In Istanbul Journalist Profile

Articles

It's the Trump era and Putin knows how to exploit it

3 weeks ago | three.fm | Adam Parsons |In Istanbul

On the one hand, Ukraine's leader has turned up for peace talks in Turkey with a strong backroom team and a desire to negotiate over the war. From his perspective, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called the bluff of Vladimir Putin. "You said you wanted to talk, so here I am," is the message. But Mr Putin is, for the moment at least, nowhere to be seen, and neither are the members of his very top team.
Long arm of China looms over one of the world's last Uyghur bookshops

Sep 1, 2024 | telegraph.co.uk | Sophia Yan |In Istanbul

1 September 2024 • 7:53am Abdulla Turkistanli in his Istanbul bookshop Credit: BRADLEY SECKER In Abdulla Turkistanli’s bookshop on the outskirts of Istanbul, the owner flits between the shelves and pulls down volumes to give to the children of his regular customers. Some of them immediately bury their noses in stories of everything from animals to adventures, while others meander down the aisles. But for Mr Turkistanli, a tall, bearded man with a smile rarely far from his lips, Kutadgu Bilik...
Hamas says Gaza truce talks must be based on Biden plan

Aug 11, 2024 | yahoo.com | Naomi Scherbel-Ball |Sofia Ferreira Santos |Rushdi Abualouf |In Istanbul

Naomi Scherbel-Ball - BBC News, Sofia Ferreira Santos - BBC News and Rushdi Abualouf - BBC Gaza correspondent, in IstanbulAugust 11, 2024 at 9:51 PM·3 min readHamas has said that any resumption of ceasefire talks about the conflict in Gaza should be based on previous plans rather than holding new rounds of negotiations. Last week, international mediators from Qatar, Egypt and the US urged Israel and Hamas to attend negotiations on a ceasefire and hostage release deal on 15 August.
Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar Loses Traditional Craftsmen Under Pressure From Counterfeit Sellers

Jul 21, 2024 | observatorial.com | In Istanbul

The covered market, which is over 600 years old and is visited by millions of visitors, is being transformed into a European supermarket for tourists. Its monumental doors have crossed the centuries, frozen in the era of the sultans. But once you pass through the threshold, one thing becomes clear: under the painted vaults of the Grand Bazaar of Istanbul, ancestral craftsmanship is dying, suffocated by counterfeiting.
Last of 174 people rescued from stranded cable cars in Turkey

Apr 13, 2024 | theguardian.com | In Istanbul

The last of 174 people stranded in cable cars high above a mountain in southern Turkey have been brought to safety, nearly 23 hours after one pod hit a pole and burst open, killing one person and injuring seven when they plummeted to the rocks below. The interior minister, Ali Yerlikaya, announced the successful completion of the rescue operation on X on Saturday afternoon.
Turkey seizes third largest haul of cocaine, says interior minister

Apr 11, 2024 | theguardian.com | In Istanbul

Turkish police have seized the third largest haul of cocaine in the country’s history, the interior minister, Ali Yerlikaya, has announced, as groups monitoring organised crime warned that Turkey was becoming an entry point for drugs reaching Europe. Approximately 608kg of cocaine, most of it in liquid form, were confiscated in an operation across three provinces, Yerlikaya posted on X on Thursday. Nearly 830kg of precursor chemicals used to process the drug were also seized.
Gunmen take seven staff hostage at Procter & Gamble factory in Turkey

Feb 1, 2024 | theguardian.com | In Istanbul

Two gunmen have taken seven people hostage at a factory in Turkey owned by the US company Procter & Gamble, according to media reports, in an apparent protest over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Turkish media published an image of one of the purported suspects inside the factory – a man wearing what appeared to be a rudimentary explosives belt and holding a handgun.
Turkey’s Central Bank raises interest rates to 45%

Jan 25, 2024 | al-monitor.com | In Istanbul

January 25, 2024 Turkey’s Central Bank on Thursday hiked its key interest rate by a further 250 basis points, to 45%, as widely anticipated, but noted that also there would be a pause in hikes without specifying until when.
Watch: Prigozhin spoke of being ‘wiped out’ in chilling video days before he died

Aug 31, 2023 | telegraph.co.uk | Nataliya Vasilyeva |In Istanbul

Yevgeny Prigozhin recorded a chilling video just a few days before he was killed in a plane crash talking about rumours that he would be “wiped out”. On Thursday, Grey Zone, a Wagner-linked Telegram channel, posted a never-before-seen video of the 62-year-old Wagner boss sitting in the back seat of what appears to be an armoured vehicle. Looking into the camera, Prigozhin, dressed in camouflage, said he wanted to address those “debating if I’m dead or still alive”. “I’m in Africa.
Lukashenko hit squad member who admitted role in Belarus dissident killings to face trial

Aug 30, 2023 | telegraph.co.uk | Nataliya Vasilyeva |In Istanbul

A member of Alexander Lukashenko’s hit squad who confessed to a role in killing political opponents of the Belarussian president will go on trial in Switzerland next month. Yuri Harauski, a member of the Belarussian special forces unit SOBR, will stand before a criminal court in Switzerland in mid-September for his suspected involvement in the enforced disappearances of three major opponents of the regime a quarter of the century earlier.