Worsening coronavirus crisis seen as Turkey’s self-inflicted injury

A dedicated area of a cemetery that the government has opened for coronavirus cases at Beykoz, in Istanbul. Statistical forecasts suggest that Turkey risks a coronavirus outbreak on the same scale as Italy. (AFP)
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Updated 31 March 2020
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Worsening coronavirus crisis seen as Turkey’s self-inflicted injury

  • Govt. accused of wasting time before taking measures to halt transmission of deadly infection
  • Outbreak raises pressure on economy burdened with weak currency and high debt levels

ANKARA: Since January, as coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infections seeped out of China’s borders and into the world at large, many countries were caught napping.

A few among them chose a policy of denial until the facts could no longer be concealed. Turkey is a tragic case in point.

To be sure, in recent weeks the government has adopted sweeping measures aimed at halting the transmission of the virus.

It has shut restaurants and schools, halted prayers in mosques, suspended sporting activities, restricted intercity bus travel and stopped all international flights to or from Turkey.

Mass disinfection has been carried out in public spaces in cities across the country.

Yet those steps may prove to be no substitute for being vigilant and cautious from the beginning.

According to Berk Esen, an international relations professor at Ankara’s Bilkent University, Turkey’s delay in announcing its first case gave people the false hope that it could avoid the terrible fate of Italy and Spain.

Now, with the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases crossing the 9,000 mark, Turkey has surpassed many other countries in its rate of increase in infections.

As of Monday, the death toll stood at 131 with 105 recoveries.

“After the first case was pronounced on March 11, the crisis escalated rather quickly. The reaction of the government to the pandemic has been marked by delay,” Esen said.

“Although closing down schools was the correct decision, the government failed to quarantine thousands of visitors coming from COVID-19-infected countries.”

This public health emergency has put Turkey’s economic policies and system of governance to the test. But that is not all.

The forethought and strategy behind its involvement in the conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Libya are likewise being called into question.

The Turkish Defense Ministry says no COVID-19 cases have been reported among Turkish troops in Iraq and Syria.

Still, the government’s domestic as well international standing could suffer if it orders the sudden withdrawal of forces in response to concerns about their wellbeing.

Many experts point to the presence of ‘security contractors’ who operate in groups while assisting Turkish forces carry out cross-border operations.

Under the conditions, these contractors might find it difficult to take basic WHO-recommended precautions such as social distancing, effective handwashing and staying at home.

Overcrowding is known to be a common feature of camps in Syria, especially in northern Aleppo and Afrin, where Turkish forces are active.

“The crisis may halt Turkey’s overseas operations in Syria and Libya for now. The parties to the conflict all need to address the devastating impact of the pandemic on their populations,” Esen said.

From defense to the economy, there is no denying that Turkey faces difficult choices.

The outbreak came at a time when the country was weighed down by economic weaknesses including a vulnerable currency and very high levels of corporate and private debt.

Turkish government debt alone was expected to reach 36.6 percent of the GDP by the end of 2020.

With some experts now seeing a looming global recession, Turkey’s central bank has decided to reduce its benchmark interest rate by one percentage point.

The move is one of many precautionary measures taken by the bank to mitigate the worst impact of the global pandemic on Turkey’s $750 billion economy.

According to Nigel Rendell, director at Medley Global Advisers LLC in London, the Turkish economy is vulnerable not just to the COVID-19 crisis but also to any flight of investors from higher-risk markets.

“In recent weeks, the Turkish lira (TRY) has held up reasonably well compared with some other emerging market currencies, but it seems to have been heavily supported by central bank intervention and the actions of state banks, who have been ordered to sell dollars and buy TRY,” he told Arab News.




Some think the government is taking a “herd immunity” approach. (AFP)

According to Rendell, official interest rates have fallen significantly, to below 10 percent, and now provide little protection to those holding TRY versus some safer currencies.

“We estimate that the central bank has depleted its dollar reserves significantly and has little firepower to protect the TRY further should there be another significant sell-off,” he said.

