JEDDAH: A UN report appears to confirm allegations made by an exiled Turkish mafia boss about government involvement in an international cocaine trafficking scheme.
According to Sedat Peker, who lives in Dubai, the son of Turkey’s former Prime Minister Binali Yildirim frequently traveled to Caracas in January and February to design a new trade route for drugs after nearly five tons of cocaine were seized last year by Colombia.
The UN report, which was released in February, said that drug dealing around the world took on new methods by using personal protective equipment as a cover to facilitate trafficking.
Yildirim denied Peker’s claims and said that his son, Erkan, traveled to personally deliver COVID-19 tests and protective equipment to those in need.
“It is an insult to link us with drugs,” Yildirim, who is now the deputy leader of the ruling Justice and Development Party, told reporters in Istanbul on May 23.
But there has been skepticism about his remarks as Venezuela had a low number of COVID-19 cases at the time of his son’s visit.
Journalist Cuneyt Ozdemir also revealed an official tweet from the Turkish embassy in Caracas from Dec. 7, 2020 that showed the son posing with the delegation that went to Venezuela as part of an official visit.
Prof. Sevil Atasoy, a Turkish member of the UN International Narcotics Control Board, said the February report showed how the pandemic had changed the illegal drug trade.
“They began using the mail or postal services, even protective masks, gloves and disinfectants to give the impression that they were trading medical equipment rather than drugs,” she said.
The report said the largest quantities of opiates were seized in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Turkey.
“The Balkan route, which passed through Iran, Turkey and the Balkan countries on the way to destination markets in western and central Europe, remained the main route for the trafficking of opiates originating in Afghanistan,” it added.
Turkey’s opposition parties have put the government on the spot for its account on trade relations with Venezuela since last year, suggesting that these ties might serve as a cover for facilitating drug dealing.
The breakaway DEVA party, founded by Turkey’s former economy tsar and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s former confidant Ali Babacan, recently asked the government about the reason for lifting the tariff imposed on cheese from Venezuela, following Peker’s claims that Turkey was part of a significant cocaine trafficking scheme from the South American country.
Last August Turkey allowed, through a presidential decree, the import of food products, including all kinds of cheese, from Venezuela with a zero customs tariff.
The decision followed the visit of the country’s foreign minister to Venezuela a week before, while the decree was criticized by Turkish agriculture sector representatives at the time who said it would damage the industry.
The main opposition Republican People’s Party also asked the Turkish trade minister which politicians and their relatives were involved in cheese imports from Venezuela.
Peker is an ally-turned-foe of the government and an infamous organized crime boss who fled the country ahead of a criminal investigation into him.
He has been releasing bombshell videos on YouTube for the past few weeks that have shaken domestic politics and leveled serious accusations against current and former politicians and bureaucrats associated with the government.
UN report supports claims by Turkish mafia boss over drug scheme
https://arab.news/rhrht
UN report supports claims by Turkish mafia boss over drug scheme
- UN report: Drug dealing around the world took on new methods by using PPE as a cover to facilitate trafficking
- Former prime minister denies claims over son’s Venezuela trips
Syria and neighbors urge Israel to stop bombings
Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on Syria since longtime ruler Bashar Assad was ousted in December, often targeting military sites and killing dozens of people.
Israeli officials have also described Syria’s new Islamist authorities as jihadists and claimed to defend the country’s Druze minority with a recent spate of attacks.
Turkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told a press conference with his Jordanian and Syrian counterparts that “Israel’s expansionism poses a significant threat to the security, stability and future of Syria.”
“This must come to an end. And we are on the same page about this. Syria needs to be supported to prevent terrorist organizations from settling in this region,” Fidan added, noting that Syria shares a 900-kilometer (560-mile) border with Turkiye.
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani told the joint press conference that “our borders are constantly violated by Israeli attacks.”
The Israeli strikes are “calculated escalations aimed at destabilising Syria and dragging the region into a new cycle of conflict,” Shaibani said, decrying “systematic violations of international law and explicit provocations.”
He called on the international community to put Israel under “increased pressure” to halt the bombings.
Jordan’s top diplomat, Ayman Safadi, said attacks on Syrian soil “will not bring security to Israel and will bring nothing to Syria except ruin and destruction.”
Israel urges ICC to drop arrest warrants against PM
- In ruling that made headlines, ICC found “reasonable grounds” to believe Netanyahu and Gallant bore “criminal responsibility” for war crimes, crimes against humanity
THE HAGUE: Israel has asked the International Criminal Court to dismiss its arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant while ICC judges reconsider complex jurisdictional questions.
In a 14-page document dated May 9 but posted on the ICC website on Monday, Israel argued the warrants issued in November were null and void while judges weigh a previous Israeli challenge to the ICC’s jurisdiction in the case.
In a ruling that made headlines around the world, the ICC found “reasonable grounds” to believe Netanyahu and Gallant bore “criminal responsibility” for war crimes and crimes against humanity related to the war in Gaza.
