Daily Sabah (Turkey)
Erdoğan heralds new era as Türkiye launches 5G services
TÜRKİYE launched 5G technology yesterday in what President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said would mark the beginning of a new era not only in communications but in all other industries. Commercial 5G services are scheduled to begin as of today and are...
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ISRAEL KILLS 3 IN GAZA, 1 IN W. BANK AS SETTLERS ABUSE IRAN WAR CURBS
ISRAEL’S continued violations of the Gaza cease-fire killed three more people Monday, local health officials said, while another Palestinian was killed by its military in the occupied West Bank. Medics said three people were killed and two others...
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Int’l Zero Waste Day reflects Türkiye’s rise as global leader
Through nationwide systems and global initiatives, the country has trained over 28 million people and scaled infrastructure like deposit return systems and marine cleanups, positioning itself as a key driver of global zero-waste policies and...
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HORMUZ BLOCKADE HITS FERTILIZER FLOW, RAISES FOOD FEARS
FARMERS around the world are feeling the squeeze of the Iran war. Gas prices have shot up and fertilizer supplies are waning due to Tehran’s near shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for U.S. and Israeli bombing. The fertilizer shortage is...
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U.S.-IRAN TALKS HIT BRICK WALL
IRAN and the U.S. hardened their positions yesterday, with both sides signaling no breakthrough in talks as Washington moved thousands of additional troops toward the region and Tehran tightened control over the strategic Strait of Hormuz, raising the...
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IRAN TAKES AIM AT U.S. CARRIER AMID BEHIND-THE-SCENES DIPLOMACY TO END WAR
IRAN said yesterday it fired a volley of cruise missiles at a U.S. aircraft carrier, as strikes continued across the Middle East despite back-channel diplomatic efforts to end the nearly four-week war. A conflict that began on Feb. 28 with a...
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CHILDREN PAYING DEVASTATING PRICE OF MIDEAST WAR: UNICEF
A SENIOR UNICEF official has warned that children across the Middle East are paying a “devastating price” since the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran erupted last month. “Twenty-three days into the escalating conflict in the Middle East, children across the...
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WORLD FACES ENERGY CRISIS WORSE THAN 1970S OIL SHOCKS: IEA
THE WORLD faces an energy crisis worse than both 1970s oil shocks combined if the Middle East war drags on, the head of the International Energy Agency warned yesterday, as Israel launched fresh strikes on Tehran and threatened weeks more fighting.
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Iran, Trump in sharp standoff as war rages
IRAN exchanged threats with Donald Trump yesterday as both threatened to escalate their conflict by targeting energy infrastructure in the Gulf, raising fears of a wider regional crisis and further disruption to global markets. Air raid sirens sounded...
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EID AL-FITR ARRIVES UNDER SHADOW OF WAR, ANXIETY
MUSLIMS around the world are celebrating Eid al-Fitr in somber circumstances this year, as an escalating war in the region replaces the holiday’s customary joy with fear and anxiety. A time normally marked by communal prayers, family visits and...
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ISRAEL RAISES STAKES ON TOP IRANIAN OFFICIALS AFTER KILLING INTEL CHIEF
ISRAEL warned yesterday that its military was authorized to target any senior figure of Iran after claiming to have killed Tehran’s Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib. The announcement, a day after Iranian security chief Ali Larijani was confirmed...
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War spirals, truce out of reach
A SENIOR Iranian official said yesterday that the country’s new supreme leader had rejected de-escalation proposals through intermediaries, demanding that Israel and the U.S. first be “brought to their knees,” as Israel said it had killed Iran’s...
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ISRAEL INVADES S. LEBANON IN NAME OF ANTI-HEZBOLLAH GROUND OPS
THE ISRAELI military invaded southern Lebanon yesterday when it launched so-called “limited ground operations” against the country’s Iran-backed armed group, Hezbollah. Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war on March 2 when the Tehran-backed...
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Hormuz escort plan raises war fears
IRAN warned other countries yesterday against joining the war with the United States and Israel after Donald Trump urged world powers to send warships to escort oil tankers through the strategic Strait of Hormuz. Energy prices have soared across the...