“The risk, therefore, is that the exchange rate heads towards 7.00/dollar, and potentially lower, in the coming weeks.”

To its credit, Turkey recently announced a $5.4 billion stimulus package, but many economists see it as favoring employers rather than helping ordinary households cope with the coronavirus blow.

Many companies, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, are expected to go bankrupt and default on loan payments in the coming days.

The dark specter of mass unemployment looms over Turkey’s economic horizon.

The fear of the coronavirus situation being made worse by the flow of people has forced Turkey to seal its land borders with Iran and Iraq and halt flights to and from China, Italy and South Korea.

This in turn has affected the country’s vital tourism sector and export-based industries, whose importance in lifting Turkey from heavy indebtedness following previous economic crises cannot be overstated.

In 2018 Turkey, a major transit hub between Europe, Asia and Africa, hosted 51.8 million tourists, who brought $34.5 billion in revenue.

This year, as the coronavirus pandemic tightens its grip on large parts of the world, such a figure looks to be more mirage than reality.

Meanwhile, trade with Europe, Turkey’s main trading partner, is likely to suffer while its budget deficit (which stood at $21.77 billion last year) can only widen further.

Against this backdrop of gathering storm clouds, it is no surprise that cracks have begun to appear in the government.

On Friday night, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan took the rare step of dismissing minister Cahit Turhan, who held the transport and infrastructure portfolio.

Turhan was removed from his post with a presidential decree, but no reason was given.

The dismissal came soon after a controversial tender for the Istanbul Canal project was floated by the transport ministry.

The project involves building a huge artificial canal on the edge of Istanbul.

The timing of the tender was seen by many Turks as unseemly, conveying the impression that launching the mega-project, not protecting people from the coronavirus outbreak, was the government’s priority.

Esen thinks the Turkish government is pursuing in all but name the ‘herd immunity’ strategy that the Netherlands and UK were toying with until last week.

In the event, statistical forecasts suggest that Turkey risks a coronavirus outbreak on the same scale as Italy.

“Given how rapidly the number of cases has risen in recent days, Turkey may be headed for a disaster scenario within the next 10 days unless stricter precautionary measures are taken,” Esen told Arab News.

“There seems to be disagreement within the government between the minister of health and the president. Erdogan reportedly called for a complete lockdown after a recent Scientific Council meeting,” he said.

Turkish government policymakers are believed to be divided on whether imposing a full lockdown is the correct policy.

Minister of Health Fahrettin Koca, along with Scientific Council members under his ministry, advocates strict measures that put public health ahead of other concerns.

There is another group of ministers, however, whose apparent priority is kickstarting the stuttering economy.

“The government has refused to call for a national lockdown and has instead opted for voluntary quarantine and ‘shelter in place’ order for citizens over the age of 65,” Esen said.

“This approach is helping to spread infections if the rapidly rising number of COVID-19 cases is any indication.”

Esen says the government has failed to provide financial relief to low-income citizens, many of whom continue to work in order to earn enough to cover their basic needs.

“Given the weak condition of the Turkish economy even before the pandemic, the government probably does not have sufficient resources to afford a full shutdown,” Esen said.

 


US helps Israel shoot down barrage of Iranian missiles

Updated 14 June 2025
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US helps Israel shoot down barrage of Iranian missiles

  • US also is shifting military resources, including ships, in the Middle East in response to the strikes
  • About 40,000 troops are in the Mideast region now, according to a US official

