without him at the table.
Lavrov, who last visited Turkiye in October, is also expected to visit Russian ally Iran.

Topics: Russia Turkiye Sergei Lavrov Hakan Fidan

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Hamas says Israel’s claim on hostages’ handover ceremony is pretext to evade Gaza truce obligations

Hamas says Israel’s claim on hostages’ handover ceremony is pretext to evade Gaza truce obligations
Updated 23 February 2025
Reuters
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Hamas says Israel’s claim on hostages’ handover ceremony is pretext to evade Gaza truce obligations

Hamas says Israel’s claim on hostages’ handover ceremony is pretext to evade Gaza truce obligations
  • Israeli says waiting to deliver Palestinian prisoners "until release of next hostages has been assured"
  • Hamas has made hostages appear on stage, sometimes speak before handing them over to Israel 
Updated 23 February 2025
Reuters

DUBAI: Hamas on Sunday condemned Israel’s decision to postpone the release of Palestinian prisoners and detainees, saying its claim that the hostages’ handover ceremonies are “humiliating” was false and a pretext to evade Israel’s obligations under the Gaza ceasefire agreement.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Netanyahu’s decision reflects a deliberate attempt to disrupt the agreement, represents a clear violation of its terms, and shows the occupation’s lack of reliability in implementing its obligations,” Ezzat El Rashq, a member of the Hamas political bureau, said in a statement.

Israel said earlier it was delaying the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners it had planned to free the day before until Hamas met its conditions, underscoring the fragility of the Gaza ceasefire accord.

Netanyahu’s office released a statement in the early hours of Sunday saying that Israel was waiting to deliver the 620 Palestinian prisoners and detainees “until the release of the next hostages has been assured, and without the humiliating ceremonies.”

Hamas’ El Rashq said the ceremonies do not include any insult to the hostages, “but rather reflect the humane and dignified treatment of them,” adding that the “real insult” is what the Palestinian prisoners are subjected to during the release process.

The Palestinian militant group official cited the hands’ tying of the Palestinian prisoners and detainees and their blindfolding and threatening them not to hold any celebrations for their release as examples of their humiliation at the hands of Israeli authorities.

Hamas has made hostages appear on stage in front of crowds and sometimes speak before they were handed over. Coffins with hostage remains have also been carried through crowds.

Israel’s announcement, which also accused Hamas of repeatedly violating the month-old ceasefire, came after the Palestinian militant group on Saturday handed over six hostages from Gaza as part of an exchange arranged under the truce.

The six hostages freed on Saturday were the last living Israeli captives due to be handed over during the first phase of the ceasefire. The bodies of four dead Israeli hostages were to be released next week.

 

 

Topics: Israel Gaza Hamas

Israel army says deploying tank division in West Bank city of Jenin

Israel army says deploying tank division in West Bank city of Jenin
Updated 23 February 2025
AFP
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Israel army says deploying tank division in West Bank city of Jenin

Israel army says deploying tank division in West Bank city of Jenin
  • Israel’s army on Sunday announced the expansion of operations in the occupied West Bank including the deployment of a tank division in the city of Jenin
Updated 23 February 2025
AFP

JERUSALEM: Israel’s army on Sunday announced the expansion of operations in the occupied West Bank including the deployment of a tank division in the city of Jenin, the first time tanks have operated in the Palestinian territory since the end of the second intifada, or uprising, in 2005.
“IDF (military), Shin Bet (security agency), and border police forces continue their counterterrorism operation in northern Samaria (West Bank) and are expanding offensive activities in the area,” a military statement said, adding that “a tank division will operate in Jenin as part of the offensive effort.”

Topics: Israel Palestine Jenin

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Sudan’s RSF, allies sign charter for rival government: sources

Sudan’s RSF, allies sign charter for rival government: sources
Updated 23 February 2025
AFP
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Sudan’s RSF, allies sign charter for rival government: sources

Sudan’s RSF, allies sign charter for rival government: sources
  • Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and a coalition of political and armed groups have signed a founding charter to establish a parallel government in the war-ravaged country
Updated 23 February 2025
AFP

NAIROBI: Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and a coalition of political and armed groups have signed a founding charter to establish a parallel government in the war-ravaged country, sources said Sunday.
“It’s done,” a source close to the organizers of the signing ceremony, which took place overnight in Nairobi, told AFP.
The signatories said the charter paves the way for a “government of peace and unity” in rebel-controlled areas of Sudan.
The move comes nearly two years into a devastating war with the regular army that has uprooted more than 12 million people and caused what the United Nations calls the world’s worst hunger and displacement crises.
The signing, delayed multiple times, took place behind closed doors in the Kenyan capital.
Among those who signed was a faction of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), led by Abdelaziz Al-Hilu, which controls parts of the southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states.
Abdel Rahim Dagalo, deputy and brother of RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo — who was notably absent — also signed.
The charter, seen by AFP, calls for “a secular, democratic, decentralized state based on freedom, equality, and justice, without bias toward any cultural, ethnic, religious, or regional identity.”
It also outlines plans for a “new, unified, professional, national army” with a new military doctrine that “reflects the diversity and plurality characterising the Sudanese state.”
The proposed government, according to the charter, aims to end the war, ensure unhindered humanitarian aid and integrate armed groups into a single, national force.
The war between the RSF and the army, triggered by disputes over integrating the paramilitary force into the regular military, has killed tens of thousands with both warring parties accused of war crimes.
The conflict has torn the country in two, with the army in control of the north and east, while the RSF holds nearly all of the western region of Darfur and swathes of the south.

Topics: Sudan Unrest

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