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WAR TURNS BEIRUT INTO SHELTER FOR HUNDREDS OF DISPLACED
INSIDE Beirut’s largest football stadium, the chants and thunder of matchday crowds have been replaced by the quiet shuffle of hundreds of displaced families trying to sleep on thin mattresses spread across cold concrete. Plastic bags filled with...
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AIMING TO CUT OFF MIDEAST OIL, IRAN DEFIES TRUMP CLAIM OF WAR VICTORY
TWO TANKERS were ablaze in an Iraqi port yesterday after being hit by suspected Iranian explosive-laden boats, a step up in attacks that have cut off oil from the Middle East and defied Donald Trump’s claim to have won the war he launched two weeks...
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Erdoğan pushes urgent talks to avert regional blaze
PRESIDENT Recep Tayyip Erdoğan yesterday called for an urgent return to diplomacy to halt the escalating conflict involving Iran and the U.S., warning that the war risks causing widespread damage across the region and the global economy. Speaking at a...
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Iran keeps pounding Gulf, blocks Hormuz
IRAN carried out new attacks yesterday on Israel and Gulf Arab states, intensifying a war started by Israel and the United States that has driven oil prices higher and rattled the global economy. Sirens warned of incoming missiles in the futuristic...
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MIDEAST WAR SENDS OIL PRICES SOARING TO THEIR HIGHEST SINCE 2022
OIL PRICES briefly surged toward $120 a barrel yesterday, reaching their highest level since 2022 before easing slightly, as the escalating war in Iran threatened Middle East production and shipping, and rattled global financial markets.
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CIVILIAN INFRASTRUCTURE FACES NEW THREAT AS ISRAEL, IRAN TRADE BLOWS
ISRAEL further expanded its heavy bombardment of Iran overnight yesterday, carrying out waves of strikes on civilian infrastructure, including fuel depots near Tehran, which reportedly targeted a desalination plant in Bahrain.
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Nonstop strikes widen Mideast war
Israeli airstrikes slammed Tehran and southern Beirut early Friday as U.S. forces struck an Iranian drone carrier at sea, widening a weeklong war that has engulfed the Middle East and drawn multiple countries into the conflict. Explosions shook...
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GULF BUSINESSES FEEL SHOCKWAVES AS IRAN CRISIS SPIRALS ACROSS REGION
GULF countries are witnessing one of the largest business disruptions since the COVID-19 pandemic, as Iran’s retaliatory strikes have sent shock waves across the usually calm region. The U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran and Tehran’s response have forced...
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World in shock as region nears the brink
IRAN’S capital was rocked by a massive explosion yesterday as Israel said it would carry out “non-stop strikes” against its leaders and military. Iran, meanwhile, fired more missiles at Israel and Gulf Arab states in retaliation for the killing of its...
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NATION REMEMBERS FEB. 28 COUP THAT RESHAPED POLITICS, SOCIETY
years have passed since Türkiye’s Feb. 28, 1997, National Security Council (MGK) meeting, widely described as a “postmodern coup,” a process that reshaped the country’s political, social and institutional landscape for years. The meeting, held amid...
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ŞEHZADE MOSQUE MARKS IMPERIAL DESIGN DEBUT
THE ŞEHZADE Mosque and its adjoining complex, initiated by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent to commemorate his son Şehzade Mehmet, who died in 1543 while serving as governor of Manisa, represents Mimar Sinan’s inaugural imperial mosque project as chief...
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ISRAEL RESPONSIBLE FOR 67% OF KILLINGS IN DEADLIEST YEAR FOR JOURNALISTS
A RECORD 129 journalists and media workers were killed around the world in 2025, with Israel responsible for about two-thirds of those deaths, the Committee to Protect Journalists said yesterday. It was the second consecutive annual record for press...
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GAZANS SUFFER IN WATERLOGGED TENTS AMID HEAVY RAINS, COLD WAVE
TORRENTIAL downpours flooded tents housing war-displaced Palestinians across the Gaza Strip yesterday, officials and witnesses said, compounding a deepening humanitarian crisis during the first winter storm of Ramadan as Israeli restrictions limited...
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MEXICO SEES WIDESPREAD VIOLENCE AFTER MILITARY SLAYS TOP CARTEL BOSS
military killed one of Mexico’s most notorious drug lords, Nemesio Oseguera, or “El Mencho,” Sunday that sparked widespread violence across the country. President Claudia Sheinbaum has been under mounting pressure from Washington to intensify her...