WASHINGTON: American air defense systems and Navy assets in the Middle East helped Israel shoot down incoming ballistic missiles Friday that Tehran launched in response to Israeli strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities and top military leaders, US officials said.
The US has both ground-based Patriot missile defense systems and Terminal High Altitude Air Defense systems in the region capable of intercepting ballistic missiles, which Iran fired in multiple barrages in retaliation for Israel’s initial attack.
Naval assets also were involved in assisting Israel as Iran fired missiles at Tel Aviv, one official said. It was not immediately clear if ships fired interceptors or if their advanced missile tracking systems helped Israel identify incoming targets.
The United States also is shifting military resources, including ships, in the Middle East in response to the strikes.
The Navy has directed the destroyer USS Thomas Hudner, which is capable of defending against ballistic missiles, to begin sailing from the western Mediterranean Sea toward the eastern Mediterranean and has directed a second destroyer to begin moving forward so it can be available if requested by the White House, US officials said.
American fighter jets also are patrolling the sky in the Middle East to protect personnel and installations, and air bases in the region are taking additional security precautions, the officials said.
The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide details not yet made public or to discuss ongoing operations.
President Donald Trump met with his National Security Council principals Friday to discuss options.
The forces in the region have been taking precautionary measures for days, including having military dependents voluntarily depart regional bases, in anticipation of the strikes and to protect personnel in case of a large-scale response from Tehran.
Typically around 30,000 troops are based in the Middle East, and about 40,000 troops are in the region now, according to a US official. That number surged as high as 43,000 last October amid the ongoing tensions between Israel and Iran as well as continuous attacks on commercial and military ships in the Red Sea by the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen.
The Navy has additional assets that it could surge to the Middle East if needed, particularly its aircraft carriers and the warships that sail with them. The USS Carl Vinson is in the Arabian Sea — the only aircraft carrier in the region.
The carrier USS Nimitz is in the Indo-Pacific and could be directed toward the Middle East if needed, and the USS George Washington just left its port in Japan and could also be directed to the region if so ordered, one of the officials said.
Then-President Joe Biden initially surged ships to protect Israel following the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas that launched the war in Gaza. It was seen as a deterrent against Hezbollah and Iran at the time.
On Oct. 1, 2024, US Navy destroyers fired about a dozen interceptors in defense of Israel as the country came under attack by more than 200 missiles fired by Iran.


Trump says Iran has ‘second chance’ to come to nuclear deal after Israeli strikes devastate Tehran

Updated 13 June 2025
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Trump says Iran has ‘second chance’ to come to nuclear deal after Israeli strikes devastate Tehran

  • Trump, in the hours before the Israeli attack on Iran, still appeared hopeful in public comments that there would be more time for diplomacy
  • Iran late Friday launched hundreds of ballistic missiles toward Israel after firing dozens of drones earlier in the day

