
Eight Turkish soldiers killed by gas exposure during cave search in northern Iraq
In a statement, the ministry said the incident took place on Sunday during a mission to locate the remains of a Turkish soldier killed during a military operation against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
Eleven other soldiers who are also exposed to the gas in the cave have been taken to the hospital for treatment, the ministry said.
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Asharq Al-Awsat
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- Asharq Al-Awsat
7 more Turkish Soldiers Die from Methane Gas in Iraqi Cave, Raising Deaths to 12
Seven more Turkish soldiers have died from methane gas poisoning following a cave search operation in northern Iraq, Türkiye's Defense Ministry said Monday, bringing the death toll to 12. The soldiers had been searching for the remains of a fellow soldier previously killed by Kurdish militants. The troops were searching a mountain cave when 19 of them were exposed to the gas, according to the ministry. Five of the soldiers died Sunday from the colorless, odorless, flammable gas that can cause asphyxiation in sufficient concentration, and seven more succumbed on Monday, Reuters reported. 'We pray for God's mercy upon our heroic martyrs who lost their lives in this tragic event,' the ministry said Monday, also expressing hope for a rapid recovery for other troops that were affected. It said Defense Minister Yasar Guler and armed forces' commanders were traveling to the region to carry out 'inspections and evaluations' and attend a ceremony as the soldiers were flown to their hometowns for burial. Speaking at the ceremony, Guler commended the troops' 'great courage and sacrifice,' adding: 'Our grief is immense and our feelings are beyond words.' The ministry said the incident took place in the 'Claw-Lock Operation region' — a reference to an operation launched against the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, in northern Iraq in April 2022. There was no immediate information on the condition of the seven other soldiers who were affected by the gas. Türkiye and the PKK have waged a 40-year conflict that has often spilled over into Iraq and Syria. Türkiye has set up a series of bases in northern Iraq, where the PKK has been established for decades. The PKK, which is considered a terrorist organization by Türkiye and most of the West, announced in May that it would disband and renounce armed conflict as part of a new peace initiative with Türkiye. Its fighters are expected to begin handing over their weapons over the next few days in the first concrete move toward disarmament. According to the ministry, the Turkish unit overcome by methane gas had been searching for the remains of an infantry officer killed by 'terrorist gunfire' during a search-and-clear mission in May 2022. Recovery teams have been scouring the area for the past three years. The cave where the incident occurred sits at an altitude of 852 meters (2,795 feet) and had previously been used by the PKK as a field hospital.

Al Arabiya
3 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Istanbul mayor's jailed lawyer denounces ‘fabricated' charges
The lawyer for Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, who like the mayor is in jail under an expanding crackdown on Turkey's opposition, told Reuters on Monday he faces 'entirely fabricated' charges meant to criminalize the right to a legal defense. Mehmet Pehlivan, who had already been detained for a day in March, was held last month on charges of membership of an unspecified criminal organization. A probe into the main opposition party, Imamoglu's CHP, was expanded well beyond Istanbul at the weekend, and dozens were detained. The arrest in March of Imamoglu, President Tayyip Erdogan's main political rival, sparked the biggest street protests in a decade, and a sharp selloff in the lira and other Turkish assets. In written responses from prison, Pehlivan said his arrest amounted to a bid to criminalize not only legal defense but the profession of lawyers as a whole: 'We are faced with a mindless judicial practice that has severed its ties with reality and truth.' Pehlivan said the evidence presented against him was false and based on a purported phone call and meetings he had never held, and alleged ties to a person he had never met. He said his work for Imamoglu had been restricted to his duties as a lawyer. 'For the first time in the Republic's history, the practicing the law has been categorized as a crime,' he wrote. 'Even if this categorization causes a result for me today, its impact is a threat to all lawyers.' The government rejects opposition allegations that the probe is politicized and anti-democratic, saying the judiciary is independent. In a statement on Sunday, Erdogan's office said that members of the ruling AK Party had also been investigated and arrested in the past over similar crimes. The office did not immediately respond to Pehlivan's allegation that the charges against him were baseless and a threat to legitimate legal activity.


Al Arabiya
7 hours ago
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High-Profile Trial for Deadly Hotel Fire That Killed 78 Opens in Turkey
A total of 32 defendants went on trial Monday over a deadly fire that tore through a popular ski resort hotel, killing 78 people and injuring 133 others. The January 21 fire hit the 12-story Grand Kartal Hotel at the Kartalkaya ski resort in the province of Bolu during the winter school break. Dozens of children taking family vacations were among the victims. The tragedy, which saw guests and staff jump out of windows to escape smoke- and flame-filled rooms or dangle sheets out of windows to lower themselves down, sent shockwaves across Turkey and sparked widespread calls for accountability over negligence and safety violations. Thirteen of the defendants face potential jail terms of 1,998 years each on charges of killing or wounding with possible intent, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency, citing a 98-page indictment from the Bolu Public Prosecutor's Office. The 19 others are charged with negligently causing death or injury, for which they could be jailed for 22½ years. With 210 plaintiffs and 32 defendants involved in the high-profile case, the trial is taking place at a sports center in Bolu that has been temporarily converted into a 700-seat courtroom to accommodate the proceedings, Anadolu reported. On Monday, family members and friends of the victims staged a demonstration outside the sports center, holding up posters of their loved ones and demanding justice. 'This is not neglect, it is murder,' the Anadolu Agency quoted Zeynep Kotan, the mother of 17-year-old Omur Kotan, who lost her life in the fire, as saying. The fire started at 3:17 a.m. local time as a spark from an electric grill plate in the fourth-floor kitchen lit a nearby garbage bin before melting the hose of a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and igniting the gas. Staff first noticed the flames at 3:24 a.m. and called the emergency services, but within two minutes the blaze had exceeded controllable limits, according to the indictment. The blaze took hold of the wooden ceiling, accelerated by the flow of air from a door left open by escaping kitchen staff. The indictment says that inadequate measures on the stairs and elevators and the lack of a smoke extraction system caused flammable and toxic fumes to swiftly spread to the upper floors, filling corridors with smoke. The lack of emergency alarms, faulty fire detection and warning systems, and insufficient staff fire training meant the hotel's 238 guests were not alerted to the blaze in time. Escape routes through the stairways and emergency exits were not properly fitted and there was no sprinkler system, turning the hotel's stairwells and life shafts into chimneys for the smoke to quickly reach the upper floors. The indictment adds that the absence of emergency lighting, fire escape signs, and alternative exits stopped the safe evacuation of guests. The 14-day trial will hear that legal responsibility lay with owner Halit Ergul and company board members, including his wife and daughters, and managers. Also facing the higher punishment are Bolu's deputy mayor and deputy fire chief. Those facing the lesser charges consist of hotel staff, inspection officials, and maintenance workers. The hotel first opened in 1999 and has been operated by Ergul's company since 2007. In a statement to prosecutors made within days of the fire, Ergul said the hotel was checked for fire safety every two years by government-authorized inspectors before receiving a tourism certificate allowing it to operate. The most recent certificate was due to expire in March. The hotel's last inspection by the Culture and Tourism Ministry was conducted five weeks before the fire, Ergul said.