The court also issued a war crimes warrant against top Hamas commander Mohammed Deif over the October 7 attacks that sparked the conflict. The case against Deif was dropped in February after his death.
Israel, not one of the ICC’s 125 members, challenged the court’s jurisdiction but judges on the ICC’s “Pre-Trial Chamber” dismissed the bid and issued the arrest warrants.
But last month, the ICC’s Appeals Chamber ruled the Pre-Trial Chamber was wrong to dismiss the challenge and ordered it to look again in detail at Israel’s arguments.
Israel says now that the arrest warrants should not stay in place while this complex and lengthy process is ongoing.
“Unless and until the Pre-Trial Chamber has ruled on the substance of the jurisdiction challenge... the prerequisite jurisdictional finding does not exist,” Israel argued.
“It follows that the arrest warrants issued on 21 November 2024 must be withdrawn or vacated pending the Pre-Trial Chamber’s determination of Israel’s jurisdictional challenge.”
Israel and its allies reacted furiously to the warrants issued on November 21, Netanyahu describing it as an “anti-Semitic decision” and then US president Joe Biden slamming it as “outrageous.”
Technically, any member of the ICC is required to arrest Netanyahu if he travels there, although the court has no independent power to enforce warrants.
Israel argued in its submission that Netanyahu could theoretically be arrested while the court was still weighing whether it had jurisdiction in the case.
“Depriving persons of their liberty on the basis of an arrest warrant issued in the absence of the necessary legal pre-conditions is an egregious violation of fundamental human rights and of the rule of law,” Israel argued.
Allowing the warrants to stay in place during the deliberations “is unlawful and undermines the legitimacy of the court,” said Israel.
Syrian, Turkish foreign ministers address security issues in Ankara
- Officials convened during trilateral meeting involving Syria, Turkiye and Jordan
LONDON: Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani met his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, in Ankara on Monday.
The officials convened during trilateral talks, which included Jordan’s foreign minister, to address joint security and economic issues in the region.
The ministers discussed various issues, including Israeli actions in the southern Syrian Arab Republic since the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, as well as coordination with Arab states and the international community to support Syria’s security, stability and sovereignty.
Emir of Kuwait, Lebanese president discuss historic opportunity to shape future
- The meeting at Bayan Palace in Kuwait addressed the recent developments in Lebanon
- Officials highlighted that Lebanon has a historic opportunity to shape its future
LONDON: Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah met with Lebanese President Gen. Joseph Aoun on Monday morning to discuss ways to enhance collaboration between their countries in various sectors.
The meeting at Bayan Palace in Kuwait addressed the recent developments in Lebanon. Crown Prince Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, acting Prime Minister Sheikh Fahad Yusuf Saud Al-Sabah, and senior officials from both countries attended the meeting.
Minister of Amiri Diwan Affairs Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah stated that the discussions centered on strengthening ties and exploring ways to develop them across all possible areas.
Officials highlighted that Lebanon has a historic opportunity to shape its future, overcome past challenges, and initiate reconstruction and development to fulfil the aspirations of the Lebanese people for security and stability, the Kuwait News Agency reported.
Sheikh Mohammad noted that the session also addressed key issues of mutual interest, methods to enhance unified Arab action, and recent regional and international developments.
Hundreds march in West Bank against killings of Palestinian medics
- Protesters carried symbolic white shrouds bearing the names and pictures of the dead, as well as signs demanding the release of three staff members
RAMALLAH: Hundreds of Palestinian Red Crescent staff marched in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah on Monday to protest the killing of medical workers in Gaza over the past 19 months of war.
Gathering in the city’s Clock Square, medical personnel, support staff and volunteers wore white and orange vests and waved flags bearing the Red Crescent’s emblem.
The demonstration marked World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day, usually observed on May 8, and called for the “protection for medical and humanitarian workers.”
In a statement released Monday, the Red Crescent said 48 of their staff members have been killed in Gaza and the West Bank since the war began on October 7, 2023 — including 30 who “were killed while performing their humanitarian duty wearing the Red Crescent emblem.”
Protesters carried symbolic white shrouds bearing the names and pictures of the dead, as well as signs demanding the release of three staff members who have been detained by the Israeli army for over a year.
Some 1,400 humanitarian and medical workers have been killed in Gaza since the beginning of the war, according to the statement, which added that “dozens of medical personnel working in Gaza... were detained while performing their humanitarian duties.”
It highlighted a particularly deadly attack in March in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, when 15 first responders including eight Red Crescent paramedics were killed by the Israeli army.
The first responders were answering distress calls after Israeli air strikes.
The incident drew international condemnation, including concern about possible war crimes from UN human rights commissioner Volker Turk.
An Israeli military investigation, the results of which were published, acknowledged “professional failures” and “violations of orders” during the shooting.