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump on Friday urged Iran to quickly reach an agreement on curbing its nuclear program as Israel vowed to continue its bombardment of the country.
Trumped framed the volatile moment in the Middle East as a possible “second chance” for Iran’s leadership to avoid further destruction “before there is nothing left and save what was once known as the Iranian Empire.”
The Republican president pressed on Iran as he met his national security team in the Situation Room to discuss the tricky path forward following Israel’s devastating strikes, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to keep up for “as many days as it takes” to decapitate Iran’s nuclear program.
The White House said it had no involvement in the strikes, but Trump highlighted that Israel used its deep arsenal of weaponry provided by the US to target Iran’s main enrichment facility in Natanz and the country’s ballistic missile program, as well as top nuclear scientists and officials.
Trump said on his Truth Social platform that he had warned Iran’s leaders that “it would be much worse than anything they know, anticipated, or were told, that the United States makes the best and most lethal military equipment anywhere in the World, BY FAR, and that Israel has a lot of it, with much more to come — And they know how to use it.”
Just hours before Israel launched its strikes on Iran early Friday, Trump was still holding onto tattered threads of hope that the long-simmering dispute could be resolved without military action. Now, he’ll be tested anew on his ability to make good on a campaign promise to disentangle the US from foreign conflicts.
In the aftermath of the Israeli strikes, the US is shifting its military resources, including ships, in the Middle East as it looks to guard against possible retaliatory attacks by Tehran, according to two US officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
The Navy has directed the destroyer USS Thomas Hudner to begin sailing toward the Eastern Mediterranean and has directed a second destroyer to begin moving forward, so it can be available if requested by the White House.
As Israel stepped up planning for strikes in recent weeks, Iran had signaled the United States would be held responsible in the event of an Israeli attack. The warning was issued by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi even as he engaged in talks with Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program.
Friday’s strikes came as Trump planned to dispatch Witkoff to Oman on Sunday for the next round of talks with the Iranian foreign minister.
Witkoff still plans to go to Oman this weekend for talks on Tehran’s nuclear program, but it’s unclear if the Iranians will participate, according to US officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private diplomatic discussions.
The president made a series of phone calls Friday to US television news anchors to renew his calls on Iran to curb its nuclear program.
CNN’s Dana Bash said Trump told her the Iranians “should now come to the table” and get a deal done. And Trump told NBC News that Iranian officials are “calling me to speak” but didn’t provide further detail.
Trump also spoke Friday with British Prime Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron about the evolving situation, as well as Netanyahu.
Meanwhile, oil prices leapt and stocks fell on worries that the escalating violence could impact the flow of crude around the world, along with the global economy.
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Virginia, offered rare words of Democratic praise for the Trump administration after the attack “for prioritizing diplomacy” and “refraining from participating” in the military strikes. But he also expressed deep concern about what the Israeli strikes could mean for US personnel in the region.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who’s on Democrats’ shortlist for top 2028 White House contenders, said if Israel can set back Iran’s nuclear program with the strikes “it’s probably a good day for the world.”
“But make no mistake: We do not want an all-out war in the Middle East,” Shapiro said. “That’s not only bad for the Middle East, it’s destabilizing for the globe, and it’s something that I hope will not occur.”
Iran late Friday launched hundreds of ballistic missiles toward Israel after firing dozens of drones earlier in the day. The US military assisted Israel intercept the missiles fired by Iran in the retaliatory attack.
Trump, in the hours before the Israeli attack on Iran, still appeared hopeful in public comments that there would be more time for diplomacy.
But it was clear to the administration that Israel was edging toward taking military action against Iran. The State Department and US military on Wednesday directed a voluntary evacuation of nonessential personnel and their loved ones from some US diplomatic outposts in the Middle East.
Before Israel launched the strikes, some of Trump’s strongest supporters were raising concerns about what another expansive conflict in the Mideast could mean for the Republican president, who ran on a promise to quickly end the brutal wars in Gaza and Ukraine.
Trump has struggled to find an endgame to either of those conflicts and to make good on two of his biggest foreign policy campaign promises.
And after criticizing President Joe Biden during last year’s campaign for preventing Israel from carrying out strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, Trump found himself making the case to the Israelis to give diplomacy a chance.
The push by the Trump administration to persuade Tehran to give up its nuclear program came after the US and other world powers in 2015 reached a long-term, comprehensive nuclear agreement that limited Tehran’s enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.
But Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from the Obama administration-brokered agreement in 2018, calling it the “worst deal ever.”
The way forward is even more clouded now.
“No issue currently divides the right as much as foreign policy,” Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA and an ally of the Trump White House, posted on X on Thursday. “I’m very concerned based on (everything) I’ve seen in the grassroots the last few months that this will cause a massive schism in MAGA and potentially disrupt our momentum and our insanely successful Presidency.”
 

 


Netanyahu calls on Iranians to unite against ‘evil and oppressive regime’

Updated 13 June 2025
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Netanyahu calls on Iranians to unite against ‘evil and oppressive regime’

  • “As we achieve our objective, we are also clearing the path for you to achieve your freedom,” he said
  • Iran called the attack “a declaration of war” and threatened to retaliate by opening “the gates of hell” on Israel

