TURKEY: A stray dogs bill & more – 16th July 2024

Merhaba from Keswick Village! This is the Rorshok Turkey Update from the 16th of July twenty twenty-four. A quick summary of what's going down in Turkey.

In a tragic incident on Friday the 12th, two people died after being electrocuted during heavy rainfall in the city of İzmir. One of them was electrocuted when he stepped into a waterlogged street that had exposed wires. And his friend died trying to help him.

Locals and shopkeepers blamed Gdz Elektrik, the electricity firm, and the municipality for failing to fix the exposed wires on the street for years. Eyewitnesses reported that they had warned authorities about the danger, but no one took action. A local newspaper had also highlighted the issue back in twenty nineteen, warning of the potential for fatalities.

Gdz accused the municipality of constructing unauthorized rainwater grids that damaged the electricity network, while the municipality claimed that Gdz supervised the construction. Reportedly, the authorities have issued arrest warrants for almost thirty people in relation to the case.

Next up, on Saturday the 13th, the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, presented a bill to parliament aiming to round up millions of stray dogs, alarming animal lovers who advocate for a mass neutering campaign instead of confinement in shelters. The proposed law would require municipalities to capture strays and place them in shelters until adoption, while aggressive or untreatable dogs would be euthanized. The bill mandates municipalities to allocate a small portion of their budget for animal rehabilitation and shelter construction, with a deadline of twenty twenty-eight. Opposition lawmakers criticized the bill for burdening municipalities and risking animal welfare. There are so many strays in the country that shelters don’t seem to be a realistic solution. It’s also not very clear what would happen to dogs that wouldn’t get adopted for a long time. People believe that mass neutering would be a more permanent and humane solution.

Moving on, on Tuesday the 9th, Fatma Zehra Kınık, daughter of the former Turkish Red Crescent chief, collided with a motorcycle carrying two seventeen-year-old boys. The crash caused the motorcycle to skid, and both teenagers fell off. The driver suffered some injuries, but the passenger struck his head on a concrete piece on the sidewalk and later died in the hospital.

A court has released Kınık after taking her testimony, pending trial after the fatal accident. Many criticize her release, citing she caused the death of a teenager. They said that her father, who has close ties to the government, arranged the release. In May twenty twenty-three, her father resigned from the Red Crescent amid controversy over selling tents to charity after devastating earthquakes in Turkey.

Upon backlash, the government put a reporting ban on the case to prevent further public outrage. However, that led to further backlash, as the public slammed the executives arguing that they were protecting a killer.

Some news on international relations. On Monday the 15th, Assad, Syria's president, addressed President Erdoğan’s recent remarks about a possible meeting between the two countries. He stated that he would agree to meet President Erdoğan only if the discussions focused on core issues, like the withdrawal of Turkish forces from Syrian territory and Turkey’s alleged support for terrorism.

Relations between Turkey and Syria soured in two thousand eleven during the Syrian civil war, with Turkey backing rebels seeking Assad's removal, whom Syria considers terrorists. Turkey maintains troops in northern Syria and conducts military operations against groups it perceives as threats to its security.

Speaking of President Erdoğan, he condemned the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, and wished him a swift recovery. Erdoğan expressed confidence in a thorough investigation and swift justice for the perpetrators, emphasizing Turkey’s support for the U.S.

Let’s move on to economic news. On Tuesday the 16th, the ruling Justice and Development Party (or AKP) announced that the government raised the minimum retiree pension to 12,500 liras, around 465 US dollars, affecting nearly four million people. Civil servant pensions increased by twenty percent, and other pensions by twenty-five percent. Since the announcement came just a day before the monthly payment date, the new amounts might be included in next month's payments.

The government also announced that the new overseas departure fee is 500 liras, equivalent to fifteen US dollars. It was initially planned to increase tenfold from 150 liras, about five US dollars, to 1,750 liras, about fifty US dollars. The proposal faced significant opposition, leading to calls for its withdrawal. Ultimately, the increase was implemented as a tripling, not a tenfold rise, leading to criticism that the initial announcement exaggerated the scale of the increase to downplay the actual tripling.

The Istanbul Municipality changed the Istanbulkart, the transportation card, regulation to limit student benefits to individuals under thirty. While they will not benefit from them, the municipality will still offer them a ten percent discount on transport fares. Critics from the ruling AKP argue that this violated principles of equality, advocating for equal student rights. The municipality highlighted a sharp increase in older students, nearly doubling the number of students who benefit from discounts compared to last year, implying that some of them enroll in schools just to benefit from discounts. The municipality cautioned that if they didn’t apply this measure, it’d cause a potential financial strain, forcing the municipality to increase fares for everyone.

The Health and Social Services Workers’ Trade Union, or SES’, recent study in the southern city of Diyarbakır revealed that hospitals refuse to perform abortions on demand, despite being legal under Turkish law until the tenth week of pregnancy. Public hospitals claim abortion is forbidden or require the father's consent, while private hospitals impose high fees or claim that the mother needs to have a life-risking condition to have the abortion. Diyarbakır co-chair of the SES highlighted that these barriers push women toward unsafe and unhygienic abortion practices. Women's organizations encourage those facing these obstacles to seek support and demand their legal rights through official channels.

The devastating twin earthquakes of last year continue to affect life negatively. The Sütçü İmam University Medical Faculty Hospital, the main hospital in the quake-hit Maraş, no longer has a pediatric surgery department. The only remaining pediatric surgeon left due to workload issues, leaving just one doctor each in Pediatric Hematology, Neurology, Intensive Care, Neonatology, Psychiatry, and Endocrinology. The president of the Health World Association urged the Ministry of Health to mandate service in Maraş, emphasizing the need for urgent action at the hospital. He also criticized administrative failures and the lack of comprehensive planning for essential departments. Many argue that the government has abandoned the quake-hit areas, leading to increasingly difficult living conditions. Many residents still live in container cities or tent camps with inadequate access to water and electricity. On top of these harsh living conditions, locals now suffer from a lack of healthcare services.

Ömer Faruk Dengiz, the president of the Bodrum Hoteliers Association, or BODER, highlighted a twenty percent decline in domestic tourists visiting Bodrum compared to the first half of twenty twenty-three, contrasting with a thirty percent increase in international visitors. With the newly introduced instant visa to Greek islands, many Turkish people chose to vacation at the islands, arguing that the Islands are more affordable, especially compared to holiday hotspots like Bodrum. Bodrum is notorious among Turkish people for its absurdly high prices. However, BODER defended Bodrum’s prices, asserting they reflect the destination's quality and value. Dengiz emphasized Bodrum's competitiveness globally and its diverse accommodation options, ranging from forty-five US dollars to ten thousand dollars per person a night. He also addressed misconceptions about Bodrum's affordability compared to the Greek islands, urging fair comparisons with destinations like Mykonos and Rhodes.

To wrap up this update, on Monday the 15th, Turkey commemorated the eighth anniversary of the failed coup attempt on the 15th of July two thousand sixteen, known as Democracy and National Unity Day since October two thousand sixteen. The nation honors the lives lost and celebrates unity with nationwide events. The coup, orchestrated by the Islamist Fetullah Terrorist Organization, resulted in over 200 deaths and almost three thousand wounded.

Aaand that’s it for this week! Thank you for joining us!

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