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14 MUSLIM NATIONS SLAM U.S. ENVOY’S ISRAELI ‘PROMISED LAND’ CLAIMS
FOURTEEN Muslim-majority countries and three regional organizations yesterday condemned remarks by Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, after he said it would be acceptable for Israel to exert control over territory belonging to Arab states,...
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HIGH SMOKING RATES PLACE COUNTRY AT RISK OF MAJOR HEALTH CRISIS
TÜRKİYE is facing a significant long-term public health risk due to high levels of tobacco consumption, with experts warning that the country could encounter a sharp increase in cancer and chronic disease cases within the next decade. Turkish Green...
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KIZILAY SENDS 21ST ‘SHIP OF GOODNESS’ TO GAZA AS RAMADAN BEGINS
YESTERDAY, the first day of Ramadan, the Turkish Red Crescent (Kızılay) dispatched its 21st “İyilik Gemisi” (“Ship of Goodness”) to Gaza, marking its largest single humanitarian shipment since the program began in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023,...
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JOY RISES ABOVE RUBBLE AS GAZA CELEBRATES 1ST RAMADAN SINCE TRUCE
RAMADAN lanterns and string lights appeared on the rubblelined streets of Gaza City, bringing joy and respite as Islam’s holiest month began for the first time since October’s cease-fire. In the Omari mosque, dozens of worshippers performed the first...
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ERDOĞAN KICKS OFF ETHIOPIA VISIT FOR GROWING ENGAGEMENT
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan arrived in Ethiopia yesterday for an official visit, a first to the country since 2015. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed welcomed Erdoğan at an elaborate ceremony at the presidential palace. Türkiye boosted ties with the country in recent...
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POLLS OFFER BANGLADESH RARE WINDOW TO DEMOCRATIC TRANSFORMATION
A SENSE of guarded optimism prevails among Bangladeshis, political observers and international stakeholders as the country emerges from the 2026 parliamentary elections, its first since the July 2024 Gen-Z uprising that ousted former Prime Minister...
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BAYRAKTAR TB3 MAKES FIRST OVERSEAS OPERATIONAL DEBUT AT NATO DRILL
THE BAYRAKTAR TB3 unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV), developed by Turkish drone giant Baykar, carried out its first operational demonstration abroad as part of NATO’s Steadfast Dart 2026 exercise, according to a report yesterday.
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TSK’S EXPANDING REACH BOOSTS ANKARA’S DIPLOMATIC CLOUT: ANALYSTS
RECENTLY, discussions over the potential participation of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) in a possible Gaza Task Force, coupled with ministry officials’ repeated emphasis that the TSK is “ready for duty anytime, anywhere,” have brought renewed...
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ANKARA CONDEMNS ISRAEL’S ATTEMPT TO ANNEX WEST BANK
condemned Israel’s actions in the occupied Palestinian territories, specifically its actions in the West Bank, warning that recent decisions could undermine prospects for a two-state solution. Speaking during the Turkish Defense Ministry’s weekly press...
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MITSOTAKIS GETS WARM WELCOME AS ANKARA SEES BRIGHTER SIDE IN TIES
GREEK Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, accompanied by ministers, was welcomed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the Presidential Complex in Ankara yesterday. Mitsotakis was in Türkiye for the 6th High-Level Cooperation Council that aims to...
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Israel widens Gaza, West Bank offensive
AT LEAST three Palestinians were killed Monday when the Israeli military struck west of Gaza City, according to hospital sources. Shifa Hospital reported the deaths amid the months-old cease-fire that has seen continued fighting. The Israeli army said...
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THOUSANDS OF AUSTRALIANS MARCH AGAINST ISRAELI PRESIDENT’S VISIT
THOUSANDS of Australians protested yesterday against Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s visit in solidarity with the Jewish community following a deadly mass shooting last year. Herzog is visiting Australia this week following an invitation from...
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GAZANS LOOKING TO PASS RAFAH CROSSING FACE DELAYS, MISTREATMENT
PALESTINIANS gathered Sunday on both sides of the newly reopened Gaza-Egypt crossing, seeking passage after its first opening since 2024 under a U.S.-backed cease-fire, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepared for a Washington trip...