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Iranians Friday to unite against what he described as an “evil and oppressive regime,” telling them Israel was engaged in “one of the greatest military operations in history.”
“The time has come for the Iranian people to unite around its flag and its historic legacy, by standing up for your freedom from the evil and oppressive regime,” Netanyahu said in a video statement after Israel struck over 200 military and nuclear sites in the Islamic republic.
“We are in the midst of one of the greatest military operations in history, Operation Rising Lion,” he added.
“As we achieve our objective, we are also clearing the path for you to achieve your freedom,” he said, referring to Israeli strikes that hit targets across Iran, including nuclear sites, killing several top military commanders and nuclear scientists.
“The regime does not know what hit them, or what will hit them. It has never been weaker,” Netanyahu said in his video published shortly after a salvo of Iranian missiles reached Israel.
“Our fight is against the murderous Islamic regime that oppresses and impoverishes you,” he said, adding: “This is your opportunity to stand up and let your voices be heard.”
Netanyahu also promised that “more is on the way,” having said earlier that Israel’s attack on Iran would “continue for as many days as it takes.”
Iran called the attack “a declaration of war” and threatened to retaliate by opening “the gates of hell” on Israel.
It first sent about 100 drones toward Israel, many of which were intercepted before reaching the country.
The drones were followed by dozens of missiles, some of which caused physical damage in Israeli cities, and injured at least seven people, according to first responders.


Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has failed in its mission, UN says

Updated 13 June 2025
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Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has failed in its mission, UN says

  • Medics say hospitals are inundated with people wounded while trying to obtain food amid hunger crisis

GENEVA: The US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has been a failure from a humanitarian standpoint, the UN said on Friday.

The UN and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the foundation over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.
“GHF, I think it’s fair to say, has been, from a principled humanitarian standpoint, a failure,” Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN humanitarian agency OCHA, told a press briefing in Geneva.
“They are not doing what a humanitarian operation should do, which is providing aid to people where they are, safely and securely.
“We have the operation ready to roll with food and other supplies ready. We have them in the region; they are pre-cleared by the Israelis.
“We need the borders open to get in, and of course, we need the safety and security and some resemblance of law and order inside Gaza to distribute it.”
An officially private effort with opaque funding and backed by Israel, GHF began operations on May 26 after Israel completely cut off supplies into Gaza for more than two months, sparking warnings of mass famine.
GHF claimed on Thursday it had distributed nearly 2.6 million meals on Thursday and more than 18.6 million to date.
The Palestinian Authority said internet and fixed-line communication services were down in Gaza on Thursday following an attack on the territory’s last fiber optic cable, which it blamed on Israel.
“There was and still is a massive comms blackout,” said Laerke.
“If there is no communication, it really is damaging” for aid services, he said.
“There is an active effort to try to fix it, of course, and everybody is looking into that, because things kind of ground to a halt when these things happen.”
The distribution of food and basic supplies in the blockaded and war-ravaged Gaza has become increasingly fraught and perilous, exacerbating the territory’s deep hunger crisis.
The GHF said a bus carrying its staff to a distribution site near the southern city of Khan Younis was “brutally attacked by Hamas” around 10 p.m. on Wednesday.
Israel charged that Hamas was “weaponizing suffering in Gaza” after the US and the GHF accused the Palestinian group of killing its aid workers in the territory.
Asked to respond to the GHF accusation, the Hamas government media office in Gaza said GHF was a “filthy tool” of Israeli forces and was being used to “lure civilians into death traps.”
Dozens of Palestinians have been killed while trying to reach GHF distribution points since they began operating in late May, according to Gaza’s civil defense agency.
The agency said another 21 people were killed while waiting for aid on Thursday, adding that they were among 29 people across the territory who were killed by Israeli fire.
Contacted by AFP about reports of a deadly incident near an aid distribution point close to the Netzarim corridor in central Gaza, the Israeli military said it had “conducted warning shots hundreds of meters from the aid distribution site, prior to its opening hours.”
Gaza medics have said hospitals are being inundated with people wounded while trying to obtain food.
At Gaza City’s Al-Shifa Hospital on Wednesday, the emergency department said it had received dozens of people who had been killed or wounded while waiting for aid in recent days, including 200 in a single day.
“Many Gazans went to the Nabulsi and Netzarim areas to receive aid and were shot at and shelled with tanks,” said Mutaz Harara, head of Al-Shifa’s emergency department.
But with few medical supplies and no operating theaters, “many patients died while waiting for their turn,” he said.
The war has caused major damage to infrastructure across Gaza, including water mains, telecommunication cables, power lines, and roads.

