TURKEY: Newborn Deaths & more – 22nd Oct 2024

Merhaba from Keswick Village! This is the Rorshok Turkey Update from the 22nd of October twenty twenty-four. A quick summary of what's going down in Turkey.

This week, reports of a shocking scheme involving health workers in Istanbul accused of defrauding the insurance system by falsifying medical conditions and causing the deaths of many newborns have emerged. The suspects, connected to multiple hospitals and emergency dispatchers, reportedly exaggerated the severity of newborns' conditions to keep them in neonatal intensive care longer, collecting inflated insurance payments.

Apparently, authorities discovered the scheme in March twenty twenty-three, following a complaint to the presidential complaint system. So far, the police have implicated nineteen hospitals, and the Health Ministry has revoked the licenses of nine, including one owned by a former Health Minister.

After the exposure of the scheme, new allegations in the healthcare sector have surfaced, including statements saying that healthcare workers forced elderly and vulnerable patients into unnecessary surgeries, and that the Social Security Institution is sustaining significant losses because of identity theft.

Next up, Fethullah Gülen, the eighty-six-year-old leader of the Islamist Fethullahist Terrorist Organization, or FETÖ, has died in the United States. The government accused him of orchestrating the twenty sixteen coup attempt, which triggered a nationwide purge of FETÖ members from government positions.

Herkül, a Twitter account linked to the FETÖ, announced that Gülen passed away on Sunday the 20th at the hospital where he was receiving treatment, and shared its condolences. The statement said that more details about the burial would be shared soon. However, shortly after, the account became inaccessible. Reports suggest that Gülen's funeral and burial site will be kept secret by his inner circle, likely to prevent potential attacks.

Turkish media outlets announced his death with headlines like "The devil is dead," referring to him as an American spy. They also warned that, despite Gülen's death, the threat posed by his organization remains.

Speaking of terrorism… During a weekly group meeting, Devlet Bahçeli, the head of the Nationalist Movement Party, called for Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned head of the Kurdistan Workers Party or PKK, to address the Turkish Parliament and announce the complete end of terrorism. Bahçeli emphasized that if the court lifts Öcalan's isolation, he should publicly declare the dissolution of the PKK. This suggestion drew criticism from the opposition, which rejected the idea of providing a platform for a figure responsible for countless deaths.

Bahçeli recently faced a lot of backlash for his outreach to the pro-Kurdish Democracy and Progress Party, particularly because of his ultranationalist stance. However, he argued that Turkey’s issue lies not with the Kurdish people but with terrorism. He called for an end to terrorist actions and for militants to surrender their weapons to Turkish authorities.

The Turkish government has reintroduced the agents of influence bill, a law that targets foreign-backed individuals or groups. It was previously revoked in twenty twenty-three due to opposition. The new proposal criminalizes actions that align with foreign interests against state security or political stability. Penalties range from three to seven years in prison, with harsher sentences in wartime.

However, it was called into question as the bill could threaten journalistic independence and target NGOs. Still, the government insists it only focuses on espionage-related offenses.

In some diplomatic news… On Friday the 18th, foreign ministers from Azerbaijan, Armenia, Iran, Russia, and Turkey met in Istanbul for the 3rd South Caucasus Regional Cooperation Platform. The platform, established to foster peace and cooperation in the region, was launched after the twenty twenty Nagorno-Karabakh War.

During the meeting, the Russian Foreign Minister suggested that Armenia and Azerbaijan could use the platform to negotiate a peace treaty, but left the decision to them. He also mentioned that Russia had helped start discussions between Turkey and Armenia, two nations with longstanding tensions since their founding, though those talks are currently on hold. In addition to that, the Turkish Foreign Minister encouraged Georgia to join future meetings.

Still on international relations… eKathimerini, a prominent Greek newspaper, reported that on the 12th of November, Greek port officials will meet with Turkish Coast Guard representatives for a long-awaited technical meeting on Chios Island. The meeting aims to enhance cooperation in the Aegean Sea, focusing on combating human trafficking and improving communication between local authorities. Greek officials emphasized the need for stronger coordination, especially given the increasing migration challenges. A senior Greek official pointed out that vessels departing from Turkey can reach Greek islands like Simi in just nine minutes, highlighting the urgency for quicker and more direct collaboration between the naval forces of both countries.

Now, some updates on labor workers… On Sunday the 20th, the Turkish Confederation of Labor Unions gathered 100,000 workers in Ankara, protesting low wages and poor conditions with the slogan We Can’t Make Ends Meet. The Union’s President urged the government to pass worker-friendly laws ahead of minimum wage talks, warning of growing unrest if they don’t help workers. Some workers booed during his speech, accusing the union of being too close to the government and serving the employer's interests.

On that note about labor rights… On Saturday the 19th, Fernas Mining workers reached an agreement with their employer after fifty-three days of protests over layoffs related to unionizing and demands for better working conditions. After marching 300 miles from Manisa, a western city, to Ankara in central Turkey, they demanded meetings with the Labor Ministry and the company's owner, and even began a hunger strike when their calls for dialogue failed. The Independent Miners’ Union announced that the deal will secure competitive wages starting in January, and the company will reinstate workers who were fired if they choose to return.

On Thursday the 17th, Istanbul's Şişli Municipality sealed off the Torun Center, a complex of residences, offices, and shops, following inspections that uncovered illegal construction. The Şişli Municipality Building Control Directorate found that several apartments in Block D had undergone unapproved modifications, including combining several apartments on eight different floors of the building by cutting through interior walls and concrete, deviating from the original architectural plan under a simple repair permit. While there were allegations that columns had been cut, municipal officials denied them. They said that the columns weren’t harmed, and that they sealed the Center due to violations of the project plan.

In other news, President Erdoğan has proposed a 30% salary increase for himself in the twenty twenty-five budget, raising his monthly income from 183 thousand liras to 238 thousand, that is, from 5,400 to 7,000 US Dollars. This new salary is worth fourteen minimum wages. The budget also allocates three million liras, which is about eighty-five thousand US Dollars, for the Presidential Allowance. The proposal includes an overall increase of thirty-eight percent for the presidency, totaling seventeen billion liras, which is half a billion dollars.

On Thursday the 17th, Kaspi.kz, Kazakhstan's largest online shopping platform, secured a controlling stake in Hepsiburada, a Turkish e-commerce giant, through a deal valued at a billion US Dollars. Kaspi.kz will acquire 65 percent of D-Market, Hepsiburada’s parent company, with the acquisition expected to be completed in the first half of twenty twenty-five, pending regulatory approval. The agreement includes an initial 600 million US Dollar payment at closing, followed by a second installment within six months.

Founded in the year two thousand, Hepsiburada was the first Turkish company to list on the American stock exchange Nasdaq, which is known for hosting many of the world's leading technology and e-commerce firms. Hepsiburada offers a wide range of products, from groceries to airline tickets, supported by its in-house logistics network.

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

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