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Erdoğan touts victory of hope in quake-hit region
In under three years, Türkiye has rebuilt and revived its cities devastated by the 2023 earthquakes, Erdoğan said, hailing the nation’s resilience and hope to recover, thanking thousands for trusting his government and vowing to further intensify...
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3 YEARS LATER, LIFE ACTIVELY RESTORED IN EARTHQUAKE ZONES
THREE years ago, in the early hours of Feb. 6, Türkiye experienced one of the most catastrophic earthquakes in its modern history. A powerful magnitude 7.7 tremor struck Türkiye’s southern and southeastern regions, causing profound and lasting...
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Erdoğan meets el-Sissi for talks on ties, Gaza
PRESIDENT Recep Tayyip Erdoğan traveled to Egypt from Saudi Arabia yesterday, his second stopover in a regional tour. Erdoğan, accompanied by a delegation of ministers and businesspeople, was welcomed by Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi....
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SYRIA ANNOUNCES NEW DEAL WITH PKK/YPG TO STABILIZE TRUCE, INTEGRATION
government on Friday announced a new agreement with the PKK/YPG terrorist group to stabilize a cease-fire that ended weeks of clashes and to lay out the steps toward integration between the two sides, Syrian state television reported. According to...
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2026 to be ‘record year’ for natural gas
will be a new “record year” for natural gas in Türkiye, a top official said yesterday, evaluating the developments in the energy sector, including the adoption of a new strategy to broaden the capabilities with different business models and...
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GLOBAL PLASTICS COULD DOUBLE HEALTH THREATS BY 2040: STUDY
health impacts linked to greenhouse gases, air pollutants and toxic chemicals emitted from the global plastics system could more than double by 2040, a study found. Modelling research, published in the Lancet Planetary Health on Monday, identified...
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TÜRKİYE, NIGERIA SEEK TO DEEPEN STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP AS TINUBU VISITS
PRESIDENT Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomed Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in Ankara yesterday as the two countries seek to deepen political, economic and defense cooperation that has gained momentum in recent years. Ties between Türkiye and Nigeria,...
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DOMESTIC DEFENSE SECTOR FINDS SUCCESS AT SEA WITH DRONE BOATS
THE BOOMING Turkish defense industry is taking its success to the sea as it boosts its export performance in the field of unmanned surface vessels (USVs), also known as drone boats or naval drones, according to a report on Monday.
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Fatal shooting sends shock through US
DEMOCRATS demanded that federal immigration officers leave Minnesota after a U.S. Border Patrol agent fatally shot a man in Minneapolis, drawing hundreds of protesters onto the frigid streets and increasing tensions in a city already shaken by another...
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Fuel gone, Gaza turns to trash fires
DESPERATE Palestinians at a garbage dump in a Gaza neighborhood dug with their bare hands for plastic items to burn to fend off the cold and damp winter in the enclave, battered by two years of Israel’s war on Gaza. The scene in the Muwasi area of the...
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‘Board of Peace’ steps into Gaza deadlock
U.S. PRESIDENT Donald Trump yesterday formally launched his ambitious “Board of Peace” at the World Economic Forum, unveiling a new international body initially tied to Gaza’s fragile cease-fire but pitched as a broader platform that could reshape, and...
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HYPOTHERMIA KILLS GAZA INFANT AS TRUMP UNVEILS CEASE-FIRE VISION
infant died from hypothermia in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, underscoring the worsening humanitarian crisis as world leaders gathered at a Swiss resort with U.S. President Donald Trump’s Gaza cease-fire plan high on the agenda. Three-month-old Shaza Abu...
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ERDOĞAN, SHAQUILLE O’NEAL SHARE COURT, SIGNED BALLS IN ISTANBUL
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met NBA icon Shaquille O’Neal yesterday in Istanbul, turning a routine photo opportunity into a striking snapshot of sports diplomacy. The meeting took place on the court at the Turkcell Basketball Development Center, where Erdoğan...
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GAZA FAMILIES BACK NEW ‘BOARD OF PEACE’ AS US-LED PLAN TAKES SHAPE
PALESTINIAN families and clans in the Gaza Strip on Sunday publicly endorsed the newly formed National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, pledging grassroots support for its humanitarian mission as an ambitious U.S.-led international framework...
