TURKEY IS BURNING
July 28 - August 1 forest fires details announced by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. According to this; 2 of 14 fires in Manavgat and Gündoğmuş districts of Antalya, 4 out of 10 fires in Marmaris, Köyceğiz, Milas, Seydikemer districts of Muğla and 1 fire continues in Hozat District of Tunceli. Also, 119 fires that have occurred in 32 provinces in the last 5 days have been brought under control, while 7 fires continue in 3 provinces.
THK's FIRE FIGHTING AIRCRAFTS
The fact that the firefighting aircrafts in the hands of the THK cannot be used remains hold one's own on the agenda. Our author Nursun Erel, CL-215 aircrafts for 9 years by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry used, but THK'ın hourly wage 11 thousand dollars to 800 thousand dollars wanted to increase the crisis told.
Nursun Erel wrote the following backstage information: “In 2019, the ministry re-tendered the aircraft to be used for fire extinguishing, But this was an unaccountable figure for the ministry, even as they almost begged the THK - to not change the figure, but the THK's leaders dig one's hells in of THK left the hall with an pompously. So, naturally, they lost the tender.
This bluff of the THK made Minister Pakdemirli very angry, and he changed the tender specification to a plane with a capacity of 5 tons instead of a plane with a water capacity of 4.9 tons. The ropes already came to the point of breaking after that, and THK was lose tender. Unfortunately, this situation was caused by managers who apparently came to pluck THK. And then incoming trustee got things out of hand. Even if they were eliminated in the tender, they did not even bother to keep the CL 215's at the level of technical availability by conducting periodic maintenance...”
FLOOD VICTIMS
Turkey, on the one hand, is trying to put out forest fires, and on the other, it is trying to heal the wounds of the floods that hit eastern Anatolia and the Eastern Black Sea, in particular. Opposition, "In the event of a flood in Germany, the government activated a grant of 400 million euros, while the monetary support promised by the government, which was forced to declare a disaster situation in fire zones after 4 days, is 50 million TL!.." criticised.
INVESTIGATION OF SYRIAN REFUGEES
According to the results of the ‘Syrian refugees in the Turkish labour market’ survey published on February 9 last year, the number of Syrians working in the Turkish labour market, where 27 million people are employed, is 950 thousand! 91.6% of them are employed informally, illegally and socially precarious. Trade, construction and manufacturing, textiles and clothing are the sectors where Syrians are most employed.
- 1 out of every 3 Syrian workers, work in the textile, clothing, leather and footwear sectors.
- The number of Syrian children aged 5-14 who are employed on the street or illegally is 130 thousand.
- Additionally, employed Syrians are employed for periods well above the 48-hour weekly legal work period and with much lower wages.
TENSIONS OF THE CYPRUS AND MARASH
The EU raised sanctions threats again after announcing that the closed Marash in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) had partially opened and construction work had begun. In the international arena, these statements and the planned steps that have isolated Turkey and the TRNC have brought to mind the question of whether another new one is being added to the problems in Turkey-EU relations. The Foreign Ministry reacted harshly to the EU's statements on Marash. A Foreign Office statement said: "We condemn the statement made on behalf of the EU. These and similar statements, which ignore the Turkish Cypriot people, are disconnected from the facts and reflect only the views of the Greek Cypriot side, have no value and provision from our point of view,”
U.S. WITHDRAWS FROM IRAQ
It was announced that US President Biden met at the White House and agreed with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kazimi on the decommissioning of US troops in Iraq and the termination of combat missions. U.S. troops who have been in Iraq for 18 years will be withdrawn from the country by the end of 2021, and the U.S. combat mission in Iraq will officially end. This development may raise some problems and disputes with the Iraqi administration from the point of view of Turkey! In addition to the last U.S. troop withdrawal in Afghanistan by the end of August, former President George W. Bush also pulled out of Iraq. Biden, who has decided to end two war and occupation operations that began under Bush, is projected to reduce the US military presence in the Middle East and focus its weight on competing with China in the Asia-Pacific region.