 


Cholera spreads to 13 states in Sudan, including Darfur

This picture shows the destruction on the grounds of a hospital in Khartoum on April 28, 2025. (AFP)
Updated 13 June 2025
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Cholera spreads to 13 states in Sudan, including Darfur

  • Funding cuts create overcrowded and unsanitary conditions that increase risks, WHO official warns

GENEVA: The World Health Organization warned on Friday that cholera cases in Sudan are set to rise and could spread to neighboring countries, including Chad, which hosts hundreds of thousands of refugees from Sudan’s civil war in crowded conditions.

The more than two-year-old war between the Sudanese army — which took full control of Khartoum state this week — and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has spread hunger and disease and destroyed most health facilities. Drone attacks in recent weeks have interrupted electricity and water supplies in the capital, Khartoum, driving up cases there.

FASTFACT

Dr. Shible Sahbani, WHO Representative for Sudan, called for humanitarian corridors and temporary ceasefires to allow mass vaccination campaigns against cholera and other disease outbreaks, such as Dengue fever and malaria.

“Our concern is that cholera is spreading,” Dr. Shible Sahbani, WHO Representative for Sudan, said in Geneva by video link from Port Sudan.
He said that cholera had reached 13 states in Sudan, including North and South Darfur, which border Chad, and that 1,854 people had already died in the latest wave as the dangerous rainy season sets in.
“We assume that if we don’t invest in the prevention measures, in surveillance, in the early warning system, in vaccination and in educating the population, for sure, the neighboring countries, but not only that, it can maybe spread to the sub-region,” he said.
He called for humanitarian corridors and temporary ceasefires to allow mass vaccination campaigns against cholera and other disease outbreaks, such as Dengue fever and malaria.
Cholera, a severe, potentially fatal diarrheal disease, spreads quickly when sewage and drinking water are not treated adequately.
Sahbani said that this posed a high risk for Sudanese refugees, including some who had survived attacks on a displacement camp in Darfur, and who are living in cramped, makeshift border sites on the Chadian side of the border.
“In overcrowded, unsanitary conditions, a potential outbreak could be devastating,” said François Batalingaya, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Chad, at the same briefing, describing the conditions for some 300,000 people stranded there with few aid services due to funding shortages.
The disease has not yet been confirmed in Chad, although a WHO spokesperson said that suspected cases had been reported in Geneina, Sudan, just 10 km away.
Sahbani also said that disease surveillance was low on the Libyan border and that it could possibly spread there.
Case fatality rates have fallen in recent weeks in and around the capital, Khartoum, thanks to an oral cholera vaccination campaign that started this month, Sahbani said.
UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said Sudan had become a grim example of impunity and the world’s indifference.
Fletcher called on “all with influence” to do more to safeguard civilians and to enable humanitarian aid to reach millions in the war-shattered country.
Despite repeated international pledges to protect Sudan’s people, “their country has become a grim example of twin themes of this moment: indifference and impunity,” he said in a statement.
Fletcher, the UN’s Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, underlined that half of Sudan’s population, some 30 million people, need lifesaving aid in the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.
“Indiscriminate shelling, drone attacks, and other air strikes kill, injure, and displace people in staggering numbers. The health system has been smashed to pieces, with cholera, measles, and other diseases spreading,” he said.
The human cost of the war, including “horrific” sexual violence, has been repeatedly condemned, “but talk has not translated into real protection for civilians or safe, unimpeded and sustained access for humanitarians,” he said.
“Where is the accountability? Where is the funding?“