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U.S.-BACKED TERRORISTS IN SYRIA LOSE CONTROL OF OIL, GAS, DAM
THE SYRIAN army yesterday continued dashing the dreams of so-called autonomy of the U.S.-backed YPG, the Syrian wing of the terrorist group PKK. In the second major push in two weeks against the group, the army seized swathes of the country’s north,...
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STRATEGIC VALUE, VAST CRITICAL MINERALS: WHY U.S. WANTS GREENLAND
an autonomous territory of Denmark, became a central point of geopolitical debate after U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated his interest in taking control of the strategic Arctic island, citing national security concerns. Greenland covers 2.16...
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Erdoğan calls for unity amid YPG push
IN REMARKS published yesterday, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told fellow members of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) at a meeting on Monday that they would not allow the “brotherhood of Arabs, Turks and Kurds” to be disrupted. He was...
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AID LIFELINE AT RISK AS ISRAEL TARGETS MSF
crowded into wards at a Gaza hospital fear they could be left without care after Israel announced it will bar 37 aid organizations, including Doctors Without Borders, from operating in the territory from March 1 over staffing disclosure requirements....
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PROTESTS GROW AFTER 2 ICE SHOOTINGS WIDEN CLASH OVER TRUMP CRACKDOWN
TENSIONS over U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown escalated across the United States on Thursday after a second shooting involving federal immigration officers in as many days, intensifying protests and sharpening a widening...
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UN CONDEMNS U.S.’ VENEZUELA OPERATIONS FOR UNDERMINING INT’L LAW
THE U.N. human rights office warned yesterday that the recent U.S. military capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro undermined international law, warning against actions that threaten states’ territorial integrity. U.S. forces ousted Maduro in a...
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AFTER MADURO, TRUMP CROSSHAIRS TURN TO GREENLAND, CUBA, COLOMBIA
A DAY after a venturous U.S. military operation in Venezuela, President Donald Trump renewed calls Sunday for an American takeover of Greenland on national security grounds, threatened military action against Colombia over cocaine trafficking, and...
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‘Happy New Year’
‘Good night’ and ‘Happy New Year’ were his reactions as Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was escorted to a high-security prison in New York on a stunning night, after he and his wife were seized by U.S. forces and flown to New York on drug-related...
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SWISS GRAPPLE WITH IDENTIFYING VICTIMS AFTER DEVASTATING BAR BLAZE
on Friday faced the grim task of identifying victims from a devastating blaze that tore through a crowded New Year’s Eve party at the Le Constellation bar, a ski resort, killing around 40 people and leaving more than 100 injured, many critically. The...
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Fight against terror, corruption marked 2025
without elections, Turkish politics had its fair share of turbulence and fast-paced developments. Undoubtedly, highlights of the year for politicians from all parties were new phases in the terror-free Türkiye initiative, and the arrest and detention...
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Erdoğan meets Somalia’s president after Israel recognizes Somaliland
PRESIDENT Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud met yesterday, discussing Israel’s decision to recognize Somaliland, the breakaway region that Mogadishu considers part of its territory. The bilateral talks mostly focused on...
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SYRIA SECURES, OPENS CRIMINAL PROBE INTO ASSAD-ERA MASS GRAVE
SYRIA’S government has ordered troops to guard a mass grave used to conceal atrocities under Bashar Assad and opened a criminal investigation after a media report that detailed a yearslong scheme by the former regime to hide thousands of bodies at the...
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STRONG STORM BATTERS GAZA, ENDANGERING DISPLACED FAMILIES IN TENTS
A POLAR low-pressure system bringing heavy rain and powerful winds swept through the Gaza Strip, worsening conditions for Palestinians sheltering in fragile tents and overcrowded facilities with little protection from the elements.
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CONGO REFUGEES TELL OF DEATH, LOST CHILDREN AS WAR ERUPTS AGAIN
CONGOLESE refugees fleeing into Rwanda described neighbors being slaughtered and children lost amid the chaos, as renewed fighting erupted despite a peace deal brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump. “I have 10 children, but I am here with only...
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